With the final Jem'Hadar finally unshrouded, the ship's sensors went off immediately alerting the crew of his location; the corvette hangar bay... not two hundred meters from Colonel Prichard's quarters. Spitting a curse for not guessing the intruder's plan, he grabbed his favorite old-style plasma rifle and took off down the hall. He eventually caught up with Captain Connor and Captain Tonok, who were just around the corner from the main door. Three marines were already standing at the open door, staring in amazement and shock at what they were seeing. The three senior officers caught up with the enlisted men and joined them in surprise. There, in the dim, red pulsing light, was a giant semi-transparant spider, easily as tall as a human, standing over a very pained-looking Jem'Hadar, desperately, but unsuccessfully struggling to get free. In the background, to finish the macabre scene, was the sound of people screaming over badly tuned musical instruments.

Box, surprised at the number of people pointing guns at him, raised his front two legs in the air, keeping his other ten legs firmly on his prisoner, whom he was quite proud of securing, even if it was by unorthodox means. His friend Tony Moreau would have been proud. Speaking as loudly as his makeshift voice box would let him, Box ordered the computer in the Sting Ray to stop playing the K'lrath Mobah S'ok opera. Thankfully, the computer heard him and ceased the playback.

Sergeant White was the first to speak. His phaser still leveled in the direction of the Jem'Hadar and the spider, he leaned over to his commander, Captain Tonok, and asked, "Which one are we supposed to shoot?"

Captain Tonok, with typical vulcan emotionlessness, answered, "Currently, I wouldn't advise shooting either one since neither currently poses a threat."

Prichard, overhearing the conversation, decided to make the first move. He took a step forward and lowered his rifle. "Hi," he started in his southern draw, "I'm Colonel Prichard. Do you speak?"

Box cocked his large, bulbous head. What a silly question, he thought. Perhaps the Colonel was trying to be funny. Sucking in air into a sack he created, he answered, "Hhhhyes, but I am not a very good singer."

"Okay," Prichard said almost rhetorically, "it's scary and funny," he said with a shrug. He looked back at the spider. "Where did you come from?"

"Hhhhan egg." Box answered simply.

Prichard closed his eyes and shook his head. "Cute." Captain Connor tried, unsuccessfully, to keep from chuckling.

Commander Kirk came racing around the corner, momentarily prompting the marines to point their weapons at him instinctively. Once they recognized the uniform, they returned their gaze to the spider and Jem'Hadar, except for the senior officers. "What the hell are you doing here?" Prichard asked.

Quickly surveying the scene and realizing his friend Box had everything under control, he looked back at Colonel Prichard and pointed into the hangar. "Well, right now I'm wondering why your people are pointing guns at my senior mechanic."

Prichard's eyes bulged. "You mean that's part of your crew?" he asked incredulously.

Somewhat surprised at the question, Stephen replied, "Well, we're not allowed to pick up hitchhikers any more."

Connor chuckled again, as did the enlisted men earning a quick glare from Prichard. "Great... everyone's a comedian."

Kirk smiled wryly at the Colonel, then turned back to Box. "Nice catch, Box!"

Putting his front two legs back down, Box answered, "Hhhhthank you. He has delayed hhhhmy repairs to the Sting Ray, regretfully."

Captain Connor spoke up. "Oh, you're the one fixing my ship?" The large spider nodded. "Thanks!"

Prichard shook his head. His job description didn't mention anything about this. "Alright, ladies... heat 'em up. It's time to send this bad guy back to his ancestors." The three marines aimed their weapons and headed towards the helpless Jem'Hadar.

Kirk suddenly had an idea. "Wait... I think this one could come in handy."

Prichard raised an eyebrow as the marines stopped their advance. "What do you mean?"

"Well, our sensors can't currently detect their cloaking ability... and the supposed improvement of our shields still couldn't hold them back. It would be nice if we could study the guy a bit... maybe improve our defenses."

To Prichard, it sounded like disobeying orders. From what he gathered, they weren't supposed to leave any Dominion influence behind, making these things a self-correcting problem. Still, the idea had merit... especially if they could figure a way to make that shrouding ability work for his people... maybe even the anti-shield technology... he nodded. "Good idea. We'll figure a way to hold him." He motioned to his marines. "People, knock him out."

In response, they changed the settings on their weapons and closed in on the prone Jem'Hadar. For the first time in the Jem'Hadar's life, he felt something... fear.