Petaybee Series by Anne McCaffrey, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

Major Yanaba Maddock wasn't much good to the company anymore. With lungs practically destroyed by poison gas in a military debacle, she could barely breathe without coughing, much less do anything the least bit strenuous. But it wasn't the company's way to discard those they might still find some use for...and so they retired Yana to the icy planet Petaybee to do their spying. Strange things were happening on Petaybee, it seemed. Unauthorized genetically engineered species had been spotted... moreMajor Yanaba Maddock wasn't much good to the company anymore. With lungs practically destroyed by poison gas in a military debacle, she could barely breathe without coughing, much less do anything the least bit strenuous. But it wasn't the company's way to discard those they might still find some use for...and so they retired Yana to the icy planet Petaybee to do their spying. Strange things were happening on Petaybee, it seemed. Unauthorized genetically engineered species had been spotted. Geologic survey teams sent to locate newly detected mineral deposits were either coming up empty - or disappearing altogether. And the locals weren't talking. In fact, the company had reason to believe that the locals were deliberately hiding something - and perhaps even plotting rebellion. As a combat veteran and a medical retiree due to spend the rest of her days on this arctic world, Yana was the ideal person to get close to the natives. Having already lost her lungs in service to the company, Yana wasn't much of a mind to freeze to death for it, as well. But she quickly learned that the people of Petaybee were more than willing to adopt a sickly newcomer: they were eager to show her the ropes, introduce her around, teach her how to cook and how to keep warm, and even dose her up on a home remedy that calmed her cough and soothed her ragged lungs like nothing in the company's state-of-the-art medical kits. As Yana's strength and health returned, she became more and more determined to protect her new home and her new people from the depredations of a greedy and increasingly desperate company. For something strange and wonderful truly was happening on Petaybee. Something worth fighting for, or evendying for - but, especially, something worth living for... less

"A felicitous combination of authors." --Kirkus Reviews Yanaba Maddock's short-lived career as a company spy had ended the moment the planet Petaybee and its people had adopted her as one of their own. Now she was dedicated to keeping Intergal from exploiting and wounding--or even killing--the world she had come to love. For Intergal persisted in denying that Petaybee was sentient, and nothing would stop it from stripping the ore-rich planet--sentient or not... more"A felicitous combination of authors." --Kirkus Reviews Yanaba Maddock's short-lived career as a company spy had ended the moment the planet Petaybee and its people had adopted her as one of their own. Now she was dedicated to keeping Intergal from exploiting and wounding--or even killing--the world she had come to love. For Intergal persisted in denying that Petaybee was sentient, and nothing would stop it from stripping the ore-rich planet--sentient or not. Only solid evidence would convince the company to leave the planet alone, and for all its sentience, Petaybee's communications were highly subjective; indeed, some outsiders seemed entirely immune to its voice. So Yana and her friends would have to find some other way to prove that the planet was worth more to the company alive than dead... "POWER LINES is a strong, highly entertaining sequel...Nicely paced, with a tricky twist or two to keep it from getting too predictable, and some delightful characters." --Locus FIRST TIME IN PAPERBACK less

Petaybee was growing up. Day by day, the sentient planet--like any child--was learning to recognize and understand the meaning of outside stimuli, to respond to those stimuli, to communicate its own needs and desires...even to use human speech.Yanaba Maddock had appointed herself defender of her adopted planet, and she had even succeeded in proving its sentience to all the nonbelievers... morePetaybee was growing up. Day by day, the sentient planet--like any child--was learning to recognize and understand the meaning of outside stimuli, to respond to those stimuli, to communicate its own needs and desires...even to use human speech.Yanaba Maddock had appointed herself defender of her adopted planet, and she had even succeeded in proving its sentience to all the nonbelievers. But despite all her efforts, few outsiders truly cared for the feelings and intelligence of what they perceived to be a giant hunk of rock--or a mere oddity to be gawked at. Then Yana was kidnapped. The price of her freedom--the planet itself. But the only one who could speak for Petaybee was Petaybee--and no one knew what a living planet could do once it found its voice... less