By:  John Whitman Published by Bantam Books February 1998 The Sikadian Garden on Sk'rrr is full of beautiful plants and flowers . . . and some other, not-so-pretty things.  There are also shreevs, batlike creatures that swoop down and feast on beetles.  Big beetles with biting mouths. When Zak accidentally kills one of the shreevs, he doesn't think its such a big deal.  He was just defending himself, after all. But then Zak wakes up in the middle of the night, covered in beetles. And an Imperial officer turns up dead . . . smothered by bugs. Zak knows that this is not prime.  There are beetles everywhere!  Did he upset the garden's ecological balance when he killed the shreev?  And is there any way to stop the swarm?

    The morning mist was already lifting and the sun had started to warm the ground.  To his surprise, Zak found Tash and Hoole already up and sitting on the grass outside the ship.  Bowls and containers were laid out in front of them.
    "There you are!" Tash called.  "Since the ship's power isn't working, and it's such a nice day, we thought we'd have a picnic of leftovers."
    Zak plopped himself down beside his sister and picked up a bowl.  If was full of leftover Circarpian snake eggs.  They were cold, but scrambled just the way he liked them, and Zak dug in.
    As he put the eggs in his mouth, he felt something wriggle against his lips.
    Dropping his spoon, he looked into his bowl.  A drog beetle was digging its way out of his breakfast.