Tolut hesitated, at first uncertain if the Jedi was making fun of him.

When he realized that the compliment was meant honestly, and came from the heart, his glower softened and his demeanor changed.

"Perhaps we of the Unity can work with you." A hint of his earlier belligerence threatened a return despite the lesson that had just been imparted. "But working with the Alwari is something else."

Leaning toward Anakin, Obi-Wan whispered softly. "And that, my young Padawan, was a demonstration of what is known as dynamic diplomacy."

Skywalker nodded briefly. "Example noted, Master." He studied the tranquil, beautiful face of Luminara Unduli afresh. He did not notice the "I-told-you-so" look on Barriss"s face. Her expression strayed dangerously close to a smirk.

Wiping a last tear of amus.e.m.e.nt from the corner of one eye, Ranjiyn strove to recapture the serious tone that had preceded the watery demonstration. "It doesn"t matter what you do. A thousand tapcaf tricks will not persuade the Alwari to allow us to jointly exploit the prairies.

That is the only way we of the Unity will agree to remain bound by Republic law; if we are treated as equals everywhere on the planet, and not like people who are hemmed in forever in our towns. As it stands, the Alwari dominate by far the great bulk of the land, while we control the cities. If they are going to run bleating to the Senate every time we try to expand, then we are better off outside the Republic and free of its endless, pestiferous rules and regulations."

"It seems to me that would mean interminable local war,"

Anakin spoke out. At a look from Obi-Wan he thought further and added, "Or at least some form of continuous, running con flict between you and the Alwari."

"It would be debilitating for both of you," Barriss added as Luminara looked on approvingly.

From his seat, the tall, elder human male gestured resignedly. "Anything is better than being forced to bow beneath oppressive regulations that take a hundred years just to get out of committee. We have been a.s.sured by friends that if we were to announce our secession from the Republic, the kind of aid that we truly need-and that the Senate does not provide-would be readily forthcoming."

"What friends?" Obi-Wan inquired pleasantly. His tone made it sound as if the answer was of no particular consequence, but Anakin knew differently.

He could see the slight tenseness in his Master"s posture.

Whether the Ansionian representative detected it or not they never knew.

In any event, he did not supply names.

Luminara filled the pause that ensued. "Anything may be better-except peace." She eyed each of the skeptical representatives in turn. "In our capacity as representatives of the Jedi Council, we have a proposition for you. If we can get the Alwari to agree to share dominion over half or more of the prairie lands they presently control, and to allow you to develop some of the resources that lie within those lands, will the people of the Unity agree to abide by the Republic law under which they have always lived, and to forget this dangerous talk of secession?"

At this unexpected and extraordinary offer, the delegates fell to murmuring among themselves. Their tone, their expressions, and their repressed excitement showed that they had not considered so sweeping a proposal before.

While they caucused, Obi-Wan leaned over to whisper to his colleague.

"You promise much, Luminara."

She adjusted the thrown-back hood of her robe. "I spent a lot of time prior to arriving on this world studying the history of Ansion"s peoples.

Something extreme has to be done to break this local sociopolitical datajam. It"s the only way to get these people thinking about something besides leaving the Republic." She smiled. "I thought laying out the possibility of a whole new, vast commercial opportunity before them would shake them up a little."

Obi-Wan studied the quietly deliberating delegates. The ani mation in their expressions and gestures was genuine, and not simply a display for the benefit of the four visitors.

"Looks like you"ve certainly done that." He added that small, sly smile with which she was rapidly becoming familiar. "Of course, if they accept, you"ve put us in the awkward position of having to deliver."

"Master Luminara always fulfills her promises." There was just a touch of sharpness in Barriss"s voice.

"I"ve no doubt she does." Obi-Wan regarded the Padawan tolerantly. "It"s getting these innumerable, fractious, quarrelsome nomads who call themselves the Alwari to abide by the proposed terms that concerns me."

Luminara interrupted the exchange with a slight nod. The delegates had concluded their vigorous conversation and once more sat facing the visitors.

