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.In their unity, in their diversity, lay their strength against the oppressors.Nodding his shaggy head, Lowie agreed that it did sound like a worthy cause, to help the many downtrodden species recover from the damage inflicted by the prejudiced.and evil Emperor.He and his friends, Jacen, Jaina, and Tenel Ka had often banded together to fight for an important cause or against a common enemy, he told Raaba, and they had always been stronger together.Flashing him a dubious look, Raaba pointed out that humans could not always be trusted, and that deception came in many forms.The remark hurt.Lowie trusted' his friends as much as he had always trusted Raaba and Sirra.Brushing down the dark streak of fur over his eyebrow, he asked mildly if letting friends think you were dead--letting them spend months mourning you and grieving for you--was one of the forms that deception came in.Raaba groaned at the rebuke, admitting in a pained growl that she had been unfair to Lowie and Sirra and to her own family.She had been reluctant to go back to Kashyyyk, however, until she had made something of herself, something she could be proud of.She wanted to return home successful and triumphant, a Wookiee hero.She refused to be seen as a coward who could not finish what she set out to do.Now, with her work for the Diversity Alliance, she felt proud of who she had become, and things were changing.Then her voice sank almost to a whisper and she apologized for leaving Lowie, for all the pain she had caused him.Lowie nodded mutely and traced a finger along the trimmed fur at Rabba's wrist and knee.He thought of his sister Sirra and how she, too, still felt the pain of a lost friend.He 'couldn't wait to bring Raaba back home.It would be a fine celebration.Far below, a pair of avians chased each other through the rusted latticework and darted out the other side.Almost as if she could read his thoughts, Raaba turned her hand palm-upward to grasp Lowie's and assured him that she would no longer hide behind a lie.She had important work to do, important work for the Diversity Alliance, and that required her to stop hiding.Lowie wondered what Nolaa Tarkona had said to Raaba that could possibly command such devotion.THE WORLD OF Chroma Zed boasted the most spectacular amphitheater facilities Nolaa Tarkona had ever seen.A broad balcony served as a speaking platform, the absolute center of attention halfway down a sheer cliff face.The balcony podium was bracketed on either side by a bifurcated waterfall--two streams of rushing water that slithered down the cliff to join again in a churning pool far below.Cold, damp spray surrounded the platform, reeking of chemicals.Nolaa would have found the water undrinkable, had she been inclined to try it; so contaminated was the water with natural petroleum from oil seeps, bubbling black pools near the source of the river, that the tumbling falls were coated with a sheen of oil.Huddled in cliffside galleries, the gathered Chromans watched and listened.Tossing her writhing head-tail over her shoulder, Nolaa scanned the thousands of faces perhaps tens of thousands--that poked out, while the remainder of the Chroman's bodies hid in the shadows.They were wormlike humanoids with smooth heads, smooth skin, and webbed hands.They burrowed into mountainsides and chose homes near trickling water to keep themselves perpetually moist.Their eyes were huge and round, their mouths lipless and quivering.When Nolaa stepped up to the podium to speak to them, the Chromans raised their voices in a thundering, bubbling cheer.The Empire had enslaved the Chromans as miners, using their natural propensity for burrowing to harvest mineral resources on hellish planets.On each slave world, the Imperials had made a practice of choosing one random Chroman as an example, to ensure the cooperation of the rest.They would drag the unlucky specimen out of the group's damp and comfortable tunnels and then make a great show of fastening the victim onto a sunbaked rock, where it would writhe and desiccate under the heat, oozing protective body slime until all its moisture reserves ran out, leaving only a mummified husk.Such were the excesses that humans visited upon all alien species, Nolaa Tarkona thought.She bit.down hard, grinding her sharpened teeth together.Before she started her much-anticipated speech, two pale Chromans emerged at the very top of the cliff, near where the tumbling waterfalls plunged over the edge.They carried torches high in their topmost hands, keeping the hot flames as far as possible from their sensitive wet skin.The pair of Chromans squirmed forward to toss the flaming brands onto the oil-slicked water.The flames caught and traveled quickly.A sheet of fire spread, covering the surface of the water with blazing color.Twin molten banners of glory unfurled as the fiery streams surged down the cliffside to celebrate-Nolaa Tarkona, leader of the Diversity Alliance, their most revered speaker.The flames blazed, the Chromans cheered, and Nolaa raised her voice."My esteemed colleagues, my dear friends, those who have also felt the crushing weight of human persecution you do me great honor." She was well aware of the spectacular image she must have presented, framed by streams of fire."Looking at you all, thinking of the past and what you have suffered, I know how your memories must have left scars on your hearts, on your entire civilization.But it truly saddens me to tell you that your story is not dissimilar to what has happened to my own people, to the Calamarians, to the Bothans, to the Ugnaughts, to the Rodians to practically every alien species in the galaxy.It makes me weep.But the fire of my anger evaporates all of my tears."Nolaa fell silent for a moment, respecting the memory of the tortured and the dead."And let us not forget the treatment of the Wookiees, enslaved for their brawn and their mechanical abilities; or the Noghri, whose planet was devastated and their people forced to become killers, or the Ithorians, whose verdant and sacred jungles were burned, purely out of spite."Too many others of our kindred have suffered at the hands of the human loving Empire.We must put a stop to the human reign of terror." Tarkona let her piercing gaze travel around the galleries, making eye contact with individual Chromans whenever possible."You know the truth of my words.Over the centuries, humans have brought us sorrow in countless ways [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]