The next morning, the members of SG-1 boarded the interstellar vessel code-named X-303 but now had the moniker Prometheus. Jack noticed when they entered the command deck, after lamenting to himself for the millionth time that the bridge didn't look like the Enterprise, that the two officers he was expecting had arrived. An attractive woman in a French Armee de l'Air uniform was seated at the communications station and a middleaged gentleman in a British Royal Air Force uniform was at the weapons officer post. Jack went over to the communications post first to both Sam and Jonas' amusement. Teal'c knew what was going on but kept it to himself.

Jack and the woman stood and saluted then Jack let his body go at ease while the woman reluctantly followed his example. "You must be Col. O'Neill" The woman began in English but with a heavy French accent.

"Call me Jack." he interrupted with a boyish grin.

"Very well." she relented again. The lack of protocol was obvious killing her. "I am Major Celine Panie. I am at your command." The SG-1 team all noted that the major didn't break protocol with her name.

"It's great to meet you." Sam couldn't tell if there was sarcasm in Jack's voice or not. "Unless one of my team objects." He paused to look at Sam, Jonas and Teal'c. "The comm station is yours. His team all indicated they were fine with the assignment so Panie sat down to familiarize herself with the controls.

Jack then walked over to salute the other addition to the team. The British officer rose towering over him. Jack wasn't short by any means but this man was a good six or seven inches taller. He saluted the man's midsection. The man on the other hand tilted his head down to return the salute. "I'm Sgt. Major John Simmons" he announced with not a British accent but an Australian one. "But me friends call me Oz."

"Well ok Oz" Jack said smiling. "Do you want to take the weapons console?"

"Actually mate, I'd love to get me hands on the helm if it's all the same to y'all."

Jack shook his head and indicated with his arm the station in question which Oz followed and sat down.

Sam went to the engineering console and Teal'c manned the weapons while Jonas went to the science station.

Jack took the command chair and swivelled a bit to take in his surroundings. "Oz, take us out." As he did so, he wondered if he should get to know his crew more but time was of the essence so he shrugged off the thought. Maybe there would be time later.

The helmsman smiled as stabbed purposefully at the controls. "Hold on to ya knickers." he instructed the others on the bridge.



They reached orbit in less than ten minutes. Two seconds after that, a hologram of Thor and his thronelike chair appeared in the middle of the bridge. He nodded greetings to all of them. Celine mirrored Teal'c's composure at the sight but Oz acted like he was having an enjoyable drunken hallucination. "All right!" he blurted.

Thor didn't respond to the outburst choosing instead to simply blink. "Greetings." he said to all. "The High Council has requested that you head to the Halla system and simply stand guard should Loki approach the planet. If he does so, you may engage him if you so wish but we would like to be informed on the usual frequency."

"I take it that what forces you have available will be on the hunt for Loki?" Jonas queried. Jack was going to ask the same question but less diplomatically.

"Affirmative." Thor replied.

"So you called us in because you needed a few extra hands?" Jack asked. The Asgard, like many alien species they've encountered, never seemed to just say what they were thinking straight out.

"We needed help, yes." Thor blinked again. "You were chosen because of your familiarity with the Halla system and the Replicators."

Jack was somewhat pleased with the answer and displayed it on his face. "When do we leave?"

"As soon as my ship has completed the download of all the pertinent information on Loki to your systems." He paused a moment, blinked yet again, and said finally "It is done. Good luck."

As the hologram faded, Jack took the last statement to heart. This mission seemed way too easy on paper which usually meant they'd need all th luck they could get. "Jonas, give the coordinates of Halla to the helm. Oz, when you get them, take us out." The colonel paused to straighten himself in his seat and said. "Let's get this show on the road, shall we?"

The voyage using the naquadria engines, an unstable substance from Jonas' homeworld of Kolowna, was going to take most of the day. The ship was on auto pilot but Sam programmed the computer to alert them if their presence on the bridge was required. There was talk among General Hammond and the Pentagon that the ship would be staffed with a crew at some point maybe sooner than anybody thought. The last time SG-1 traveled to the Halla system, Thor's ship towed them because the engines were toast. That voyage didn't take nearly as long.

Jack took the time to nap, Sam took the time to tinker with things in the engineering section, Teal'c meditated and Jonas got to know the two new officers.

The ship's mess was just in the rudimentary stages but their was definitey a table with more than enough chairs for three people. Jonas sipped his coffee and turned his head in Oz's direction. "Oz, do you live in Britain?"

The other man nodded taking a swig of coffee himself. "I was born and raised there by Australian parents that's why for the accent."

Jonas directed his next question at both of them. "Is this you're first time in space?"

Both shook their heads and Celine explained. Was that a smile? "I have the honor of being only the second French woman ever to be on the International Space Station."

Oz nodded as he listened to the woman. "I've spent some time up there meself. Not exactly a rip snorter of an adventure like this but..."

The RAF officer's words were cut off by the room suddenly starting to shake and a loud red alert klaxon blaring. Jonas activated his radio. "Jonas Quinn," came Teal'c's even voice, "The presence of you and the others is requested on the command deck."

"What's going on Teal'c?" All three were already on their feet.

"We are under attack, Jonas Quinn." The three picked up their pace heading for the exit.