Heretics of Dune – Dune 05
Frank Herbert
April 1984
When I was writing Dune
.. . there was no room in my mind for concerns about the book's success orI fwaialusrec.oncerned
only with the writingS.ix years of research had preceded the day I sat down to put the story together, and the interweaving of the many plot layers I had planned required a degree of concentration I had never before experienced.
It was to be a story exploring the myth of the Messiah.
It was to produce another view of a human-occupied planet as an energy machine.
It was to penetrate the interlocked workings of politics and economics.
It was to be an examination of absolute prediction and its pitfalls.

It was to have an awareness drug in it and tell what could happen through dependence on such a substance.
Potable water was to be an analog for oil and for water itself, a substance whose supply diminishes each day.
It was to be an ecological novel, then, with many overtones, as well as a story about people and their human concerns with human values, and I had to monitor each of these levels at every stage in the book.
There wasn't room in my head to think about much else.
Following the first publication, reports from the publishers were slow and, as it turned out, inaccurate.
The critics had panned
Mit.ore than twelve publishers had turned it down before publicaTtihoenr.e was
no advertising.Something was happening out there, though.
For two years, I was swamped with bookstore and reader complaints that they could not get the book. The Whole Earth Catalog praised Iit.kept getting these telephone calls from people asking me if I were starting a cult.
The answer": God no!"
What I'm describing is the slow realization of sucBceysst.he time the first three Dune books were
completed, there was little doubt that this was a popular work -- one of the most popular in history, I am
told, with some ten million copies sold worldwNidoew. does this success mean to you?"
the most common question people ask"Wis:hat
It surprises meI. didn't expect failure eitheIrt. was a work and I didPairtt.s of Dune Messiah and
Children of Dune were written before Dune was compleTtheedy.
fleshed out more in the writing, but the
essential story remained intacIt. was a writer and I was writTinhge. time writing.
success meant I could spend more

Looking back on it, I realize I did the right thing instinYctiovuelyd.on't write for succesTs.hat takes part of your attention away from the writIifngy.ou're really doing it, that's all you're dowinrigti:ng.
There's an unwritten compact between you and the reIafdesro.meone enters a bookstore and sets
down hard earned money (energy) for your book, you owe that person some entertainment and as much more as you can give.
That was really my intention all along.
Frank Herbert
Most discipline is hidden discipline, designed not to liberate but toDolimniot.t ask WhyB? e cautious with How?Why? leads inexorably to paradoHx.ow? traps you in a universe of cause and eBffoetcht. deny the infinite.
-The Apocrypha of Arrakis

"Taraza told you, did she not, that we have gone through eleven of these Duncan IdahTohigshonaes?
is the twelfth."
The old Reverend Mother Schwangyu spoke with deliberate bitterness as she looked down from the third-story parapet at the lone child playing on the enclosed Tlahwe np. lanet Gammu's bright midday
sunlight bounced off the white courtyard walls filling the area beneath them with brilliance as though a spotlight had been directed onto the young ghola.
Gone through! the Reverend Mother Lucilla thouSghet. allowed herself a short nod, thinking how coldly impersonal were Schwangyu's manner and choice of woWrdes.have used up our supply; send us more!
The child on the lawn appeared to be about twelve standard years of age, but appearance could be deceptive with a ghola not yet awakened to his original memTohrieesc. hild took that moment to look up
at the watchers above himH.e was a sturdy figure with a direct gaze that focused intently from beneath a black cap of karakul haiTr.he yellow sunlight of early spring cast a small shadow at hHisisfesekt.in was
darkly tanned but a slight movement of his body shifted his blue singlesuit, revealing pale skin at the left shoulder.
"Not only are these gholas costly but they are supremely dangerous to us," SchwangHyeur svaoidic.e
came out flat and emotionless, all the more powerful because oIft twhaats.
the voice of a Reverend
Mother Instructor speaking down to an acolyte and it emphasized for Lucilla that Schwangyu was one of those who protested openly against the ghola project.
Taraza had warned":She will try to win you over."
"Eleven failures are enough," Schwangyu said.
Lucilla glanced at Schwangyu's wrinkled features, thinking suddeSnolmy:eday I may be old and wizened, too.And perhaps I will be a power in the Bene Gesserit as well.
Schwangyu was a small woman with many age marks earned in the Sisterhood'sLuacffilaliarsk. new from her own

assignment-studies that Schwangyu's conventional black robe concealed a skinny figure that few other than her acolyte dressers and the males bred to her had eveSr cshewena.ngyu's mouth was wide, the
lower lip constricted by the age lines that fanned into a juttingHecrhimn.anner tended to a curt
abruptness that the uninitiated often interpreted as anTgehre.
commander of the Gammu Keep was one
who kept herself to herself more than most Reverend Mothers.
Once more, Lucilla wished she knew the entire scope of the ghola Tparorajezcat.had drawn the
dividing line clearly enough, thoug"hS: chwangyu is not to be trusted where the safety of the ghola is concerned."
"We think the Tleilaxu themselves killed most of the previous eleven," Schwangy"Tuhsaatidin. should tell us something."
itself
Matching Schwangyu's manner, Lucilla adopted a quiet attitude of almost emotionless wHaeitring.
manner said:"I may be much younger than you, Schwangyu, but I, too, am a full Reverend SMhoether." could feel Schwangyu's gaze.
Schwangyu had seen the holos of this Lucilla but the woman in the flesh was more discAoncerting. Imprinter of the best training, no doubt oBfluite.-in-blue eyes uncorrected by any lens gave Lucilla a
piercing expression that went with her long oval fWacieth.
the hood of her black aba robe thrown back
as it was now, brown hair was revealed, drawn into a tight barette and then cascading down her back. Not even the stiffest robe could completely hide Lucilla's ample brSehaestsw. as from a genetic line
famous for its motherly nature and she already had borne three children for the Sisterhood, two by the same sire.Yes -- a brown-haired charmer with full breasts and a motherly disposition.
"You say very little," Schwangyu sa"iTdh. is tells me that Taraza has warned you against me." "Do you have reason to believe assassins will try to kill this twelfth ghola?" Lucilla asked. "They already have tried."
Strange how the word "heresy" came to mind when thinking of Schwangyu, Lucilla Cthoouuldghthere
be heresy among the Reverend MotherTs?he religious overtones of the word seemed out of place in a

Bene Gesserit contextH.
ow could there be heretical movements among people who held a profoundly
manipulative attitude toward all things religious?
Lucilla shifted her attention down to the ghola, who took this moment to perform a series of cartwheels that brought him around full circle until he once more stood looking up at the two observers on the parapet.
"How prettily he performs!" Schwangyu sneerTedh.e old voice did not completely mask an underlying violence.
Lucilla glanced at SchwangyHu.eresy. Dissidence was not the proper worOdp. position did not cover what could be sensed in the older womTahni.s was something that could shatter the Bene Gesserit. Revolt against Taraza, against the Reverend Mother SuperUionr?thinkable! Mother Superiors were cast
in the mold of monarcOh.nce Taraza had accepted counsel and advice and then made her decision, the
Sisters were committed to obedience.
"This is no time to be creating new problems!" Schwangyu said.
Her meaning was cleaPr.eople from the Scattering were coming back and the intent of some among those Lost Ones threatened the SisterhooHdo. nored Matres!How like "Reverend Mothers" the words sounded.
Lucilla ventured an exploratory sal"lyS:o you think we should be concentrating on the problem of those
Honored Matres from the Scattering?"
"Concentrating?Hah! They do not have our poweTrsh.ey do not show good sensAen. d they do not have mastery of melangeT!hat is what they want from us, our spice knowledge."
"Perhaps," Lucilla agreedS.he was not willing to concede this on the scanty evidence.
"Mother Superior Taraza has taken leave of her senses to dally with this ghola thing now," Schwangyu said.

Lucilla remained silenTt.he ghola project definitely had touched an old nerve among the STihsteers. possibility, even remote, that they might arouse another Kwisatz Haderach sent shudders of angry fear through the ranksT. o meddle with the worm-bound remnants of the TyTrahnat!t was dangerous in the extreme.
"We should never take that ghola to Rakis," Schwangyu mut"tLereetd.sleeping worms lie."
Lucilla gave her attention once more to the ghola-cHheildh.ad turned his back on the high parapet with its two Reverend Mothers, but something about his posture said he knew they discussed him and he awaited their response.
"You doubtless realize that you have been called in while he is yet too young," Schwangyu said.
"I have never heard of the deep imprinting on one that young," LucillaShagereaelldo.wed something softly self-mocking in her tone, a thing she knew Schwangyu would hear and misinTtheerpret. management of procreation and all of its attendant necessities, that was the Bene Gesserit ultimate specialty. Use love but avoid it, Schwangyu would be thinking Tnhoew.Sisterhood's analysts knew the
roots of loveT. hey had examined this quite early in their development but had never dared breed it out of
those they influencedT. olerate love but guard against it, that was the Krunloew.
that it lay deep within
the human genetic makeup, a safety net to insure continuation of the sYpeocuieus.sed it where
necessary, imprinting selected individuals (sometimes upon each other) for the Sisterhood's purposes, knowing then that such individuals would be linked by powerful bonding lines not readily available to the common awareness.Others might observe such links and plot the consequences but the linked ones
would dance to unconscious music.
"I was not suggesting that it's a mistake to imprint him," Schwangyu said, misreading Lucilla's silence.
"We do what we are ordered to do," Lucilla chLiedtedS.chwangyu make of that what she would.
"Then you do not object to taking the ghola to Rakis," Schwangy"uI wsaoindd. er if you would continue such unquestioning obedience if you knew the full story?"
Lucilla inhaled a deep breaWth.as the entire design for the Duncan Idaho gholas to be shared with her

now?
"There is a female child named Sheeana Brugh on Rakis," Schwangy"uShseaidc.an control the giant worms."
Lucilla concealed her alertnesGs.iant worms.Not Shai-hulud.Not Shaitan.Giant worms.The sandrider predicted by the Tyrant had appeared at last!
"I do not make idle chatter," Schwangyu said when Lucilla continued silent.
Indeed not, Lucilla thoughAt.nd you call a thing by its descriptive label, not by the name of its mystical import. Giant worms.And you're really thinking about the Tyrant, Leto II, whose endless dream is
carried as a pearl of awareness in each of those wOorrmsso.
we are led to believe.
Schwangyu nodded toward the child on the lawn below "tDheomy. ou think their ghola will be able to influence the girl who controls the worms?"
We're peeling away the skin at last, Lucilla thoSuhgeht.said:"I have no need for the answer to such a question."
"You are a cautious one," Schwangyu said.
Lucilla arched her back and stretchCeda.utious? Yes, indeed!Taraza had warned her":Where Schwangyu is concerned, you must act with extreme caution but with Wspeedh.ave a very narrow window of time within which we can succeed."
Succeed at whatL? ucilla wondered.She glanced sideways at Schwangy"uI. don't see how the Tleilaxu
could succeed in killing eleven of these ghoHlaosw.
could they get through our defenses?"
"We have the Bashar now," Schwangyu s"aPide.rhaps he can prevent disasterH."er tone said she did not believe this.

Mother Superior Taraza had sa"idY:ou are the Imprinter, LucillWa. hen you get to Gammu you will recognize some of the patterBn.ut for your task you have no need for the full design."
"Think of the costS!"chwangyu said, glaring down at the ghola, who now squatted, pulling at tufts of grass.
Cost had nothing to do with it, Lucilla kTnheew.open admission of failure was much more important. The Sisterhood could not reveal its fallibilBityu.t the fact that an Imprinter had been summoned early -- that was vitalT. araza had known the Imprinter would see this and recognize part of the pattern.
Schwangyu gestured with one bony hand at the child, who had returned to his solitary play, running and tumbling on the grass.
"Politics," Schwangyu said.
No doubt Sisterhood politics lay at the core of Schwangyu's heresy, Lucilla tThhoeugdhet.licacy of the internal argument could be deduced from the fact that Schwangyu had been put in charge of the Keep here on GammuT. hose who opposed Taraza refused to sit on the sidelines.
Schwangyu turned and looked squarely at LucEilnlao.ugh had been saidE.nough had been heard and
screened through minds trained in Bene Gesserit awarenTeshse. with great care.
Chapter House had chosen this Lucilla
Lucilla felt the older woman's careful examination but refused to let this touch that innermost sense of purpose upon which every Reverend Mother could rely in times of Hstereres.s.Get her look fully upon
me. Lucilla turned and set her mouth in a soft smile, passing her gaze across the rooftop opposite them.
A uniformed man armed with a heavy-duty lasgun appeared there, looked once at the two Reverend
Mothers and then focused on the child below them.

"Who is that?L"ucilla asked
"Patrin, the Bashar's most trusted aiSdaey. s he's only the Bashar's batman but you'd have to be blind and a fool to believe th"at.
Lucilla examined the man across from them with Scoareth. at was PatrinA.
native of Gammu, Taraza
had said.Chosen for this task by the Bashar himsTehlfi.n and blond, much too old now to be soldiering, but then the Bashar had been called back from retirement and had insisted Patrin must share this duty.
Schwangyu noted the way Lucilla shifted her attention from Patrin to the ghola with realYceos,nciefrn. the Bashar had been called back to guard this Keep, then the ghola was in extreme peril.
Lucilla started in sudden surpri"seW. hy . . . he's . . ."
"Miles Teg's orders," Schwangyu said, naming the Bas"hAalrl. of the ghola's play is training play. Muscles are to be prepared for the day when he is restored to his original self."
"But that's no simple exercise he's doing down there," LucillaShseaidfe. lt her own muscles respond sympathetically to the remembered training.
"We hold back only the Sisterhood's arcana from this ghola," Schwangy"uAslmaiods.t anything else in our storehouse of knowledge can be hHis.e"r tone said she found this extremely objectionable.
"Surely, no one believes this ghola could become another Kwisatz Haderach," Lucilla objected.
Schwangyu merely shrugged.
Lucilla held herself quite still, thinkiWnga.s it possible the ghola could be transformed into a male version of a Reverend MotherC? ould this Duncan Idaho learn to look inward where no Reverend Mother
dared?

Schwangyu began to speak, her voice almost a growling m"uTthteer:design of this project . . . they have a dangerous planT.hey could make the same mistake .S.he." broke off.
They, Lucilla thoughTt.heir ghola.
"I would give anything to know for sure the position of Ix and the Fish Speakers in this," Lucilla said.
"Fish Speakers!"Schwangyu shook her head at the very thought of the remnant female army that had once served only the Tyran"tT. hey believe in truth and justice."
Lucilla overcame a sudden tightness in her thSrocahtw. angyu had all but declared open oppositiYone.t,
she commanded hereT. he political rule was a simple oTnhe:ose who opposed the project must monitor it that they might abort it at the first sign of trBoutblteh.at was a genuine Duncan Idaho ghola down there on the lawnC. ell comparisons and Truthsayers had confirmed it.
Taraza had said":You are to teach him love in all of its forms."
"He's so young," Lucilla said, keeping her attention on the ghola.
"Young, yes," Schwangyu sai"dS. o, for now, I presume you will awaken his childish responses to maternal affection.Later . . .S"chwangyu shrugged.
Lucilla betrayed no emotional reactioAn. Bene Gesserit obeyedI. am an ImprinterS.o . . T. araza's orders and the Imprinter's specialized training defined a particular course of events.
To Schwangyu, Lucilla sai"dT: here is someone who looks like me and speaks with my Ivoamice.
Imprinting for herM.
ay I ask who that is?"
"No."

Lucilla held her silencSeh. e had not expected revelation but it had been remarked more than once that she bore a striking resemblance to Senior Security Mother Darwi Od"Aradyeo. ung Odrade."Lucilla
had heard this on several occasionBso. th Lucilla and Odrade were, of course, in the Atreides line with a strong backbreeding from Siona descendantTs.he Fish Speakers had no monopoly on those geBnuest !
the Other Memories of a Reverend Mother, even with their linear selectivity and confinement to the female side, provided important clues to the broad shape of the ghola pLruocjeilclat., who had come to depend on her experiences of the Jessica persona buried some five thousand years back in the Sisterhood's genetic manipulations, felt a deep sense of dread from that sourceThneorew.was a familiar pattern here.It gave off such an intense feeling of doom that Lucilla fell automatically into the Litany Against Fear as she had been taught it in her first introduction to the Sisterhood's rites:
"I must not feaFre. ar is the mind-killerF.ear is the little-death that brings total obliteratIiown.ill face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and throughAnmde.when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye
to see its pathW. here the fear has gone there will be nothOinly.
I will remain."
Calm returned to Lucilla.
Schwangyu, sensing some of this, allowed her guard to drop slLiguhctillyla.
was no dullard, no special
Reverend Mother with an empty title and barely sufficient background to function without embarrassing the Sisterhood.Lucilla was the real thing and some reactions could not be hidden from her, not even reactions of another Reverend MotheVr.ery well, let her know the full extent of the opposition to this foolish, this dangerous project!
"I do not think their ghola will survive to see Rakis," Schwangyu said.
Lucilla let this pas"sT. ell me about his friends," she said.
"He has no friends; only teachers."
"When will I meet themS?h"e kept her gaze on the opposite parapet where Patrin leaned idly-against a low pillar, his heavy lasgun at the reaLduyc.illa realized with an abrupt shock that Patrin was watching
her. Patrin was a message from the BashSacr!hwangyu obviously saw and understooWd. e guard him!

