The human delegate sipped at his drink. "Go on."

Ogomoor leaned forward, feeling relief as his tail popped out from beneath his backside. "The Unity Council was on the verge of voting on whether or not to withdraw from the Republic when these Jedi offworlders arrived."

"I know." The man was not pleased. That, at least, was a good sign, Ogomoor felt. "That's the Senate for you. Always sending in a Jedi or two when their own obtuse directives get ignored. Serves them right. You'd think they would have come to expect it by now."

"These Jedi have nothing to do with Ansion," Ogomoor persisted. "The many peoples of this world, settlers as well as indigenous, have always acted independently and in their own interests."

The delegate raised his gla.s.s in mock salute. "Here's to the Republic, of which we're still a part. Sorry, Ogomoor, but our independence only extends so far."

"Not if we secede. Others will join our action."

"Yes." The human sighed. "I've read the fine print in the treaties. They make us more important than we would otherwise be. Hence the attention of the Jedi."

"How were you intending to vote?" Ogomoor did his best not to seem too interested.

His attempt at disinterest did not fool the delegate. "You'd like to know that, wouldn't you? You and your master the Hutt, and his a.s.sociates in galactic trade."

"Bossban Soergg has many friends, it is true." Ansionian eyes locked on human ones. "Not all are in business."

The delegate's expression, cordial enough up to now, sud denly turned withering. "Are you threatening me, Ogomoor? You and that overweight slug you call a boss?"

"Not at all," the visitor to the apartment replied quickly. "On the contrary, I am here to show my respect, as well as that of my bossban-and his a.s.sociates. As residents of Ansion, we are all concerned for the future of our world." He smiled again. "Just because a couple of Jedi have arrived here does not mean we should stand around in awed stupefaction."

The human's gaze narrowed. "What are you getting at?"

Ogomoor made a gesture of indifference. "Why should the Unity sit and founder while waiting for the Jedi to return? Suppose, for example, they do not come back from the plains. They have gone to try to influence the Alwari. Suppose the Alwari influence them?"

The human's expression showed that he had not considered this line of reasoning. "If the Jedi don't come back-or come back changed . . . You're saying that after talking with the Alwari, they might be persuaded to favor the nomad point of view?"

Ogomoor looked away. "I didn't say that at all. It's only that in the Jedi's absence, there is nothing to prevent the Unity Council from moving forward instead of sitting still. Are we of Ansion nothing more than mewling infants, to sit around and wait on the movements of offworlders-be they Jedi or not?"

Nodding slowly, the human finished the last of his drink in one long, cold swallow. "What would you have me do?"

Ogomoor sniffed through his single, broad nostril. "Call the council back into session. Take the vote. If the Jedi object to the result, let them file a complaint with the Senate. Ansion already has a government-free of outside influences. What could be the harm in taking the vote?"

"That it could be overturned by the Senate."

Ogomoor nodded understandingly. "Votes are harder to overturn once they have been taken. If the Jedi were here, there would be reason not to call for the vote. But-they are not here." He gestured toward the window and, by implication, the plains beyond. "They have gone. By choice."

The delegate was silent for a long moment. When at last he looked back up at his visitor, there was hesitation in his voice. "It won't be an easy thing, what you ask. The Armalat in particular will object, and you know what they can be like."

Ogomoor gestured significantly. "Time overcomes stub bornness. The longer the Jedi remain away from Cuipernam, the greater will be the erosion of confidence in their abilities among the other members of the council. My bossban and his friends are relying on your known powers of persuasion."

"I still-I don't know," the human murmured, clearly wavering.

"Your efforts will not go unappreciated." Ogomoor rose, glad to be able to abandon the uncomfortable, ill-fitting chair. "Think about it.

According to my bossban, changes are coming to the Republic. Changes beyond anything you or I can imagine." In pa.s.sing his host on the way to the door, he leaned close and lowered his voice. "I am a.s.sured it would be most advantageous to be on one side of these changes rather than the other."

The human did not see his guest out. He didn't have the time, having been left with too much to think about.

8.

The a.s.sault by the gairk had done no harm, Luminara re flected as they started across new prairie the following morning. It might even have done some good, alerting them to the fact that while they had left the minions of Barriss's would-be kidnapper behind, the planet Ansion presented dangers enough of its own.

While she and Obi-Wan rode on cloaked in the serenity that characterizes mature Jedi, their Padawans were less composed. The incident with the gairks had left them slightly jumpy. Despite their comfortable, high perches on the backs of their suu-batars, high above the gra.s.slands, they continued to regard everything that moved as a potential threat. Luminara observed Barriss's reactions with mild amus.e.m.e.nt while offering no comment. There was nothing like experience in the field to teach a budding Padawan when to jump and when to relax.

