Chapter 1

08:00 a.m. Earth, Cheyenne Mountain

General Landry was sitting in his office and drinking what must have been eleventh cup in the last 24 hours. He sighed and once again looked at the file lying on his table.

'Name: Sheppard John,' said the file,
'Rank: Lieutenant Colonel USAF
Date of Birth: 06/14/ 1970
Current station: '

Landry stopped reading and closed the file. He knew the content of that particular manila folder almost by heart and reading it one more time won't give him an answer to the question of how one man could get himself into so much trouble.

Just four hours ago the gate activated and General O'Neill's tired but jubilant voice announced that Replicators were defeated and Atlantis was once again under control. Colonel Caldwell confirmed that. General Landry ordered him to stay in the city whereas General O'Neill, Mr. Woolsey and other wayward personalities with the exception of Teyla and Ronon were instructed to return to Earth for the debriefing.

The debriefing took about an hour during which Landry was sitting and listening another astonishing story about how Sheppard and his team managed to emerge as winners in this unsanctioned rescue mission.

After the debriefing he had sent them all, except for Sheppard, to their quarters to rest. Colonel Sheppard has been instructed to be in Landry's office in two hours.

And right now General Landry was waiting to give Lieutenant Colonel not so great news. John Sheppard was an outstanding pilot, commanding officer and team leader. He was a courageous, honest man with high moral code and one of his rules was to never leave a man behind. This was what he did several hours ago despite the direct order to return to SGC. Of course Landry was not pleased with Sheppard's actions however he would never admit that deep down he was glad that Sheppard mounted a rescue mission. If he had not, Atlantis would have been lost forever and they would have to hold another funeral with two empty caskets.

Landry could understand if not accept his actions of disregarding the orders, but not the IOA. And that was a big problem. The IOA wanted Sheppard out of command, out of Pegasus galaxy and ultimately out of their hair. Well, General Landry wasn't going to let this happen. And in retrospect, he thought he had done the best he could considering the circumstances.

A knock on the door diverted General's attention from his thoughts back to reality.

"Come in," said Landry as he took a file of paper out of his table.

"You wanted to see me, Sir?" a very disheveled Lt. Col. John Sheppard appeared before the General.

"Yes, Colonel. Here," Landry gave Sheppard the file. General decided to cut to the chase, there was no point in sweetening the pill. "Your new orders. You've been reassigned."

Sheppard was stunned. He hesitantly took the file, opened it, read a few times and closed it with force. His faced was pale, his eyes wide open.

He knew that for disobeying the orders there will be a punishment, either it would be demotion or he would be no longer in charge as a military commander of Atlantis, but being reassigned to another location, not to mention galaxy albeit his home world, never crossed his mind. This was even worse. Atlantis was his home. His team was his family. He could not imagine leaving his people.

Sheppard opened his mouth to say something, but was forestalled by General Landry.

"This is a temporary reassignment. Just for six months."

'Just?!' thought Sheppard. Six months — half of a year, this is enough time for many nasty things to happen. New military commander (most likely Colonel Caldwell) would certainly change operation's protocols. McKay would unintentionally try to destroy Atlantis a few times. There is also a chance of next 'unexpected' storm and a threat from other elements. And let's not forget our lovely enemies — the Wraith, the Genii, the Replicators and other wonders of the Pegasus Galaxy. So, in the end, although Atlantis located on the planet, which is mostly an ocean, the odds of Atlantis sinking — for real this time — are practically nonexistent.

"It could've been worse," after a few minutes added General.

"Worse?" said Sheppard with incredulous look.

"Yes Colonel, you could have been dishonourably discharged or even court-martialed," said Landry.

'Yeah, these possibilities were much worse — he would have never been allowed to stay in Atlantis in any capacity,' thought Sheppard.

General stood up and began pacing. "During your unauthorized operation you've stolen a cache of ARGs, circumvented Stargate Command's security, attacked Sergeant Wallace and a member of a science team, hijacked a Puddle Jumper and escaped through the Gate Bridge! And I'm not going to mention what you've done in the Pegasus Galaxy!"

At the end of the tirade General was almost shouting and his voice probably could be heard one level above and below General's office.

'This didn't look so … extensive in practice' Sheppard lowered his gaze in shame. And he knew he really should be quiet right now and keep his mouth shut but he just could not help himself, "Technically I didn't circumvent Stargate Command's security. It was McKay. Sir."

Sheppard was literally saved by the bell from receiving a further reprimand. General picked up the phone, spoke briefly and put it down, "The helicopter is waiting for you in thirty minutes."

John felt frustrated and lost. The worst part of all of this was that there was nothing he could do. "Yes, Sir," he said with the voice devoid of any emotion.

"Colonel, I need to warn you, that next time you disobey the orders will be your last." General looked Sheppard up and down. " The IOA, despite the fact that you saved the city along with General O'Neill and Mr. Woolsey, wanted to dismiss you from the service. But I managed, with Mr. Woolsey the help, to convince them to give you another chance. The IOA agreed for this house arrest or should I say "planet arrest" by way of punishment. Don't mess this up."

"I won't," said Sheppard, and he meant it. He would do whatever it takes to return to Atlantis, to his family. "I have one question though. Can I leave a message for my team?" asked Sheppard.

"Yes, you can. You even allowed to communicate with your friends, just send your messages to SGC and we will transmit them during the weekly status report. Just don't forget not to put in the messages anything which would require security clearance – in case the transmission would be intercepted.
You're dismissed Colonel."

"Yes, sir," Sheppard turned around and left General's office.

Landry sighed, sat down and looked at his watch: in six hours, an intriguing meeting waits ahead of him.