DEEP SPACE NINE: "The Ascent" - REV. 10/14/96 - ACT THREE     36.

36   CONTINUED:

					ODO
			It's just another stone.

	Quark grunts in frustration.

					QUARK 
			I can't believe it. We've been 
			walking for two days and we 
			haven't seen a single beetle.
				(a beat)
			I could really go for a beetle 
			right now. Any kind of beetle, 
			just as long as it had a little 
			meat on it.

	The thought is distinctly unappetizing to Odo.

					ODO
			There are no beetles, Quark.

					QUARK
			A nice slug would do.

					ODO
			There're no slugs, either. No 
			slugs, no beetles, no worms, no 
			snails. There's nothing here but 
			trees and rocks and we can't eat 
			any of it.


					QUARK 
			If I collapse from hunger, you're 
			going to have to carry me and the 
			transmitter.

					ODO
			You're not going to collapse. 
			We're almost to the tree line. 
			After that, we'll only have a few 
			hours of climbing left before we 
			can set up the transmitter.

					QUARK 
			A few hours? You mean like three?

					ODO
			More like six.

	Quark thinks it over.

					QUARK 
			I can do six. Seven might be 
			pushing it, but six I can do.