Alan Foster - The Approaching Storm

Nevertheless, the four visitors dutifully admired their sur roundings, complimenting the female who came forward to ex tend them formal greetings. Seated at a long table cut from a single piece of purplish xellwood, seven delegates awaited them. Two were human, four indigenous Ansionian, and one Armalat.

Luminara studied the Ansionians carefully. Slightly shorter on average than humans, the dominant native species of Ansion was much slimmer, wiry and lean, with skin a pale yellow that was almost golden. Both genders were hairless except for a single startlingly dense brush of fur about fifteen centimeters wide and seven or eight high that ran from the top of their foreheads all the way down their backs to terminate in a fifteen-centimeter-long tail. Beneath their warm, well-made clothing the sweep of hair, which varied in color across the entire visible spectrum, was usually kept neatly trimmed. The large eyes with their small black pupils were usually red, sometimes shading to lighter tones of yellow or, in rarer instances, mauve. The numerous teeth were noticeably sharp. Though omnivorous, the Ansionians ate proportionately more meat than humans.

Particularly, she reminded herself, the Alwari.

There was no one in the chamber to represent the interests of the nomads, of course. They shunned the cities and towns, preferring their life out on the immense prairies that dominated much of Ansionian topography. After millennia of constant conflict between nomads and city folk, a tenuous peace had finally been established two hundred local years ago. Now the exigencies of interstellar politics threatened to tear that fragile concord to shreds and drag Ansion out of the Republic entirely.

The nomads wished to remain under the Republic's protection. Chafing against the weight of regulations and petty rules that seemed to pour forth from Coruscant in a never-ending stream, the urbanites were considering joining the nascent secessionist movement. The result was fresh estrangement between nomads and city dwellers. If they could reconcile these opposing views, Luminara knew, Ansion would probably stay within the Republic. As was ever the case through history, local conflicts threatened to expand beyond their boundaries. It was likely that neither side in this internal dispute truly grasped the far larger issues that were at stake. The intensifying argument between city dwellers and nomads had galactic ramifications.

Not only those who were bound to it through formal pact and treaty, but others, too, were watching to see what happened on Ansion. Due to its strategic location and entanglement of alliances, it was a key world in this part of the Republic. Remove a small plug from a dam holding back agitated waters, she knew, and an unexpectedly great flood can result.

The Ansionian who rose from behind the table gestured a formal local greeting. The other delegates, Luminara noted, did not rise.

"I am Ranjiyn. Like my colleagues, a representative of the Unity, of Ansion's city and town dwellers." Most Ansionians used only one name, she knew. His mane was dyed in alternating black and white stripes. He proceeded to introduce his fellow delegates. One did not have to be a master of the Force to note their wariness. When he had finished the introductions, he concluded, "We of the towns and cities welcome you, the representatives of the Jedi Council, to Ansion and extend to you all the hospitality and cooperation of which we are capable."

Fine words, Anakin thought. Master Obi-Wan had spent much time trying to satisfy his Padawan's curiosity about politics. One of the first things a student of that odious subject learned was that words were among the cheaper currencies employed by politicians, and therefore one they felt free to spend lavishly.

Meanwhile, Luminara was replying. She certainly was unusual for a Jedi, he thought. In her own way, she could be as in timidating as Obi-Wan. At least she was openly friendly and understanding, which was more than could be said for her by- the-book Padawan Barriss.

"On behalf of the Jedi Council, Obi-Wan Kenobi and I, Lu minara Unduli, thank you for ourselves and our Padawans, Anakin Skywalker and Barriss Offee." She and her companions took seats on the other side of the beautiful table, opposite their hosts. "As you know, we are here to try to mediate this dispute between the urban inhabitants of your world and the Alwari nomads."

"Please." A tall, dignified older man waved one hand diffi dently. "None of your Jedi subterfuges. We all know you are here to do anything and everything in your power to keep Ansion from voting to join the secessionist movement. Local quarrels of the kind to which you allude are not the purview of the Jedi Council." He smiled confidently. "In any event, they would not send four representatives to deal with what is essentially a minor internal problem."

"No conflict is minor to the Council," Obi-Wan responded. "We hope to see all citizens of the Republic living together in peace and contentment, wherever they may be, whatever species they may represent, whatever their local customs and lifestyles."

"Contentment!" Reaching under the table, one of the other Ansionians, a female with long vertical lines in her face and one clouded brown eye, pulled out a stack of data disks the size of a building stone and dropped them onto the highly polished surface. They landed with a dull boom. "Lifestyles! Do you know what this is, Jedi?" Before either Luminara or Obi-Wan could reply, she told them. "It's the latest bimonthly policy update from the Republic Senate. The latest only!" She gestured at the enormous stack as if it were some obscene sea creature that had suddenly expired on her desk and already begun to rot. "The yearly indices alone carry more data than the city library. Compliance, adherence, obedience: those are what the Senate is interested in these days. That, and preferential treatment for themselves and those they represent in matters of trade and commerce. The once-great galactic Republic has fallen under the sway of petty bureaucrats and self-seeking button pushers who seek only personal aggrandizement and advancement, not justice and fair dealing."

"The Senate's clear bias toward the Alwari proves this," declared the female Ansionian seated next to her. "Senator Mousul has kept us well informed."

"The Senate favors no social or ethnic group above another," Luminara countered. "That basic principle is enshrined in the founding law of the Republic and has not changed."

"I happen to agree with the delegate," Obi-Wan declared quietly.

Surprised and even a little startled, the room's occupants shifted their attention to the other Jedi. Even Luminara was taken aback.

"Pardon my eyes," Ranjiyn murmured, "but did you say you agreed with Kandah?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "To deny that there are problems within the Senate and the bureaucracy would be to deny the existence of pulsating stars. Certainly there is confusion and disagreement. Certainly there is bureaucratic infighting and conflict." His voice rose slightly, though not in the general manner of other people. It was full of controlled energy. "But the law of the Republic stands, pure and inviolate. So long as all participating sentients adhere to that, all will be well within the galaxy." His gaze fixed on Kandah. "And on Ansion."

Seated at the end of the table because his massive legs would not comfortably fit under it, Tolut the Armalat finally rose to point one of his three thick fingers at Obi- Wan.

"Jedi obfuscation!" He glared out of small red eyes at his fellow delegates. "See not where this is leading or what is being attempted? They try to fool us with clever words. Think all Ansionians are backworld dust riders, I wager!" Leaning forward over the table, he rested the knuckles of his powerful hands on the smooth purplish wood. Though strong and well made, the table creaked under the weight of his several hundred kilos.