LOL...Marianne...half the time you're my ONLY reviewer. ROBIN. So don't feel bad. It happens.


Chapter Fourteen: A Great Big Sled

Beth couldn't think of any sight that was truly more beautiful.

Miles upon miles of azure ocean just stretching out as far as could be seen. She'd gotten a glimpse of it from Atlantis, but it was nothing compared to this. This was perfection.

Ocean before, ocean behind, ocean below. Waves that frolicked and danced in the wind, beasts below the surface moving like hidden treasures forever eluding discovery; it was wondrous with its feral nature and Beth felt a kinship she'd not known before.

She couldn't identify with the Atlantians or the Athosians, both different people in so many ways.

She couldn't identify with Atlantis itself, marooned in the middle of a large ocean, so alone that she could feel its pain.

She could empathize but not identify.

Looking down at the ocean and the fast approaching mainland, Beth surmised that it was the planet itself that called to her. Mostly empty nothingness with a dash of life. A mirror of Beth's mind as of late.

To think, that if Colonel Sheppard had had his way, she'd never have seen this. She'd never have felt the land calling to her. Mostly because Sheppard didn't want her leaving anyone's sight until she had her memory back.

Would she still feel this connection if she had her memory? Or would she lock away any sentimental yearnings in favor of being the cold, implacable leader?

"This was a good idea," Beth said aloud, pressing buttons on the console before her and pretending she knew what she was doing.

Gordy, her companion, her accomplice, and her bodyguard du jour, was really piloting the Puddlejumper.

The Puddlejumper they'd stolen from Atlantis half an hour ago after ditching their "escort".

"Just great. Why don't you come visit me when they throw me in some sort of imprisonment for stealing?" He said with a cheeky grin, expertly manipulating the controls.

"I'll most likely be in there with you," Beth noted, kicking back and putting her feet up in pure relaxation.

"I doubt it."

"Why?"

"They love you."

"They love Elizabeth."

"Like I said."

The Death-Glare she sent his way had no effect. "I'd visit you."

Gordy laughed. "Good to know...would they be naked visits?"

She kicked him in the shoulder. "No."

"Ah, well, break my heart, why don't you?"

They bantered back and forth with alarming speed, watching through the front view as the land came closer...and not watching their back where two Puddlejumpers were fast catching up.

The sudden blare of the proximity alarm had them jumping, and in Gordy's case sliding automatically into evasive turns, banking to the right and hitting thrusters going into a spin. The 'Jumpers followed, splitting up and straddling their 'Jumper.

Another alarm beeped, signaling that one of the vehicles was trying to contact them. "They wanna talk. I told you we'd get in trouble."

Beth leaned over his shoulder looking out the window and at their radar. "Wanna get in more trouble?"

Gordy aimed an unreadable look at her. "That depends, you want me to shoot them down?"

Beth laughed, "No, you murder-minded fiend. I was thinking more along the lines of we go in low and hide in the trees and mountains."

"What would that accomplish?"

"We could stay out all night. Drive Shalimar crazy with worry. Watch the stars. Go hiking," she thumped him on the chest with her palm. "You could even go hunting."

He grinned up at her, sliding his own hand down her arm to where her hand rested over his heart. Patting it softly, he removed it. "Go strap in. We're gonna go a little crazy in a minute."


Sheppard watched with an increasingly shocked face as the Puddlejumper before him bobbed and weaved before ducking into the valleys and peaks that made up the Mountain system. Beth and Gordy's vehicle increased speed, and Sheppard tried to match. Ronon and Teyla grabbed the arms of their seats as Sheppard followed the wayward 'Jumper turn for turn.

"He's very skilled," Teyla thought aloud as her eyes along with her two companions' tracked the shuttle ahead of them.

"Thank you," Sheppard replied through gritted teeth, all his concentration on keeping the shuttle airborne and not crashing into a cliff or the forest below.

"I was talking about Gordy."

"Oh...well..." Sheppard could think of no reply, all charm focused on the chase.

It wasn't so much that they'd stolen the shuttle.

It wasn't that they'd tried to escape, since, technically they hadn't. They'd taken a joyride, most likely born of boredom and restlessness. Sheppard himself had dealt with the problem often.

