center of the herd, past thousands of closely packed animals, any one of which could turn on the intruder at any moment. A single snort of alarm might be enough to set them off. Once deep within the herd, there would be no chance of escaping from a stampede. An intruder would go down beneath thousands of hooves and a million tons of surepp mass.
She wasn't the only one who was stumped for a solution to the problem. 'We'll come back here at evening time, just before sunset,' Obi-Wan informed their host. 'At least,' he muttered more softly, 'whatever we eventually try and whoever tries it will have a better chance of locating one of the albino animals when the members of the herd have clustered together for the night.'
'And since we're not allowed to use advanced technology, we'll need a Borokii knife.' Luminara spoke absently, as if her thoughts were focused elsewhere. 'To cut the wool.'
Back in the visitors' house, there was much discussion of possible ways to get around the council's stipulation. Getting around it seemed the most practical approach, since fulfilling the request as put forward seemed, on the face of it, unachievable. Numerous suggestions were proposed, debated, and just as rapidly discarded. The approach of evening found them no nearer a clear-cut solution than when they had begun talking.
With Bayaar once more guiding them, they returned to the outskirts of the provisional corral. Much to his distress, the sentinel had been appointed to take charge of and see to the needs of the visitors. No diplomat, he was uncomfortable with the assignment, but resigned himself to carrying it out to the best of his ability.
A considerable source of his unease arose from the stipula tion the council had placed on the strangers. He found that he rather liked the squinty-eyed offworlders. It would make him unhappy to see any of them injured, or worse, trampled to death. He could not see how they were going to fulfill the council's requirement without that coming to pass. Perhaps, he thought, they would simply accede to the hopelessness of the situation, have a pleasant but inconsequential meeting with the elders, and continue on their way.
He could not read their alien expressions, but those of their guides did not lead him to believe that the offworlders possessed some special magic that was going to enable them to fulfill the council's demand.
Standing close to the fence line, the visitors studied the assembled surepp attentively. Herded together for the night, the burly, powerful animals were already beginning to settle down. Settling down, however, did not mean they were unaware of or indifferent to their surroundings. A single bellow by one would be enough to alert every fellow surepp to any perceived danger.
Having learned of the demand that had been placed on the visitors, a small crowd had gathered, more hopeful of seeing a trampling than anything else. Though it was beneath a warrior of Bayaar's stature, others of his clan had no hesitation about placing bets on the chances of the strangers' success. The only problem was that those wagering against the visitors had to give long odds in order to get any action at all.
He frowned. What was the taller female doing? Removing her outer clothes struck him as a most peculiar approach to en tering the densely packed herd. If he was the one about to attempt the suicidal endeavor, he would want to have on as many layers of clothing as possible, to protect himself from thrusting horns, pounding feet, and the hard ground itself.
When the female finally finished, she was wearing only her strange, alien undergarments. In the light of the setting sun, he found them most peculiar. Still, they no doubt suited such an oddly formed biped. Concern for his guests was almost outweighed by his curiosity to see what they were going to do next.
Obi-Wan stood looking into his colleague's eyes while arguing quietly with her. 'I don't think this is a very good idea, Luminara.'
'Neither do I, Master,' Barriss added apprehensively.
Luminara nodded, glanced across at the last member of their little group. 'And what about you, Anakin? You haven't said anything since I ventured the idea.'
Asked for his opinion, the tall Padawan didn't hesitate. 'I couldn't do it, that's for sure. It sounds crazy.'
Luminara smiled. 'But you know that I'm not crazy, don't you, Anakin?'
He nodded. 'When I was a child, I did plenty of things that were called crazy. Everybody thought I was crazy to take part in professional Podracing. But I did, and I'm still alive.' He stood a little taller. 'The Force was with me.'
'Luck was with you,' Barriss murmured tartly, but so low that no one else could hear.
'So you think I should go ahead with this?' Luminara asked him.
Anakin hesitated. 'It's not for me to say. If Obi-Wan agrees…' His voice trailed off without finishing.
She turned her attention back to the other Jedi. 'Obi-Wan has already said he doesn't think it's a very good idea. Does Obi-Wan have a better idea?'
The Jedi hesitated for the briefest of instants, then gave a slight shrug. 'I tend to side with Barriss in this-but no, I don't have a better idea.'
'We need that piece of wool if we're going to get the Borokii to listen to us.'
'I know, I know.' Obi-Wan looked unhappy. 'Are you sure you can do this, Luminara?'
'Of course I'm not sure I can.' As she spoke, she was making certain the sharp, ceremonial Borokii knife Bayaar had loaned her was securely fastened to her narrow waistband. 'But like you, I can't think of anything else to try. This is the best I could come up with.' She smiled reassuringly. 'We can't convince the Council of Elders to persuade the rest of the Alwari to agree to our position if we never get to speak to them.'
'While your death might convince them of our sincerity, and of the importance the Republic attaches to our mission here, that's still no guarantee they'll agree to listen to the rest of us.'
'Then you'll find other ways of convincing them of our sin cerity,' she told him. Reaching out, she put a hand on his shoulder. 'Whatever happens here, now, may the Force be with you always, Obi-Wan Kenobi.'
Stepping closer, he gave her a firm hug. 'Not only will the Force be with me, Luminara Unduli, I expect you to be with me for a while longer yet as well.' He indicated their Padawans. 'You wouldn't go and leave me with not one but two Padawans to look after, would you?'
Her smile broadened. 'I think you would manage to cope with the challenge, Obi-Wan.'
