Padawan Kylenn had just about managed to make it back to the group. The kids were still larking about merrily, and she almost backed into the Wookie before she realized he was there.

�What are you doing?� He asked curiously, with the aid of his basic translator unit.

�Me? Er�I�m playing �Eye-Spy. Yes. That�s it.�

The Wookie looked about. �Who with?�

She gulped. �M-mmyself.�

The furry face of the young Wookie creased in puzzlement. �That�s not much fun.�

�N-nno. You�re right. Let�s all play a game.�

�What game?�

�Statues. You know how to play at statues, don�t you?�

�Uh-Huh.�

�Good. Go get your friends and we�ll all play.� She said, never taking her sight from that huge eye, hidden amidst the trees. All she had to do was keep them silent and still until Qui-Gon appeared with reinforcements. He�d help her, somehow. But there had to be no noise.

�The rules are simple. DON�T MOVE.�

Or the first one to do so is Rancour meat, she thought.

*******

�What you really need is a long chain.�

Jemmiah was trying to explain her master plan to the naturists gathered around both Qui-Gon Jinn and herself. �Publicity.� She went on. �How do you expect to get support from anyone if they don�t know anything about you. I mean,� she indicated the list of names on the petition, �Senator Palpatine may be a worthy member of the cause and all that, but how is anyone supposed to hear about it? Do you see him chaining himself to the railings?�

Qui-Gon was hoping the ground would open up and swallow him. Jemmiah�s condition stopped him from making good his threat to give her a thrashing. That and the fact that Evla would in turn probably thrash him for chastising her. Which she probably would anyway when she got to hear about the �happy event� that was awaiting her ward and his padawan�

�Manacles. And a key, of course.� Jemmiah added.

�My brother Mitch has a long chain that might work,� mused the balding man, �I could contact him and get him to bring it over.� He fished into his pockets and brought out his comlink.

Sith, thought Jemmiah. I�m glad he kept that in his pocket!

�He doesn�t live very far away. He�s an escapologist. He works as a children�s entertainer. I�m sure he�d lend us his chain, if I asked him�he could be here within half an hour.�

�You do that!� brightened Jemmiah. �Tell him to bring the key as well.�

�What do you think you�re playing at?� Qui-Gon hissed.

She looked at him. �I�m making sure our group of nature lovers all stay together in the one place, rather than wandering round the zoo frightening the kids and offending the parents.� She paused. �And having a laugh.�

�At other people�s expense?� Qui-Gon asked pointedly.

�Relax.� She smiled at the group. �I�m doing this for the cause. By the time I�ve finished with them they�ll have so much publicity they won�t know what�s��

She shivered suddenly. That stuff of Simeon�s was doing really strange things to her, she decided. One minute she felt as if she could fly, and the next she just wanted to curl up in a ditch somewhere and die. The extreme swings were catching her between joyous hyperactivity and crashing sickness.

Qui-Gon saw the swift change in her, and caught her by the arm. �Sit!� He commanded. �And stay quiet.�

Reluctantly, she sat down once more. �I knew it,� she muttered, �That Nerf-brains has poisoned me.�

�If you�re no better in the next half hour or so, I�m calling the medics.� He took off his robe and placed it over her shoulders.

�Cccareful, Master Jinn,� she said, shaking again. �Thhhese pppeople wwwill thhhhink yyyour jjjoining thhhhem innn thhhheir ppprotest ifff yyyou ttttake offff annnything elsssse.�

�Just keep quiet.� He said, not unkindly, wondering how he had suddenly become so protective of her. �There�s not just you to think of, is there?�

Jemmiah frowned. What was that all about?

�I�m wwworried about Ben..I mmmean Obbbi-Wan. I dddidn�t hhhave tttooo mmmuch bbbut hhhee��

�Shush.� Qui-Gon said.

Although if he was honest, he was pretty worried about his padawan, too.

*******

An-Paj cast his eyes around the grounds, concentrating. The intuition that everyone so complemented him on did not seem to be serving him very well at this moment. Too tense, he realized, and not focused enough. Looking for Padawan Cates was going to be like looking for a Jawa amongst a heard of Banthas. He glanced across at Yoda, who was sitting on a hillock not far away, eyes closed and ears as flat and low as they could get in sheer concentration.

�Do you see anything?� An-Paj eventually asked.

�Hmmmm.� Muttered Yoda. �Not far, Padawans Kenobi and Cates�both sick, they are.�

�And the others?�

Yoda paused. �Problems, I think we have.�

An-Paj frowned, trying to capture his fleeting concentration once more. �Master Yoda,� he shook his head in disbelief, �I�m getting very strange pictures of Master Jinn surrounded by�well�a lot of naked people.�

Yoda snorted. �Surprise me, that does not.�

�The girl is with him.� An-Paj added thoughtfully.