As for Anakin, at times he seemed almost eager for another attack, as if anxious for the opportunity to prove himself. Obi-Wan had spoken of the young man's skill with a lightsaber. But part of that skill, she knew, was knowing when not to use the weapon. Still, she found it hard to be critical of him. He wanted so badly to impress, to please.

The flock of ongun-nur provided an excellent lesson. They came swooping down out of the west, their enormous balloon-like wings darkening the sky. Anyone could have been excused for thinking that the huge flying creatures, with their long, rapierlike beaks and bright yellow eyes, represented a threat. At the sight of them commencing their dive, Anakin drew his lightsaber but did not activate it while Barriss made sure her own weapon was ready to draw.

The flock came steadily closer, making no attempt to swerve around the loping suubatars. Anakin's forefinger nervously caressed the on switch of his lightsaber. Unable to stand it any longer, Barriss urged her mount forward until she drew alongside her teacher.

"Master Luminara, shouldn't we be doing something?" She indicated the oncoming flock. "Those things, whatever they are, are heading straight for us."

Luminara gestured, not at the plummeting ongun-nur, but at Kyakhta. "Look at our guides, Barriss. Do they look apprehensive?"

"No, Master, but that doesn't mean they are unafraid."

"You need to study different sentients more, my dear. Ob serve the intelligent natives of any world and see how they react to possible danger. Trust your own senses. By all means, keep alert. But there is no need to jump to conclusions, either." Raising a hand, Luminara indicated the dark flock that was almost upon them. "Just because something is large and intimidating in appearance does not mean it is dangerous. Look how the wind buffets them about."

It was true, Barriss saw. For all their great size, the ongun-nur were riding the wind, not manipulating it. They were rushing toward the band of travelers not intending to attack, but hoping they would get out of the way. At the last instant, the great flying creatures were able to alter their angle of descent just enough to carry them past the oncoming riders. So close did they pa.s.s that Barriss and Anakin found themselves ducking involuntarily. As they did so, she saw that the wings were paper-thin and the huge bodies swollen with air instead of muscle. The ongun-nur went where the wind took them, unable to fly against it. Seeing the suubatars and their riders heading in their direction, the members of the flock had probably been more frightened of them than the riders had any right to be of the ongun-nur.

It was an instructive visitation, one whose lesson Barriss immediately committed, as always, to memory. From then on, she paid more attention to the reactions of their guides than to whatever phenomenon manifested itself in the sky or in the gra.s.s. Similarly, she felt justified in increasing her vigilance when Kyakhta and Bulgan began to slow while sitting up straighter in their saddles.

Topping a rise, they found themselves looking down at a slight depression in the prairie. A sizable but shallow lake had formed there. Except for the center, it was rilled with a peculiar spotted, multijointed, bluish reed. At one end of the lake an encampment had been established. A temporary corral held domesticated dorgum and larger, heavy-humped awiquod. Smoke rose from collapsible huts fashioned from imported composite materials. Each hut was tiled with anamorphic solar material that converted Ansion's abundant sunlight directly into power.

Luminara and Obi-Wan rode up to flank Kyakhta and Bulgan. Their guides were leaning forward to peer around the heads of their mounts as they contemplated the camp.

"Borokii?" Luminara asked hopefully.

"By the style of their camp, I would say they are Yiwa," Kyakhta informed her, "of the Qiemo Adrangar. Not an unim portant clan, such as the Eijin or Gaxun, but not an overclan like the Borokii or the Januul, either."

"If they have power," Obi-Wan wondered as he examined the solar huts, "why the need for campfires?"

"Tradition." Bulgan swiveled his crooked form around to fo cus his good eye on the man mounted next to him. "By now you should know, Jedi, how important that is to the Alwari-and to the success of your mission."

Obi-Wan accepted the mild reminder gracefully. A correction added to one's store of knowledge. It was a thing to be grateful for, not something to take offense at.

Kyakhta pointed. "They come to greet us. The Yiwa are a proud clan. They are constantly on the move, even more so than many of the Alwari. They may have news of the overclan Borokii for us-if they are willing to part with it."

"Why wouldn't they?" Luminara asked directly.

Bulgan blinked his one eye. "The Yiwa are a touchy people, quick to take offense."

"Then we'll be on our best behavior." Obi-Wan turned in his saddle.

"Won't we, Anakin?"

His Padawan frowned uncertainly. "Why are you all looking at me?"

The Yiwa came pounding up the slight slope mounted on sadains. Stocky and powerful, the four-legged steeds had round faces with four eyes. In contrast to the suubatar, they boasted long, high ears that flared widely at the top. Unlike the swift suubatar, the sadain was built for pulling and for endurance, not for speed over distance. Those remarkable ears, Obi-Wan reflected as he saw the sunlight shine redly through their blood- rich membranes, would also serve to detect the presence of stalking shanhs and other potential predators of the Yiwa herds.