"I presume it's Miles Teg you're so anxious to meet," Schwangyu said.
"Among others."
"Don't you want to make contact with the ghola first?"
"I've already made contact with himLu."cilla nodded toward the enclosed yard where the child once more stood almost motionless and looking up at "hHeer'.s a thoughtful one."
"I've only the reports on the others," Schwangyu said, "but I suspect this is the most thoughtful one of the series."
Lucilla suppressed an involuntary shudder at the readiness for violent opposition in Schwangyu's words and attitude.There was not one hint that the child below them shared a common humanity.
While Lucilla was thinking this, clouds covered the sun as they often did here at Athicsolhdouwr.ind blew in over the Keep's walls, swirling around the courtTyahred.child turned away and picked up the speed of his exercises, getting his warmth from increased activity.
"Where does he go to be alone?" Lucilla asked.
"Mostly to his roomH.e has tried a few dangerous escapades, but we have discouraged this."
"He must hate us very much."
"I'm sure of it."
"I will have to deal with that directly."

"Surely, an Imprinter has no doubts about her ability to overcome hate."
"I was thinking of GeasaL.u"cilla sent a knowing look at Schwang"yIu.find it astonishing that you let
Geasa make such a mistake."
"I don't interfere with the normal progress of the ghola's instruIcftioonnse. real affection for him, that is not my problem."
"An attractive child," Lucilla said.
of his teachers develops a
They stood a bit longer watching the Duncan Idaho ghola at his traininBgo-tphlayR.everend Mothers thought briefly of Geasa, one of the first teachers brought here for the gholaSpcrhowjeacntg. yu's attitude was plain:Geasa was a providential failurLe.ucilla thought onlyS: chwangyu and Geasa complicated my
task. Neither woman gave even a passing moment to the way these thoughts reaffirmed their loyalties.
As she watched the child in the courtyard, Lucilla began to have a new appreciation of what the Tyrant God Emperor had actually achieveLd.eto II had employed this ghola-type through uncounted lifetimes -- some thirty-five hundred years of them, one after anoAthnedr. the God Emperor Leto II had been no
ordinary force of natureH. e had been the biggest juggernaut in human history, rolling over everything: over social systems, over natural and unnatural hatreds, over governmental forms, over rituals (both taboo and mandatory), over religions casual and religions inteTnhse. crushing weight of the Tyrant's passage had left nothing unmarked, not even the Bene Gesserit.
Leto II had called it "The Golden Path" and this Duncan Idaho-type ghola below her now had figured prominently in that awesome passagLe.ucilla had studied the Bene Gesserit accounts, probably the best
in the universeE. ven today on most of the old Imperial Planets, newly married couples still scattered
dollops of water east and west, mouthing the local version of "Let Thy blessings flow back to us from this offering, O God of Infinite Power and Infinite Mercy."
Once, it had been the task of Fish Speakers and their tame priesthood to enforce such
Bobuetisance.
the thing had developed its own momentum, becoming a pervasive compuElsvieonn. the most doubting
of believers said": Well, it can do no harmIt."was an accomplishment that the finest religious engineers of the Bene Gesserit Missionaria Protectiva admired with frustrated aTwhe. Tyrant had surpassed the
Bene Gesserit bestA.
nd fifteen hundred years since the Tyrant's death, the Sisterhood remained

powerless to unlock the central knot of that fearsome accomplishment.
"Who has charge of the child's religious training?" Lucilla asked.
"No one," Schwangyu sai"dW.
hy bother?If he is reawakened to his original memories, he will have his
own ideas.We will deal with those if we ever have to."
The child below them completed his allotted training Wtimiteh.out another look up at the watchers on the parapet, he left the enclosed yard and entered a wide doorway on Pthaetrilne,ftt.oo, abandoned his guard position without glancing at the two Reverend Mothers.
"Don't be fooled by Teg's people," Schwangyu
"saTihde. y have eyes in the backs of their heTaedgs'.s
birth-mother, you know, was one of Huse. is teaching that ghola things better never shared!"
Explosions are also compressions of timOeb.servable changes in the natural universe all are explosive to some degree and from some point of view; otherwise you would not noticSe mthoeomth. Continuity of change, if slowed sufficiently, goes without notice by observers whose time/attention span is too short. Thus, I tell you, I have seen changes you would never have marked.
-Leto II

The woman standing in Chapter House Planet's morning light across the table from the Reverend Mother
Superior Alma Mavis Taraza was tall and supTphlee.
long aba robe that encased her in shimmering
black from shoulders to floor did not completely conceal the grace with which her body expressed every movement.
Taraza leaned forward in her chairdog and scanned the Records Relay projecting its condensed Bene
Gesserit glyphs above the tabletop for her eyes only.
"Darwi Odrade," the display identified the standing woman, and then came the essential biography, which Taraza already knew in detaTilh.e display served several purposes -- it provided a secure
reminder for the Mother Superior, it allowed an occasional delay for thought while she appeared to scan the records, and it was a final argument should something negative arise from this interview.
Odrade had borne nineteen children for the Bene Gesserit, Taraza observed as the information scrolled past her eyesE. ach child by a different fathNero. t much unusual about that, but even the most searching gaze could see that this essential service to the Sisterhood had not grossened OdradeH'serflesh.
features conveyed a natural hauteur in the long nose and the complementary angular Ecvhereyks.
feature focused downward to a narrow chHine:r mouth, though, was full and promised a passion that she was careful to bridle.
We can always depend on the Atreides genes, Taraza thoAugwhti.ndow curtain fluttered behind
Odrade and she glanced back atTiht.ey were in Taraza's morning room, a small and elegantly furnished space decorated in shades of greeOnn. ly the stark white of Taraza's chairdog separated her from the background. The room's bow windows looked eastward onto garden and lawn with faraway snowy mountains of Chapter House Planet as backdrop.
Without looking up, Taraza sa"idI: was glad when both you and Lucilla accepted the assignImt ent. makes my task much easier."
"I would like to have met this Lucilla," Odrade said, looking down at the top of TaraOzdar'sadhee'sad. voice came out a soft contralto.
Taraza cleared her throa"tN. o need.Lucilla is one of our finest ImprinteErasc. h of you, of course,

received the identical liberal conditioning to prepare you for this."
There was something almost insulting in Taraza's casual tone and only the habits of long association put down Odrade's immediate resentmenIt.t was partly that word "liberal," she realizAetdre. ides ancestors
rose up in rebellion at the woIrtd.was as though her accumulated female memories lashed out at the unconscious assumptions and unexamined prejudices behind the concept.
"Only liberals really thinOk.nly liberals are intellectuaOl. nly liberals understand the needs of their fellows."
How much viciousness lay concealed in that wOorddr!ade thought.How much secret ego demanding to feel superior.
Odrade reminded herself that Taraza, despite the casually insulting tone, had used the term only in its catholic sense:Lucilla's generalized education had been carefully matched to that of Odrade.
Taraza leaned back into a more comfortable position but still kept her attention on the display in front of her. The light from the eastern windows fell directly on her face, leaving shadows beneath nose and chin.
A small woman just a bit older than Odrade, Taraza retained much of the beauty that had made her a most reliable breeder with difficult sirHese. r face was a long oval with soft curved chSeehkes.wore her
black hair drawn back tightly from a high forehead with a pronouncedTapreaazka.'s mouth opened minimally when she spokes:uperb control of movemenAt. n observer's attention tended to focus on her
eyes: that compelling blue-in-blueT. he total effect was of a suave facial mask from which little escaped to betray her true emotions.
Odrade recognized this present pose in the Mother SupeTraiorarz. a would mutter to herself presently. Indeed, right on cue, Taraza muttered to herself.
The Mother Superior was thinking while she followed the biographical display with great aMtteanntyion. matters occupied her attention.
This was a reassuring thought to OdraTdaer.aza did not believe there was any such thing as a beneficent power guarding humankindT. he Missionaria Protectiva and the intentions of the Sisterhood counted for everything in Taraza's universeW. hatever served those intentions, even the machinations of the long-dead Tyrant, could be judged gooAd.ll else was eviAl. lien intrusions from the Scattering -- especially those

returning descendants who called themselves "Honored Matres" -- were not to be tTruasratezda.'s own people, even those Reverend Mothers who opposed her in Council, were the ultimate Bene Gesserit resource, the only thing that could be trusted.
Still without looking up, Taraza sa"iDd:o you know that when you compare the millennia preceding the
Tyrant with those after his death, the decrease in major conflicts is phenoSminecneal.the Tyrant, the number of such conflicts has dropped to less than two percent of what it was before."
"As far as we know," Odrade said.
Taraza's gaze flicked upward and then do"wWnh. at?"
"We have no way of telling how many wars have been fought outside Houavr ekeyno.u statistics from the people of the Scattering?"
"Of course not!" `
"Leto tamed us is what you're saying," Odrade said.
"If you care to put it that wTaayr.a"za inserted a marker in something she saw on her display.
"Shouldn't some of the credit go to our beloved Bashar MilesOTderga?d"e asked."Or to his talented predecessors?"
"We chose those people," Taraza said.
"I don't see the pertinence of this martial discussion," Odrade"Wsahiadt. present problem?"
does it have to do with our

"There are some who think we may revert to the pre-Tyrant condition with a very nasty bang."
"Oh?"Odrade pursed her lips.
"Several groups among our returning Lost Ones are selling arms to anyone who wants to or can buy."
"Specifics?"Odrade asked.
"Sophisticated arms are flooding onto Gammu and there can be little doubt the Tleilaxu are stockpiling some of the nastier weapons."
Taraza leaned back and rubbed her tempSlehse. spoke in a low, almost musing vo"iWce.e think we make decisions of the greatest moment and out of the very highest principles."
Odrade had seen this before, tSohoe. Gesserit?"
said:"Does the Mother Superior doubt the rightness of the Bene
"Doubt?Oh, no.But I do experience frustratioWn. e work all of our lives for these highly refined goals and in the end, what do we fiWnde? find that many of the things to which we have dedicated our lives came from petty decisionsT.hey can be traced to desires for personal comfort or convenience and had nothing at all to do with our high idWeahlsa.t really was at stake was some worldly working agreement that satisfied the needs of those who could make the decisions."
"I've heard you call that political necessity," Odrade said.
Taraza spoke with tight control while returning her attention to the display in fron"Itf owf ehebre. come institutionalized in our judgments, that's a sure way to extinguish the Bene Gesserit."
"You will not find petty decisions in my bio," Odrade said.

"I look for sources of weakness, for flaws."
"You won't find those, either."
Taraza concealed a smilSe.he recognized this egocentric remarOk:drade's way of needling the Mother Superior. Odrade was very good at seeming to be impatient while actually suspending herself in a timeless flow of patience.
When Taraza did not rise to the bait, Odrade resumed her calm waiting -- easy breaths, the mind steady. Patience came without thinking of Tith.e Sisterhood had taught her long ago how to divide past and present into simultaneous flowingWs. hile observing her immediate surroundings, she could pick up
bits and pieces of her past and live through them as though they moved across a screen superimposed over the present.
Memory work, Odrade thoughNt.ecessary things to haul out and lay to Rreesmt.oving the barriers. When all else palled, there was still her tangled childhood.
There had been a time when Odrade lived as most childreninlivaedh:ouse with a man and woman who, if not her parents, certainly acted in loco parAenltliso. f the other children she knew then lived in similar situations.They had papas and mamaSs.ometimes only papa worked away from home.
Sometimes only mama went out to her labIonrsO.
drade's case, the woman remained at home and no
creche nurse guarded the child in the working hoMurusc.h later, Odrade learned that her birth-mother
had given a large sum of money to provide this for the infant female hidden in plain sight that way.
"She hid you with us because she loved you," the woman explained when Odrade was old enough to understand. "That is why you must never reveal that we are not your real parents."
Love had nothing to do with it, Odrade learned Rlaetveerr.end Mothers did not act from such mundane motives. And Odrade's birth-mother had been a Bene Gesserit Sister.
All of this was revealed to Odrade according to the originaHl eprlanna.me:Odrade. Darwi was what she had always been called when the caller was not being endearing orYaonugnrgy.friends naturally shortened it to Dar.

Everything, however, did not go according to the originalOpdlarand. e recalled a narrow bed in a room brightened by paintings of animals and fantasy landscapes on the pastel blueWwhaitlels.curtains
fluttered at the window in the soft breezes of spring and suOmdmraedr.e remembered jumping on the
narrow bed -- a marvelously happy gamupe,:
down, up, downM. uch laughter.Arms caught her in mid
leap and hugged her closTe.hey were a man's armas: round face with a small mustache that tickled her into giggles.The bed thumped the wall when she jumped and the wall revealed indentations from this movement.
Odrade played over this memory now, reluctant to discard it into the well of raMtioanrkalsityo.n a wall. Marks of laughter and joHy.ow small they were to represent so much.
Odd how she had been thinking more and more about papa reAcellntolyf . the memories were not
happy. There had been times when he had been sad-angry, warning mama not to become "too involved." He had a face that reflected many frustratioHnis voice barked when he was in his angry mMooamd.a
moved softly then, her eyes full of woOrrdyr.ade sensed the worry and the fear and resented the man.
The woman knew best how to deal with whispered into his ear.
Shihme . kissed the nape of his neck, stroked his cheek and
These ancient "natural" emotions had engaged a Bene Gesserit analyst-proctor in much work with Odrade before they were exorciseBd.ut even now there was residual detritus to pick up and discard. Even now, Odrade knew that all of it was not gone.
Seeing the way Taraza studied the biographical record with such care, Odrade wondered if that was the flaw the Mother Superior saw.
Surely they know by now that I can deal with the emotions of those early times.
It was all so long aSgtoil.l, she had to admit that the memory of the man and woman lay within her, bonded with such force that it might never be erased complEestepleyc.ially mama.
The Reverend Mother in extremis who had borne Odrade had put her in that hiding place on Gammu for reasons Odrade now understood quite weOlld. rade harbored no resentmentsI.t had been necessary for
the survival of them botPhr.oblems arose from the fact that the foster mother gave Odrade that thing which most mothers give their children, that thing which the Sisterhood so distrusted -- love.

When the Reverend Mothers came, the foster mother had not fought the removal of hTewr ochild.
Reverend Mothers came with a contingent of male and female proActfotersrw.
ard Odrade was a long
time understanding the significance of that wrenching momTenhte.
woman had known in her heart that
the day of parting would comOen. ly a matter of timSe.till, as the days became years -- almost six standards of years -- the woman had dared to hope.
Then the Reverend Mothers came with their burly attendTahnetsy. had merely been waiting until it was safe, until they were sure no hunters knew this was a Bene Gesserit-planned Atreides scion.
Odrade saw a great deal of money passed to the foster mTohtehewr.oman threw the money on the floor. But no voice was raised in objectiTonh.e adults in the scene knew where the power lay.
Calling up those compressed emotions, Odrade could still see the woman take herself to a
straight-backed chair beside the window onto the street, there to hug herself and rock back and forth,
back and forthN.
ot a sound from her.
The Reverend Mothers used Voice and their considerable wiles plus the smoke of drugging herbs and their overpowering presence to lure Odrade into their waiting groundcar.
"It will be just for a little wYhioleu.r real mother sent us."
Odrade sensed the lies but curiosity compelMledy. real mother!
Her last view of the woman who had been her only known female parent was of that figure at the window rocking back and forth, a look of misery on her face, arms wrapped around herself.
Later, when Odrade spoke of returning to the woman, that memory-vision was incorporated into an essential Bene Gesserit lesson.
"Love leads to miserLy.ove is a very ancient force, which served its purpose in its day but no longer is essential for the survival of the specRiees.member that woman's mistake, the pain."

