ZEME is quite arid, and its population must rely on two large river systems that flow from inaccessible polar heights towards the equator.  These rivers reach no sea, because they are completely drained by the Zemean military, which controls the human society thanks to their control of the water.  Martial law is modified by a strong tradition of conscious responsibility among Zemeans.  Each soldier of the lowest rank is assigned to a few dozen civilians, often including his own family and nearest neighbors.  In addition to the soldier's usual duties of training and weapon maintenance, he or she must see to it that their "constituents" are squared away.  Only the daily water ration is officially provided by the military, but other issues are handled indirectly by sending "requests" to members of that group.  If a problem is too large to be addressed in this manner, it gets bumped up the chain to a higher-ranking officer.  One hour each day is dedicated to communication on these subjects, and a second hour is spent solely on meditation about them.  No one on Zeme is forgotten, because there is always a soldier somewhere who is obligated to think about each person.