The welcoming party slowed. There were a dozen of them, decked out in suitably barbaric finery. Homemade bells and polished teeth taken from some of Ansion's less benign fauna alternated with flash colorpans and the latest glowals imported from other worlds of the Republic. The riders had painted their individual manes in a riot of colors and patterns, and the bare skin on either side at the top of each Yiwa head was tattooed in intricate traditional Ansionian patterns. Their appearance was a vivid melange of the long-established and the contemporary-exactly what one would expect on a world like Ansion.

Two of them held comlinks that doubtless kept them in con stant contact with the camp, while several of the riders pointedly displayed weapons that were anything but primitive.

Having the advantage of a much higher seat, Kyakhta nudged his suubatar forward a couple of paces and identified himself and his companions. The Yiwa listened stonily. Then one wearing a cape fashioned from two arc-striped shanh skins kicked his equally well-decorated sadain forward. His bulging red-brown eyes traveled suspiciously between Alwari and offworlders. Luminara expected initial comments to be directed at her or her fellow humans. She was wrong. The crash training in the most frequently spoken local vernacular she and her companions had received prior to being dispatched to Ansion now proved its worth. The Yiwa dialect was harsh, but not incomprehensible.

"I am Mazong Yiwa. What are clanless ones doing riding suubatars?"

Kyakhta swallowed. Obi-Wan was shocked at the ease and speed with which the heretofore confident guide was intimidated.

"We beg your understanding, Highborn Mazong. Through no faults of our own, my friend and I," he indicated Bulgan, "have been forced to travel the trail of the outcast. We suffered greatly, and have only recently been restored to health, if not clan, by these wise and generous offworlders. They are representatives of the galactic Republic itself, come to treat with the over-clan Borokii."

Leaning to his right, Mazong spit deliberately at the foot of Kyakhta's suubatar. The great animal did not move. Anakin started to tense but, seeing his Master apparently unconcerned, did his best to appear likewise.

"The matter of your casting out remains unknown to us. Why should we believe you, or invite you to partake of our hospitality?"

"If not us," Bulgan responded, "then do so for our friends. They are Jedi Knights."

There was a stir among the welcoming party. Luminara re membered what they had been told in Cuipernam. While the Al wari nomads chose to hew to their traditional way of life, that did not mean they were primitive or eschewed modern conveniences. The comlinks and solar-powered homes, the blaster rifles and sidearms they displayed, were proof enough of that.

Mazong's gaze roved among the humans. As he carried out his inspection, he shaded his eyes with one limber, three-fingered hand. Because of the protruding, convex nature of their eyes, Ansionians could not squint. In fact, Luminara had discovered in the marketplace, when the feat was performed by a human or another sighted creature capable of it, any Ansionian close enough to observe it would wince noticeably. The thought of squeezing an eyelid partway shut induced in them the same reaction a human would have upon being forced to listen to fingernails dragging across a piece of slate.

"I have heard of the Jedi." The leader of the Yiwa band kept his hands on the circlet of flexible metal that looped through the b.u.mp of cartilage above the huge single nostril of his sadain. "They are said to be honorable people. Unlike so many of those they work for." When none of the humans chose to react to this spur-of-the-moment provocation, Mazong grunted approvingly.

"If you seek an overclan, why trouble the Yiwa with your presence?"

Behind him, his clanfolk stirred expectantly.

"You know how the Borokii move about, and how they would react to being tracked by machines." Kyakhta held his suubatar steady.

Mazong laughed, and several of his supporters smiled. "They would blow them out of the sky, along with any who came after them."

"Haja," Bulgan agreed. "So we seek them out in the time-honored way." He indicated the community by the lake. "A fine camp, but as usual, a temporary one. It is ever such for the Yiwa, as for all Alwari. In your recent traveling, have you come across any of the overclan?"

Trotting forward, a magnificently bedecked female whispered into one of Mazong's aural cavities. Indicating under standing, he looked back up at the visitors.

"This is no place for conversation. Come down to our camp. We will eat, and talk, and consider your needs." Looking past the two guides, he locked eyes with Luminara. "An agreeable color, blue. No indication of whether the individual behind it is likewise." Turning, he urged his sadain to a gallop. Yelling and waving their weapons, his clanfolk followed him.

The visitors trailed at a more sedate pace. "It doesn't seem too promising, Master." Having grown used to the staid attire of urban Ansionians, Barriss found herself captivated by the Yiwa's purposefully wild appearance.

"On the contrary, Padawan, a good merchant knows that getting a foot in the door before the servomotors can slam it shut is half the battle in making a sale."

