"There aren't a lot of folks out this way," Tunada warned. "Are you asking me to take a message out, or do you need to talk to someone yourself?" That would be complicated, much more complicated. Fara was recognizable, even like this, to a populace to whom she had become a celebrity.

That gave Kaitan a moment or two to gather herself up behind the competent facade she'd shoved in place against her shock. Now she was frowning and chewing on the request.

Her eyes flicked over Fara's companions, gauged them for desert travel. They did not rustle up to par against her checklist -- in fact, as a whole they failed miserably. What were those shoes? "Our options are limited for places nearby," she let Fara know grimly. She was familiar with this stretch of dunes and stones, but not as familiar as she was with others, which was a shame. But if she could take them in little leaps further south... "There's one place. But we'd be out in the open for a long stretch."