Sheba was walking along the perimeter of the encampment when she heard voices. Curious, she strained her ears.

"Oooh, that feels so good, Thenie- you have such talented fingers." Cassie's voice, followed by giggles... what the frack? She paused for a moment to consider, then slipped through the bushes to see what was going on.

Athena and Cassie were seated on the ground in a pool of sunlight, which reflected in bright shimmers off the shallow creek that supplied the camp. Athena's hair hung in lank, gooey strings, and she was massaging a similar substance into Cassie's hair.

"What the frack are you two up to?" Sheba asked, utterly puzzled. Both women jumped.

"Oh, Sheba- we didn't hear you approach," Athena said, pausing in her ministrations to refill her hands with goo from a bowl.

"Don't stop!" Cassie protested, with a cool smile for Sheba. "And how are you today, Sheba?"

"Wondering what's up with the goo."

"It's honey," Cassie replied, leaning back as Athena resumed her rubbing. "It's an ancient beauty treatment- makes your hair beautiful and soft, simply irresistable."

"Really? I've never heard of that." Sheba knelt down to examine the bowl. Sure enough, it was honey. "Doesn't it make your hair all sticky? And how does it come out, anyway?"

"With soap and water, of course." Athena answered shortly. She gave more attention than was necessary to rubbing the sticky sweet stuff into Cassie's hair. She didn't much care for Sheba, and that last stunt she'd pulled- first having Apollo recalled from his vacation, then falsely accusing her brother of mistreating her- still had her thoroughly riled. Athena very rarely was willing to forgive and forget, especially if an incident involved her family.

"And you say it makes your hair irresistably soft and shiny?" She stuck a finger into the bowl. Honey clung to the finger, and she raised it, watching the golden ooze drip back into the bowl.

"Yes, it does," Cassie smiled. She'd just had a rather wicked thought, involving Sheba and honey- but not her hair. Hmm... wonder if there was any local wildlife which was interested in honey? She'd heard of an old trick, where you could put honey in a sleeper's tent and attract local critters to pay an unwelcome visit... Hmm. "Why don't you try some?"

"I think I will. What do I do with it?"

"Well, first you put it in your hair..." The sarcastic bite of Athena's voice made Sheba bristle.

"Thenie! Be nice." Cassie almost succeeded in not giggling- almost. "Just work it into your hair real well, then let it sit for at least ten centons. Then wash it out, and when it dries, your hair will look and feel great."

"Okay, then..." Sheba took a glob of the stuff and smeared it into her hair. Yuck. It felt nasty. This stuff had better work... She wished Apollo would be here to see the results, but he was gone. Adama, that old fool, insisted that his communicator was broken, but Sheba knew better- the old goat just didn't want her to break off his son's holiday with his precious Starbuck.

Hair thoroughly coated, Sheba consulted her chronometer and moved off a bit. Cassie and Athena were murmuring quietly, heads close together, so Sheba found a tree to lean against. It was so pleasant there in the warm sunlight...

She had actually begun to doze off when Sheba noticed a persistant tickle on her scalp. She reached up to scratch it, but it started to sting. Then several more stinging, fiery points appeared on her scalp.

"What the frack!" she yelled, slapping at her head and neck. Small crawling things were all over her.

"Oh good Lords-" Athena gasped, then doubled over with laughter.

"Sheba! You're covered in fire-ants!" Cassie won the struggle not to giggle this time. "Quick- put your head in the stream!"

But Sheba didn't seem to hear her. The ants, attracted by the smell of the honey, had crawled off the tree trunk and made themselves at home on her shoulders, on her neck, in her hair... and they took a dim view of someone trying to remove them. Sheba jumped and hollered and beat futilely at the ants, while they bit and Athena howled. Finally Cassie managed to get through to Sheba that she needed to get in the water, and Sheba jumped right in. She splashed and thrashed, shedding ants in all directions.

By now, the noise had drawn a crowd. Many people- some concerned, some openly amused- were there to witness the sight of Sheba emerging from the creek, dripping wet and with angry red welts all over her face, neck, and shoulders. She glared indiscriminately about and plucked a strand of waterweed from behind her ear.

"What are you all laughing at? I don't see anything funny here! Go away, all of you!"

With many a snicker and a grin, the crowd dispersed. Cassie took a moment to rinse her own hair clean, then stifled her giggles and took charge of Sheba.

"Come with me, I'll get something to ease those bites..." She led Sheba away.

Athena wiped tears of mirth from her eyes and stuck her head in the creek to rinse the honey out. Her brother would have loved to see that!