of the village. Later, in the evening, they will have the lessons which will equip them to someday serve the Empire.'
Leia shook her head. 'It's not right,' she told the maitrakh as the children filed out of the dukha. 'No people should have to sell their children in return for life.'
The maitraich gave a long hiss. 'It is the debt we owe,' she said.
'How else shall we pay it?'
Leia squeezed her thumb and forefinger together. How else, indeed?
Clearly, the Empire was quite happy with the bargain it had made; and having seen the Noghri commandos in action, she could well understand its satisfaction. They wouldn't be interested in letting the Noghri buy out of their debt in any other way. And if the Noghri themselves considered their service to be a debt of honor to their saviors...'I don't know,' she had to concede.
A movement to the side caught her attention: Khabarakh, still sitting on the floor across the room, had fallen over onto his side, with Chewbacca's hand engulfing his wrist. It looked like fighting, except that Chewbacca's sense didn't indicate anger. 'What are they doing over there?' she asked.
'Your Wookiee has asked my thirdson to instruct him in our fighting methods,' the maitrakh answered, pride again touching her voice. 'Wookiees have great strength, but no knowledge of the subtlety of combat.' It was probably not an assessment the Wookiees themselves would have agreed with. But Leia had to admit that Chewbacca, at least, had always seemed to rely mainly on brute force and bowcaster accuracy. 'I'm surprised he was willing to have Khabarakh teach him,' she said. 'He's never really trusted him.'
'Perhaps it is that same distrust that whets his interest,' the maitrakh said dryly.
Leia had to smile. 'Perhaps.'
For a minute they watched in silence as Khabarakh showed Chewbacca two more wrist and arm locks. They seemed to be variants of techniques Leia had learned in her youth on Alderaan, and she shivered once at the thought of those moves with Wookee muscle behind them. 'You understand the cycle of our life now, Lady Vader,' the maitrakh said quietly. 'You must realize that we still hang by spider silk. Even now we do not have enough clean land to grow sufficient food. We must continue to buy from the Empire.'
'Payment for which requires that much more service from your sons.' Leia nodded, grimacing. Permanent debt-the oldest form of covert slavery in the galaxy.
'It also encourages the sending away of our sons,' the maitrakh added bitterly. 'Even if the Empire allowed it, we could not now bring all our sons home. We would not have food for them.'
Leia nodded again. It was as neat and tidy a box as she'd ever seen anyone trapped in. She should have expected no less from Vader and the Emperor. 'You'll never be entirely out of their debt,' she told the maitrakh bluntly. 'You know that, don't you? As long as you re useful to them, the Grand Admiral will make sure of that.'
'Yes,' the maitrakh said softly. 'It has taken a long time, but I now believe that. If all Noghri believed so, changes could perhaps be made.'
'But the rest of the Noghri still believe the Empire is their friend?'
'Not all believe so. But enough.' She stopped and gestured upward.
'Do you see the starlight, Lady Vader?'
Leia looked up at the concave dish that hung four meters off the ground at the intersection of the wall support chains. About a meter and a half across, it was composed of some kind of black or blackened metal and perforated with hundreds of tiny pinholes. With the light from the inside rim of the dish winking through like stars, the whole effect was remarkably like a stylized version of the night sky. 'I see it.'
'The Noghri have always loved the stars,' the maitrakh said, her voice distant and reflective. 'Once, long ago, we worshiped them. Even after we knew what they were they remained our friends. There were many among us who would have gladly gone with the Lord Vader, even without our debt, for the joy of traveling among them.'
'I understand,' Leia murmured. 'Many in the galaxy feel the same way. It's the common birthright of us all.'
'A birthright which we have now lost.'
'Not lost,' Leia said, dropping her gaze from the star dish.
'Only misplaced.' She looked over at Khabarakh and Chewbacca.
'Perhaps if I talked to all the Noghri leaders at once.'