The diminutive Jedi Master opened his eyes, and An-Paj could have sworn he saw a definite gleam in them. �Good.� Yoda nodded in evident satisfaction. �Hoped for this, I did.�

Whatever Yoda was up to, and An-Paj was convinced more than ever that he WAS up to something, he clearly was not going to tell him about it. He sighed wistfully. Padawan Dimallie had probably wrecked his medicentre whilst he�d been away. What had got into that girl in the last few weeks? If she wasn�t breaking things, or losing things, or forgetting things then she was invariably moping about.

He wondered if he would have any patients left by the time he came back.

�What now, Master Yoda?�

�Find Cates and Kenobi, we will.�

*******

Simeon Cates had sobered a little. But not much.

His held his head to one side, because his brain seemed to be listing to the right, or at least it felt as if it were. It felt fuzzy inside. And he wished those voices would go away�

By default, he was now looking after his group of initiates. And Master Jinn and Windu�s initiates. And Obi-Wan�s initiates.

And Obi-Wan.

Groaning, Simeon bent down beside his friend, who was still semi-conscious. Somewhere, several miles away, he heard a millipede move through the grass much to loudly. His mouth felt as if it were coated by something furry. And probably green�

Obi-Wan began to stir just a little. He felt better when he wasn�t moving about. But just because HE wasn�t moving didn�t mean that the ground was doing likewise. He wondered vaguely if he had died, but dismissed the notion quickly. Death would never be this bad�

Children, he thought. Singing. And playing. TOO LOUDLY.

My mind has been taken over, he thought. Something else has taken the controls. Hurts to think. The wheel is turning, but the Corellian Sand Hamster is dead. Nobody home. Empty.

There is no force, only death.

Sith, he wished he were dead.

Who did all these voices belong to? They seemed to attack him in waves�up one minute, down the next. And the strangest pictures in his head.

He dared to open his eyes wider. There was a young man bending down over him, saying something. He looked pretty ill. Nobody could be that shade of green and be in normal health. Not even Yoda. He had a name, didn�t he? What was it? Cat-something. Cate�Kates? His mind settled on one that seemed possible.

�Katie?� He asked hopefully.

Simeon looked startled. �Eh?!�

�Who?�Whoareyou?� He asked plaintively.

�Are you sure you had less than me?� Simeon asked, holding his head to keep it from falling off. The noise from the initiates had become a constant and intolerable hum. �SHUDDDDUP!� Yelped Simeon. �Ungrateful Sithlings! It�s enough to turn a man green!�

He studied Kenobi with an unsteady eye. �How do you feel?� He asked unnecessarily.

�Bad.� Obi-Wan said weakly. �If you held my head to your ear, you could hear the sea.�

�That bad.�

�Uh-Huh.�

Simeon glared at the kids. �I don�t know why they�re so full of the joys of life. They�ve got no sympathy.� He studied Kenobi�s sickly face. �Something you�ll be finding out a lot in the not so distant future.�

Obi-Wan didn�t understand, but then there were a lot of things he couldn�t figure out just now.

�Can you smell burning?� He asked Simeon, as his head was once more engulfed in a blanket of disturbing visions and voices.

�No.� All I can smell is panic. That�s when your master catches up with me for being pi�intoxicated.�

He only hoped that Obi-Wan�s master had calmed down a little bit in the interim�

*******

�I feel better now.� Jemmiah piped up. Qui-Gon did not look convinced. Not remotely.

�Are you sure?� The skeptical look remained upon his face. The one she referred to as the patented Jinn look.

�Yes. I told you. It comes and goes. Like waves. But you don�t have to call the medics. I�m fine.�

�Really?�

�Yes!�

Trying to convince him was proving to be an impossible task. �Would I lie to you?�

�I�d be worried if you didn�t,� Qui-Gon replied tartly, �you�ve been doing it ever since I met you.�

�That�s not fair!�

Qui-Gon smiled. My point, he thought.

He looked across at the naturists. The brother of the balding man had arrived some three minutes ago, and Qui-Gon did not want to get any more involved than was absolutely possible. �Good.� He spoke out loud to Jemmiah. �If you�re feeling better, we can get going.�

�Not yet.� She got to her feet. �It�s just getting interesting.� He watched in dismay as yet another high seemed to kick in, just as suddenly as the low had. The situation was getting out of hand, he realized. Like it or not, she was going to see An-Paj even if he had to drag her by the scruff of the neck. She bounded across the grass towards the railings.

�You all set then?� Jemmiah asked, a large smile spreading openly on her face.