Until well into her teens, Odrade adjusted by daydreamShineg.would really return after she was a full Reverend Mother.She would go back and find that loving woman, find her even though she had no names except "mama" and "SibiaO."drade recalled the laughter of adult friends who had called the woman "Sibia."
Mama Sibia.
The Sisters, however, detected the daydreams and searched out their sTohuarct,e.too, was incorporated into a lesson.
"Daydreaming is the first awakening of what we call simuIltfloisw.an essential tool of rational thought. With it you can clear the mind for better thinking."
Simulflow.
Odrade focused on Taraza at the morning room tCabhlield.hood trauma must be placed carefully into a reconstructed memory-place.All of that had been far away on Gammu, the planet that the people of Dan had rebuilt after the Famine Times and the ScatteTrinhge. people of Dan -- Caladan in those days.
Odrade took a firm grip on rational thought, using the stance of the Other Memories that had flooded into her awareness during the spice agony when she had really become a full Reverend Mother.
Simulflow . . the filter of consciousness. . Other Memories.
What powerful tools the Sisterhood had given Whehra.t dangerous toolsA. ll of those other lives lay there just beyond the curtain of awareness, tools of survival, not a way to satisfy casual curiosity.
Taraza spoke, translating from the material that scrolled past her"Yeyoeus:dig too much in your Other
Memories. That drains away energies better conserved."
The Mother Superior's blue-in-blue eyes sent a piercing stare upward at O"Ydroaudes.ometimes go

right to the edge of fleshly toleranTche.at can lead to your premature death."
"I am careful with the spice, Mother."
"And well you should bAe! body can take only so much melange, only so much prowling in its past!"
"Have you found my flawO?"drade asked.
"Gammu!"One word but an entire harangue.
Odrade knewT. he unavoidable trauma of those lost years on GamTmhuey. to be rooted out and made rationally acceptable.
"But I am sent to Rakis," Odrade said.
were a distraction that had
"And see that you remember the aphorisms of moderaRtieomn.ember who you are!"
Once more, Taraza bent to her display.
I am Odrade, Odrade thought.
In the Bene Gesserit schools where first names tended to slip away, roll call was by Flarisetnndasme. and acquaintances picked up the habit of using the roll-call nTahmeye. learned early that sharing secret or private names was an ancient device for ensnaring a person in affections.
Taraza, three classes ahead of Odrade, had been assigned to "bring the younger girl along," a deliberate association by watchful teachers.

"Bringing along" meant a certain amount of lording it over the younger but also incorporated essentials better taught by someone closer to peer relationsThiapr.aza, with access to the private records of her trainee, started calling the younger girl "DaOr.d"rade responded by calling Taraza "TaTr.h"e two names acquired a certain glue -- Dar and TEavre.n after Reverend Mothers overheard and reprimanded them,
they occasionally lapsed into error if only for the amusement.
Odrade, looking down at Taraza now, s"aDida:r and Tar."
A smile twitched the edges of Taraza's mouth.
"What is it in my records that you don't already know several timesOdorvaedr?e" asked.
Taraza sat back and waited for the chairdog to adjust itself to the new Sphoesitrieosnt.ed her clasped hands on the tabletop and looked up at the younger woman.
Not much younger, really, Taraza thought.
Since school, though, Taraza had thought of Odrade as completely removed into a younger age group, creating a gap no passage of years could close.
"Care at the beginning, Dar," Taraza said.
"This project is well past its beginning," Odrade said.
"But your part in it starts nAownd. been attempted."
we are launching ourselves into such a beginning as has never before
"Am I now to learn the entire design for this ghola?"

"No."
That was iAt. ll the evidence of high-level dispute and the "need to know" cast away with a single word. But Odrade understoodT. here was an organizational rubric laid down by the original Bene Gesserit
Chapter House, which had endured with only minor changes for millBenenniea. Gesserit divisions were cut by hard vertical and horizontal barriers, divided into isolated groups that converged to a single command only here at the toDpu. ties (for which read "assigned roles") were conducted within separated cells. Active participants within a cell did not know their contemporaries within other parallel cells.
But I know that the Reverend Mother Lucilla is in a parallel cell, OdradeItt'hsotuhgehtl.ogical answer.
She recognized the necessitIyt. was an ancient design copied from secret revolutionary sociTethie . Bene Gesserit had always seen themselves as permanent revolutionaIrtiews.as a revolution that had been dampened only in the time of the Tyrant, Leto II.
Dampened, but not diverted or stopped, Odrade reminded herself.
"In what you're about to do," Taraza said, "tell me if you sense any immediate threat to the Sisterhood."
It was one of Taraza's peculiar demands, which Odrade had learned to answer out of wordless instinct, which then could be formed into worQdsu.ickly, she said": If we fail to act, that is worse."
"We reasoned that there would be danger," Taraza Sshaeid.spoke in a dry, remote voiTcaer.aza did
not like calling up this talent in OdraTdhee.
younger woman possessed a prescient instinct for detecting
threats to the SisterhoodI.t came from the wild influence in her genetic line, of course -- the Atreides with their dangerous talentsT.here was a special mark on Odrade's breeding "fCilaer:eful examination of
all offspring."Two of those offspring had been quietly put to death.
I should not have awakened Odrade's talent now, not even for a moment, Taraza Btuhtought. sometimes temptation was very great.
Taraza sealed the projector into her tabletop and looked at the blank surface while s"pEevaekninigf .

you find a perfect sire, you are not to breed without our permission while you are away from us."
"The mistake of my natural mother," Odrade said.
"The mistake of your natural mother was to be recognized while she was breeding!"
Odrade had heard this befoTreh.ere was that thing about the Atreides line that required the most careful monitoring by the breeding mistresseTs.he wild talent, of coursSe.he knew about the wild talent, that
genetic force which had produced the Kwisatz Haderach and the TWyrahnat did the breeding mistresses seek now, thoughW? as their approach mostly negativeN?o more dangerous birthsS!he had
never seen any of her babies after they were born, not necessarily a curious thing for the SAisntedrhood. she never saw any of the records in her own genetiHc efriele, .too, the Sisterhood operated with careful separation of powers.
And those earlier prohibitions on my Other Memories!
She had found the blank spaces in her memories and openedItthweams. probable that only Taraza and perhaps two other councillors (Bellonda, most likely, and one other older Reverend Mother) shared the more sensitive access to such breeding information.
Had Taraza and the other really sworn to die before revealing privileged information to an outsider? There was, after all, a precise ritual of succession should a key Reverend Mother die while away from her Sisters and with no chance to pass along her encapsulatedTlhiveesri.tual had been called into play
many times during the reign of the TyrAantt.errible period!Knowing that the revolutionary cells of the Sisterhood were transparent to himM! onster! She knew that her sisters had never deluded themselves that Leto II refrained from destroying the Bene Gesserit out of some deep-seated loyalty to his grandmother, the Lady Jessica.
Are you there, Jessica?
Odrade felt the stirring far withTinh.e failure of one Reverend Moth"eSr:he allowed herself to fall in love!" Such a small thing but how great the consequenTcheisr.ty-five hundred years of tyranny!

The Golden PathI.nfinite? What of the lost megatrillions gone into the ScatterWingh?at threat was posed by those Lost Ones returning now?
As though she read Odrade's mind, which sometimes she appeared to do, Tara"zTahesaiSdc:attered ones are out there. . just waiting to pounce."
Odrade had heard the argumenDtsa: nger on the one hand and on the other, something magnetically attractive. So many magnificent unknownsT.he Sisterhood with its talents honed by melange over the millennia -- what might they not do with such untapped resources of humTahninitky?of the uncounted
genes out there!Think of the potential talents floating free in universes where they might be lost forever!
"It's the not knowing that conjures up the greatest terrors," Odrade said.
"And the greatest ambitions," Taraza said.
"Then do I go to Rakis?"
"In due courseI. find you adequate to the task."
"Or you would not have assigned me."
It was an old exchange between them, going right back to their schoTolardazaaysr.ealized, though,
that she had not entered it consciousTlyo.o many memories tangled the two of thDemar:
to watch that!
"Remember where your loyalties are," Taraza said.
and TarH.
ave

The existence of no-ships raises the possibility of destroying entire planets without retAalialtairogne.
object, asteroid or equivalent, may be sent against the plOanreth. e people can be set against each other
by sexual subversion, and then can be armed to destroy themsTelhveesse. favor this latter technique.
-Bene Gesserit Analysis
Honored Matres appear to
From his position in the courtyard and even when not appearing to do so, Duncan Idaho kept his attention on the observers above hiTmh.ere was Patrin, of course, but Patrin did not cIotunwta. s the Reverend Mothers across from Patrin who bore watchSinege.ing Lucilla, he thoughTt:hat's the new one. This thought filled him with a surge of excitement, which he took out in renewed exercise.
He completed the first three patterns of the training-play Miles Teg had ordered, vaguely aware that Patrin would report on how well he Ddiudn. can liked Teg and old Patrin and sensed that the feeling was reciprocated. This new Reverend Mother, though -- her presence suggested interesting chaFnogreso.ne
thing, she was younger than the otheArsls.o, this new one did not try to hide the eyes that were a first clue to her membership in the Bene GessHeriist. first glimpse of Schwangyu had confronted him with
eyes concealed behind contact lenses that simulated non-addict pupils and slightly bloodshot Hwehites.
had heard one of the Keep's acolytes say Schwangyu's lenses also corrected for "an astigmatic weakness that has been accepted in her genetic line as a reasonable exchange for the other qualities she transmits to her offspring."
At the time, most of this remark was unintelligible to Duncan but he had looked up the references in the
Keep's library, references both scarce and severely limited in conStcehnwt.angyu herself parried all of
his questions on the subject, but the subsequent behavior of his teachers told him she had been angry. Typically, she had taken out her anger on others.

What really upset her, he suspected, was his demand to know whether she was his mother.
For a long time now Duncan had known he was something sTpheecrieal.were places in the elaborate compound of this Bene Gesserit Keep where he was not permHitetedh.ad found private ways to evade such prohibitions and had stared out often through thick plaz and open windows at guards and wide reaches of cleared ground that could be enfiladed from strategically positioned pillMboixleess.Teg
himself had taught the significance of enfilade positioning.
Gammu, the planet was called noOwn.ce, it had been known as Giedi Prime but someone named Gurney Halleck had changed thaIt was all ancient historDy.ull stuff.There still remained a faint smell of bitter oil in the planet's dirt from its pre-Danian Mdaiyllse.nnia of special plantations were changing that,
his teachers explainedH. surrounded them here.
e could see part of this from the KFeoerpe.sts of conifers and other trees
Still covertly watching the two Reverend Mothers, Duncan did a series of cartHwehefelelsx.ed his striking muscles as he moved, just the way Teg had taught him.
Teg also instructed in planetary defensGesa.mmu was ringed by orbiting monitors whose crews could not have their families aboarTd.he families remained down here on Gammu, hostage to the vigilance of those guardian orbitersS. omewhere among the ships in space, there were undetectable no-ships whose crews were composed entirely of the Bashar's people and Bene Gesserit Sisters.
"I would not have taken this assignment without full charge of all defensive arrangements," Teg explained.
Duncan realized that he was "this assignmeTnht.e"
Keep was here to protect hiTmeg. 's orbiting
monitors, including the no-ships, protected the Keep.
It was all part of a military education whose elements Duncan found somehow Lfaemarinliianrg.
how to
defend a seemingly vulnerable planet from attacks originating in space, he knew when those defenses were correctly placedI.t was extremely complicated as a whole but the elements were identifiable and could be understoodT. here was, for instance, the constant monitoring of atmosphere and the blood serum of Gammu's inhabitantsS.uk doctors in the pay of the Bene Gesserit were everywhere.

"Diseases are weapons," Teg sa"idO.ur defense against diseases must be finely tuned."
Frequently, Teg railed against passive defensHese. called them "the product of a siege mentality long known to create deadly weaknesses."
When it came to military instructions from Teg, Duncan listened carPeafutrlilny. and the library records confirmed that the Mentat Bashar Miles Teg had been a famous military leader for the Bene Gesserit. Patrin often referred to their service together and always Teg was the hero.
"Mobility is the key to military success," Teg "sIafidy.ou're tied down in forts, even whole-planet forts, you are ultimately vulnerable."
Teg did not much care for Gammu.
"I see that you already know this place was called Giedi PrimTehoencHea.rkonnens who ruled here taught us a few thingWs. e have a better idea, thanks to them, of how terrifyingly brutal humans can become."
As he recalled this, Duncan observed that the two Reverend Mothers watching from the parapet obviously were discussing him.
Am I the new one's assignment?
Duncan did not like being watched and he hoped the new one would allow him some time to himself. She did not look like a tough oNnoet. like Schwangyu.
As he continued his exercises, Duncan timed them to a privateDliatmanny:Schwangyu!Damn
Schwangyu!
He had hated Schwangyu from the age of nine -- four yearSshenodwid.
not know his hate, he thought.
She had probably forgotten all about the incident where his hate had been ignited.

Barely nine and he had managed to slip through the inner guards out into a tunnel that led to one of the pillboxes. Smell of fungus in the tunnDeli.m lights.Dampness. He peered out through the box's weapons
slits before being caught and hustled back into the core of the Keep.
This escapade occasioned a stern lecture from Schwangyu, a remote and threatening figure whose orders must be obeyedT. hat was how he still thought of her, although he had since learned about the Bene Gesserit Voice-of-Command, that vocal subtlety which could bend the will of an untrained listener.
She must be obeyed.
"You have occasioned the disciplining of an entire guard unit," Schwangy"uThseayid.will be severely punished."
That had been the most terrible part of her leDctuunrec.an liked some of the guards and occasionally lured some of them into real play with laughter and tumHbliisngp.rank, sneaking out to the pillbox, had hurt his friends.
Duncan knew what it was to be punished.
Damn Schwangyu!Damn Schwangyu! . . .
After Schwangyu's lecture, Duncan ran to his chief instructor of the moment, Reverend Mother Tamalane, another of the wizened old ones with a cool and aloof manner, snowy hair above a narrow face and a leather skiHn.e demanded of Tamalane to know about the punishment of his guards.
Tamalane fell into a surprising pensive mood, her voice like sand rasping against wood.
"Punishments?Well, well."
They were in the small teaching room off the larger practice floor where Tamalane went each evening to prepare the next day's lessonIst. was a place of bubble and spool readers and other sophisticated means

for information storage and retrievaDl.uncan far preferred it to the library but he was not allowed in the teaching room unattendedI.t was a bright room lighted by many suspensor-buoyed glowglAobtehs.is intrusion, Tamalane turned away from where she laid out his lessons.
"There's always something of a sacrificial banquet about our major punishments," sh"Te hseaigdu. ards will, of course, receive major punishment."
"Banquet?"Duncan was puzzled.
Tamalane swung completely around in her swivel seat and looked directly into hHisereysetese. ly teeth glittered in the bright light"sH. istory has seldom been good to those who must be punished," she said.
Duncan flinched at the word "historIyt ."was one of Tamalane's signaSlsh.e was going to teach a lesson, another boring lesson.
"Bene Gesserit punishments cannot be forgotten."
Duncan focused on Tamalane's old mouth, sensing abruptly that she spoke out of painful personal experience. He was going to learn something interesting!
"Our punishments carry an inescapable lesson," Tamalane
"sIatidi.s much more than the pain."
Duncan sat on the floor at her Fferoetm. figure.
this angle, Tamalane was a black-shrouded and ominous
"We do not punish with the ultimate agony," she"Tsahiadt. is reserved for a Reverend Mother's passage through the spice."
Duncan noddedL. ibrary records referred to "spice agony," a mysterious trial that created a Reverend
Mother.

"Major punishments are painful, nonetheless," she s"aTidh.ey are also emotionally painfuEl.motion
evoked by punishment is always that emotion we judge to be the penitent's greatest weakness and thus we strengthen the punished."
Her words filled Duncan with unfocused dreWadh.at were they doing to his guardHse? could not speak but there was no neeTda.malane was not finished.
"The punishment always ends with a dessert," she said and she clapped her hands against her knees.
Duncan frownedD.
essert? That was part of a banquHeto. w could a banquet be punishment?
"It is not really a banquet but the idea of a banquet," TamalaOnenesacilda.wlike hand described a circle in the air".The dessert comes something totally unexpecteTdh.e penitent thinksA: hhh, I have been forgiven at last!You understand?"
Duncan shook his head from side to
Nsidoe, . he did not understand.
"It is the sweetness of the moment," she "sYaiodu.
have been through every course of a painful banquet
and come out at the end to something you can sBauvto!rA. s you savor it, then comes the most painful moment of all, the recognition, the understanding that this is not pleasure-at-thNe-oe,ndin. deed.This is
the ultimate pain of the major punishmeItntl.ocks in the Bene Gesserit lesson."
"But what will she do to those guarTdhs?e" words were wrenched from Duncan.
"I cannot say what the specific elements of the individual punishments can only tell you it will be different for each of them."
Iwihllavbee.no need to knoIw.
Tamalane would say no moSreh.e returned to laying out the next day's less"oWnse. will continue tomorrow," she said, "teaching you to identify the sources of the various accents of spoken Galach."

