Pegasus

Right, a bit of explanation required. This was inspired by the wonderful film Serenity. The basic set up is that some of the Atlantis crew are actually the crew of a small freighter called the Pegasus (just imagine a smaller version of the Deadalus). In this galaxy, the core worlds are supposedly "civilised", and the outer worlds are much more dangerous (and therefore more fun). There are several dangers in the outer worlds, such as the Wraith (a vicious species who survive by raiding outer worlds for weapons and humans to feed on) and the Genii, a powerful criminal syndicate which is as powerful as most governments. The galaxy was previously inhabited by a powerful race known only as the Ancients, and many people make a living searching for Ancient relics.

Right, on with the story...

John Sheppard sat with his feet up in the pilot's chair of the Pegasus, staring out into space.

"Hey Sheppard, are you listening?" He was jolted out of his daydreams by the sarcastic voice of Rodney Mckay, the Pegasus' engineer and (so he claimed) resident genius. Rodney sat in the co-pilots chair to the left of Sheppard with an extremely impatient expression on his dirty face. The last time Sheppard had seen Mckay look like that, he had ended up trapped in the cargo hold whilst Rodney occasionally reversed the gravity plating.

"What?" Rodney sighed impatiently.

"I just asked you to check if the power flow rate was stable. I've finished the hyperdrive modifications."

"Oh. Sorry." He leaned forwards to check. "Yep looks good, guess you won't be blowing up the ship today."

"Hmm, very funny. Why Elizabeth let you stay on this ship I will never know."

John grinned at the sarcastic engineer.

"Maybe it was my sexual magnetism."

"Or maybe" John sat bolt upright as an amused voice came from behind him "it was that you just looked so pathetic when we dragged you out of your little hiding place in the cargo hold." Captain Elizabeth Weir, a gorgeous brunette wearing a tight red top and black trousers, strolled up and leaned on the back of Sheppard's chair. "I don't recall you looking all that attractive when you were begging me not to leave you on that godforsaken rock of a planet." He turned and smiled winningly at her.

"I wasn't begging."

"Rodney?"

"Begging." Rodney said emphatically.

"I was not begging! I just asked politely if I could stay on your ship until the Genii stopped chasing me!"

"Yes, and I came out of that deal missing one rail gun and burdened with an idiot for a pilot." She grinned at him mischievously, then turned to Rodney. "The hyperdrive online yet?" He shot a smug look at John.

"Yep, all ready to go."

"Good, just in time. John, set a course for the Boron system. We've got a job."

"Oh goody, hope it works out better than the last one."

"Relax Sheppard, we just have to transport some archaeologist out to a border world and bring him and whatever trinkets he finds back to Boron."

"Oh that sounds like fun." She glared at him. "Okay, okay, we're going." He flipped on the radio. "Docking control, Pegasus. Requesting clearance to take off."

"Copy that Pegasus, you are clear. Hope that bucket of bolts doesn't fall apart on you."

"Thanks for that control, Pegasus out." He activated the engines and the Pegasus rose smoothly off the ground. When they were clear of the spaceport John kicked the main engines to full power and blasted out of the atmosphere, effortlessly outpacing the other ships around the planet.

"Bucket of bolts my ass." Sheppard muttered as he activated the hyperdrive engines, pulling the ship out of normal space. He cleared his throat. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard the Pegasus. We are currently en route to the Boron system, and our flight time will be around seven hours. In the meantime, refreshments will be served." He got up, and followed Elizabeth out of the cockpit, leaving Rodney still carefully monitoring the engines. "So" he said, following her down the narrow corridor past the captain's quarters and back towards the main living area on the ship. "Who's the archaeologist?" She glanced back at him.

"Do you care?"

"Well no, not really." She rolled her eyes.

"He's called Daniel Jackson. Apparently he may have found some big new Ancient site." They passed into the main living area, where two other crew members were sparring.

"Oh look, it's Conan and Xena." John whispered in Elizabeth's ear, sending her into a fit of giggles as Teyla Emmagan and Ronon Dex bowed to each other.

"Sheppard, I told you if you ever called me that again I was going to kill you." The tall Satedan said angrily as he went aft. Teyla concealed a small smile at her partner's touchiness.

"I think he's getting better at this whole talking to people thing. Maybe we should buy him a teddy bear." John said.