�I think so,� grinned back the balding man, �we�re just looking for the best way to do this.� Jemmiah scanned the area quickly. �You want to make sure that you�re comfortable.� Her eyes alighted on a section of metal railing, in direct sunlight. The open smile became an evil grin.

�How about there?� She pointed. �You don�t want to be catching cold, do you?�

Jemmiah and the man�s brother helped to chain all eleven of the naturists to the railing, whilst Qui-Gon looked on in fascinated horror. �I think I�d better take the key.� She flashed her prettiest smile. �That way the only way they�ll get you away from the railings is with a lightsabre. And besides, we don�t want any cheating do we? This is a proper protest, isn�t it?�

Concurring, the key was handed dutifully over. Jemmiah�s grin widened.

�I think what we should be doing,� she indicated Qui-Gon, �is spreading the word. Tell as many people as possible what�s going on. Maybe get the reporters in, that sort of thing.� She waved a casual salute.

�We�ll be back later.�

Loping back to Qui-Gon with the key in her pocket, she hooked her arm through his and tried to hurry away. �C�mon, we�re going to find Kylenn. Or what�s left of her.�

Qui-Gon looked at her disapprovingly. �You know that they are going to get horribly sunburned where they are, strapped to that railing. It�ll be like being tied to a griddle. They�ll have stripes on their bodies for weeks!�

Jemmiah laughed.

�That�s nothing,� she said, fingering the key. �Just wait �till they find out about the ant hill they�re standing on!�

*******

�I can still smell burning.� Obi-Wan declared woozily.

Simeon sniffed the air. There WAS something�

�Yes. Maybe you�re right.� He looked at his friend. �Are you feeling any better?�

�Nope.�

�Nevermind.� He bit nervously at his fingernails, a habit he seemed to have picked up from these little dark-force vipers playing around him. "When Master Yoda is through with us, we�ll look back on how we feel now as a happy and positive experience.�

�I don�t think so, somehow.�

Simeon smiled a fraction, although the effort cost him some pain. His facial muscles were spasming every now and again, making him look like he had a nervous tick.

�That�s not that attitude.� Simeon frowned. �Look on the bright side. When Master Jinn and Master Windu are finished with us��

�There won�t be anything left of us for Yoda to have a go at.� Obi-Wan interrupted.

Sighing, Simeon agreed that it did seem a likely scenario. �Alternatively, Yoda might kill your master first.�

�That�s meant to make me feel better?� Obi-Wan asked miserably, unhappy at causing Qui-Gon such embarrassment.

�No,� Simeon thought for a while, �but it sure as hell makes me feel better.�

�Ohhh, sithhhhhh!� Groaned Obi-Wan, holding his stomach, trying to roll on his side. �I wish I was unconscious.�

�I wish you were unconscious.� Simeon agreed. �You�re doing nothing but moan.�

Kenobi glared. �Some friend you are. Call yourself a healer? You have the bedside manner of a sewer rodent.�

Simeon raised an eyebrow. �How many sewer rodents have you been to bed with? Hardly flattering your present young lady is it?�

�Shut up.� Kenobi groused.

�Temper, temper!� Cates remarked, wishing that horrible taste would leave his mouth. �I must put your current state of crankiness down to overindulgence and severe alcoholic poisoning.� He delved around in his robe. �I have a thermometer somewhere�ah, yes. Here we are.� He dazedly grabbed hold of what he thought was Obi-Wan�s limp wrist. �The bad news is, � he said eventually, �you haven�t got a pulse.�

�That�s your wrist.�

�Oh.� Simeon reconsidered. �The bad news is that I don�t have a pulse.� He shrugged slightly. �No worries. I�m making medical history as the first dead person to take someone�s temperature.�

�At least An-Paj knows a patient�s wrist from his own.� Kenobi grumbled.

�Just quit bleating, will ya.� Simeon hissed. �I�m going to take an anal reading.�

�YOU�RE WHAT!!!� Kenobi felt himself come fully conscious very rapidly.

Simeon looked surprised. �It�ll only take a moment. It won�t hurt. Not like that time you let Jemmiah wax your chest with those strips of��

�No WAY!�

�Awww, c�mon. It�s a question of mind over matter.� Simeon reassured Obi-Wan. �I don�t mind and you don�t matter.�

�You aren�t qualified to fetch the tea!� yelled Obi-Wan frantically.

�I�ve done one of these before.� Simeon said in his defense. �I�ll admit, the patient was a Wookie. It�s not my fault we lost the thermometer��

�Keep away from me.� Obi-Wan tried to slither away.

��We got it back eventually. � He grinned. �An-Paj was on hand with his rubber gloves.�

�I AM GETTING OUT OF HERE!� Kenobi felt himself beginning to hyperventilate.