No one else, not even Teg or Patrin, would answer his questions about the puniEshvmenenthtse. guards, when he saw them afterward, refused to speak of their oSrdoemales. reacted curtly to his overtures and none would play with him anymTorhee.re was no forgiveness among the punishTedh.at much was clear.
Damn Schwangyu!Damn Schwangyu!. . .
That was where his deep hatred of her beAglal no. f the old witches shared in his haWtreodu. ld the new young one be the same as the old ones?
Damn Schwangyu!
When he demanded of Schwangy"uW: hy did you have to punish themS?c"hwangyu took some time before answering, then": It is dangerous for you here on GamTmhue.re are people who wish you harm."
Duncan did not ask whTyh.is was another area where his questions were never answNeroetd.even
Teg would answer, although Teg's very presence emphasized the fact of that danger.
And Miles Teg was a Mentat who must know many anDswunercsa.n often saw the old man's eyes glisten while his thoughts went far awBayu.t there was no Mentat response to such questions as:
"Why are we here on Gammu?"
"Who do you guard againsWt?ho wants to harm me?"
"Who are my parents?"
Silence greeted such questions or sometimes Teg would g"roI wcla:nnot answer you."

The library was uselesHs.e had discovered this when he was only eight and his chief instructor was a failed Reverend Mother named Luran Geasa -- not quite as ancient as Schwangyu but well along in years, more than a hundred, anyway.
At his demand, the library produced information about Gammu/Giedi Prime, about the Harkonnens and their fall, about various conflicts where Teg had commanNdeodn.e of those battles came through as very bloody; several commentators referred to Teg's "superb diplomaBcyu.t", one datum leading to another, Duncan learned about the time of the God Emperor and the taming of hisTpheisoppler.iod
commanded Duncan's attention for weekHs.e found an old map in the records and projected it on the focus wall.The commentator's superimpositions told him that this very Keep had been a Fish Speaker Command Center abandoned during the Scattering.
Fish Speakers!
Duncan wished then that he had lived during their time, serving as one of the rare male advisors in the female army that had worshiped the great God Emperor.
Oh, to have lived on Rakis in those days!
Teg was surprisingly forthcoming about the God Emperor, calling him always "the TAyrlaibnrt.a"ry lock was opened and information about Rakis came pouring out for Duncan.
"Will I ever see Rakis?" he asked Geasa.
"You are being prepared to live there."
The answer astonished himE.verything they taught him about that faraway planet came into new focus.
"Why will I live there?"

"I cannot answer that."
With renewed interest, he returned to his studies of that mysterious planet and its miserable Church of
Shai-hulud, the Divided GodW. orms. The God Emperor had become those wormTsh!e idea filled Duncan with aweP. erhaps here was something worthy of worshTiph.e thought touched a chord in him. What had driven a man to accept that terrible metamorphosis?
Duncan knew what his guards and the others in the Keep thought about Rakis and the core of
priesthood there.Sneering remarks and laughter told it Talelg.
said:"We'll probably never know the
whole truth of it, but I tell you, lad, that's no religion for a soldier."
Schwangyu capped it":You are to learn about the Tyrant but you are not to believe in hisTrhealitgion. is beneath you, contemptible."
In every spare study moment Duncan pored over whatever the library produced fthoer hHimol:y Book of the Divided God, the Guard Bible, the Orange Catholic Bible and even the ApoHcerylpehaarn. ed about the long defunct Bureau of the Faith and "The Pearl that IS the Sun of Understanding."
The very idea of the worms fascinated Thihmei.r size!A big one would stretch from one end of the
Keep to the otherM. en had ridden the pre-Tyrant worms but the Rakian priesthood forbade this now.
He found himself gripped by accounts from the archeological team that had found the Tyrant's primitive
no-chamber on RakisD.
ar-es-Balat, the place was calleTd.he reports by Archeologist Hadi Benotto
were marked "Suppressed by orders of the Rakian PriesthoTohde." file number on the accounts from
Bene Gesserit Archives was a long one and what Benotto revealed was fascinating.
"A kernel of the God Emperor's awareness in each worm?" he asked Geasa.
"So it's saidA. nd even if true, they are not conscious, not awTharee.Tyrant himself said he would enter an endless dream."
Each study session occasioned a special lecture and Bene Gesserit explanations of religion until finally he encountered those accounts called "The Nine Daughters of Siona" and "The Thousand Sons of Idaho."

Confronting Geasa, he demande"dM:
y name is Duncan Idaho, toWo.hat does that mean?"
Geasa always moved as though standing in the shadow of her failure, her long head bent forward and her watery eyes aimed at the grouTndh.e confrontation occurred near evening in the long hall outside the practice floor.She paled at his question.
When she did not answer, he demand"eAdm:
I descended from Duncan Idaho?"
"You must ask SchwangyuG."easa sounded as though the words pained her.
It was a familiar response and it angered Shhiem.meant he would be told something to shut him up, little information in the tellingS.chwangyu, however, was more open than expected.
"You carry the authentic blood of Duncan Idaho."
"Who are my parents?" "They are long dead." "How did they die?"
"I do not knowW. e received you as an orphan."
"Then why do people want to harm me?"
"They fear what you may do."

"What is it I may do?"
"Study your lessonsA. ll will be made clear to you in time."
Shut up and studyA!nother familiar answer.
He obeyed because he had learned to recognize when the doors were closed Bount
hniomw. his
questing intelligence met other accounts of the Famine Times and the Scattering, the no-chambers and no-ships that could not be traced, not even by the most powerful prescient minds in their Huenriev,erse.
he encountered the fact that descendants of Duncan Idaho and Siona, those ancients who had served the
Tyrant God Emperor, also were invisible to prophets and prescNienot .even a Guild Steersman deep
in melange trance could detect such peopSlieo.na, the accounts told him, was a true-bred Atreides and
Duncan Idaho was a ghola.
Ghola?
He probed the library for elaborations on this peculiar word.
Ghola.The library produced for him no more than bare-boned acco"uGnhtso:las: humans grown from a cadaver's cells in Tleilaxu axlotl tanks."
Axlotl tanks?
"A Tleilaxu device for reproducing a living human being from the cells of a cadaver."
"Describe a ghola," he demanded.
"Innocent flesh devoid of its original memorSiee. Axlotl Tanks."

Duncan had learned to read the silences, the blank places in what the people of the Keep revealed to him. Revelation swept over himH. e knew!Only ten and he knew!
I am a ghola.
Late afternoon in the library, all of the esoteric machinery around him faded into a sensory background, and a ten-year-old sat silently before a scanner hugging the knowledge to himself.
I am a ghola!
He could not remember the axlotl tanks where his cells had grown into aHnisinffiarnstt. memories were
of Geasa picking him up from his cradle, the alert interest in those adult eyes that had so soon faded into wary lidding.
It was as though the information so grudgingly supplied him by the Keep's people and records had at last defined a central shapeh:imself.
"Tell me about the Bene Tleilax," he demanded of the library.
"They are a people self-divided into Face Dancers and MaFsatecres.Dancers are mules, sterile and submissive to the Masters."
Why did they do this to me?
The information machines of the library were suddenly alien and dangHereouws.as afraid, not that his questions might meet more blank walls, but that he would receive answers.
Why am I so important to Schwangyu and the others?

He felt that they had wronged him, even Miles Teg and WPahtyrinw. as it right to take the cells of a human and produce a ghola?
He asked the next question with great hesita"tiCoann.
a ghola ever remember who he was?"
"It can be done."
"How?"
"The psychological identity of ghola to original pre-sets certain responses, which can be ignited by trauma."
No answer at all!
"But how?"
Schwangyu intruded at this point, arriving at the library unannouSnocesdo.mething about his questions had been set to alert her!
"All will be made clear to you in time," she said.
She talked down to himH!e sensed the injustice in it, the lack of truthfulSnoemsse. thing within him said
he carried more human wisdom in his unawakened self than the ones who presumed themselves so superior. His hatred of Schwangyu reached a new intensSihtye. was the personification of all who tantalized him and frustrated his questions.
Now, though, his imagination was on fiHree.
would recapture his original memoriHese! felt the truth of
this. He would remember his parents, his family, his frie.nd. shis.
enemies.

He demanded it of Schwangy"uD:id you produce me because of my enemies?"
"You have already learned silence, child," she
"sRaiedl.y on that knowledge."
Very wellT. hat's how I will fight you, damned SchwangIywu.ill be silent and I will leIarwn.on't show you how I really feel.
"You know," she said, "I think we're raising a stoic."
She patronized himH! e would not be patronizeHd.e would fight them all with silence and watchfulness. Duncan ran from the library and huddled in his room.
In the following months, many things confirmed that he was aEgvheonlaa.
child knew when things
around him were extraordinaryH. e saw other children occasionally beyond the walls, walking along the perimeter road, laughing and callinHg.e found accounts of children in the librAardyu. lts did not come to those children and engage them in rigorous training of the sort imposed oOnthheirmc.hildren did not
have a Reverend Mother Schwangyu to order every smallest aspect of their lives.
His discovery precipitated another change in Duncan's Lliufrea.n Geasa was called away from him and did not return.
She was not supposed to let me know about gholas.
The truth was somewhat more complex, as Schwangyu explained to Lucilla on the observation parapet the day of Lucilla's arrival.
"We knew the inevitable moment would coHmee.would learn about gholas and ask the pointed questions."
"It was high time a Reverend Mother took over his everyday eduGcaetaisoan.may have been a

mistake."
"Are you questioning my judgmentS?c"hwangyu snapped.
"Is your judgment so perfect that it may never be questioInedL?u"cilla's soft contralto, the question had the impact of a slap.
Schwangyu remained silent for almost a minPurtes. ently, she said:"Geasa thought the ghola was an endearing child.She cried and said she would miss him."
"Wasn't she warned about that?"
"Geasa did not have our training."
"So you replaced her with Tamalane at that Itimdoe. not know Tamalane but I presume she is quite old."
"Quite."
"What was his reaction to the removal of Geasa?"
"He asked where she had goWnee.
did not answer."
"How did Tamalane fare?"
"On his third day with her, he told her very cIalhmaltye: youI.s that what I'm supposed to do?"'

"So quickly!"
"Right now, he's watching you and thinkIinhga: te SchwangyuW. is also thinking that you are not like the other old wYitcohue'rse. important."
ill I have to hate this new oBnue?t he young.He will know that this must be
Humans live best when each has his place to stand, when each knows where he belongs in the scheme of things and what he may achieDvestroy the place and you destroy the person.
-Bene Gesserit Teaching
Miles Teg had not wanted the Gammu assignmWeneta.pons master to a ghola-childE?ven such a
ghola-child as this one, with all of the history woven aroundIt hwimas. well-ordered retirement.
an unwanted intrusion into Teg's
But he had lived all of that life as a Military Mentat under the will of the Bene Gesserit and could not compute an act of disobedience.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodiet?

Who shall guard the guardianWs?ho shall see that the guardians commit no offenses?
This was a question that Teg had considered carefully on many occIatsifoonrms. ed one of the basic tenets of his loyalty to the Bene GessWeriht.atever else you might say about the Sisterhood, they displayed an admirable constancy of purpose.
Moral purpose, Teg labeled it.
The Bene Gesserit moral purpose agreed completely with Teg's princTiphlaets.those principles were Bene Gesserit-conditioned in him did not enter into the quesRtiaotino.nal thought, especially Mentat rationality, could make no other judgment.
Teg boiled it down to an essenIfceo:nly one person followed such guiding principles, this was a better universe. It was never a question of justiJcues.tice required one to resort to law and that could be a fickle mistress, subject always to the whims and prejudices of those who administered thNeo,laiwt s.
was a question of fairness, a concept that went much deeTpheer. people upon whom judgment was passed must feel the fairness of it.
To Teg, statements such as "the letter of the law must be observed" were dangerous to his guiding principles. Being fair required agreement, predictable constancy and, above all else, loyalty upward and downward in the hierarchyL.eadership guided by such principles required no outside contYroolsu. did
your duty because it was rigAhtn. d you did not obey because that was predictably coYrreocut. did it because the rightness was a thing of this momPernedt.iction and prescience had nothing whatsoever to do with it.
Teg knew the Atreides reputation for reliable prescience, but gnomic utterances had no place in his universe. You took the universe as you found it and applied your principles where youAbcsooululdte. commands in the hierarchy were always obeyNedo.t that Taraza had made it a question of absolute command, but the implications were there.
"You are the perfect person for this task."

He had lived a long life with many high points and he was retired wiTtheghoknnoerw.
he was old, slow
and with all the defects of age waiting just at the edges of his awareness, but the call to duty quickened him even while he was forced to put down the wish to say "No."
The assignment had come from Taraza personaTllhye. powerful senior of all (including the Missionaria
Protectiva) singled him ouNt. ot just a Reverend Mother but the Reverend Mother Superior.
Taraza came to his retirement sanctuary on LernaIet uhso. nored him for her to do this and he knew it. She appeared at his gate unannounced accompanied only by two acolyte servers and a small guard
force, some of whose faces he recognizTedeg.
had trained them himselTf.he time of her arrival was
interesting. Morning, shortly after his breakfasSth. e knew the patterns of his life and certainly knew that he was most alert at this hoSuor. she wanted him awake and at his fullest capabilities.
Patrin, Teg's old batman brought Taraza into the east wing sitting room, a small and elegant setting with
only solid furniture in Tit.eg's dislike of chairdogs and other living furniture was well knPoawtrinn.
had a
sour look on his face as he ushered the black-robed Mother Superior into thTeergooremc.ognized the
look immediately.Patrin's long, pale face with its many age wrinkles might appear an unmoved mask to others, but Teg was alert to the deepened wrinkles beside the man's mouth, the set stare in the old eyes. So Taraza had said something on the way in here that had disturbed Patrin.
Tall sliding doors of heavy plaz framed the room's eastward view down a long sloping lawn to trees beside the riverT. araza paused just inside the room to admire the view.
Without being told, Teg touched a butCtounr.tains slid across the view and glowglobes came alight.
Teg's action told Taraza he had computed a need for priHveacyem. "Please see that we are not disturbed."
"The orders for the South Farm, sir," Patrin ventured.
"Please see to that yourseYlfo. u and Firus know what I want."
phasized this by ordering Patrin:
Patrin closed the door a little too sharply as he left, a tiny signal but it spoke much to Teg.

Taraza moved a pace into the room and examin"eLdimite. Your mother had a fine eye."
green," she said".One of my favorite colors.
Teg warmed to the remarHke.
had a deep affection for this building and thisHlaisndf.amily had been
here only three generations but their mark was on the changed in many rooms.
"It's safe to love land and places," Teg said.
Hpliascem. other's touches had not really been
"I particularly liked the burnt orange carpets in the hall and the stained glass fanlight over the entry door," Taraza said."That fanlight is a real antique, I am sure."
"You did not come here to talk about interior decoration," Teg said.
Taraza chuckled.
She had a high-pitched voice, which the Sisterhood's training had taught her to use with devastating effectiveness. It was not a voice easy to ignore, even when she appeared most carefully casual as she did now. Teg had seen her in Bene Gesserit CounHceilr. manner there was powerful and persuasive, every
word an indicator of the incisive mind that guided her deciHsieoncso. uld sense an important decision beneath her demeanor now.
Teg indicated a green upholstered chair at hisShleeft.glanced at it, swept her gaze once more around the room and suppressed a smile.
Not a chairdog in the house, she would wTageger.was an antique surrounding himself with antiques.
She seated herself and smoothed her robe while waiting for Teg to take a matching chair facing her.
"I regret the need to ask that you come out of retirement, Bashar, circumstances give me little choice."
"sUhenfsoaritudn. ately,

Teg rested his long arms casually on his chair's arms, a Mentat in repose,Hwisaiatitntigtu. de said":Fill my mind with data."
Taraza was momentarily abasheTd.his was an impositionT.eg was still a regal figure tall and with that
large head topped by gray haHire.
was, she knew, four SY short of three hunGdrreadn.ting that the
Standard Year was some twenty hours less than the so-called primitive year, it was still an impressive age with experiences in Bene Gesserit service that demanded that she respecTt ehgimw. ore, she noted, a
light gray uniform with no insignciarefully tailored trousers and jacket, white shirt open at the throat to reveal a deeply wrinkled necTk.here was a glint of gold at his waist and she recognized the Bashar's sunburst he had received at retiremeHnto. w like the utilitarian TegH!e had made the golden bauble into
a belt buckleT. his reassured herT. eg would understand her problem.
"Could I have a drink of wateTra?r"aza asked."It has been a long and tiresome journeWy.e came the last stage by one of our transports, which we should have replaced five hundred years ago."
Teg lifted himself from the chair, went to a wall panel and removed a chilled water bottle and glass from a cabinet behind the paneHl.e put these on a low table at Taraza's right "hIanhdav. e melange," he said.
"No, thank you, MileIs'v. e my own supply."
Teg resumed his seat and she noted the signs of stiHffneesws.as still remarkably supple, however, considering his years.
Taraza poured herself a half glass of water and drank it in one sSwhaellorewp.laced the glass on the
side table with elaborate carHe.ow to approach thisT? eg's manner did not fool hHere.
did not want to
leave retirement.Her analysts had warned her about thSaitn.ce retirement, he had taken more than a casual interest in farmingH. is extensive acreage here on Lernaeus was essentially a research garden.
She lifted her gaze and studied him opeSnqluya. re shoulders accentuated Teg's narrow waiHste.
still
kept himself active thenT.hat long face with its sharp lines from the strong btyopniecsa:lly Atreides.Teg
returned her gaze as he always did, demanding attention but open to whatever the Mother Superior might say. His thin mouth was cocked into a slight smile, exposing bright and even teeth.
He knows I'm uncomfortable, she thougDhat.mn it!He's just as much a servant of the Sisterhood as I
am!

