Ocampa The Ocampa or Ocampans were a humanoid species who lived on the planet in the Delta Quadrant . Their early history was shrouded in mystery but their own legends told of a time when they were capable of great mental feats . ( ) History . About five hundred Ocampan generations before the 2370s , Nacene explorers from another galaxy inadvertently damaged the atmosphere of the planet Ocampa so badly that all nucleogenic particle s were lost , thus rendering the atmosphere incapable of producing rain . The planet rapidly became a desert , a time the Ocampans later remembered as " The Warming " . The Nacene left two of their kind behind to " honor the debt that could never be repaid " to the Ocampa . The male Nacene , known as the to the Ocampa , led the endangered species through tunnels into a vast underground city constructed especially for them . The Caretaker provided them with food , entertainment , water from subterranean sources , and power from the Caretaker ' s array nearby in space . The Nacene then sealed the Ocampa in , using a force barrier . The Ocampa ruling Elders were subsequently charged with discovering the wishes of the Caretaker , who had become almost a deity to the Ocampan populace . ( ) By the late 21st century , the female Nacene , called Suspiria by the Ocampa , had decided to leave her mate to seek out " more interesting places . " She established her own array , with a colony of Ocampa . Despite this , the Ocampa had no tales of any of them leaving or being taken by aliens . Under Suspiria ' s guidance , these Ocampa colonists developed their mental talents and eventually created technology capable of increasing their natural life span s to as much as twenty years . This made them arrogant to the point that they might look at other humanoids like they looked at pets . ( ) On Ocampa , a dissident movement had developed among the younger generations by 2371 . They moved out of the city and began to provide for themselves . They were fascinated by ancient stories stating that the Ocampa once had extraordinary mental capacities . The Elders claimed that the stories were apocryphal , but the dissidents believed these mental powers had only become dormant after centuries of dependence on the Caretaker . In that same year , their reliance on the Caretaker was forcibly ended by the entity ' s death and the destruction of the array . They had enough energy in the city ' s reserves to last until 2376 – then they would be forced to return to the planet ' s surface . ( ) Physiology . The Ocampa were humanoid and resembled Human s except for a few folds of skin around their ear s . They were born without the ear folds , which grew when the infants grew older . They aged very rapidly , resulting in an average life span of only nine years . Consequently , they developed and learned extremely quickly . Most of their growth took place in the first six month s , and by one year old , they had reached a young adult stage . They remained in this stage for several years . Between the ages of four and five , female Ocampa entered the " elogium " , the time of sexual maturation . During the " elogium " , a mitral sac formed on the back of the female . The sac accommodated a developing child ( or children ) , and it was from the sac that the child was born , as its mother stood upright . Ocampan babies came out of the mitral sac feet first and with an evident navel , suggesting that an umbilical cord detached from the abdomen during or shortly before birth . ( ) The " ipasaphor " , a sticky yellow substance , appeared on the female ' s hands for the six - day mating bond . Once the " ipasaphor " had appeared , mating needed to commence within fifty - two hours . ( ) Having remained young - looking for a number of years , they reached middle age sometime around their seventh year . Again , their aging seemed to stop , only to rapidly increase near their ninth year with the onset of the " morilogium " . At this stage of life , the Ocampa moved from middle age to extreme old age in the space of a few weeks , becoming confused and amnesiac before dying . ( ) It is interesting to note that the rapid development and aging was a dominant trait . It was found in half - and even quarter - Ocampa . ( ) The Ocampa on Suspiria ' s array could reach the age of twenty years , with the use of technology to prolong their lives . ( ) Ocampa had a body temperature of around sixteen to seventeen degrees Celsius . They also had an extremely high rate of tissue regeneration . ( ) Mental abilities . All Ocampa appeared to be natural telepaths , able to communicate with members of their species and those of other species , as well . Among the more unusual mental abilities exhibited by the Ocampa were eidetic memory , precognition , telekinesis of varying strength , and the ability to sense and manipulate the subatomic level of matter . , an Ocampa living on Suspiria ' s array , demonstrated to Kes that she could control the life force in living things , causing them to grow or die as she wished . Tanis also told Kes that the Ocampa could join Suspiria in a subspace layer called Exosia , which he described as a realm of pure thought . In early 2374 , Kes experienced a rapid and uncontrollable blossoming of her mental abilities . Her body and everything around her , including " Voyager " , began to destabilize at the subatomic level . Kes left the ship and allowed this process to complete itself , apparently evolving into a being of pure energy . She could then move objects through space without need of conventional propulsion , and later exhibited the ability to travel through time . Culture . The Ocampa believed in an immortal soul , called the " comra " . They buried their dead , believing that the " comra " would move on to the afterlife . ( ) On Ocampa , mate s were chosen for life , and there was no distrust , jealousy , envy , or betrayal in this relation . Upon hearing this , The Doctor speculated that the Ocampa must have had very dry literature . ( ) Appendices . Background information . The first material evidence of the Ocampa is the note of a single word , " Androgynous " , which was part of a couple of brief notes on s early development that were written on . By , it was still undecided if the species was to have genders or be androgynous , though a lifespan of seven years had been postulated for the species and the aliens had been nicknamed " Mayfly " , since their short lifespan would be in common with the insect of the same name . ( " " , pp . 175 , 176 - 177 & 199 ) The aliens ' ultimate lifespan of " only about nine years " and the fact that they have genders were chosen on or had been chosen by 17 August 1993 , when another series of notes described the female main character from this species ( i . e . Kes ) as a " delicate creature " and suggested , " " We might want to endow her with some kind of special , super - human ability . " " ( " " , p . 189 ) There was , in fact , a continuing discussion about giving her one or more types of psychic ability , which culminated in parapsychological research being carried out by Zayra Cabot and Joan Pearce Research Associates . ( " " , p . 199 ) On , the producers received the research report from Joan Pearce . Following examination of the possibilities presented in the document , the producers finally decided to initially imbue the female Mayfly with some measure of telepathic ability and to then see how stories developed from that point onward . ( " " , p . 206 ) The species had been named Ocampa by the end of that month , at which point the name appeared in the first draft of the series writers ' bible . ( " " , p . 208 ) Apocrypha . In the " String Theory " trilogy , The Doctor was sent to Ocampa ' s distant past by a Nacene who wanted The Doctor to prevent the birth of a Nacene / Ocampa hybrid that it perceived as a threat . During this visit , it was revealed that Ocampa sometimes received residual memories from ancestors after they were born , their short lifespan making such a detail a valuable bonus . Kes , it would appear , was one such Ocampa , and it is revealed that she had told all she remembered to The Doctor prior to her departure from the ship . It was also shown that , in the past , Ocampa was a planet on a level similar to Earth in the Middle Ages , with a nobility - style system , but with certain military general s possessing powerful telepathic abilities . To explain how the Ocampan population could be maintained despite each female only giving birth once , the " " novella " Places of Exile " ( in " Infinity ' s Prism " ) suggests that twin and triplet births were common among Ocampa . In the acknowledgments , author Christopher L . Bennett credits Bernd Schneider ' s website for the idea .