DEEP SPACE NINE: "Hard Time" - REV. 2/05/96 - ACT FIVE       60.

92   CONTINUED:

					O'BRIEN
				(in tears)
			Ee'char.

	O'Brien gathers the body up in his arms and holds him
	close and suddenly, we're back in...

93   INT. CARGO BAY

	As before. O'Brien's got the phaser aimed at his
	throat. Bashir looks at him, dumbfounded.

					BASHIR
			You killed him?

	O'Brien looks over at Ee'char.

					O'BRIEN
				(a confession to
				Ee'char)
			And the worst part of it was...
			the next day, the guards started
			feeding me again. I'd killed him
			for nothing... for a scrap of
			bread that he was going to share
			with me anyway.

					BASHIR
			It was a mistake. You didn't mean
			to do it.

					O'BRIEN
			No. I meant it. I wanted him to
			die.

94   CLOSE ON O'BRIEN

	who's in anguish.

					O'BRIEN
			I keep telling myself it doesn't
			matter. That it wasn't real. But
			that's a lie. If it'd been
			real... If it'd been you instead
			of Ee'char... it wouldn't have
			made any difference. He was my
			best friend. And I murdered him.
				(a beat)
			When we were growing up, they used
			to tell us that humanity had
			evolved.