Teg did not prompt her with questioHnis manner remained impeccable, curiously withdrawSnh.e reminded herself that this was a common trait of Mentats and nothing else should be read into it.
Abruptly, Teg stood and strode to a sideboard at Taraza'Hs eletfut.rned, folded his arms across his breast and leaned there looking down at her.
Taraza was forced to swivel her chair to faceDhaimmn.
him!Teg was not going to make this any easier
for her.All of the Reverend Mother Examiners had remarked a difficulty in getting Teg to sit for conversation. He preferred to stand, his shoulders held with military stiffness, his gaze aimed downward. Few Reverend Mothers matched his height -- more than two mTehteisrs.trait, the analysts agreed, was
Teg's way (probably unconscious) of protesting the Sisterhood's authority overNhoinme. of this,
however, showed itself in his other behavTioerg. the Sisterhood had ever employed.
had always been the most reliable military commander
In a multisociety universe whose major binding forces interacted with complexity despite the simplicity of labels, reliable military commanders were worth their weight in melange many timeRs eolivgeior.ns and
the common memory of imperial tyrannies always figured in the negotiations but it was economic forces that eventually carried the day and the military coin could be entered on anybody's adding Imt achine.
was there in every negotiation and would be for as long as necessity drove the trading system -- the need for particular things (such as spice or the technoproducts of Ix), the need for specialists (such as Mentats
or Suk doctors), and all of the other mundane needs for which there were mfoarrklaebtso:r forces, for builders, for designers, for planiformed life, for artists, for exotic pleasures . . .
No legal system could bind such complexity into a whole and this fact quite obviously brought up another necessity -- the constant need for arbiters with cRloeuvet.rend Mothers had naturally fallen into this role within the economic web and Miles Teg knewHethiasl.so knew that he was once more being brought out as a bargaining chWip.hether he enjoyed that role did not figure in the negotiations.
"It's not as though you had any family to hold you here," Taraza said.
Teg accepted this silentlYy.es, his wife had been dead thirty-eight years nHoiws .children were all grown and, with the exception of one daughter, gone from theHenehsta.d his many personal interests but no family obligationsT.rue.

Taraza reminded him then of his long and faithful service to the Sisterhood, citing several memorable achievements. She knew the praise would have little effect on him but it provided her with a needed opening for what must follow.
"You have been apprised of your familial resemblance," she said.
Teg inclined his head no more than a millimeter.
"Your resemblance to the first Leto Atreides, grandfather of the Tyrant, is truly remarkable," she said.
Teg gave no sign that he heard or agTreheids . was merely a datum, something already stored in his
copious memory.He knew he bore Atreides geneHse.
had seen the likeness of Leto I at Chapter
House. It had been oddly like looking into a mirror.
"You're a bit taller," Taraza said.
Teg continued to stare down at her.
"Damn it all, Bashar," Taraza said, "will you at least try to help me?"
"Is that an order, Mother Superior?"
"No, it's not an order!"
Teg smiled slowlyT.he fact that Taraza allowed herself such an explosion in front of him said many things. She would not do that with people she felt were untrustwAornthdy.she certainly would not
permit herself such an emotional display with a person she considered merely an underling.
Taraza sat back in her chair and grinned up a"tAhlilmr.ight," she said".You've had your funP.atrin said

you would be most upset with me if I called you back tIo adssuutyre. plans."
"What plans, Mother Superior?"
you that you are crucial to our
"We are raising a Duncan Idaho ghola on GamHme ui.s almost six years old and ready for military education."
Teg allowed his eyes to widen slightly.
"It will be a taxing duty for you," Taraza said, "but I want you to take over his training and protection as soon as possible."
"My likeness to the Atreides Duke," Teg
"sYaidou.
will use me to restore his original memories."
"In eight or ten years, yes."
"That long!"Teg shook his head".Why Gammu?"
"His prana-bindu inheritance has been altered by the Bene Tleilax, at ourHoirsderersfl.exes will match
in speed those of anyone born in our timGaems. mu . . . the original Duncan Idaho was born and raised there. Because of the changes in his cellular inheritance we must keep all else as close to the original conditions as possible."
"Why are you doing thisI?t"was a Mentat's data-conscious tone.
"A female child with the ability to control the worms had been discovered oWn eRawkiilsl. have use for our ghola there."

"You will breed them?"
"I am not engaging you as a MeInttaist. your military abilities and your likeness to the original Leto that we need.You know how to restore his original memories when the time comes."
"So you're really bringing me back as a Weapons Master."
"You think that's a comedown for the man who was Supreme Bashar of all our forces?"
"Mother Superior, you command and I obeByu.t I will not accept this post without full command of all of Gammu's defenses."
"That already has been arranged, Miles."
"You always did know how my mind works."
"And I've always been confident of your loyalty."
Teg pushed himself away from the sideboard and stood a moment in though"Wt, hthoenw:ill brief me?"
"Bellonda from Records, the same as befSohree. will provide you with a cipher to secure the exchange of messages between us."
"I will give you a list of people," Teg"Osalidd.comrades and the children of some of thIewmi.ll want all of them waiting on Gammu when I arrive."
"You don't think any of them will refuse?"

His look said":Don't be silly!"
Taraza chuckled and she thougThth:ere's a thing we learned well from the original Atreides -- how to produce people who command the utmost devotion and loyalty.
"Patrin will handle the recruiting," Teg s"aHide. and courtesies of a colonel-aide."
won't accept rank I know, but he's to get the full pay
"You will, of course, be restored to the rank of Supreme Bashar," s"hWe esawidi.ll . . ."
"No.You have BurzmaliW.
e will not weaken him by bringing back his old Commander over him."
She studied him a moment, th"eWn:e have not yet commissioned Burzmali as . . ."
"I am well aware of thMaty.
old comrades keep me fully informed of Sisterhood poBlituicts.you and I,
Mother Superior, know it's only a matter of tBimurez.mali is the best."
She could only accept thIits.was more than a military Mentat's assessmIetntw. as Teg's assessment. Another thought struck her.
"Then you already knew about our dispute in Council!" she ac"cAusnedd.you let me . . ."
"Mother Superior, if I thought you would produce another monster on Rakis, I would havYe osuaid so. trust my decisions; I trust yours."
"Damn you, Miles, we've been apart too loTnagr.a"za stood."I feel calmer just knowing you'll be back in harness."

"Harness," he said".Yes. Reinstate me as a Bashar on special assignmTenhta.t way, when word gets back to Burzmali, there'll be no silly questions."
Taraza produced a sheaf of ridulian papers from beneath her robe and passed them"I'tvoe Talerge.ady signed these.Fill in your own reinstatemenTt.he other authorizations are all there, transport vouchers and so on.I give you these orders personalYlyo. u are to obey mYe.ou are my Bashar, do you understand?"
"Wasn't I always?h"e asked.
"It's more important than ever noKwe.ep that ghola safe and train him wHeell's. And I will back you in that against anyone."
"I hear Schwangyu commands on Gammu."
"Against anyone MilesD. on't trust Schwangyu."
your responsibility.
"I seeW.
ill you lunch with uMs?y daughter has . . ."
"Forgive me, Miles, but I must get back sooInewsitl.l send Bellonda at once."
Teg saw her to the door, exchanged a few pleasantries with his old students in her party and watched as they left.They had an armored groundcar waiting in the drive, one of the new models that they obviously had brought with themS.ight of it gave Teg an uneasy feeling.
Urgency!
Taraza had come in person, the Mother Superior herself on a messenger's errand, knowing what that would reveal to himK. nowing so intimately how the Sisterhood performed, he saw the revelation in what had just happenedT. he dispute in the Bene Gesserit Council went far deeper than his informants had suggested.

"You are my Bashar."
Teg glanced through the sheaf of authorizations and vouchers Taraza had left wAithlrehaidmy. carrying her seal and signatureT.he trust this implied added to the other things he sensed and increased his disquiet.
"Don't trust Schwangyu."
He slipped the papers into his pocket and went in search ofPPatartirninw. ould have to be briefed, and mollified. They would have to discuss whom to call in for this assignHmeenbte.gan to list some of the names in his mindD. angerous duty aheadI.t called for only the best peopDlea.mn! Everything on the
estate here would have to be passed over to Firus and DSimo emlaa. ny details!He felt his pulse quicken as he strode through the house.
Passing a house guard, one of his old soldiers, Teg p"aMusaerdti:n, cancel all of my appointments for today. Find my daughter and tell her to meet me in my study."
Word spread through the house and, from there, across the Seestravtaen.ts and family, knowing that
The Reverend Mother Superior had just conversed privately with him, automatically set up a protective screen to keep idle distractions away from THeigs. eldest daughter, Dimela, cut him short when he tried
to list details necessary to carry on his experimental farm projects.
"Father, I am not an infant!"
They were in the small greenhouse attached to his
Rstuemdya.ins of Teg's lunch sat on the corner of a
potting bench.Patrin's notebook was propped against the wall behind, the luncheon tray.
Teg looked sharply at his daughDteirm. ela favored him in appearance but not in heTigohot. angular to be a beauty but she had made a good marrTiahgeey. had three fine children, Dimela and Firus.
"Where is Firus?" Teg asked.

"He's out seeing to the replanting of the South Farm."
"Oh, yesP. atrin mentioned that."
Teg smiledI.t had always pleased him that Dimela had refused the Sisterhood's bid, preferring to marry
Firus, a native of Lernaeus, and remain in her father's entourage.
"All I know is that they're calling you back to duty," Dime"lIas siatida. dangerous assignment?"
"You know, you sound exactly like your mother," Teg said.
"So it is dangerouDs!amn them, haven't you done enough for them?"
"Apparently not."
She turned away from him as Patrin entered the far end of the greeHnehohuesaer.d her speak to Patrin as they passed.
"The older he gets the more he gets like a Reverend Mother himself!"
What else could she expecTt?eg wondered.The son of a Reverend Mother, fathered by a minor functionary of the Combine Honnete Ober Advancer Mercantiles, he had matured in a household that moved to the Sisterhood's beaIt had been apparent to him at an early age that his father's allegiance to CHOAM's interplanetary trading network vanished when his mother objected.
This house had been his mother's house until her death less than a year after his fTathheerimdpierdin.t of her choices lay all around him.

Patrin stopped in front of h"imI .came back for my notebooHka. ve you added any names?"
"A fewY. ou'd better get right on it."
"Yes, sir!"Patrin did a smart about-face and strode back the way he had come, slapping the notebook against his leg.
He feels it, too, Teg thought.
Once more, Teg glanced around hTimh.is house was still his mother's plaAceft.er all the years he had lived here, raised a family herSet!ill her placeO. h, he had built this greenhouse, but the study there had been her private room.
Janet Roxbrough of the Lernaeus RoxbrougThhs.e furnishings, the decor, still her plaTcaer.aza had
seen that.He and his wife had changed some of the surface objects, but the core remained Janet Roxbrough's. No question about the Fish Speaker blood in that linWeaghea.t a prize she had been for the Sisterhood!That she had wed Loschy Teg and lived out her life here, that was theAnoddity. undigestible fact until you knew how the Sisterhood's breeding designs worked over the generations.
They've done it again, Teg thougThht.ey've had me waiting in the wings all these years just for this moment.

Has not religion claimed a patent on creation for all of these millennia?
-The Tleilaxu Question, from Muad'dib Speaks
The air of Tleilax was crystalline, gripped by a stillness that was part the morning chill and part a sense of fearful crouching, as though life waited out there in the city of Bandalong, life anticipating and ravenous,
which would not stir until it received his personal siTghneal.Mahai, Tylwyth Waff, Master of the Masters, enjoyed this hour more than any other of theThdeayc. ity was his now as he looked out through his open windowB. andalong would come alive only at his commaTnhdi.s was what he told
himself. The fear that he could sense out there was his hold on any reality that might arise from that incubating reservoir of lifeth: e Tleilaxu civilization that had originated here and then spread its powers afar.
They had waited millennia for this time, his peWopalfef.
savored the moment nowA.ll through the bad
times of the Prophet Leto II (not God Emperor but God's Messenger), all through the Famines and the Scattering, through every painful defeat at the hands of lesser creatures, through all of those agonies the Tleilaxu had built their patient forces for this moment.
We have come to our moment, O Prophet!
The city that lay beneath his high window he saw as a symbol, one strong mark on the page of Tleilaxu design. Other Tleilaxu planets, other great cities, interlinked, interdependent, and with central allegiance
to his God and his city, awaited the signal that all of them knew must coTmhee stowoinned forces of Face Dancers and Masheikh had compressed their powers in preparation for the cosmTicheleap. millennia of waiting were about to end.
Waff thought of it as "the long beginning."
Yes.He nodded to himself as he looked at the crouchingFrcoimty. its inception, from that infinitesimal
kernel of an idea, Bene Tleilax leaders had understood the perils of a plan so extended, so protracted, so

convoluted and subtleT. hey had known they must surmount near disaster time and again, accept galling losses, submissions and humiliationsA. ll of this and much more had gone into the construction of a particular Bene Tleilax imageB. y those millennia of pretense they had created a myth.
"The vile, detestable, dirty TleilaxTuh!e stupid Tleilaxu!The predictable Tleilaxu!The impetuous
Tleilaxu!"
Even the Prophet's minions had fallen prey to this Amycthap. tive Fish Speaker had stood in this very room and shouted at a Tleilaxu Mas"teLro: ng pretense creates a realityY!ou are truly vile!S"o they had killed her and the Prophet did nothing.
How little all of those alien worlds and peoples understood Tleilaxu reIsmtrpaeintut.osity? Let them
reconsider after the Bene Tleilax demonstrated how many millennia they were capable of waiting for their ascendancy.
"Spannungsbogen!"
Waff rolled the ancient word on his tonTghue: span of the bowH!ow far back you draw the bow before releasing your arrowT.his arrow would strike deep!
"The Masheikh have waited longer than any other," Waff whispHeeredared to utter the word to himself here in his tower fastne"sMs: asheikh."
The rooftops below him glittered as the sun lHifteedc.ould hear the stirrings of the city's Tlihfe. sweet bitterness of Tleilaxu smells drifted on the air coming in his wiWndaofwf .inhaled deeply and closed his window.
He felt renewed by his moment of solitary observaTtuiorning away from the window, he donned the white khilat robe of honor to which all Domel were conditioned toThbeowro.be completely covered his short body, giving him the distinct feeling that it actually was armor.
The armor of God!

"We are the people of the Yaghist," he had reminded his councillors only la"sAt llnieglhset. is frontier.
We have fostered the myth of our weakness and evil practices for these millennia with only one purpose. Even the Bene Gesserit believe!"
Seated in the deep, windowless sagra with its no-chamber shield, his nine councillors had smiled in silent appreciation of his wordsI.n the judgment of the ghufran, they knTehwe. stage upon which the Tleilaxu determined their own destiny had always been the kehl with its right of ghufran.
It was proper that even Waff, the most powerful of all Tleilaxu, could not leave his world and be readmitted without abasing himself in the ghufran, begging pardon for contact with the unimaginable sins of aliens.To go out among the powindah could soil even the migThthie tk. hasadars who policed all
Tleilaxu frontiers and guarded the selamliks of the women were right to suspect eveHneWwaafsf. of the
people and the kehl, yes, but he must prove it each time he left the heartland and returned, and certainly every time he entered the selamlik for the distribution of his sperm.
Waff crossed to his long mirror and inspected himself and hiTs orotbhee.
powindahs, he knew, he
appeared an elfin figure barely a meter and a halEf yteasll,. hair, and skin were shades of gray, all a stage
for the oval face with its tiny mouth and line of sharpAteFeathce.
Dancer might mimic his features and
pose, might dissemble at a Masheikh's command, but no Masheikh or khasadar would beOfnolyoled. the powindahs would be gulled.
Except for the Bene Gesserit!
This thought brought a scowl to his fWaceel.l, the witches had yet to encounter one of the new Face
Dancers.
No other people have mastered the genetic language as well as have the Bene Tleilax, he reassured himself. We are right to call it "the language of God," for God Himself has given us this great power.
Waff strode to his door and waited for the morningThbeerlel. was no way, he thought, to describe the richness of emotion he felt noTwi.me unfolded for himH. e did not ask why the Prophet's true message
had been heard only by the Bene TleiIltaxh.ad been God's doing and, in that, the Prophet had been the
Arm of God, worthy of respect as God's Messenger.

