crack_van #13: The Road to Nevada by Lamardeuse (NC-17)
Fandom: SGA
Pairing: Sheppard/McKay
Author on LJ: lamardeuse
Author Website: When the World is Puddle-Wonderful
Why this must be read:
The last of my fiction recs for the month, this one spins romance, mystery, cannonball run, the Stargate universe, and pre-WWII America into one heck of an AU. Technically, I think John is a member of the lost generation, having lied about his age to fly during the war, coming out of it with a certain measure of wanderlust that keeps him always on the road.
Meanwhile, Rodney's an inventor working on a new generation of airplane, and he needs a new test pilot, his old one having vanished right before an important test. He hires John, who discovers the plane has been sabotaged. Other more sinister encounters await them back at Rodney's home, and the two of them end up on a frenetic cross-country trip to Nevada, the fate of the world hanging in balance.
“Then would you mind telling me,” McKay said slowly, jabbing a finger into John’s chest with every word, “why the hell you broke my plane?”
John leaned forward, using his extra couple of inches to best advantage. “I didn’t break your damned plane!” he shot back. “In case you didn’t notice, your plane nearly broke me.”
McKay stepped back and folded his arms across his chest. “You must have done something.”
“I’ve been flying planes for twenty years, McKay. I’ve never had one stall on me like that. It should have been impossible to stall it in that situation through pilot error.”
“Are you saying it was a mechanical flaw?” McKay bristled.
John sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe one of your ground crew missed something.”
“I am my ground crew,” McKay growled.
John frowned. “You’re kidding.”
McKay drew himself up like a peeved puffin. “I don’t trust anyone else to work on my planes.”
John turned around and walked over to the plane, then climbed up onto the nose, reached down and lifted the hatch on the engine cowling. McKay scrambled up beside him. After about a minute John found it.
“One of the fuel lines is disconnected,” he murmured, moving aside so that McKay could see it. “It must have been loose to begin with, and then the vibration of the engine did the rest.”
“What? But that’s - that’s impossible. I always check and double-check all my connections-”
“Was anyone keeping an eye on the plane while we were gone?”
McKay blinked. “No. Are you suggesting sabotage?”
“It’s been known to happen in some races in the States.”
McKay looked away for a moment. “I didn’t think I’d have a problem with security for - never mind,” he murmured, finishing abruptly.
“You got any rivals who want to put you out of business?”
McKay shot him a sharp look. “Not that I know of,” he snapped, but there was an edge to his voice that was hard to miss.
You’re a lousy liar, McKay, he thought, but there was no point in saying that aloud. John sighed and replaced the engine cowling. “Well, it’s been fun,” he said heavily, as the gravity - pun intended - of his situation descended on him like a plummeting elephant. He had no money, no job, and he was stranded in a foreign country. And he’d thought that 1932 was a shitty year.
“You’re leaving?” McKay asked.
John shrugged. “Unless you’ve got another plane I can wreck.”
McKay opened his mouth, closed it, then seemed to come to some kind of decision. “I might have one you can fly, not wreck.”
Well, hell. That was unexpected. “Sure you can trust me?” John asked, frowning.
McKay gave him that assessing look again. “Frankly, I don’t know. All I know is I’ve never seen a pilot land a dead ship as well as you did just now. I need someone with that level of skill.”
“You want me to fly gliders?”
McKay shook his head; that gleam that John was starting to recognize lit up his eyes. “No. Quite the opposite, in fact.”
The Road to Nevada
Pairing: Sheppard/McKay
Author on LJ: lamardeuse
Author Website: When the World is Puddle-Wonderful
Why this must be read:
The last of my fiction recs for the month, this one spins romance, mystery, cannonball run, the Stargate universe, and pre-WWII America into one heck of an AU. Technically, I think John is a member of the lost generation, having lied about his age to fly during the war, coming out of it with a certain measure of wanderlust that keeps him always on the road.
Meanwhile, Rodney's an inventor working on a new generation of airplane, and he needs a new test pilot, his old one having vanished right before an important test. He hires John, who discovers the plane has been sabotaged. Other more sinister encounters await them back at Rodney's home, and the two of them end up on a frenetic cross-country trip to Nevada, the fate of the world hanging in balance.
“Then would you mind telling me,” McKay said slowly, jabbing a finger into John’s chest with every word, “why the hell you broke my plane?”
John leaned forward, using his extra couple of inches to best advantage. “I didn’t break your damned plane!” he shot back. “In case you didn’t notice, your plane nearly broke me.”
McKay stepped back and folded his arms across his chest. “You must have done something.”
“I’ve been flying planes for twenty years, McKay. I’ve never had one stall on me like that. It should have been impossible to stall it in that situation through pilot error.”
“Are you saying it was a mechanical flaw?” McKay bristled.
John sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe one of your ground crew missed something.”
“I am my ground crew,” McKay growled.
John frowned. “You’re kidding.”
McKay drew himself up like a peeved puffin. “I don’t trust anyone else to work on my planes.”
John turned around and walked over to the plane, then climbed up onto the nose, reached down and lifted the hatch on the engine cowling. McKay scrambled up beside him. After about a minute John found it.
“One of the fuel lines is disconnected,” he murmured, moving aside so that McKay could see it. “It must have been loose to begin with, and then the vibration of the engine did the rest.”
“What? But that’s - that’s impossible. I always check and double-check all my connections-”
“Was anyone keeping an eye on the plane while we were gone?”
McKay blinked. “No. Are you suggesting sabotage?”
“It’s been known to happen in some races in the States.”
McKay looked away for a moment. “I didn’t think I’d have a problem with security for - never mind,” he murmured, finishing abruptly.
“You got any rivals who want to put you out of business?”
McKay shot him a sharp look. “Not that I know of,” he snapped, but there was an edge to his voice that was hard to miss.
You’re a lousy liar, McKay, he thought, but there was no point in saying that aloud. John sighed and replaced the engine cowling. “Well, it’s been fun,” he said heavily, as the gravity - pun intended - of his situation descended on him like a plummeting elephant. He had no money, no job, and he was stranded in a foreign country. And he’d thought that 1932 was a shitty year.
“You’re leaving?” McKay asked.
John shrugged. “Unless you’ve got another plane I can wreck.”
McKay opened his mouth, closed it, then seemed to come to some kind of decision. “I might have one you can fly, not wreck.”
Well, hell. That was unexpected. “Sure you can trust me?” John asked, frowning.
McKay gave him that assessing look again. “Frankly, I don’t know. All I know is I’ve never seen a pilot land a dead ship as well as you did just now. I need someone with that level of skill.”
“You want me to fly gliders?”
McKay shook his head; that gleam that John was starting to recognize lit up his eyes. “No. Quite the opposite, in fact.”
The Road to Nevada