"No one doubts that obtaining the agreement of the Alwari to such an accord would radically change the social dynamic that exists here." It was the third Ansionian representative, a female named Induran, who spoke. "And if such a treaty could be achieved, it would certainly tilt the opinion of many of those who are presently inclined to favor secession from the Republic because they believe remaining in it does nothing for them." Her large, convex eyes gazed unflinchingly at the Jedi. "However, the likelihood of obtaining the hand of the Alwari to such an agreement the majority of us find doubtful in the extreme."

It was the formerly bellicose Tolut who rose to the visitors" defense.

"For those who can make it rain indoors, even such a thing as rational dialogue with the Alwari may be possible."

Luminara smiled at the burly alien. Confrontational he might be, but at least he was flexible enough to change his position when the facts warranted his doing so. That was more than could be said, so far, for his human and Ansionian colleagues-though they were weakening. One could feel the subtle change in the mental atmosphere in the chamber. It was as if, though fed up with the convoluted workings and the oppressive bureaucracy of the Republic, they wanted to believe in it. It was up to her and Obi-Wan, together with their respective Padawans, to bring the members of the delegation around.

Everything now hinged on gaining the full cooperation of these Alwari nomads. Somehow she felt that was going to entail more than sitting in a comfortable room performing tricks with jugs of water.

"How do we find the Alwari?" Anakin queried, showing impatience.

Luminara"s gaze narrowed as she regarded the Padawan. One could sense the strength of the Force within him, as well as other potentialities. Though she knew little about him, she knew that Obi-Wan Ken.o.bi would not take on a Padawan who did not show considerable promise. He was just the Jedi to rein such a headstrong youth in, to take the sharp edges off the rough diamond and polish him into a true Jedi. There was nothing wrong with the Padawan"s words, or with him speaking out. It was only that there was a fine line between confident and headstrong, between bold and arrogant.

Glancing slightly to her right, she saw that Barriss visibly disapproved of her male counterpart. Well, the young woman would keep her doubts to herself-unless Sky-walker provoked her. Barriss was reserved by nature, but she was not easily intimidated. Especially by another Padawan.

Ranjiyn did not hesitate. "Go east. Or west, or any other di rection. Go away from civilization. Leave the cities behind." He ventured the thin Ansionian version of a smile. "You will find the Alwari. Or they will find you. I wish I could be there to watch you try to talk sense into them. That would be something to see."

"Something to see," Tolut grunted in agreement.

Luminara and Obi-Wan rose simultaneously. The conference was at an end.

"You know our reputation," Obi-Wan said. "We have put it behind our words thousands of times before. This will be no different. Dealing with your Alwari can"t be any more frustrating than trying to negotiate the traffic patterns on Corus-cant." His expression twisted at the memory of his last visit. He didn"t much care for intracity travel.

The mention of urban confusion further solidified the grow ing, if wary, rapport that had developed during the conference between visitors and delegates-which was of course precisely why he had alluded to it.

Official business concluded, visitors and delegates alike chatted amiably for another hour, both sides grateful for the chance to learn something more of one another off the record and on a personal level. In particular, the now nearly dried-out Tolut had taken a special shine to Luminara. She tolerated the hulking delegate"s proximity without concern.

In the course of her career she had been required to make friends with far more obnoxious sentients.

While engaged in her own conversations, she noted with ad miration how Obi-Wan Ken.o.bi put others at ease. For all his vaunted skills and experience, his was a personality others found nonthreatening. His tone was understated, while his words fell on the ears of others as gently as a therapeutic ma.s.sage. If he had not become a Jedi, she mused, he would have been a great credit to the diplomatic service.

But that would have meant a career in the very bureaucracy that they both decried, the consequences of whose blundering and stumbling they were both here to try to smooth over.

Barriss was doing her best to charm both Ranjiyn and the el der human representative, while Anakin was spouting a streak of self-a.s.surance at the other human. The woman listened intently to everything he said, more engrossed in his words than Lumi-nara would have expected. She would have listened in, but she had Tolut and the still-suspicious Kandah to try to win over. Anyway, if Anakin needed monitoring, that was Obi-Wan"s job, not hers.