You prepared them for us, O Prophet.
And the ghola on Gammu, this ghola at this time, was worth all of the waiting.
The morning bell sounded and Waff strode out into the hall, turned with other emerging white-robed figures and went onto the eastern balcony to greet theAsutnh.e Mahai and Abdl of his people, he now could identify himself with all Tleilaxu.
We are the legalists of the Shariat, the last of our kind in the universe.
Nowhere outside the sealed chambers of his malik-brothers could he reveal such a secret thought but he knew it was a thought shared in every mind around him now, and the workings of that thought were
visible in Masheikh, Domel and Face Dancer alTikhee.
paradox of kinship ties and a sense of social
identity that permeated the khel from Masheikh down to the lowliest Domel was not a paradox to Waff.
We work for the same God.
A Face Dancer in the guise of Domel had bowed and opened the balconWy adffo,oersm. erging into sunlight with his many companions close around, smiled at recognition of the Face ADaDncoemr.el yet! It was a kin joke but Face Dancers were noTt hkeiyn. were constructs, tools, just as the ghola on Gammu was a tool, all designed with the language of God spoken only by Masheikhs.
With the others who pressed close around him Waff made obeisance to Hthee usuttner.ed the cry of the Abdl and heard it echoed by countless voices from the farthest reaches of the city.
"The sun is not Godh!e" shouted.
No, the sun was only a symbol of God's infinite powers and mercy -- another construct, another tool. Feeling cleansed by his passage through the ghufran the previous night, renewed by the morning ritual, Waff could think now about the trip outward to powindah places and the return just completed, which had made ghufran necessaryO. ther worshipers made way for him as he went back to the inner corridors and entered the slide passage that dropped him to the central garden where he had asked his councillors

to meet him.
It was a successful foray among the powindah, he thought.
Every time he left the inner worlds of the Bene Tleilax Waff felt himself to be on lashkar, a war party seeking that ultimate revenge which his people named secretly as Bodal (always capitalized and always
the first thing reaffirmed in ghufran or khTehl)i.s most recent lashkar had been exquisitely successful.
Waff emerged from the slide into a central garden filled with sunlight by prismatic reflectors on the surrounding rooftops.A small fountain played its visual fugue at the heart of a graveledAcliorcwle.
fence of white palings at one side enclosed a closely cropped lawn, a space near enough to the fountain that the air would be moist but not so close that the splashing water would intrude on low-voiced conversation. Around the grassy enclosure, ten narrow benches of an ancient plastic were arranged --
nine of them in a semicircle facing a tenth bench set slightly apart.
Pausing at the edge of the grassy enclosure, Waff glanced around him, wondering why he had never before felt quite this intense pleasure at sight of the Tplhaeced. ark blue of the benches was intrinsic to
the material.Centuries of use had worn the benches into soft curves along the arm rests and where countless bottoms had planted themselves, but the color was just as strong in the worn places as it was elsewhere.
Waff sat down facing his nine councillors, marshaling the words he knew he mTuhset duosec.ument he
had brought back from his latest lashkar, indeed, the very reason for that excursion, could not have been more exquisitely timedT. he label on it and the words carried a mighty message for the Tleilaxu.
From an inner pocket Waff removed the thin sheaf of ridulian Hcreysntaol.ted the quickened interest of his councillors:nine faces similar to his own, Masheikhs of the innermostAklel hrle. flected expectancy. They had read this document in ke"hTlh: e Atreides Manifesto."They had spent a night of reflection on
the manifesto's messageN.
ow, the words must be confronteWd.aff placed the document on his lap.
"I propose to spread these words far and wide," Waff said.
"Without change?" That was Mirlat, the councillor closest to ghola-transformation among all of them. Mirlat no doubt aspired to Abdl and MaWhaai.ff focused on the councillor's wide jaws where the cartilage had grown over the centuries as a visible mark of his current body's great age.

"Exactly as it has come into our hands," Waff said.
"Dangerous," Mirlat said.
Waff turned his head to the right, his childlike profile outlined against the fountain for his councillors to observe. God's hand is on my righTth!e sky above him was polished carnelian as though Bandalong, the most ancient city of the Tleilaxu, had been built under one of those gigantic artificial covers erected to protect pioneers on the harsher planeWts.hen he returned his attention to his councillors, Waff's features remained bland.
"Not dangerous to us," he said.
"A matter of opinion," Mirlat said.
"Then let us consider opinions," Waff s"aHida.ve we a need to fear Ix or the Fish SpeaIknedrese?d not. They are ours, although they do not know it."
Waff let this sink in; all of them knew that new Face Dancers sat in the highest councils of Ix and Fish
Speakers, the exchange undetected.
"The Guild will not move against us or oppose us because we are their only secure source of melange," Waff said.
"Then what of these Honored Matres returned from the ScatterMinigrl?a"t demanded.
"We will deal with them when it is required of us," Wa"fAf nsdaidw. e will be helped by the descendants of our own people who voluntarily went out into the Scattering."

"The time does appear opportune," one of the other councillors murmured.
It was Torg the Younger who had spoken, Waff obseGrvoeodd.. There was a vote secured.
"The Bene Gesserit!M" irlat snapped.
"I think the Honored Matres will remove the witches from our path," W"aAfflrseaaiddy. against each other like animals in the fighting pit."
"What if the author of that manifesto is identifMiedir?l"at demanded."What then?"
they growl
Several heads nodded among the councilloWrsa.ff marked themp: eople to be won over.
"It is dangerous to be called Atreides in this age," he said.
"Except perhaps on Gammu," Mirlat sa"iAd.nd the name Atreides has been signed to that document!"
How odd, Waff thoughTt.he CHOAM representative at the powindah conference that had taken Waff away from the inner planets of Tleilax had emphasized that veryBpuotinmt. ost of CHOAM's people
were secret atheists who looked on all religion as suspect, and certainly the Atreides had been a potent religious force.CHOAM worries had been almost palpable.
Waff recounted this CHOAM reaction now.
"This CHOAM hireling, damn his Godless soul, is right," Mirlat in"sTishtedd. ocument's insidious."
Mirlat will have to be dealt with, Waff thoHugehtl.ifted the manifesto from his lap and read the first line aloud:

"In the beginning was the word and the word was God."
"Directly from the Orange Catholic Bible," Mirlat
Osanidc.e more, heads nodded in worried agreement.
Waff showed the points of his canines in a brief "sDmoiley.ou suggest that there are those among the powindah who suspect the existence of the Shariat and the Masheikhs?"
It felt good to speak these words openly, reminding his listeners that only here among the innermost
Tleilaxu were the old words and the old language preserved without cDhaindgeM. irlat or any of the others fear that Atreides words could subvert the Shariat?
Waff posed this question, too, and saw the worried frowns.
"Is there one among you," Waff asked, "who believes that a single powindah knows how we use the language of God?"
There!Let them think on thaEt!very one of them here had been wakened time after time in ghola flesh. There was a fleshly continuity in this Council that no other people had ever aMchiirelavtedh.imself had
seen the Prophet with his own eySecsy. tale had spoken to Muad'dibL!earning how the flesh could be renewed and the memories restored, they had condensed this power into a single government whose potency was confined lest it be demanded everywhOernel.y the witches had a similar storehouse of experience upon which to draw and they moved with fearful caution, terrified that they might produce another Kwisatz Haderach!
Waff said these things to his councillors, add"iTnhge:
time for action has come."
When no one spoke disagreement, Waff s"aTidh:is manifesto has a single authEorv.ery analysis agrees. Mirlat?"
"Written by one person and that person a true Atreides, no doubt of it," Mirlat agreed.

"All at the powindah conference affirmed this," Waff "sEavide.n a third-stage Guild steersman agrees."
"But that one person has produced a thing that excites violent reactions among diverse peoples," Mirlat argued.
"Have we ever questioned the Atreides talent for disruptWiona?f"f asked."When the powindah showed me this document I knew God had sent us a signal."
"Do the witches still deny authorshipT?o"rg the Younger asked.
How alertly apt he is, Waff thought.
"Every powindah religion is called into question by this manifesto," Waf"fEvsaeirdy. faith except ours is left hanging in limbo."
"Exactly the problem!M" irlat pounced.
"But only we know this," Waff s"aWid.ho else even suspects the existence of the Shariat?"
"The Guild," Mirlat said.
"They have never spoken of it and they neverThweiyll. know what our response would be."
Waff lifted the sheaf of papers from his lap and again read aloud:
"Forces that we cannot understand permeate our univWersee.see the shadows of those forces when they are projected upon a screen available to our senses, but understand them we do not."

"The Atreides who wrote that knows of the Shariat," Mirlat muttered.
Waff continued reading as though there had been no interruption:
"Understanding requires wordsS.ome things cannot be reduced to worTdhs.ere are things that can only be experienced wordlessly."
As though he handled a holy relic, Waff returned the document to Shoifstlyla,ps.o that his listeners were required to bend toward him and some cupped a hand behind an ear, W"aTffhisasiday: s our universe is magicalI.t says all arbitrary forms are transient and subject to magical chSacnigeensc.e has led us to this interpretation as though it placed us on a track from which we cannot deviate."
He allowed these words to fester for a moment, "tNhoen:Rakian priest of the Divided God nor any other powindah charlatan can accept thOatn. ly we know it because our God is a magical God whose language we speak."
"We will be accused of the authorship," Mirlat Tshaied.moment he had spoken, Mirlat shook his head
sharply from side to sid"eN. o! I see itI.
see what you mean."
Waff held his silencHe.e could see that all of them were reflecting on their Sufi origins, recalling the
Great Belief and the Zensunni ecumenism that had spawned the Bene TTlehielaxp.eople of this kehl
knew the God-given facts of their origins but generations of secrecy assured that no powindah shared their knowledge.
Words flowed silently through Waff's mi"nAd:ssumptions based on understanding contain belief in an absolute ground out of which all things spring like plants growing from seeds."
Knowing that his councillors also recalled this catechism of the Great Belief, Waff reminded them of the
Zensunni admonition.

"Behind such assumptions lies a faith in words that the powindah do not qOunelsytiotnh.e Shariat question and we do so silently."
His councillors nodded in unison.
Waff inclined his head slightly and continu"Tedh:e act of saying that things exist that cannot be described in words shakes a universe where words are the supreme belief."
"Powindah poison!"his councillors shouted.
He had them all now and Waff hammered home his victory by dem"aWndhiantg:is the Sufi-Zensunni
Credo?"
They could not speak it but all reflected Tono without words, without even a name.
iatc: hieve s'tori no understanding is needSe'dto. ri exists
In a moment, all of them looked up and exchanged knowing gMlainrclaets.took it upon himself to recite the Tleilaxu pledge:
"I can say God, but that is not my TGhaotd.is only a noise and no more potent than any other noise."
"I now see," Waff said, "that you all sense the power that has fallen into our hands through this document. Millions upon millions of copies already are being circulated among the powindah."
"Who does this?M" irlat asked.
"Who cares?"Waff countered."Let the powindah chase after them, seeking their origin, trying to suppress them, preaching against themW. ith each such action, the powindah inject more power into these words."

"Should we not preach against these words, toMoi?r"lat asked.
"Only if the occasion demands it," Waff
"sSaiede.
you!"He slapped the papers against his kne"eTsh. e
powindah have constricted their awareness to its tightest purpose and that is their weWakenemssu.st insure that this manifesto gains as wide a circulation as possible."
"The magic of our God is our only bridge," the councillors intoned.
All of them, Waff observed, had been restored to the central security of thIetirhafadithb.een easily managed. No Masheikh shared the powindah stupidity that whin"eInd: thy infinite grace, God, why me?"
In one sentence, the powindah invoked infinity and denied it, never once observing their own foolishness
"Scytale," Waff said.
The youngest and most baby-faced of the councillors, seated at the far left as was fitting, leaned forward eagerly.
"Arm the faithful," Waff said.
"I marvel that an Atreides has given us this weapon," Mirla"tHsoawid.can it be that the Atreides always fasten upon an ideal that enlists the billions who must follow?"
"It is not the Atreides, it is God," WaffHseaidli.fted his arms then and spoke the closing r"iTtuhael: Masheikh have met in kehl and felt the presence of their God."
Waff closed his eyes and waited for the others to Mleaasvhee.ikh! How good it was to name
themselves in kehl, speaking the language of Islamiyat, which no Tleilaxu spoke outside his own secret councils; not even to Face Dancers did they speaNkowit.here in the Wekht of Jandola, not to the
farthest reaches of the Tleilaxu Yaghist, was there a living powindah who knew this secret.

Yaghist, Waff thought, rising from his benYcahg.hist, the land of the unruled.
He thought he could feel the document vibrating in hisThhaisndA. treides Manifesto was the very kind of thing the masses of powindah would follow to their doom.
Some days it's melange; some days it's bitter dirt.
-Rakian Aphorism
In her third year with the priests of Rakis, the girl Sheeana lay full length atop a high cuSrhveing dune. peered into the morning distance where a great rumbling friction could beThheearldig. ht was a ghostly
silver that frosted the horizon with filmy hTazhee. night's chill still lay on the sand.
She knew the priests were watching her from the safety of their water-girded tower some two kilometers behind her, but this gave her little concTehren. trembling of the sand beneath her body demanded full attention.
It's a big one, she thougShetv. enty meters at leasAt.
beautiful big one.

The gray stillsuit felt slick and smooth against herItskhiand.
none of the abrasive patches of the old
hand-me-down she had worn before the priests took her into theirShcearefe.lt thankful for the fine
stillsuit and the thick robe of white and purple that covered it, but most of all she felt the excitement of being here.Something rich and dangerous filled her at moments such as this.
The priests did not understand what happened hSehree. knew thisT. hey were cowardsS. he glanced over her shoulder at the distant tower and saw sunglint on lenses.
A precocious child of eleven standard years, slender and dark-skinned with sun-streaked brown hair, she could visualize clearly what the priests saw through their spying lenses.
They see me doing what they do not Tdhareey. see me in the path of ShaiItalno.ok very small on the sand and Shaitan looks very bTigh.ey can see him already.
From the rasping sound, she knew that she, too, would soon see the gianStheweoarnma . did not think
of the approaching monster as Shai-hulud, God of the sands, a thing the priests chanted each morning in obeisance to the pearl of Leto II's awareness that lay encapsulated in each of the multi-ridged rulers of the desert.She thought of the worms mainly as "they who spared me," or as Shaitan.
They belonged to her now.
It was a relationship begun slightly more than three years ago during the month of her eighth birthday, the
Month Igat by the old calendHare. r village had been a poor one, a pioneer venture built far beyond more secure barriers such as the qanats and ring canals of OKneleyn.a moat of damp sand guarded such pioneer placesS. haitan avoided water but the sandtrout vector soon took away any dampness. Precious moisture captured in windtraps had to be expended each day to renew theHbearrrvieilrla. ge
was a miserable cluster of shacks and hovels with two small windtraps, adequate for drinking water but with only a sporadic surplus that could be apportioned to the worm barrier.
That morning -- much like this morning, the night's chill sharp in her nose and lungs, the horizon constricted by a ghostly haze -- most of the village children had fanned out into the desert, there to seek bits and fragments of melange, which Shaitan sometimes left behind in his pTaswsaogeb.ig ones had
been heard nearby in the nigMht.elange, even at modern deflated prices, could buy the glazed bricks to line a third windtrap.

Each searching child not only looked for the spice but also sought those signs which would reveal one of the old Fremen sietch strongholdTs.here were only remnants of such places now but the rock barriers provided a greater security against ShaitaAnn. d some of the remnant sietch places were reputed to
contain lost hoards of melangEe.very villager dreamed of such a discovery.
Sheeana, wearing her patched stillsuit and flimsy robe, went alone to the northeast, toward the faraway smoky mound of air that told of the great city of Keen with its moisture richness lifting into the
sun-warmed breezes.
Hunting scraps of melange in the sand was largely a matter of focusing attention into thIet wnoasstrials.
form of concentration that left only bits of awareness attuned to the rasping sand that told of Shaitan's approach. Leg muscles moved automatically in the non-rhythmic walk that blended with the desert's natural sounds.
At first, Sheeana did not hear the screamItinfgi.tted intimately into the saltated friction of windblown sand across the barracans that concealed the village from her Ssliogwhtl.y the sound penetrated her consciousness and then it demanded her attention.
Many voices screaming!
Sheeana discarded the desert precaution of random striMdeosv.ing swiftly as her childish muscles
would carry her, she scrambled up the slipface of the barracan and stared along it toward that terrifying sound. She was in time to see that which cut off the last of the screams.
Wind and sandtrout had dried a wide arc of the barrier at the far side of hSehrevcilolauglde. see the
gap by the color differencAe.
wild worm had penetrated the openiIntg.circled close inside the
remaining dampness.The gigantic flame-shadowed mouth scooped up people and hovels in a swiftly tightening circle.
Sheeana saw the last survivors huddled at the center of this destruction, a space already cleared of its
rude hovels and tumbled with the remains of the windtEravpesn.
as she watched, some of the people
tried to break away into the desSerhte. eana recognized her father among the frantic runnNerosn. e escaped. The great mouth engulfed all before turning to level the last of the village.

