A/N: This installment takes places during the two-part episode "Basics." If you haven't seen it, there are no spoilers, but you might wonder why they're in the desert. The Kazon and Seska took over Voyager and left the crew on a desert planet.

CHILD OF THE DESERT

"And I thought that I had it bad at home on Reolis. If I ever see my parent's house again, the word primitive will not cross my mind." Harry sighed and added, "That doesn't seem very likely at any rate."

"Lieutenant Paris may have escaped with the shuttle, and we still have the Doctor on the ship." Kalay, who had become more optimistic over the past few months, shivered despite her best efforts to keep her slight body warm. Perhaps now she was clinging to hope because the idea of spending the rest of her life on the desert-like, primitive planet where she had been unceremoniously dumped was unbearable. She had to believe the impossible could happen.

"As far as anyone knows, Suder is still on board." Kelly had overheard a brief discussion of this between Commander Chakotay and Tuvok. "Maybe he can do something."

"That scum? I hope the Kazon kill him. Slowly." Harry's opinion was silently accepted as the majority, and Kelly decided it wasn't really of any great consequence at the moment anyway.

"Kalay, you're shivering."

"I'll be fine."

Despite her protests, Kalay was soon pulled into a warming embrace by Harry, and once there her protests ceased. It was possible, Kelly thought, that those two might soon be more than friends. If so, she would be very happy for them. Kalay hadn't gotten many breaks in her life, and a good man like Harry would be a blessing for her. He had grown up a lot in the Delta Quadrant, and was an unflinchingly loyal friend who would protect those he cared about with his last breath. They were a good match.

"Of all the planets, they have to stick us on a desert. Couldn't they at least find somewhere tropical?" moaned Harry, more to fill the empty space in conversation than any real expectation of a substantial answer. Ralph's reply, then, came as a surprise.

"I'm glad it's a desert climate. If we have to be here for a while, I'd rather it be a desert than anything else." The usually outgoing jester in Ralph had been silenced since their arrival, and it seemed that an explanation might be forthcoming. His three friends were silent, knowing that when Ralph was serious, he'd talk in his own time.

"My dad died when I was eight. He was in a hovercraft accident. The other guy was drunk. Both of them died. Mom remarried when I was ten. Bill, my stepfather, wasn't a bad guy; he taught me how to shave and drive and told me what I should never say to a woman. He made my mom happy, and I wasn't bitter that he married her or anything. I never felt like he was trying to replace Dad.

"He didn't like the desert. Dad and I, we'd go out behind the house and camp out for a night- we lived right on the edge, and as I got older we'd go further in. He showed me how alive the desert really is, how nuanced. When I was older and he was gone, I'd go out and spend hours in the desert, eventually camping overnight. The desert stretched for kilometers, and it was so peaceful. It was my refuge.

"I went off to college, got a degree in journalism and thought I'd start a career in it. The day I came back I saw that they were ruining the desert. I couldn't get an apartment for another month, so I was back at home, and I saw it. They were bringing in water, making room for more houses, and destroying what made the desert special. Turns out that an old rich guy died, and his son sold the land. I always wanted to find him and box his ears into his brains. By the time they were done, all that was left of the desert was the few acres Mom still owned. Then they came to her and Bill, offered them a lot of credits to sell the house and land. Apparently it was a blight on their perfect neighborhood." He stopped to scoff here. "They accepted, bought a house that they never could've afforded otherwise. I was so mad, I couldn't think straight. I'd lost the greatest legacy Dad gave me, because how could I love what wasn't there? Now, I see that Mom never loved the desert as much as Dad and I did. He was long gone, I moved out- she just moved on. Bill stayed for her, and she stayed for me. There was no reason for them to stay anymore. But I lost it. It was too painful too see what used to be my desert, too painful to cover stories about people and events where it used to be cacti and sand. So I joined the 'Fleet to get away. I got away, alright. It's ironic that I'm back on a desert."

Kalay leaned over and put a hand on his shoulder. Ralph did not normally want anyone to see him acting as though his life wasn't perfect, and she knew he must be hurting. She was more comfortable with phasers and forcefields than emotions, but she also knew that sometimes people have to do things they aren't really comfortable with to be a good friend. She tried to project more confidence than she felt. "Let it go, Ralph. It's hard, but you'll feel so much better after. I know, because I've been there."

"When I left I was barely civil to Mom and Bill, and now I'll probably never see them again! I feel like such a jerk."

Kelly, who could sense his anguish, tried to comfort him as well. "Mothers have an amazing capacity to understand and forgive."

"Yeah, but the chances of me getting to apologize are nonexistent."

"Never nonexistent, Ralph. Where's your optimism?"

"Was that on the list of Kazon-approved items to bring? Because it was a damn short list."

Harry piped up, happy to see his friend cheering up. "They bothered to write it down? I thought they just herded us off empty-handed."

"Well, at least they let us keep the uniforms."

"Seriously, Ralph. It's going to be alright." Kelly hoped that she could convince him, because whether or not he was alright depended entirely on his outlook.

He pondered this for a moment. "I want to say you're wrong, but somehow your optimism ends up being right. Lady Luck likes you."

She smiled. "How do you know I'm not Lady Luck herself?"

"If I see Voyager coming back for us, I'll ask for a lock of your hair as a good luck charm."

It had been a long road to the planet they were on, but with his friends, Ralph felt freer, more optimistic, and luckier than he had in over a decade.