The siren blared, then clanged, announcing the start of another day. A day like yesterday. A day like tomorrow. If you survived it.
She had been here only five days, and it felt like a lifetime.
The factories on Nar Shaddaa rose hundreds of stories and were spread out over hundreds of metres. The spice went through a multistep processing system. It could not be exposed to light, so the slaves lived in perpetual darkness. Much of the spice was off-loaded from ships that had made the Kessel Run. Other spice was cut in huge underground caverns. All of it was ferried up to the processing levels where the spice was dried or frozen, then processed into blocks.
Enormous power plants supplied energy. At the end of the long day, the workers filed out from the darkness, almost blinded, only to walk under a sky thick with toxic fumes. Taking a deep breath of the grey, particulate-laden air could lead to a long coughing fit.
Security was constant. The slaves were guarded by patrolling natives of Nar Shaddaa as well as droids. Escape was impossible. Even if one could manage to elude the guards and security devices, there would be nowhere to hide. The native citizens of Nar Shaddaa benefited from the slave trade. If they dissented, they were either threatened or bought off with huge bribes. The spaceports of this moon world were tightly controlled by Pestana. There was no way to break out and nowhere to go.
The whole operation ran incredibly smoothly, Fiach thought in disgust. Greed did not make Pestana sloppy.
She had been here only five days, and it felt like a lifetime.
The factories on Nar Shaddaa rose hundreds of stories and were spread out over hundreds of metres. The spice went through a multistep processing system. It could not be exposed to light, so the slaves lived in perpetual darkness. Much of the spice was off-loaded from ships that had made the Kessel Run. Other spice was cut in huge underground caverns. All of it was ferried up to the processing levels where the spice was dried or frozen, then processed into blocks.
Enormous power plants supplied energy. At the end of the long day, the workers filed out from the darkness, almost blinded, only to walk under a sky thick with toxic fumes. Taking a deep breath of the grey, particulate-laden air could lead to a long coughing fit.
Security was constant. The slaves were guarded by patrolling natives of Nar Shaddaa as well as droids. Escape was impossible. Even if one could manage to elude the guards and security devices, there would be nowhere to hide. The native citizens of Nar Shaddaa benefited from the slave trade. If they dissented, they were either threatened or bought off with huge bribes. The spaceports of this moon world were tightly controlled by Pestana. There was no way to break out and nowhere to go.
The whole operation ran incredibly smoothly, Fiach thought in disgust. Greed did not make Pestana sloppy.