Smoking sand remained and nothing else of the puny village that had dared to claim a scrap of Shaitan's domain. The place where the village had been was as unmarked by human habitation as it had been
before anyone walked there.
Sheeana took a gasping breath, inhaling through her nose to preserve the moisture of her body as any
good child of the desert would Sdhoe.
scanned the horizon for a sign of the other children but Shaitan's
track had left great curves and loops all around the far side of theNvoitllaages.ingle human remained in view. She shouted, the high-pitched cry that would carry far through the dNryo ariers.ponse came back to her.
Alone.
She moved trancelike along the ridge of the dune toward where her village hAads
bshee
.neared the
place a great wave of cinnamon odor filled her nostrils, carried on the wind that still dusted the tops of the dunes. She realized then what had happeneTdh.e village had been sited disastrously atop a pre-spice
blow. As the great hoard far under the sand came to fruition, expanding in an explosion of melange, Shaitan had comeE. very child knew Shaitan could not resist a spiceblow.
Rage and wild desperation began to fill SheeManian.dlessly, she raced down the dune toward Shaitan, coming up behind the worm as it turned back through the dry place where it had entered the village. Without thought, she dashed along beside the tail, scrambled onto it and ran forward along the great ridged back.At the hump behind its mouth, she crouched and beat her fists against the unyielding surface.
The worm stopped.
Her anger suddenly converted to terror, Sheeana broke off pounding on theShweorrmea.lized only then that she had been screaminAg. terrible sense of lonely exposure filled Shhere. did not know how she had come hereS.he knew only where she was and this gripped her with an agony of fear.
The worm continued quiescent on the sand.
Sheeana did not know what to Adto.any moment, the worm could roll over and crushOrheirt. could burrow beneath the sand, leaving her on the surface to be scooped up at leisure.

Abruptly, a long tremor worked its way down the worm's length from its tail to Sheeana's position behind the mouthT. he worm began to move aheaIdt .turned in a wide arc and gathered speed on a course to the northeast.
Sheeana leaned forward and gripped the leading edge of a ring ridge on the wormSh'se bfaecakre.d that any second it would slide beneath the sWanhda.t could she do thenB?ut Shaitan did not burrow.
As minutes passed without any deviation from that straight and swift passage across the dunes, Sheeana found her mind working once moSreh.e knew about this ridTe.he priests of the Divided God forbade it
but the histories, both written and oral, said Fremen rode thus in the ancieFnrtemdaeyns. stood tall atop Shaitan's back supported by slender poles with hooked eTnhdes. priests decreed that this had been done before Leto II shared His consciousness with the God of the Ndoeswe,rt.nothing was permitted that might demean the scattered bits of Leto II.
With a speed that astonished her, the worm carried Sheeana toward the mist-dazzled shape of Keen. The great city lay like a mirage on the distorted hoSrihzeoena.na's threadbare robe whipped against the
thin surface of her patched stillsuHite. r fingers ached where she gripped the leading edge of the giant
ring. The cinnamon, burnt-rock and ozone of the worm's heat exchange swept over her on shifts in the wind.
Keen began to gain definition ahead of her.
The priests will see me and be angry, she thought.
She identified the low brick structures that marked the first line of qanats and, beyond them, the enclosed barrel-curve of a surface aqueduActb. ove these structures rose the walls of terraced gardens and the high profiles of giant windtraps, then the temple complex within its own water barriers.
A day's march across open sand in little more than an hour!
Her parents and village neighbors had made this journey many times for trade and to join in the dancing
but Sheeana had only accompanied them twiSchee.
remembered mostly the dancing and the violence
that followed.The size of Keen filled her with aSwoe.many buildings!So many people!Shaitan could not harm such a place as that.

But the worm plunged straight ahead as though it would ride over qanat and aSqhueeedauncat. stared
at the city rising higher and higher in front oFf ahscerin. ation subdued her terrorS.haitan was not going to stop!
The worm ground to a halt.
The tubular surface vents of the qanat lay no more than fifty meters in front of its gapSinhge smelled the hot cinnamon exhalations, heard the deep rumblings of Shaitan's interior furnace.
mouth.
It became apparent to her at last that the journey had Selnodweldy., Sheeana released her grip on the ring. She stood, expecting any moment the worm would renew its mSohtiaointa.n remained quiescent.
Moving cautiously, she slid off her perch and dropped to theShsaendp.aused thereW.
ould it move
now? She held a vague idea of dashing for the qanat but this worm fascinaStelidpphinegr. and sliding in
the disturbed sand, Sheeana moved around to the front of the worm and stared into the fearsome mouth. Within the frame of crystal teeth flames rolled forward and backAwasreda. ring exhalation of spice
odors swept over her.
The madness of that first dash down off the dune and onto the worm came back to"DSahmeneana. you, Shaitan!" she shouted, shaking a fist at the awful m"oWuhtha.t did we ever do to you?"
These were words she had heard her mother use at the destruction of a tubeNr ogaprdaretn.of Sheeana's awareness had ever questioned that name, Shaitan, nor her mother'sShfeuryw. as of the poorest dregs at the bottom of the Rakian heap and she knHeewr pite.ople believed in Shaitan first and
Shai-hulud second.Worms were worms and often much worTshe.ere was no justice on the open sand. Only danger lurked thereP.overty and fear of priests might drive her people onto the perilous dunes but they moved even then with the same angry persistence that had driven the Fremen.
This time, however, Shaitan had won.
It entered Sheeana's awareness that she stood in the deadlyHperathth.oughts, not yet fully formed, recognized only that she had done a crazy thMinugc.h later, as the Sisterhood's teachings rounded her consciousness, she would realize that she had been overcome by the terror of lonSehlienehsas.d wanted Shaitan to take her into the company of her dead.

A grating sound issued from beneath the worm.
Sheeana stifled a scream.
Slowly at first, then faster, the worm backed off several mItetteurrsn. ed there and gathered speed beside the twin-mounded track it had created coming from the dTehse tg. rating of its passage diminished in the distanceS.heeana grew aware of another sounSdh.e lifted her gaze to the sTkyh.e thwock-thwock of a priestly ornithopter swept over her, brushing her with its shTahdeowcr.aft glistened in the morning sunlight as it followed the worm into the desert.
Sheeana felt a more familiar fear then.
The priests!
She kept her gaze on the 'thopIt rh.overed in the distance, then returned to settle gently onto a patch of worm-smoothed sand nearbyS.he could smell the lubricants and the sickly acridity of the 'thopter's fuel. The thing was a giant insect nestled on the sand, waiting to pounce upon her.
A hatch popped open.
Sheeana threw back her shoulders and stood her groVuenrdy. well; they had caught hSerh.e knew what to expect nowN. othing could be gained by fligOhtn. ly the priests used 'thopterTs.hey could go anywhere and see anything.
Two richly robed priests, their garments all gold and white with purple trim, emerged and ran toward her across the sandT. hey knelt in front of Sheeana so close she could smell their perspiration and the musky melange incense which permeated their clothinTgh.ey were young but much like all the priests she could remember: soft of features, uncalloused hands, careless of their moisture loNsseeitsh. er of them wore a
stillsuit under those robes.
The one on her left, his eyes on a level with Sheeana's, spoke.

"Child of Shai-hulud, we saw your Father bring you from His lands."
The words made no sense to SheeaPnraie.sts were men to be feareHde. r parents and all the adults she
had ever known had impressed this upon her by words and aPctriioenssts.
possessed ornithopters.
Priests fed you to Shaitan for the slightest infraction or for no infraction at all, for only priesHtlyer whims. people knew many instances.
Sheeana backed away from the kneeling men and cast her glance aWrohuenrde. could she run?
The one who had spoken raised an imploring h"Santady.
with us."
"You're bad!"Sheeana's voice cracked with emotion.
Both priests fell prostrate on the sand.
Far away on the city's towers, sunlight flashed off leSnhseeesa.na saw themS. he knew about such flashings. Priests were always watching you in the ciWtiehs.en you saw the lenses flash that was the signal to be inconspicuous, to "be good."
Sheeana clasped her hands in front of her to still their tremShbelinggl.anced left and right and then at the prostrate priests.Something was wrong here.
Heads on the sand, the two priests shuddered with fear and wNaeitehde.r spoke.
Sheeana did not know how to respoTnhde.
crush of her immediate experiences could not be absorbed
by an eight-year-old mindS.he knew that her parents and all of her neighbors had been taken by Shaitan. Her own eyes had witnessed thAisn. d Shaitan had brought her here, refusing to take her into his awful fires. She had been spared.
This was a word she understoSodp.ared. It had been explained to her when she learned the dancing

song.
"Shai-hulud spare us!
"Take Shaitan away . . ."
Slowly, not wanting to arouse the prostrate priests, Sheeana began the shuffling, unrhythmic movements
of the danceA.
s the remembered music grew within her, she unclasped her hands and swung her arms
wide. Her feet lifted high in the stately movemeHntesr. body turned, slowly at first and then more swiftly as the dance ecstasy increaseHd.er long brown hair whipped around her face.
The two priests dared to lift their heTahdes. strange child was performing The DanTceh!ey recognized the movements:The Dance of PropitiationS.he asked Shai-hulud to forgive his peopSlhe.e asked God to forgive them!
They turned their heads to look at each other and, together, rocked back onto theTirhekren,eeths.ey
began clapping in the time-honored effort to distract the daTnhceirr. chanted the ancient words:
"Our fathers ate manna in the desert,
"In the burning places where whirlwinds came!"
hands clapped rhythmically as they
The priests excluded from their attention all except the Scheildw. as a slender thing, they saw, with stringy muscles, thin arms and legHse. r robe and stillsuit were worn and patched like those of the
poorest. Her cheekbones had high planes that drew shadows across her oliveBrsokwinn.
eyes, they
noted. Reddish sun streaks drew their lines in her Thahierr.e was a water-spare sharpness about her features -- the narrow nose and chin, the wide forehead, the wide thin mouth, the loSnhge nloecokk.ed like the Fremen portraits in the holy of holies at Dar-es-OBaf lacto. urse!The child of Shai-hulud would look thus.
She danced well, toNo.ot the slightest quickly repeatable rhythm entered her movemTenhtesr.e was rhythm but it was an admirably long beat, at least a hundred stepSs haepakret.pt it up while the sun

lifted higher and higherI.t was almost noon before she fell exhausted to the sand.
The priests stood and looked out into the desert where Shai-hulud hadThgeonstea.mpings of the dance had not summoned Him bacTkh.ey were forgiven.
That was how Sheeana's new life began.
Loudly in their own quarters and for many days, the senior priests engaged in arguments last, they brought their disputations and reports to the High Priest, HedleyThTeuyekm. et in the
Aabtout her.
afternoon within the Hall of Small Convocations, Tuek and six priestly counMcilulorrasl.s of Leto II, a human face on the great wormshape, looked down upon them with benevolence.
Tuek seated himself on a stone bench that had been recovered from WindgapMSuiaedtc'dhi.b himself
was reputed to have sat on this benOcnhe.
of the legs still bore the carvings of an Atreides hawk.
His councillors took lesser modern benches facing him.
The High Priest was an imposing figure; silky gray hair combed smoothly to his sIhtouwldasersa. suitable frame for the square face with its wide, thick mouth and heavTyueckh'isn.eyes retained their original clear whites surrounding dark blue pupBilus.shy, untrimmed gray eyebrows shaded his eyes.
The councillors were a motley Slocti.ons of old priestly families each carried in his heart the belief that matters would move better if he were sitting on Tuek's bench.
The scrawny, pinch-faced Stiros put himself forward as opposition spokes"mShaen:is nothing but a poor desert waif and she rode Shai-hulTudh.at is forbidden and the punishment is mandatory."
Others spoke up immediatel"yN. o! No Stiros.You have it wrongS!he did not stand on Shai-hulud's back as the Fremen diSd.he had no maker hooks or . . ."
Stiros tried to shout them down.

It was deadlocked, Tuek satwhr:ee and three with Umphrud, a fat hedonist, as advocate for "cautious acceptance."
"She had no way to guide Shai-hulud's course," Umphrud ar"gWueed.all saw how she came down to the sand unafraid and talked to Him."
Yes, they all had seen that, either at the moment or in the holophoto that a thoughtful observer had recorded. Desert waif or not, she had confronted Shai-hulud and conversed withAHndimS. hai-hulud
had not engulfed herN. o, indeed.The Worm-of-God had drawn back at the child's command and had returned to the desert.
"We will test her," Tuek said.
Early the following morning, an ornithopter flown by the two priests who had brought her from the desert conveyed Sheeana far out away from the sight of Keen's popTulhaecep. riests took her down to a dune
top and planted a meticulous copy of a Fremen thumper in theWshaennd.the thumper's catch was released, a heavy beating trembled through the desert -- the ancient summons to ShaTi-heulupdri.ests
fled to their 'thopter and waited high overhead while a terrified Sheeana, her worst fears realized, stood alone some twenty meters from the thumper.
Two worms cameT. hey were not the largest the priests had ever seen, no more than thirty meters long. One of them scooped up the thumper and silenceTdogite.ther, they rounded in parallel tracks and
stopped side by side not six meters from Sheeana.
She stood submissive, fists clenched at her sTidheiss. was what priests diTd.hey fed you to Shaitan.
In their hovering 'thopter, the two priests watched with fascinTathieoinr. lenses transmitted the scene to equally fascinated observers in the High Priest's quarters at KAelel no. f them had seen similar events before. It was a standard punishment, a handy way to remove obstructionists from the populace or priesthood, or to pave the way for acquisition of a new concNubevineer. before, though, had they seen
a lone child as victimA.nd such a child!

The Worms-of-God crept forward slowly after their first Tsthoepy. when only about three meters from Sheeana.
became motionless once more
Resigned to her fate, Sheeana did not Srouonn. , she thought, she would be with her parents and friends. As the worms remained motionless, anger replaced her teTrrhoer. bad priests had left her heSreh!e
could hear their 'thopter overheaTd.he hot spice smell from the worms filled the air around her. Abruptly, she raised her right hand and pointed up at the 'thopter.
"Go ahead and eat mTeh!at's what they want!"
The priests overhead could not hear her words but the gesture was visible and they could see that she was talking to the two Worms-of-GoTdh.e finger pointing up at them did not bode well.
The worms did not move.
Sheeana lowered her han"dY. ou killed my mother and father and all my friesnhdes!"accused.She took a step forward and shook a fist at them.
The worms retreated, keeping their distance.
"If you don't want me, go back where you came fSrhoem!w" aved them away toward the desert.
Obediently, they backed farther and turned in unison.
The priests in the 'thopter tracked them until they slipped beneath the sand more than a kilometer away. Only then did the priests return, fear and trepidation in Tthheemy . plucked the child of Shai-hulud from
the sand and returned her to Keen.
The Bene Gesserit embassy at Keen had a full report by niWghotfradll.was on its way to the Chapter
House by the following morning.

It had happened at last!
The trouble with some kinds of warfare (and be certain the Tyrant knew this, because it is implicit in his
lesson) is that they destroy all moral decency in susceptible
Wtypaerfsa. re of these kinds will dump the
destroyed survivors back into an innocent population that is incapable of even imagining what such returned soldiers might do.
-Teachings of the Golden Path, Bene Gesserit Archives
One of Miles Teg's early memories was of sitting at dinner with his parents and his younger brother, Sabine. Teg had been only seven at the time, but the events lay indelibly in his tmheemdoinriyn:g room
on Lernaeus colorful with freshly cut flowers, the low light of the yellow sun diffused by antique shades. Bright blue dinnerware and glistening silver graced the taAbcleo.lyte servants stood ready at hand,
because his mother might be permanently detached on special duty but her function as a Bene Gesserit teacher was not to be wasted.
Janet Roxbrough-Teg, a large-boned woman who appeared cast for the part of grande dame, looked
down her nose from one end of the table, watching that the dinner service not be impaired by the slightest misplacement. Loschy Teg, Miles' father, always observed this with a faint air of amusHeme ewnta.s a
thin man with high forehead, a face so narrow his dark eyes appeared to bulge at Hthise bsliadceks. hair was a perfect counterpoint for his wife's fairness.

