There was some muffled communication on the other end of the comm badge, followed by Kirk responding, "You've GOT to be kidding."
Through the entry door came two people. A tall, broad-shouldered man walked in barefoot and with partly unbuttoned fatigues. Behind him was a similarly tall, muscular woman with short, red hair dressed in green shorts and a tank top. They both had questioning looks on them as the door slid shut behind them. Prichard held his pointer finger towards them as they approached to keep them silent. "What's going on, Commander? Something else I should know about?"
Kirk let out an exasperated sigh. "Yes, Sir. It would seem the Jem'Hadar whose arm was caught in the wall has just disappeared from our sensors, too."
Prichard cast a sideways glance at the comm badge, as though somehow, Stephen would see it. "You mean he got free?"
"Well, most of him, anyway." Came the reply. "His arm's still in the wall."
Prichard considered that statement for a moment, blinked and shook his head. He had to admire the Jem'Hadar's high pain threshold. "Alrighty, I count two dead men walkin'. Confirmed?"
"Confirmed, Colonel."
The recently arrived Captain Trace Connor and Lieutenant Wilma Thackery looked at each other questioningly for a moment before Trace spoke. "Well, that answers that question."
Thackery nodded. "This is a real red alert this time."
Prichard waved them silent. "Alright, Commander. Lock down the bridge, secondary bridge, engineering, transporters and any other room that's got people in it. Keep an eye on any computer usage that accesses ship schematics, directions, whatever. We'll hunt 'em down. Prichard out." He tapped his comm badge, then turned to his senior officers. His door chime rang again. "Come in, guys." He spoke at the door.
It opened to reveal a slender vulcan male dressed immaculately in fatigues followed by a mediumly built human of equal slender stature sweating through his workout sweats. He was breathing heavily.
"Sparing match, Frosty?" Prichard asked of the slender human. He nodded breathlessly. "Did you win?" Prichard questioned light-heartedly.
"I always do," Lieutenant O'Shea replied with a wink, still catching his breath.
Prichard smiled wryly. "You should set the difficulty setting higher than one next time." He added a wink of his own, to the laughter of almost everyone else in the room.
The noted exception, of course, was the vulcan, Captain Tonok. He simply gazed at the group with a raised eyebrow. "Is there a problem that requires Marine assistance?" he asked calmly.
Prichard's smile quickly vanished as he went back into business mode. "Yeah. I need y'all to assemble your squads pronto. Gear 'em up for a bug hunt. We got a pair of Jem'Hadar loose on the ship. Warlord had a run-in with a patrol ship, who beamed over a strike team before their ship was destroyed. Computer... display deck plans for USS Warlord."
Within moments, a profile of the Warlord appeared on the wall-mounted computer display. Prichard pointed to Captain Connor. "Ironhide, I want your two teams on decks two and three." He pointed to Lieutenant Thackery. "Lucky, take your teams on four, five, and seven. I'll lock down this area myself." He then pointed to Lieutenant O'Shea. "Frosty, take your teams and scour eight, nine, and ten." Finally, he pointed to Captain Tonok. "Ice, your teams get eleven and twelve. They appeared on deck four, so stay sharp. All the sensitive areas are already being locked down. Let's do this by the numbers, people. Check-ins at staggered five minute intervals. Teams all walk together... and be ready for anything. With their major targets of opportunity cut off, there's no telling where they'll go."
Captain Connor spoke up. "Did I hear right? Are they shrouded?"
Prichard nodded. "Yep. They're invisible to the naked eye and shields won't hold 'em. So... take your guns, your goggles, and your talcum powder. Alright, people... hunt 'em down! Dismissed. Count off as you leave. Those are your intervals."
With that, the four left counting off 'one', 'two', 'three', and 'four' as they left. The hunt began.