"John, he spent 7 years trying to hunt down and kill Wraith. That's going to change a person."

"Yeah well I don't think he was all that stable to start with."

Teyla spoke quietly.

"His entire family was slaughtered by the Wraith. We should consider ourselves lucky that they have been less active in recent years."

"Amen to that," Elizabeth said, "but they're still out there. I just heard Manaan was raided two days ago, they took a few dozen people." They all fell silent for a minute, then Teyla nodded to them both and left the room, heading towards the living quarters. John collapsed into one of the chairs around the table in the centre of the room.

"You think there's something going on there?"

Elizabeth glanced over at him, then sat down.

"What, Teyla and Ronon?"

"Yeah, I notice they've been... 'sparring' a lot lately."

Elizabeth grinned, leaning her elbows on the battered table.

"We've also been...sparring a lot lately." John grinned and also leaned forwards towards her. She grinned, closing the gap even more before tilting her head slightly and whispering to him. "Doesn't mean anything else is going to happen." She leaned back, laughing at his bemused expression before walking off towards her quarters.

"Ouch." Sheppard turned around to see Marcus Lorne leaning against the wall, an amused grin plastered all over his face.

"Don't say it."

"What? I just think it's so sad that you're still chasing after her. It's been two years man, give up already."

"Never. I'm wearing her down, just you wait and see."

"Oh I will. Watching you act like an idiot around her...it just makes my day complete. Now come on, we need to purge the intakes on the skimmer before we reach Boron." John sighed and stood.

"Lousy pay, and my inferiors don't respect me. Remind me why I'm still here?"

They left the living area and moved back towards the port cargo hold.

"Inferior? Gimme a break Sheppard, I was a soldier for 5 years, I could kick your ass if I wanted to."

"You were a mercenary, I was a soldier. There's a difference."

"Mmm-hmm. Like I care."

Seven hours later, John and Lorne had finally finished preparing the skimmer. He sighed as he looked at the contraption (it didn't deserve to be called a vehicle).

"Lighten up Sheppard, it'll get you where you need to go." Lorne remarked

"Yeah...I'm just not sure if it'll get me back. Well, I'd better get back to the cockpit." He nodded at Lorne and then left the hold, entering the main corridor through the ship. Ronon came up behind him.

"Sheppard."

"Ronon... I'm sorry about calling you that earlier."

"Forget it. So, I hear we've got another babysitting mission."

"Yep."

"Any chance there'll be something I can shoot?" John laughed.

"I think the good Doctor Jackson will be upset if we start shooting up his dig site! Still, apparently it's on some border world, so you never know."

"Fine." Ronon turned off at the main living area, heading for his berth. John continued towards the cockpit. Rodney passed him in the corridor.

"Sheppard. How nice of you to arrive."

"Relax Mckay, we leave hyperspace in three minutes."

"Whatever. I'm heading to the engine room. Try not to crash the ship whilst I'm gone."

"Yes mother." John muttered to himself as the impatient engineer pushed past him. He walked into the cockpit and sat down in the pilot's seat. Elizabeth walked in behind him as they reverted to realspace.

"So, where does this Jackson guy live?"

"A settlement on the southern continent called Abydos."

"Right. And by the southern continent you mean right in the middle of the enormous desert, yes?"

"Is there a problem?" Elizabeth asked, smiling slightly.

"Elizabeth, I just spent 6 hours fixing the damn skimmer. We fly it through that the damn air intakes will get clogged, again."

"Aww, I'm sorry John, but sacrifices have to be made if we want to continue eating!" She clipped the back of his head.

"Ow! Yes ma'am."

The Pegasus descended smoothly into the atmosphere, and landed on the outskirts of a small walled city.

"Come on." Elizabeth said. They walked back to the cargo hold, where Teyla and Ronon were already waiting by the skimmer. Lorne stood slightly away, ready to lower the ramp. John took a blaster from Ronon, nodding his thanks as they all climbed into the skimmer.

"Alright Marcus, lower away." Elizabeth ordered. Lorne nodded, and the ramp lowered. John took the controls of the skimmer. "Tell Rodney not to blow the ship up while I'm gone!" he called out as he activated the engine. The skimmer rose up off the ground, and moved out of the hold.

Right, that's the start, and I have no idea when the next part will be out. The real question is whether you think it's worth continuing, so feel free to comment!