They were guided to a transitory central square that had been created by placing half a dozen of the self-erecting huts in a semicircle facing the lake. Laughing and squealing children appeared from nowhere to flank the group, while the youthful equivalents of Anakin and Barriss stared in obvious envy at the two Padawans. Anakin did his best to stifle any incipient feelings of superiority. It was an ongoing problem with him that Obi-Wan had been at pains to point out on more than one occasion.

Their suubatars were taken away amid mutterings of admira tion for such first-cla.s.s mounts. Luminara had a momentary concern for their supplies, but Kyakhta rea.s.sured her.

"We are officially guests now, Master. To steal anything from us would be to breach ancient traditions of hospitality. The thief would be cast out permanently-if not fed to the shanhs. Worry not for your belongings."

She put a hand on his arm. "Forgive me for not trusting you, Kyakhta. I know you would have said something if there was any reason for concern."

They were led to the edge of the lake. A section of reeds had been cleared away to provide a clear view across the tranquil body of water.

Small b.a.l.l.s of black fluff darted among the reeds, chirping like runaway alarms. Intricately woven mats topped with thickly padded cushions had been set out on the bare ground. While the adults went about their business and children barely coming into their manes watched silently from a respectful distance, Mazong and two advisers sat cross-legged opposite their guests. Food and drink were provided. Luminara took one sip of the dark green liquid placed before her and immediately choked on the spicy concoction. A concerned Barriss was at her side in an instant.

Mazong grinned, then smiled, and finally had to place a long-fingered hand over his face to cover his muted laughter. His advisers did little better. The ice was broken, and none was the wiser for knowing that the Jedi had tolerated the strong local liquor without difficulty, only to fake her reaction for the very purpose of putting their hosts at ease.

That did not mean, however, that by gagging embarra.s.sedly she had instantly gained their friendship and a.s.sistance.

One of the advisers, an elderly female whose sweeping arch of a mane had gone entirely gray, leaned forward. "Why should we help you find the overclan?" This antic.i.p.ated question allowed Obi-Wan to launch into an explanation of their purpose in coming to Ansion. The Yiwa listened quietly, occasionally bending to eat or drink from the modest meal that had been set out before them.

When the Jedi had finished, the two advisers caucused, then whispered something to Mazong. He indicated agreement and turned back to the guests.

"Like all the Alwari, we dislike and remain ever suspicious of the motives of the city folk, even though we all do business with the Unity.

What you ask would change relationships on our world forever." Raising a hand, he forestalled Luminara's comment. "However-that is not necessarily a bad thing. Time changes everything, and even the Alwari must adapt. But before we will ever agree to do so, we must have guarantees that our rights to our traditional way of life will be protected. We know there have been previous visitations by representatives of the Senate. Those we do not, and will never, trust. As for the Jedi"-once again Luminara found him staring at her-"we have heard that they are different. That they are honorable. That they are highbred. If you can prove this to us, to our satisfaction, then we will feel secure enough to at least point you in the direction of the Borokii."

Luminara and Obi-Wan whispered while their guides and the two Padawans looked on. When the older Jedi separated, it was Luminara who spoke.

"Ask of us what you will, n.o.ble Mazong, and if it is within our power to comply, we'll certainly do so."

Exclamations of satisfaction came from the chief and his advisers. What kind of proof do they want? Barriss found herself wondering. What kind of a.s.surance could offworlders give to natives that would convince them of the genuine good intentions of their visitors?

Unsurprisingly, it was not what she would have expected.

Rising, Mazong gestured toward the camp. "Tonight we will have a proper feast. There will be entertainment. Among the Alwari, it is traditional for guests to provide it. We have never heard of representatives of your Senate deigning to do this. To us, this says that they have no souls. If the Jedi can show us that they, like the Yiwa, also have souls, then the Yiwa will believe they possess what their politicians are lacking."

Barriss's lower jaw dropped. To her surprise, Luminara was smiling agreeably. "We will meet your terms, n.o.ble Mazong. But I must warn you: aesthetics are not the first thing a Jedi masters. You may find our presentations less polished than those of your usual guests."

All but openly affable now, Mazong stepped forward to place a hand on her head. The long fingers reached to the back of her neck. "Whatever you do, it will have the virtue of novelty. For now, though, I have only one question, that has troubled me since first you arrived."

Looking up at the Yiwa, she felt only slightly concerned. "What is it?"

"Why," he asked frankly, "do you tattoo your chin and under-lip instead of the top of your head, as is proper?"

Intensely curious about everything around her, Luminara was struck by the flickering light from the portable glowrods that illuminated the mock central square. Nor was she shy in asking Mazong about the phenomenon.

"If you like, my friends and I can try to fix those lighting devices.

Their internal schematics are fairly simple."