"Sure," he says agreeably.

Leaning against her chair and hugging her is reasonably comfortable; he doesn't bother to stop doing those things while he tells her about the moonturns he spent in the Madiran and what he learned there. For the most part, the desert is doing well, but he suggests that its sandstorms could be gently diverted from passing over inhabited areas.

"As long as you don't try to get rid of them completely," he adds. "The desert depends on them too much."