If only, she reflected, succeeding in their mission here could be reduced to a matter of choosing the right phrases. Unfortunately, she had been involved in too many disputes on too many unruly worlds to believe that the quandary of Ansion would be solved by shrewd words alone.

Delegate Kandah, of the Unity of Community that represented the urban citizens of Ansion, waited uneasily in the dark pa.s.sageway. Beyond, the lights of Songoquin Street, with its chanting vendors and night-strolling patrons, beckoned. Like all her big-eyed kind, she was comfortable moving about even on moonless nights. But in such a restricted defile, with only one way in and out, even a night-sighted Ansionian might be forgiven for wishing for a little more illumination.

"What have you for me?" Though she recognized the voice immediately, the abruptness of it snapping unannounced out of the darkness startled her.

"What of the meeting between the visitors and the representatives of the Unity?"

"It went all too well." She did not know the ident.i.ty of the contact with whom she was speaking, much less his name. She could not even be sure it was a he. None of that mattered. What was important was that he paid handsomely, without delay, and in untraceable credits. "The delegation was mistrustful and skeptical at first. I did my personal best to sow confusion and dissent. But the Jedi are as clever with words as they are with the Force. I"m certain they have convinced that stupid Armalat to vote on their behalf. The others continue to vacillate." She proceeded to describe in detail the rest of the meeting.

"So the Jedi intend to try to persuade the Alwari to allow exploration and development on up to half the traditional nomad prairie lands?"

Incredulous laughter echoed from the shadows. "That would be something!

They have no chance of doing so, of course."

"I would have thought so, too," she whispered into the gloom, "until I met them for myself and saw how they operate. They are subtle, as well as shrewd."

The voice hesitated before responding. "You don"t mean to say you believe they might actually secure such an agreement with the Alwari?"

"I mean to say that these are true Jedi, and I am not qualified to predict what they might or might not accomplish. I can say that I would not bet against them-in anything."

"Jedi are famed as fighters, not talkers," the voice muttered uneasily.

"Is that so?" Kandah recalled more details of the conference. "These Knights and their Padawans are suavity made solid. As for what you say, how many Jedi have you seen in action? Of any kind?"

"Never mind what I have seen or not seen." The voice"s owner was clearly irritated, though not with his supplier of infor mation. "I must convey this information to my patron. He will know what to do."

Will he indeed? thought Kandah. Better him than me. All she had to do was deliver a report. She was glad her attempt to frustrate the Jedi"s mission did not require that she go any farther.

"Your payment will be deposited in the usual manner." The voice spoke offhandedly, clearly preoccupied with all that the Unity delegate had told him. "As always, your good work is appreciated. When Ansion at last stands outside the Republic and free of its interference, you will receive your just reward. Your unfairly appropriated family estates in Korumdah will be restored to you."

"I am your humble servant," Kandah replied politely. Turning to leave, she hesitated. "What do you think your patron will do to try to stop these Jedi from succeeding in their task, now that the attempt at direct a.s.sa.s.sination has failed so ign.o.bly?"

No reply was forthcoming from the darkness. Having swirled his dustcape securely around him, Ogomoor had already van ished into the night.

"So the Jedi intend to keep the Unity within the Republic by settling their differences with the Alwari. A bold plan."

"Also a stupid one, Your Greatness."

"Is it?" Soergg glanced over from the lounge on which he was relaxing.

Outside, one of Ansion"s small moons waxed ivory.

"It hasn"t a chance of succeeding."

"Hasn"t it?"

Sensing that he was rapidly losing argumentative ground, Ogomoor decided to change tactics. "What would you have me do?" He considered. "I could try to bribe one or more of them."

Huge, slitted eyes rolled ceilingward. "Bribe a Jedi! You really are ignorant, aren"t you, Ogomoor?"

Swallowing both his suggestion and his pride, the major-domo replied deferentially, "Yes. I would be grateful if you would enlighten your humble servant."

