CHAPTER 3

General Hammond paced in the briefing room. His people were used to seeing it; he paced whenever there was something going on off-world that worried him. He paced often. In his mind he reviewed their situation. Major Carter was missing, Daniel was still unconscious in the infirmary, and Colonel O'neill and Teal'c were on K'Tau attempting to gather intelligence from the Asgard. And, his flagship team wasn't the only one off-world at the moment–SG-3 had remained on M9X-163 hoping to discover something about Sam's whereabouts, SG-6 was establishing a research outpost among the Lysinians of P6C-413, SG-8 was doing recon on P7G-922, and SG-2 was surveying an abandoned naquada mine on M3R-331. So many dangerous potentialities, so much at stake, and so, he paced.

Suddenly the klaxons sounded and the gate in room beneath him started to spin. "Unscheduled off-world activation." The General headed down to the control room. Sgt. Harriman was at the terminal. "It's SG-1's IDC, sir."

"Open the iris," Hammond stated cooly. If I was following protocol, he thought numbly, that code would already be locked out. With Major Carter missing, leaving that code active endangered everyone on earth, but Hammond wasn't ready to close the door yet–SG-1 had a tendency to turn up no matter what the odds. George watched the blue shimmering pool before him and prayed that Samantha Carter would walk through it. However, it was his 2IC and Teal'c that stepped through the event horizon and onto the ramp. Jack was scowling and Teal'c jaw was tight.

"General!" O'neill shouted. "A word."

"Report to the briefing room," responded Hammond as he headed back up the stairs. Hammond took a seat at the head of the table and awaited the apparently bad news.

When Jack and Teal'c arrived in the briefing room, Teal'c took a seat at the table, but Jack was too full of emotions to sit. He mimicked his superior officer by pacing and demonstrated his unique nervosity by fidgeting.

"Colonel? What happened?" Hammond began.

Jack stopped paced, looked at the general, and opened his mouth to speak. Then, his face contorted in anger, frustration, or both; he shook his head. "Teal'c," he said indicating that the Jaffa should speak.

Teal'c nodded his acquiescence, and the General directed his attention towards him. "We were able to speak to Freyr through the device on K'Tau."

"And?" Hammond prompted.

"What we discovered was surprising." Still pacing, Jack snorted and cursed under his breath. Teal'c continued. "M9X-163 is not currently under the Asgard's protection as we had believed. Rather, it is inhabited by a minor Go'auld named Thrym. Thyrm was, at one time, in the service of Re, but he was banished by Re for insubordination of some kind. At which point, it seems that Thrym stole a cargo ship and a sarcophogas. He fled to M9X-163 by ship, knowing that Re would not look for him there as it was under the protection of Thor at that time."

Hammond interrupted, puzzlement apparent on his face, "He fled to a moon under Asgard protection, and Thor just let him?"

Jack still pacing added sarcastically, "Oh, General, he hasn't gotten to the best part yet."

"Shall I continue?" Teal'c asked.

"By all means, Son." Hammond urged.

"Thrym assured Thor that he had no hostile intentions towards the Yotuns. He, in fact, requested asylum from Re. So, Thor allowed his presence on the moon. Apparently, Thrym lived peacefully on the planet for many years and became friendly with the natives. Freyr assured us that his behavior at the time indicated no malice or ulterior motives, so their monitoring of him became less and less of a priority."

"Which is exactly what the snake-head wanted," bursted O'neill. He stopped paced and looked at the General. "Once he'd gotten Thor off his guard, Thrym incited a rebellion."

"A rebellion against the Asgard?" Hammond was amazed.

Jack continued, his voice laced with icey disdain. "Yes, General, because our good buddy Thor was still only appearing to the Yotuns as a hologram, Thrym easily convinced them that he was a liar and a false god because he had never shown them his true form. The people believed Thrym and, get this, they asked Thor to leave. And Thor, being the kind of guy that he is, did."

Shock was evident on the General's face. "Are you saying that a Go'auld led a successful rebellion against the Asgard?"

Jack gave a cynical smile, "Not really a rebellion, sir." Jack paused and grimaced. "Thor just left–no fight at all."

"But why would the Asgard leave a planet in the control of a Go'auld?"

Suddenly, there was flash of white light in the briefing room, and an Asgard stood before them. "Perhaps, I can answer that question, General."

SG1

Sam was sleeping lightly. Her years in the field had taught her the importance of sleep even in hostile situations, but she couldn't let her guard down completely. A bell rang in the chamber. Sam's body was completely alert at the sound, but she didn't move. She did, however, open her eyes to survey the scene. The other women, she noted, were climbing from their bunks. They arranged themselves on their knees in the center of the room facing the one doorway and cast their eyes towards the floor.

The matron was at her elbow, gesturing that she too should rise. Internally, Sam grimaced. She was pretty certain that whatever this was could not be a good thing, but she heard Daniel's voice at the back of her head, "When in Rome..." She smiled in spite of herself, and joined the matron and the other women in the center of the room, kneeling behind them. She would not cast her eyes down, though; she planned to see whatever walked through that door.

A/N- Thanks for the encouraging feedback! All reviews are appreciated.