Freedom's Ransom

Finally, Botany is free. The colonists of Freedom's Landing, who were dropped on this world as terrified slaves of the alien Catteni, have become an independent people. They raise their own food, make their own clothes, dispense justice when necessary, and care for an ever-increasing number of children. They've even found themselves in a position to help the survivors of Earth and Barevi, worlds battered by Catteni raids until natural resources are in desperately short supply. To a hungry man on Earth, a roasted Botany "rock-squat" makes a fine meal, no matter how funny-looking he might once have found that little bird.
But Botany can't provide everything. Solar cells, communications equipment, spare tires, even the simplest battery - all of this technology is required if this is to become a fully functioning world, and none of it is easy to make. Kris Bjornson and her beloved Zainal know that the warehouses of Barevi are full of the things they need, all looted from Earth during the war. But the Barevi merchants won't just give it back; some kind of interstellar trade must be developed.
The oddest commodities turn out to be the ones that work. For some reason the fierce Catteni become easily addicted to a good cup of coffee, and are prepared to do a great deal to get it. And, the colonists discover, the Catteni have their own kinds of vanity - which like all vanities can be catered to at a high price. Quick thinking and the willingness to do whatever it takes are the colonists' tactics, as they work to position their little world as an equal partner among the interstellar powers.