"I will." Generating a disgusting squinching sound, the Hutt rolled onto his right side, the better to regard his employee. "Know this: Jedi cannot be bribed, connived, broken, or swayed from what they believe to be the right and true course of the way. At least, such has been my experience." He spat to one side, and the custodial droid rushed from its resting place to clean up the repulsive gob. "This is a shame, but many truths often are. Therefore, we must deal with them elsewise. Come close, and I will tell you how."

Must I? Ogomoor thought. But there was no more escaping the Hutt"s breath than there was his orders.

I am not, Ogomoor reflected as he stood bravely absorbing the full force of that noxious miasma, being paid enough for this.

4.

One of the advantages of living and working on Coruscant was that there were innumerable places to meet, if one did not want to be located. So it was that the little group found themselves in a small drinking establishment of no special reputation in an unfashionable part of Quadrant H-46. In such places, there was less of an immediate need to preserve one"s anonymity. In any event, none of them was recognized by the other patrons as they wandered in.

"This places stinks of the working cla.s.ses," Nemrileo, who hailed from the powerful world of Tanjay, sniffed. "It will hide the smell of treason."

Senator Mousul had to smile. "You talk of committing treason against the treasoners. Don"t get your loyalties confused, Nemrileo. Now is not the time."

"You don"t have to tell me about time." The man hunched lower over the table. "But this Ansion business is beginning to worry me."

"It should not." Mousul exuded a.s.surance-an easy thing, his questioner mused, since the interests supporting them had promised to back Mousul for the governorship of his entire sector once Ansion and its allies had withdrawn from the Republic. "I am confident that everything is proceeding as planned, and that within a very short time the dominant political force on my world, the Unity of cities and towns, will vote for full withdrawal from the Republic, thus setting in motion all that we hope for."

" "Everything"?" said an alien female politician whose explo sion of straw-colored fur threatened to burst forth from within her tight-fitting camouflaging suit. "That"s not what I hear."

Mousul gestured indifferently. "A minor glitch. Nothing to be concerned about."

"I admire your a.s.surance," the alien female declared. "Not everyone would be so casual upon learning of the arrival on their homeworld of two Jedi, together with their Padawans, in the midst of the most delicate negotiations over secession."

"I told you." Mousul"s tone turned darker. "It is being dealt with."

"It had better be," Tarn Uliss, a business a.s.sociate from An sion, declared. "My people are growing impatient. They are ready to move, have been for some time, and dislike having to wait upon the decision of a bunch of minor sentients from a decidedly minor world."

"The president of the Commerce Guild would not like to hear such talk."

"That"s why we called this meeting," muttered the alien fe male politician. "So we could discuss possibilities without her." Her yellow eyes burned into his. "And if you weren"t similarly interested, you wouldn"t be here now."

The Senator raised a cautioning hand. "I said I would come to listen, and to apprise you of our progress in the Ansion matter.

I make no judgments. But if Shu Mai says we should restrain our interests until Ansion has declared for secession, then I believe we should listen to her."

"Should we?" Another of the group showed by his expression as much as by his words that he felt otherwise. "Can Shu Mai and the Commerce Guild truly be trusted?"

"You haven"t met her," Mousul replied. "Be a.s.sured that she can. She has all our best interests at heart."

"Does she really?" Nemrileo was not so sure. "From what I"ve heard, she doesn"t have a heart."

"I trust her," announced the female politician seated next to the cynic.

"I know her from her work in our quadrant. What I don"t trust are my own const.i.tuents."

There was laughter from around the private table. "Trust const.i.tuents ...""... how very droll!" As soon as the mirth had faded, Mousul spoke anew.

"I have been in touch with my princ.i.p.al contact on Ansion. He a.s.sures me the Jedi will be dealt with. Shu Mai continues to show confidence in this individual as well. There are social and commercial bonds that affirm our mutual contract. I suggest you all return to your positions and be of good cheer. All our hopes will be realized soon enough."

"To be at last free of the corruption and vices of this bloated, inert, so-called Republic!" Tarn Uliss exclaimed. "Truly a dream to be wished."