"As soon as the one-armed bandit dropped his shroud, the internal sensors picked him up. Since we were already on the floor, we came right over." The oversized marine sergeant explained in between chews of his gum. Behind him, one of his subbordinates changed a setting on his phaser rifle, pointed it at the body of the Jem'Hadar, then fired a wide beam. The corpse was instantly vaporized in glowing smoke, setting off alarms throughout the room.

The noise caused the shirtless doctor to jump as he sat on a medical bed. "By the prophets!" He exclaimed. The movement shifted his body while the EMH was attempting to use the dermal regenerator to heal the doctor's knife wound. "Ow!" He exclaimed, rubbing his stomach. He took the regenerator from the EMH's hands. "What kind of hack medic are you?"

The EMH put his hands on his waist. "I'm no hack," he said defensively, "I have the combined knowledge of fifty-three of the greatest medical minds in Starfleet history."

"And when do you think you'll get around to USING it?" Dorrin asked obstinately. He leaned forward for effect, despite the pain it was causing.

"I'd do a better job," the EMH countered, grabbing the regenerator from the doctor's grip, "if you'd sit still!" He turned the device back on and began resealing the wound.

Sergeant Merriweather scratched his head and smiled. "That's quite a partner you got there, doc."

Doctor Rass scoffed. "Partner? Ha!"

The EMH looked back at the sergeant. "By most discernable standards, I'm his superior."

Dorrin narrowed his eyes at the EMH. "He's a virtual windbag... barely qualified to change bedsheets... ow! That hurt!" He exclaimed as the regenerator recrossed newly repaired skin.

"You moved again," the EMH replied smugly.

"Like hell I did," Dorrin retorted.

Looking slightly uncomfortable, the thirty-something sergeant pursed his lips. "Yeah, well... seeing how we had to shoot your door apart to get in here, we'll be standing guard right outside until the other one's caught."

"What's to stop the other one from walking past you guys?" the doctor asked incredulously.

"We'll be blocking the door. The only way past us will be through us."

That gave Doctor Rass some comfort. His hardened face softened a bit. "I see."

The sergeant waved his hand. "Besides, I wouldn't sweat it. The Colonel thinks the two of them split up looking for areas of opportunity. The other one is probably a long way from here."

"That's not a lot of comfort, Sergeant," Dorrin admitted. "This one was looking for a way to poison us all."

"We'll get him," Merriweather offered confidently.

The doctor pointed to the blast mark on the carpeting where his attacker once laid. "You mean the way you got that one? The one that nearly killed me?"

The seasoned sergeant was starting to get impatient with the doctor's incessant complaining. He pointed his thumb at the blast mark on the floor. "Well, we could always offer you up as bait. It worked pretty well for that one."