�Don�t be such a baby. The kids are staring at you.�

�They�ll stare a lot more if you go anywhere near me with that implement.� He gulped, inching backwards.

�Relax, will you? I�ve got it in hand.�

�That�s what worries me!� Obi-Wan began to feel ill again.

�You are such a coward. Just lie back and say �Aaaahhh!�

Simeon made a move forward with the thermometer just as Obi-Wan moved back. Neither of them got very far. Each fell backwards, clasping hands to their heads, eyesight blurred. Obi-Wan felt as if the top of his skull had been sliced clean off and his brain were making a bid for freedom.

�OK� Gasped Simeon. �Bad idea.�

�You can say that again.� Kenobi said. �I feel so strange. One moment I�m fine, and then the next it feels as if there�s an invisible Gundark sitting on my face.�

They sat there, companions in misery, waiting for the world to end.

�I don�t think the sky should be that color.� Obi-Wan said, after a while.

�Hmmm.� Agreed Simeon, closing his eyes. Kenobi was right.

He could smell burning.

*******

Master Windu was having an unfruitful time. His initial idea of trying to speak to Qui-Gon regarding Jemmiah had completely lost its appeal. He�d decided that going back to Kenobi and Cates was also a bad idea, after his little outburst of panic.

And besides, the kids would just laugh at him.

Scratching at the back of his head and neck for what seemed like the thousandth time that afternoon, Mace had hired a mini transport within the grounds to get him quickly from point A to point B that much quicker. If he couldn�t help the others, then he could see what could be done for Bai and his initiates. He was probably only over-reacting. Drugged initiates in a zoo? It was about as unlikely as, say . . .

Drunken padawans in a zoo.

Gritting his teeth, Windu headed towards the duck pond. It hadn�t been an easy search so far. There were many ponds dotted all over the zoo.

And all of them had ducks.

Bai hadn�t exactly been overflowing in his description. Still, Mace thought, he had managed to narrow it down considerably. Bai had been sending out signals of desperation like a homing beacon, and that was what Mace was ranging in on now.

Finally, Windu spotted the little group. Complete with his little Alderaani mischief-maker of a runaway! Sith, was that kid in trouble. The rest of the group seemed to be asleep. Probably sunstroke thought Mace.

As he got nearer, he began to reevaluate the situation.

�Master Windu!� Bai shouted. �I thought everyone had forgotten us.� He looked as if he would drop to his knees and bow down infront of the Jedi Master out of relief and gratitude. �The kids won�t wake up, and this,� he indicated the Alderaani boy, �little monster has deactivated half the controls in the zoo, and now most of the animals are loose!�

As if on cue, a large reptilian growl seemed to reverberate from behind them.

�What in the name of Yoda was that?!� Windu yelled.

�I don�t know,� gulped Bai fearfully, �and I�m not terribly keen on finding out!�

�Don�t panic!� Windu said, as much to himself as to the padawan beside him. �Help me lift the initiates into the speeder, then we can get going.�

Sith, he hated the zoo. He hated it!

Bai was helping to load the last one into the back, when he thought he felt something tickling the back of his hand. Another shrill animal scream seemed to come from the bushes.

�Let�s get out of here!� He quaked.

�Don�t worry.� Mace tried to steady the younger man. �You�re all right as long as you keep calm. If you don�t show any fear then you�re� FORCEPRESERVEUS!!!�

Windu looked down at his hand. He had felt it become really itchy like his head and neck, just in the last ten minutes or so, and had been absently scratching away, when he�d noticed what appeared to be small insect like creatures disturbing the hairs on his wrist.

There were dozens of them!

The sermon he�d just given Bai on showing fear and remaining calm at al costs had just been shoved to one side completely. �What are they!?� Bai�s eyes rounded in distaste.

�Ticks!� Yelled Windu, flapping his arms about in horror, �Sith! They�re all over me! Get them off! Get them off!�

If Qui-Gon had been there, he could have told the amazed padawan about Mace Windu�s distaste for all things creepy-crawly, stemming from an incident during a meditation session in the temple gardens, when An-Paj had been called in to remove a large forktail stinger from his left nostril.

However, Windu was managing to adequately convey his terror all by himself. �Get them off! Sith! Those blasted Murrits! They must�ve been crawling�oh, Sith THEY�RE ON MY NECK! Hell�s teeth!�

Mace Windu did the only thing possible to him. He turned and dived headfirst into the duck pond, amidst great quacking and squawking and shedding of feathers. All the ducks took off further down the water to avoid the shrieking madman who had invaded their territory.

Arms flying like wet sails, Mace Windu scrubbed viciously at the back of his neck. He was going to kill that Alderaani kid!

Because he was soaking wet again for the second time in as many hours.

On reflection, he was glad that Qui-Gon wasn�t here to see it.