Part Twenty-One
Anakin didn't know what to say.
"So your Festival has not, um, brought you Plenitude, Kuki?" asked Obi-Wan softly. "There must be others like you."
"There are. And when they get old, they are a burden to us," Kuki said harshly. She kicked the water. "We try to adopt them out to families who have lost an elder. It is still hard to accept one."
Anakin found his voice. "Kuki, there are emdees and procedures to help you conceive."
Kuki shook her head. "If the Mother wills me not to emulate Her, I will accept that." She looked away to the far shore a long time. "I must." She arose to ready her craft for departure.
It was a philosophical answer to a heartrending question. Obi-Wan flinched when Anakin touched his shoulder lightly, whispering, "Master, in the Force this morning, there were conceptions nearby. I couldn't sense anything so minute as individual essences, but maybe as a Master, you could, and you could tell Kuki if ... "
Obi-Wan remembered Kuki's shiver this morning and looked to the far shore himself. "No, Padawan, I won't tell her. It's not my place to."
Something about the reply told Anakin that Obi-Wan knew. He withdrew his hand from his Master's shoulder, wondering if when Obi-Wan or even the Force itself indicated that the time was right to end the Respect-for-Master's-Authority release, whether he would be able to do it. Right now, he decided that he could. Decisions like telling Kuki or not telling Kuki swamped his morals. He didn't want the responsibility. "Master, you're sunburned. Here, right on your neck."
"It's on my back, too. It's nothing."
"Let's go sit in the lean-to."
It was stifling inside until they got going again. As the hours passed, the river narrowed greatly, but did not gain in speed. It was a leisurely float now, ushering in views of a few outlying farmsteads, another trail that paralleled the water and some aloas wallowing in the coolness with a teen herdsman watching. Finally Nepsa hove into sight. It was directly on the water, Obi-Wan saw; apparently Nepsa had drainage systems or places to scramble in abundance if any flood occurred this far down the course of the river. The quay attracted his interest, because on a pillar next to the one where Kuki tied up, a weathered poster bore an image of President Strenghis. His strong features were more lined than in the holovid briefing file, but Obi-Wan saw that his position as President suited him. It was the look of power thoroughly enjoyed that marked his bold gaze. Obi-Wan wanted to learn if enjoyed power meant corrupting power. He'd soon find out. He couldn't read the script beneath the picture. Probably it said something like A Vote For Strenghis Is A Vote For Progress or Strenghis Stands For Tradition, or something else equally opposite.
"Kuki, many thanks for your help. And for those delicious stoneslugs. I don't know what we'll do when we get back to Coruscant and can't have our daily stoneslug snack."
"You're welcome, Master Kenobi. You, too, Padawan Skywalker." Kuki became expansive. "I'll think of you two when next spring comes bringing my baby. I'm going to ask for another home from Leader Qikal, something with two rooms, nearer the water. The river soothes me."
Obi-Wan nodded in agreement. "It does, that."
"Where are you staying, Kuki?" Anakin asked. There were no buildings that looked like hotels. Most of the structures were half-timbered two-story buildings with shutters instead of glazed windows. The streets were cobblestone and both Anakin and Obi-Wan were grateful for their too-small sandals.
"I'm not. Don't like the big city. I'll start back and camp out at the outermost farmstead. I've got friends there."
"Kuki, you say Leader Qikal issues housing?"
Kuki began to put up the sail to go upriver. She answered as she kept busy. "That's right. None of our Leaders got involved that closely with the electorate before. He started to when he returned from being confirmed with Strenghis." She snugged a line to its lanyard and clipped it to a recessed cleat in the smooth deck. She was sailing away before darkness if it were at all possible. Obi-Wan had to hurry.
"Kuki, why do you think that is? And why does only Qikal have a glowrod and force pike?"
Kuki stayed her hand from casting off the mooring rope. "I think," she said slowly, "that Qikal loves his position. He likes having something important to do, something to honor the Mother. His knee keeps him from doing my job, for instance. Strenghis gave him those things because he is his childhood friend, and of course was happy to confirm him. And I think I've answered enough of your questions, Master. Now you answer one of mine."
Anakin felt sick. She knew or guessed the full extent of their abilities. She was going to ask the question that meant the most to her, the one that might kill her hope.
The river devoured.
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