Stargate Command
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado
Briefing Room
When O'Neill regained his bearings, he shook his head as if to clear it. "Boy, I'm never going to get used to that."
It was then that Teal'c noticed the men standing in O'Neill's office. One of them was Walther, in his Air Force attire, and two others with their neatly pressed blue uniforms and helmets with the letters M.P. stamped in white. With a look of concern, Walther pointed through the glass into the briefing room, and the two M.P.s turned and walked into the briefing room. Everyone, except O'Neill, was confused by their presence in the SGC.
"What's going on?" Carter asked of the two men. They didn't respond to her.
"General O'Neill?" inquired one of the M.P.s.
"Yes?" O'Neill responded, knowing exactly what was going to be said next.
"I'm Captain Walker of the Military Police," Captain Walker said. He reached into his uniform and pulled out a few papers. "I have here an order for your immediate arrest."
"What kept ya?" O'Neill responded, a bemused smile on his face.
"Arrest? For what purpose?" Teal'c was shocked and confused as to what was occurring, but hid it behind a stoic face.
Captain Walker looked down at one of the papers and began to read. "Brigadier General Jack O'Neill, United States Air Force, Stargate Command, is to be hereby placed under immediate arrest and confinement for failure of compliance with Presidential Order 351, stating that the Stargate Program is to be terminated and all military personnel reintegrated into their respective branches. The arresting officers act under the lawful authority of General Nieder, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."
Carter could hardly believe her ears. "Shut down the Stargate? Whose stupid idea was that?" She asked the captain.
Walker retained a straight face and curtly responded, "I'm sorry ma'am, but I am not authorized to say."
"The Vice-president," O'Neill said tartly. "He thinks the Stargate is a big waste of money and takes away from 'traditional' branches of the military."
"I also have here," Walker went on. "Orders to escort both Teal'c and Doctor Daniel Jackson to Area 51."
"What!" O'Neill exclaimed, more outraged than at his own arrest. "What for? They haven't done anything!"
"I'm sorry sir, but I have my orders," Walker apologized, his voice not in the least bit sorry. "As Teal'c comes off-world, and Dr. Jackson is a civilian, they will both be temporarily held at Area 51 until the Pentagon has determined what to do with them."
"What about me?" Carter asked, her world turned upside down and not sure what would happen.
"It says here that you are to report to General Miller at the Burke Air Force Base for reassignment."
O'Neill was disgusted with the government that he had served to protect for so long. "What a bunch of crap…"
He was prevented from finishing what was on his mind by the sudden interruption of an alarm. Everyone looked around in surprise at what could have triggered the alarm, and the answer was provided shortly after. "Warning! Prisoner escape, Sublevel 26!"
"Crap," O'Neill muttered, as things just turned even uglier. "Sorry guys," he said to the two M.P. personnel. "But you're going to have to hold off that court martial for a bit."
He walked over to an announcement phone and picked it up. "Attention, this is General O'Neill," he said deadpan into the phone. "All personnel are to execute Containment Protocol Alpha Gamma Epsilon. Disengage all contact with the prisoner, I repeat. Do not engage the prisoner."
O'Neill hung up the phone and walked out of the Briefing Room, followed by Carter, Jackson, and Teal'c. Descending the stairs into the Control Room, O'Neill ignored the rushing technicians and walked straight over to Walther, who sat somewhat confused in his chair.
"Can you bring up the cameras, Walther?" O'Neill ordered the technician. Walther typed a few commands into his computer, and the live video feedback from the cameras on Sublevel 26 filled the overhead monitors. They flipped through several times until Aki Rai appeared on one of the monitors, striding down an empty corridor in his prisoner clothes. The video held on him until he left the cameras line of sight, and the monitors automatically flipped to the next camera with the prisoner in sight.
"What do you think he's trying to do?" Carter asked to no one in particular.
Without tearing his eyes from the monitor, Teal'c responded. "There are only two places for him to go, outside and through the Stargate. Leaving for the surface is impractical, for the only way to leave this world is through the Stargate."
"But he can't get to the Stargate," Jackson observed. "The only way to get to the 27th floor is by the elevator, and that's been locked down."
As if to prove him wrong, Aki walked right up to the closed elevator doors, and right before their own eyes, manually forced the sealed doors open and entered the elevator shaft.
"Security teams to the elevator shaft, sublevel 27!" O'Neill ordered into the announcer phone.
The monitors switched their feed to the cameras covering sublevel 27's elevator doors. Not one to just stand around and watch, Teal'c left the Control room and headed for the elevator. O'Neill and Jackson quickly followed, leaving Carter behind to monitor the happenings from the Control room.