The fact that Sheppard was following was mostly because he could. The thrill of the hunt, if you will. He'd spent the last month in Atlantis, looking for Elizabeth, his miniscule adrenaline-high coming from flirtation with Teyla and sparring with Ronon when it should have come from fighting Wraith, almost dying, and returning victorious. The beast inside him clawed for a released, like an addict denied his fix.

So Sheppard gave in.

He chased the 'Jumper before him because it excited him to buzz the trees below, to slip through openings in cliffs that scraped the paint, to push the machine faster he'd dared while on-planet.

It was fun up until they lost Beth and Gordy.

They were swinging around a cylindrical cliff riddled with mile wide-crevices. At any other speed it'd have taken at least ten minutes to go all the way around, but with Sheppard pushing it he made it within five.

He still lost them.

"Where the hell..." he muttered as he frantically started checking his radar and all the equipment.

"What is wrong?" Teyla asked as she moved to stand behind Sheppard.

"I lost them!"

"How is that possible?"

"I don't know. Damn thing is malfunctioning or something."

Ronon grinned. "Or maybe you're not as good as you think."

"Hey! No comments from the peanut gallery!"

Ronon snickered and Teyla shushed him. "Perhaps we should look around some more, or return to Atlantis?"

"Let's do a few more rounds. If I can't pick him up, we'll go back and let the egg-heads take a look."


Directly below Sheppard and matching angle and speed, Gordy resisted the urge to giggle. "Now that was tricky."

Beth slipped her arms around his neck. "That was awesome, that's what that was. The way you cut engines and hidden as a shadow of the cliff until they came by and then slid under them where they couldn't detect us? Brilliant!"

"Yeah, now we just have to wait until they leave then slip back up against the cliff so they don't detect us again."

"Why didn't we just say against the cliff and not risk them detecting us?"

"They're doing a sweep of the cliff wall, visually and with radar. Under close inspection, they'd detect us," Gordy explained as he tweaked a few buttons. "This way though, when they get low enough, we'll just cut engines and coast to a stop in the trees. They won't see us or detect us, or expect to. It's mostly about expectation. They don't think they'll see us, they won't. Plus, this close to the cliff, if it's got even a little metal ore in it then it'll help hide us."

Beth looked down at Gordy and smiled. "You're a lot smarter than you let off, you know that?"

He nodded with a somber grin. "Before I was recruited into the militia, I was a geologist. Nothing I liked more than going out on a mountain like this and just looking at what I can find. Levels upon levels of different ages and animals. All compacted into the ground in precise little rows."

She pressed her cheeks to his. "A physical representation of history, in a way."

"Yeah. It's been a while since I had the time to appreciate it."

She stood and grinned. "Let's go rock looking."

He smiled and shook his head. "Nah, no use indulging in something I won't get to do every again."

Beth took the copilot seat and stared at him. "You keep saying I don't have to stay here if I don't want to."

He agreed, "I do."

"Well, you don't have to go back if you don't want to. I'm the Leader of Atlantis; if I want you to stay you can stay. You can be look at dirt again," she explained with a smile.

Gordy was bitter as he shook his head. "My people need me." He looked her straight in the eyes. "Just like your people need you."

"Maybe I don't want to be needed."

"Don't have a choice, Beth. None of us do."

With a few deft movements of his fingers, Gordy shut off the engine and ended the conversation. As Sheppard and Co. headed back for Atlantis, their 'Jumper started arcing towards the rocky shoulder where cliff met ground.

"Umm...Gordy...that spot has a lot of sharp rocks..."

"Hold on," he commanded adjusting the controls just a bit before tightening his seat's straps. Beth did the same and watched wide-eyed as the ground came up very quickly.

They hit with a small explosion of gravel, bouncing up and down for a minute before sliding a good thirty feet and into the wall of rock. Though they were a bit jittery, they were fine.

They climbed out and studied the Puddlejumper, grinning as they took in the minute scratches that were barely there. "This is a very well-made shuttle."

She nodded. "Ancient Technology and all that." She grinned, looping her arm with his. "Let's go run through the forest and be free!"

He stared down at her with a skeptical look. "You go run, I'm gonna see if I can build a camp. It'll be dark soon."

Beth grinned and took off for the dark trees nearby screaming as she did, "Yessir!"