Kes smiled softly. ”Well, it’s not nearly this dry for one thing.” She told her. ”Though I’m finding the desert… has it’s own charms.” She told her, flirting a little without having meant to. She’d done that with Tae sometimes too, even though she’d tried not to – not that it mattered, Tae had always seemed not to notice it for what it was in any case.

Anara smiled a little shyly to her at that though. ”So, your people have plentiful water then?” She asked.

”We do, yes. The Caretaker built our city by a large reservoir. Our legends say he also made the reservoir itself, though who can say if it actually happened that way or not.” She told her.

”This Caretaker – the being in the array, you mean? I’ve seen it once, when I came to this world with my husband and our family.” Anara told her.

”…You’ve actually seen the Caretaker?” Kes asked, a little incredulous.

Anara shook her head. ”Only the array where he makes his home. I don’t know of anyone whose actually met the being who lives there. Though there is a story, from many years ago. That, soon after the uprising where my people threw off slavery, an overconfident maj went to the array with his ships and demanded it’s owner’s surrender. The battle was entirely one-sided. Two ships were destroyed, the third fled to tell the tale.”

”…I see.” Kes replied, thinking on that a moment. Again the mention of slavery; she determined to ask Anara about that at some point soon.

”Why do you think this Caretaker of yours hid your people away in the first place?” Anara asked.

”The stories tell us that, long ago, there was a great disaster. That the surface of our world became uninhabitable, and that the Caretaker came to us then, and that he led our people to safety, built the cities for us. Once, our world was green and full of life, but, even now, no longer.” Kes told her. ”It’s said that, without the Caretaker, we all would have perished here. How is it that your people don’t? How is it you have water and fruit?”

”It’s brought in from off-world. We only stay here for the mining.” Anara told her. ”You’re right, noting grows here. Something in the atmosphere prevents it – makes it impossible for life to thrive here unaided.”