Ogomoor would be able to report back that, besides Kandah, Fargane and at least one other delegate would be likely to vote in favor of withdrawal from the Republic. The votes of the others were not yet a certainty. The transposition of certain large sums of credits to untraceable banking accounts might yet have to take place prior to the formal vote in order to ensure that Ansion opted for secession.
In the interim, he and his bossban had little else to worry about. Because to all intents and purposes, the Qulun Baiuntu was doing his work very well indeed.
Morning saw the group of fast-moving travelers slow as Kyakhta rejoined them. The guide had ridden on slightly ahead. Now he returned at a gallop, visibly excited, bulging eyes aglow.
'Found them!' he announced proudly as he turned his suubatar. He extended his artificial arm to point. 'Just over the next rise.'
'At last,' Luminara murmured. 'You're certain it's the Borokii?'
The Alwari gestured emphatically. 'No mistaking it, Master Luminara. They are in full ceremonial camp, pennants flying. The overclan Borokii, most influential of all the Alwari clans.'
In truth, it was a more impressive sight than any of them had expected. Having been exposed to the nomad encampments of the Yiwa and the Qulun, the travelers believed they had some idea of what to expect. Neither of those previous encounters prepared them for what greeted their eyes as their suubatars topped the crest of the low ridge.
Spread out before them were not dozens of recently unfolded and erected portable structures, but hundreds. Several boasting sophisticated energy arrays for the generation of power must have required dozens of draft animals to pull them, Luminara reflected. Thousands of Borokii of all ages milled about within the vast, elaborate camp. Beyond, uncountable thousands of herd animals grazed peacefully within perimeters patrolled by sadain-mounted handlers. The din of their passive moaning and mewling, a kind of rising urrr noise, dominated the sounds of the camp. Here, just as they had been told, resided the supreme power of the Alwari. Where the Borokii led, the rest of the Alwari would follow.
'Surepp,' Bulgan explained in response to her query con cerning the herd. 'Males are the blue ones with the darker neck ruffs and coiled antlers, females are green and slightly larger but without the ruffs.'
Sitting up straight in her saddle, she let her gaze rove over the impressive panorama. 'I've never seen an animal with three
eyes lined up vertically like that, instead of in the usual horizontal position.'
'Top eye keeps watch for flying predators, middle eye tracks fellow surepp, and the bottom eye monitors the ground for food and obstacles.' Bulgan shifted in his seat, the side of his face with the one good eye leaning, as always, slightly forward. 'That way the surepp miss nothing.'
'I see. I suppose it makes sense for an animal that's standing still, but they must have terrible peripheral vision.'
The guide nodded. 'That is so, but they don't need it. When you almost always have another surepp on either side of you plus others in front and back, you don't have to see from side to side. Only up and down.'
'What about the ones who find themselves pushed to the edge of the herd?'
'They can turn their heads to see to the side, and use their sense of smell. They can still see from side to side, just not as well as a dorgum or awiquod. Because of their numbers, surepp are much harder for hunters like the shanh to take than dorgum or awiquod, which are more likely to graze slightly apart from one another.' He nudged his mount forward, and the suubatar broke into a slow walk. 'That's why the richer clans like the Borokii prefer them.'
'What are they good for?' Barriss asked from nearby.
'Everything. Meat, milk, hides, wool. Their teeth and antlers were once used to make tools. Nowadays, those kind of utensils are imported, so the bony material is used for expensive handicrafts.' He smiled. 'I'm sure you'll see examples of everything once we're inside the camp.'
Up in the lead, Kyakhta raised his long-fingered prosthetic. 'Riders are coming.'
Unsurprisingly, there were six of them, six by now being readily recognized by the travelers as a number of significance for all Ansionians. More richly attired than Yiwa or Qulun, their lightweight armor gleamed in the sun. Two of the pickets held poles of imported carbonite composite atop which the Borokii standard snapped briskly in the morning breeze. In addition to traditional long knives, two of them wore Malarian laser pistols. Clearly, at least some of what they had heard about the overclans was true, Luminara saw. The Borokii had wealth, and the acumen to know how to spend it.
Curiosity overcoming his natural reserve, the leader of the half a dozen riders impelled his equally impressively attired sadain forward, halting in front of the lead suubatars. The considerable difference in the heights of their respective mounts forced him to look up at the visitors. To his credit, he did not seem in the least intimidated. He was also, Luminara decided, openly friendly- at least on the surface. But then, she knew, the powerful can afford to be magnanimous.
'Greetings, offworlders and friends.' The Borokii briefly pressed one hand across his eyes and the other over his chest. 'I am Bayaar of the Situng Borokii. Welcome to our camp. What do you wish of the overclan?'
While Obi-Wan explained their purpose, Luminara continued to study the pickets. Looking for any indication of hostile in tent, she found only confidence and a professional readiness. Unlike the Yiwa, for example, these people were not suspicious or afraid of strangers. With thousands of fellow clanfolk to back them up, they didn't have to be. That did not mean they were indifferent to potential threats, or lazy. While their leader listened courteously to Obi-Wan, the members of his troop sat imperiously in their saddles. But their eyes were always moving.
Bayaar did not have to retire to mull a response when Obi- Wan had finished. 'This is not something to which I can speak. I am an outrider-a sentinel, and sentinels do not make decisions of such magnitude.'
Obi-Wan smiled in that slight, knowing way of his and nodded understandingly. 'As a kind of sentinel myself, I appreciate your position.'
'We will convey the news of your arrival, as well as your reasons for seeking out the Borokii, to the Council of Elders. Meanwhile, I invite you to follow me, and experience Borokii hospitality.' So saying, he neatly turned his mount and started back down the gentle slope toward the bustling, milling encampment. Splitting up, the rest of his troop assumed flanking positions on either side of the line of visitors. They were an escort, Luminara saw,
