Bulgan observed the proceedings in silence. Only when the formalities had been concluded did he venture to inquire, while swatting away a hovering green-winged pekz, 'What are you going to do now?'
Luminara turned to him. 'We have secured an agreement with the Unity of Community to make peace with the nomads, if the Al-wari will consent to share a percentage of their traditional lands with the city folk. In return, the city folk will agree to provide the Alwari with all manner of advanced goods and services, and will not try to intrude on or otherwise alter the time-honored Alwari way of life. Each will respect the other and the Senate will stay, insofar as it is possible for bureaucrats to do so, out of Ansionian affairs. In return, An-sion will remain within the Republic, which will ensure its economic and political independence from the Commerce Guild. Among others.' Her tone darkened. 'Ansion will not become another Naboo.'
Kyakhta scratched at the bare skin of his neck, careful not to irritate the explosive still buried there. 'Sounds complicated to me.'
'So it is,' Obi-Wan admitted. 'More complicated than should be necessary. But that's the way of things these days.'
'Do you think the Alwari will accede to such a proposal?' Barriss was watching her friends and the crowd simultaneously.
The two nomads exchanged a look. 'It depends on how it is put to them,' Kyakhta finally decided. 'If you can get the most prominent of the overclans, the Borokii, to agree, the others will follow their lead and fall into line. Among the Alwari, it has always been so.'
Luminara nodded thoughtfully. 'Then we must get their representatives to come to Cuipernam so we can talk with them in person.'
Bulgan started to laugh, stopped when he saw that the Jedi was serious. 'No chieftain of the Borokii will come within a hundred huus of Cuipernam, or any other city of the Unity. They don't trust the city folk, or their representatives. I speak now as a Tasbir of the Southern Hatagai. Albeit,' he added painfully, 'one who is presently clanless.'
Leaning toward Obi-Wan, Luminara whispered something that soon had the other Jedi smiling and nodding. She turned back to Barriss's new friends. 'If you are clanless,' she said sternly, 'it means you have nowhere to go. No responsibilities, no place to call home.'
'Haja, that is all too true,' Kyakhta exclaimed mournfully. 'One who is clanless is as rootless as the blowing irgkul bush.'
'Then,' she continued, winking at Barriss, 'you're free to work for us, to lead us to the Borokii.'
'Ou, I suppose we…' Kyakhta paused, blinked, and stared back at the Jedi. As he did so, his mouth parted slightly, the thin lips moving farther and farther apart, showing more and more whiteness of tooth. 'You mean-you would take on two such clanless ones as Bulgan and myself as your guides? Even after what we did to your Padawan?'
'That's in the past,' Luminara told him. 'And besides, Bar riss says it wasn't really your fault, and that you're cured. I accept her conclusion on that.'
'Guides for Jedi! Us!' Bulgan could hardly believe the change in their fortunes that had taken place in a single day- from working for a slime-tracker like Bossban Soergg to escorts for Jedi Knights.
The ever-wary Anakin leaned close to Obi-Wan. 'Master, do you think it wise to place our trust and requirements in such as these?'
Obi-Wan pursed his lips. 'I sense no danger in these two.'
'Neither did Barriss,' Anakin pointed out sagaciously, 'until they abducted her.'
'That was before she performed her healing. I think we shall be well looked after by this grateful pair. And they offer us an advantage we could not have hoped to obtain from the city folk: being Alwari themselves, they should find the right path and make the eventual necessary introductions as well or better than any others we could hire here in Cuipernam.'
Anakin mulled this over. 'Are in the final analysis all relationships between sentients ultimately reduced to politics of one kind or another, Master Obi-Wan?'
'It is thought so by many. Hence my continual attempts to hammer into you the basic principles of skillful diplomacy. Who knows? One day they might serve you in personal as well as professional relationships.'
That thought was sufficient to quiet the Padawan, and to set him on an entirely unrelated line of thinking. Meanwhile, the two older Jedi discussed details with their new guides as together they strode from the crowded square.
'The first thing,' Luminara declared, 'is to have these wicked devices removed from beneath your respective scalps.'
'I know a healer who can do it in minutes, and will not be afraid to, now that they have been deactivated.' Kyakhta flashed bright, sharp teeth at Barriss. 'He is a fine craftsman, but he would never even have thought of treating us-before. To do so would have meant incurring the wrath of Bossban Soergg.'
'Good.' Luminara sidestepped a trio of wandering Mielps, bent down beneath the weight of shopping bags nearly as large as themselves. 'Then we can hire a landspeeder, and proceed to-'
'No, no!' Bulgan cautioned her. 'No landspeeders. We must take with us as few examples of galactic technology as possible. All Alwari are die-hard traditionalists. As you already know, this argument between them and the people of the towns centers largely on differences between long- established customs and new ways of doing things, of living. If you wish to gain the trust of the Borokii, to prove from the beginning that you do not favor the city folk, then you must approach them with reverence for the old ways.'
Obi-Wan nodded amiably. 'Very well then. No landspeeders. How do we travel?'
'For traversing the great prairies, there are many riding animals that are suitable.'
Anakin made a face. 'Animals!' He'd always been far more comfortable working with machines. If they gave him enough time and access to sufficient equipment and spare parts, he could have built them a vehicle that would perform as required. But the native had been insistent-no landspeeders.
'By far the best is the suubatar.' Kyakhta's enthusiasm was palpable. 'If you can afford them, they are the
