Power Play — Anne McCaffrey; Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

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. 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...