"I'll be holding you up to your promise of buying me a new one!" Jack shouted after the retreating figure, receiving a distracted wave in reply. Grumbling to himself, Jack headed back to his prized model to see what Carter was doing to it.
Chapter 11: Need for Speed
An hour later, and Carter had successfully managed to activate the power on the Hummer, but was still rigging the steering and braking systems. Meanwhile, Teal'c had climbed to the top of the desk with the string from Jack's misbegotten yo-yo and returned with a piece of napkin filled with small chunks of chocolate cake. Unfortunately, he'd had nothing to carry water in, and even with his formidable strength he'd been unable to knock the mostly full bottle over off the desk. Upon returning to his comrades, Jack had decided they could use the Hummer when Carter finished with it, to rig a pulley and bring the bottle to them that way.
When Teal'c had come back with the food, the Colonel made Carter stop for a break. She'd gratefully eaten her share of the cake before returning to her tinkering, Daniel wandering over to watch and help when needed.
Another hour passed before Carter finally announced she was done, demonstrating by turning it on, backing up, and driving over near the desk. Daniel had brought her up to speed on the plan while he'd been helping her. Teal'c had already climbed back to the desk and tied one end of the string around the bottle's neck. Directing Carter to move the Hummer a bit closer, Jack tied the other end of the string around the bumper, and then motioned for Daniel to move back before signaling Carter to hit it in reverse. The tires spun for a moment, than grabbed as they found traction on the smooth concrete floor. The string quickly went taut, and the bottle came flying off the desk, hitting the floor and bouncing. Only Carter's lightning fast reflexes saved the Hummer from getting hit, and Jack breathed a quick prayer of thanks, although whether it was over the fact that Carter was unharmed, or the Hummer, was between him and whatever Gods were listening.
Now that the bottle was in reach, they were presented with the problem of how to get at the water. Teal'c solved the problem by reaching up and twisting the cap. With Daniel steadying the bottle on one side, and Jack on the other, he was able to twist the cap off, he and O'Neill deftly avoiding the rush of water from the three quarters full bottle. Daniel however, was not so lucky.
Looking in consternation at his soaking uniform front, Daniel unsuccessfully tried to wring what water he could out of his shirt. Sighing, he gave it up as a lost cause. At least it was only water. He moved to stand beside Sam, who gave him a sympathetic look, before turning her attention back to Jack and Teal'c. Daniel was just in time to witness Jack holding the bottle cap and Teal'c give the bottle a shove. Before he could wonder what they were up to, water sloshed out of the open bottle, and Jack caught it in the cap with a minimum of splashing. Grinning, Jack set the cap down.
With the cap, they were all able to take turns drinking their fill. After they'd all had enough, Jack and Teal'c refilled the cap again, and they each took turns splashing the room temperature water over hands and faces. Even as small as they were, they still had to contend with dust and dirt. Refreshed, Jack ordered them to get ready to move out. At first, he wanted to bring along the bottle cap full of water, but Carter worried that it would spill, causing the sensitive electronics of the Hummer to short out, so Jack reluctantly left the cap behind. He did insist on bringing the second napkin full of cake that Teal'c had brought back from his second trip. They used the string from the yo-yo to secure it in the back, keeping it from being jounced around.
With the small number of useful items safely stowed in the Hummer and on their persons, SG-1 clustered around the formerly remote controlled vehicle. Jack headed for the driver seat, when Carter coughed, catching his attention.
"Sir," she said hesitantly, "I think I should drive."
One of Jack's eyebrows shot up, in a perfect imitation of Teal'c. "You think," he spoke slowly, and a little incredulously, "That you should drive my car?" He enunciated carefully, and crossed his arms, waiting for her explanation. It had to be a good one.
Suddenly uncomfortable, Carter shifted from foot to foot. "Well sir, it's just that, you see, the controls aren't quite what you're used to."
"Just explain them to me Carter, I'll get it."
"It's not just that, sir. I had to jury rig controls for the steering, power and lights, as well as the brakes and throttle since traditional pedals wouldn't work, and that's not considering that the pedals were glued in place. I also had to find a way to override the radio frequency used to control the vehicle. I'm afraid that some of the new overrides are very sensitive, and I'm not sure if…"
"Fine, fine, fine. I get it. You can drive Carter." He started to walk around to the passenger side, and Carter hid her triumphant grin.
"And Carter?" She whipped around at his call, to see his head poking over the top of the Hummer.
"Sir?"
"Next time, just say you want to drive." With that, the Colonel ducked inside and pulled the door shut.
Sam shared a quick look with Daniel, who just shrugged, as if to say she was on her own before getting into the back seat next to Teal'c. Sam blinked, then shrugged, climbing into the driver's seat and slipping under the realistic looking seatbelts, hoping they would be secure enough despite the fact it was never designed to hold a person, albeit a very small one. A quick glance at the rest of her team showed that they had all done the same thing. Satisfied, Sam reached over and toggled the power, looking over at her CO for the go-ahead.
Jack watched his second, who was barely able to contain her excitement. You'd think she'd never been behind the wheel of a moving vehicle the way she was acting; yet he couldn't blame her. After all, he'd wanted the pilot's seat himself. Looking at the rather daunting array of wires and toggles now mounted on the dash and steering column with duct tape however, Jack was actually kind of glad he'd acquiesced to her unspoken wish. Besides, she'd worked damn hard on this thing, while he'd basically twiddled his thumbs. He'd taken the center seat on too many of her pet projects and she'd never voiced a complaint for him to quibble now. Still, he hoped he wouldn't regret entrusting his baby to her care.
Realizing she was waiting for him, Jack couldn't resist quoting a certain sci-fi series, which he'd never admit to watching. "Engage."
Carter grinned, and flipped another toggle, spinning the wheel to turn them around and punching another lever that was mounted in between the seats, which Jack hadn't noticed until then. All in all, he was pretty impressed with what Carter had come up with on short notice and with limited materials. Someday, he'd have to ask her how she'd done it all. For now however, he found his hands straying to the "oh shit bar" oh so conveniently located on the authentically detailed dash, as the hummer zipped out of the office and into the hallway, pressing them all back into their seats.
"Uh, Carter, you wanna slow down?"
"Sorry sir." She apologized, not sounding the least bit sorry. All the same, she eased the lever back marginally, never taking her eyes off the road. Jack however, was busy watching the speed demon take over his usually calm and collected Major, and was ill prepared when Carter yanked suddenly on the steering wheel, pulling hard to the right. She punched a different lever on the dash, causing the car to spin slightly, going as far as to tilt sideways on two wheels for an agonizing moment before rocking back down with a resounding thud.
Before he could ask Carter what the hell she was doing, a large black boot appeared on the hood of the Hummer, pushing the front end down.
A/N: Ok, I just needed to explain. All those times that Carter worked her butt off on the X-3-oh-whatevers and Jack jumps into the pilot seat or worse, takes second seat and leaves Carter earthbound, well just got me steamed. I mean, how unfair. Most of the time he didn't even seem to know about the project, so why did HE get to go when Sam couldn't? And obviously it's well known that Jack's always grabbing the front seat. Take Fragile Balance for example. So anyway, this is my revenge, it's Carter's turn to drive one of Jack's pet projects… Besides, I think the show has done a bit of a disservice to Carter, in not letting her rare fun and thrill seeking side show thru, so I wanted to let Carter explore her "need for speed" in the next chapter or two…