Above the subdued sounds at the table and the rich smell of spiced edu soup, his mother instructed his father on how to deal with an importunate Free TrWadheer.n she said "Tleilaxu," she had Miles' entire attention. His education had just recently touched on the Bene Tleilax.
Even Sabine, who succumbed many years later to a poisoner on Romo, listened with as much of his four-year-old awareness as he could mustSera.bine hero-worshiped his brotherA. nything that caught
the attention of Miles was of interest to SabBionteh.
boys listened silently.
"The man is fronting for the Tleilaxu," Lady Janet"Isaciadn.
hear it in his voice."
"I do not doubt your ability to detect such things, my dear," Loschy T"Begutsawidh.at am I to dHo?e has the proper tokens of credit and he wishes to buy the --"
"The order for the rice is unimportant at the moNmeevnet.r assume that what a Face Dancer appears to seek is actually what it seeks."
"I'm sure he's not a Face DanHceer. --"
"Loschy!I know you have learned this well at my instruction and can detect a FaceI Daganreceer.that
the Free Trader is not one of thTemhe.
Face Dancers remain on his shTiph.ey know I am here."
"They know they could not fool yYoeus., but -"
"Tleilaxu strategy is always woven within a web of strategies, any one of which may be the real strategy. They learned that from us."
"My dear, if we are dealing with Tleilaxu, and I do not question your judgment, then it immediately becomes a question of melange."

Lady Janet nodded her head genItlnyd.eed, even Miles knew about the Tleilaxu connection with the spice. It was one of the things that fascinated him about the TlFeiolarxeuv.ery milligram of melange produced on Rakis, the Bene Tleilax tanks produced long Utosnes.of melange had grown to fit the new supply and even the Spacing Guild bent its knee before this power.
"But the rice . . ." Loschy Teg ventured.
"My dear husband, the Bene Tleilax have no need of that much pongi rice in oTuhreysecretoqru.ire it for trade.We must find out who really needs the rice."
"You want me to delay," he said.
"Precisely.You are superb at what we now requDiroen. 't give that Free Trader the chance to say yes or no.Someone trained by the Face Dancers will appreciate such subtlety."
"We lure the Face Dancers out of the ship while you initiate inquiries elsewhere."
Lady Janet smiled".You are lovely when you leap ahead of me that way."
A look of understanding passed between them.
"He cannot go to another supplier in this sector," Loschy Teg said.
"He will wish to avoid a go, no-go confrontation," Lady Janet said, patting t"hDeetlayl,e.delay, and more delay.You must draw the Face Dancers out of the ship."
"They will realize, of course."

"Yes, my dear, and it is dangeroYuosu. guards nearby."
must always meet on your own ground and with our own
Miles Teg recalled that his father had, indeed, drawn the Face Dancers out of tHheiisr mshoitph.er had taken Miles to the viewer where he watched the copper-walled room in which his father drove the bargain that won CHOAM's highest commendation and a rich bonus.
The first Face Dancers Miles Teg ever
Tsawwo:
small men as alike as twiAnslm. ost chinless round
faces, pug noses, tiny mouths, black button eyes, and short-cropped white hair that stood up from their heads like the bristles on a bruTshe two were dressed as the Free Trader had been -- black tunics and trousers.
"Illusion, Miles," his mother sa"idIl.lusion is their wayT.he fashioning of illusion to achieve real goals, that is how the Tleilaxu work."
"Like the magician at the Winter Show?" Miles asked, his gaze intent on the viewer and its toy-figure scene.
"Quite similar," his mother agreeSdh.e too watched the viewer as she spoke but one arm went protectively around her son's shoulders.
"You are looking at evil, MiSletsu.dy it carefullyT. he faces you see can be changed in an inTsthaenyt. can grow taller, appear heavieTr.hey could mimic your father so that only I would recognize the substitution."
Miles Teg's mouth formed a soundless "HOe."stared at the viewer, listening to his father explain that the price of CHOAM's pongi rice once more had gone up alarmingly.
"And the most terrible thing of all," his mother"Ssaoimd.e of the newer Face Dancers can, by touching the flesh of a victim, absorb some of the victim's memories."
"They read minds?M" iles looked up at his mother.

"Not exactlyW.
e think they take a print of the memories, almost a holophoto pTrohceeyssd. o not yet
know that we are aware of this."
Miles understoodH.
e was not to speak of this to anyone, not even to his father or hisShme ohthaedr.
taught him the Bene Gesserit way of secreHcey.watched the figures in the screen with care.
At his father's words, the Face Dancers betrayed no emotion, but their eyes appeared to glitter more brightly.
"How did they get so eviMl?i"les asked.
"They are communal beings, bred not to identify with any shape oTrhefacaep.pearance they present now is for my benefTit.hey know I am watchinTg.hey have relaxed into their natural communal shape. Mark it closely."
Miles tipped his head to one side and studied the Face DTanhceeyrsl.ooked so bland and ineffectual.
"They have no sense of self," his mother "sTahide.y have only the instinct to preserve their own lives unless ordered to die for their masters."
"Would they do that?"
"They have done it many times."
"Who are their masters?"
"Men who seldom leave the planets of the Bene Tleilax."

"Do they have children?"
"Not Face DancersT. hey are mules, sterileB. ut their masters can breeWd. e have taken a few of them
but the offspring are strangFe.ew female births and even then we cannot probe their Other Memories."
Miles frownedH.
e knew his mother was a Bene GessHereit. knew the Reverend Mothers carried a
marvelous reservoir of Other Memories going back through all the millennia of the SistHerehoeovde.n knew something of the Bene Gesserit breeding desRigenv.erend Mothers chose particular men and had children by those men.
"What are the Tleilaxu women likMe?i"les asked.
It was a perceptive question that sent a surge of pride through the LadYyesJ,anitetw. as almost a
certainty that she had a potential Mentat hTerhee. potential of Loschy Teg.
breeding mistresses had been right about the gene
"No one outside of their planets has ever reported seeing a Tleilaxu female," the Lady Janet said.
"Do they exist or is it just the tanks?"
"They exist."
"Are any of the Face Dancers women?"
"At their own choice, they can be male or feOmbasleer.ve them carefullyT. hey know what your father is doing and it angers them."
"Will they try to hurt my father?"

"They don't dareW. e have taken precautions and they knowSeiet. how the one on the left works his jaws. That is one of their anger signs."
"You said they were com. . c. ommunal beings."
"Like hive insects, MileTs.hey have no self-imageW. ithout a sense of self, they go beyond amorality. Nothing they say or do can be trusted."
Miles shuddered.
"We have never been able to detect an ethical code in them," the Lady Ja"Tnehteysaaidre.
flesh made
into automata.Without self, they have nothing to esteem or even dTouhbeyt. masters."
"And they were told to come here and buy the rice."
are bred only to obey their
"Exactly.They were told to get it and there's no other place in this sector where they can do that."
"They must buy it from father?"
"He's their only sourcAe.t this very moment, son, they are paying in melYanogue. see?"
Miles saw the orange-brown spice markers change hands, a tall stack of them, which one of the Face
Dancers removed from a case on the floor.
"The price is far, far higher than they ever anticipated," the Lady Jan"Tethissaiwd.ill be an easy trail to follow."

"Why?"
"Someone will be bankrupted acquiring that shipmWenet. think we know who the buyerWish.oever it is, we will learn of Tith.en we will know what was really being traded here."
Lady Janet then began to point out the identifiable incongruities that betrayed a Face Dancer to trained eyes and earsT. hey were subtle signs but Miles picked up on them immediHatieslym. other told him
then that she thought he might become a Mentapte.rh.ap. s even more.
Shortly before his thirteenth birthday, Miles Teg was sent away to advanced schooling at the Bene
Gesserit stronghold on Lampadas, where his mother's assessment of him was confWirmoerd. went back to her:
"You have given us the Warrior Mentat we had hoped for."
Teg did not see this note until sorting through his mother's effects after hTerhedewatohr.ds inscribed on
a small sheet of ridulian crystal with the Chapter House imprint below them filled him with an odd sense of displacement in timeH. is memory put him suddenly back on Lampadas where the love-awe he had
felt for his mother was deftly transferred to the Sisterhood itself, as originally inHteendheadd.
come to
understand this only during his later Mentat training but the understanding changedIf laitntlyet.hing, it
bound him even more strongly to the Bene GessItericto. nfirmed that the Sisterhood must be one of his strengths. He already knew that the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood was one of the most powerful forces in his universe -- equal at least to the Spacing Guild, superior to the Fish Speaker Council that had inherited the core of the old Atreides Empire, superior by far to CHOAM, and balanced somehow with the
Fabricators of Ix and with the Bene TleiAlaxs.mall measure of the Sisterhood's far-reaching authority
could be deduced from the fact that they held this authority despite Tleilaxu tank-grown melange, which had broken the Rakian monopoly on the spice, just as Ixian navigation machines had broken the Guild monopoly on space travel.
Miles Teg knew his history well by tGheunil.d Navigators no longer were the only ones who could
thread a ship through the folds of space -- in this galaxy one instant, in a faraway galaxy the very next heartbeat.
The School Sisters held back little from him, revealing there for the first time the fact of his Atreides ancestry. That revelation was necessary because of the tests they gaveThemy . obviously were testing
for prescience.Could he, like a Guild Navigator, detect fatal obstructiHones?failed.They tried him next on no-chambers and no-shipsH. e was as blind to such devices as the rest of humaFnokrindth.is test,

though, they fed him increased doses of the spice and he sensed the awakening of his True Self.
"The Mind at Its Beginning," a teaching Sister called it when he asked for an explanation of this odd sensation.
For a time, the universe was magical as he looked at it through this new aHwiasreanwesasr.eness was
a circle, then a globAe.rbitrary forms became transienHt. e fell into trance state without warning until the Sisters taught him how to control thTihs.ey provided him with accounts of saints and mystics and forced him to draw a freehand circle with either hand, following the line with his awareness.
By the end of the term, his awareness resumed its touch with conventional labels, but the memory of the magic never left himH. e found that memory a source of strength at the most difficult moments.
After accepting the assignment as Weapons Master to the ghola, Teg found his magical memory increasingly with himI.t was especially useful during his first interview with Schwangyu at the Keep on Gammu. They met in the Reverend Mother's study, a place of shiny metal walls and numerous instruments, most of them with the stamp of Ix on Ethveemn . the chair in which she sat, the morning sun
coming through a window behind her and making her face difficult to see, even that chair was one of the Ixian self-molders.He was forced to sit in a chairdog, though he realized she must know he detested the use of any life form for such a demeaning task.
"You were chosen because you actually are a grandfatherly figure," SchwangyTuhesaibdr.ight sunlight formed a corona around her hooded heDade.liberate! "Your wisdom will earn the child's love and respect."
"There's no way I could be a father figure."
"According to Taraza, you have the precise characteristics she reqIuikrenso.w of your honorable scars and their value to us."
This only reconfirmed his previous Mentat summatTiohne:y have been planning this for a long tTimheey. have bred for iIt. was bred for iIt.am part of their larger plan.

All he said wa"sT: araza expects this child to become a redoubtable warrior when restored to his true self."
Schwangyu merely stared at him for a moment, "tYheonu:
must not answer any of his questions about
gholas, should he encounter the subjeDcto.
not even use the word until I give you permiWssieonw. ill
supply you with all of the ghola data your duties require."
Coldly parceling out his words for emphasis, Teg "sPaeidrh: aps the Reverend Mother was not informed that I am well versed in the lore of Tleilaxu gIhohlavs.e met Tleilaxu in battle."
"You think you know enough about the Idaho series?"
"The Idahos are reputed to have been brilliant military strategists," Teg said.
"Then perhaps the great Bashar was not informed about the other characteristics of our ghola."
No doubt of the mockery in her voSiocme.ething else as weljle: alousy and great anger poorly
concealed. Teg's mother had taught him ways of reading through her own masks, a forbidden teaching, which he had always concealeHd.e feigned chagrin and shrugged.
It was obvious, though, that Schwangyu knew he was Taraza's BTahsehalri.nes had been drawn.
"At Bene Gesserit behest," Schwangyu said, "the Tleilaxu have made a significant alteration in the present
Idaho series.His nerve-muscle system has been modernized."
"Without changing the original personaT?e"g fed the question to her blandly, wondering how far she would go in revelation.
"He is a ghola, not a clone!"

"I see."
"Do you reallyH? e requires the most careful prana-bindu training at all stages."
"Taraza's orders exactly," Teg sa"idA.nd we will all obey those orders."
Schwangyu leaned forward, not concealing her an"gYero.u have been asked to train a ghola whose role in certain plans is most dangerous to usI adlol.n't think you even remotely understand what you will train!"
What you will train, Teg thougNhot.t whom.This ghola-child would never be a whom for Schwangyu or any of the others who opposed TaraPzearh. aps the ghola would not be a whom to anyone until restored to his original self, firmly seated in that original Duncan Idaho identity.
Teg saw clearly now that Schwangyu harbored more than hidden reservations about the ghola project. She was in active opposition just as Taraza had waSrncehdw. angyu was the enemy and Taraza's orders
had been explicit.
"You will protect that child against any threat."

Ten thousand years since Leto II began his metamorphosis from human into the sandworm of Rakis and historians still argue over his motivWes.as he driven by the desire for long Hlifee?lived more than ten
times the normal span of three hundred SY, but consider the price hWe apsaiidt. the lure of poweHr?e is called the Tyrant for good reason but what did power bring him that a human miWghatswhaent?
driven to save humankind from itseWlf?e have only his own words about his Golden Path to answer this and I cannot accept the self-serving records of Dar-es-BMalaigt.ht there have been other gratifications,
which only his experiences would illuminatWe?ithout better evidence the question is moWote. reduced to saying only that "He did it!" The physical fact alone is undeniable.
-The Metamorphosis of Leto II, 10,000th Anniversary Peroration by Gaus Andaud
are
Once more, Waff knew he was on lashTkhairs. time the stakes were as high as they coulAdngo. Honored Matre from the Scattering demanded his presenAcep. owindah of powindahsD! escendants of Tleilaxu from the Scattering had told him all they could about these terrible women.
"Far more terrible than Reverend Mothers of the Bene Gesserit," they said.
And more numerous, Waff reminded himself.
He did not fully trust the returned Tleilaxu descendants, eTihtheeir accents were strange, their manners
even stranger and their observances of the rituals questionaHbolew.
could they be readmitted to the
Great Kehl?What possible rite of ghufran could cleanse them after all these cenItut rwiesa?s beyond belief that they had kept the Tleilaxu secret down the generations.
They were no longer malik-brothers and yet they were the only source of information the Tleilaxu possessed about these returning Lost OneAsn. d the revelations they had broughRte!velations that had
been incorporated in the Duncan Idaho gholas -- that was worth all of the risks of contamination by powindah evil.
The meeting place with the Honored Matres was the presumed neutrality of an Ixian no-ship that held a tight orbit around a mutually selected gas giant planet in a mined-out solar system of the old Imperium. The Prophet himself had drained the last of the wealth from this sNyestwemF. ace Dancers walked as
Ixians among the no-ship's crew but Waff still sweated the first encoIfunttheer.se Honored Matres were

truly more terrible than the Bene Gesserit witches, would the exchange of Face Dancers for Ixian crewmen be detected?
Selection of this meeting place and the arrangements had put a strain on the WTlaesilaixt us.ecure?He reassured himself that he carried two sealed weapons never before seen off the Tleilaxu coreThpelanets. weapons were the painstaking result of long effort by his artiftwiceorsm: inuscule dart throwers
concealed in his sleevesH. e had trained with them for years until the flipping of the sleeves and the discharge of the poisoned darts was almost an instinctive reflex.
The walls of the meeting room were properly copper-toned, evidence that they were shielded from Ixian spy devices.But what instruments might the people of the Scattering have developed beyond the Ixian
ken?
Waff entered the room with a hesitant sling chair.
Tsthepe. Honored Matre already was there seated in a leather
"You will call me what everyone else calls me," she greete"dHhoinmor.ed Matre."
He bowed as he had been warned to"Hdoon.ored Matre."
No hint of hidden powers in her voAicelo. w contralto with overtones that spoke of disdain forSheim.
looked like an aged athlete or acrobat, slowed and retired but still maintaining her muscle tone and some of her skillsH. er face was tight skin over a skull with prominent cheekbTohneest.hin-lipped mouth
produced a sense of arrogance when she spoke, as though every word were projected downward onto lesser folk.
"Well, come in and sit dowsnh!e"
commanded, waving at a sling chair facing her.
Waff heard the hatch hiss closed behind Hhiem.was alone with heSr!he was wearing a snoopeHr.e
could see the lead for it going into her lefHt iesard.art throwers had been sealed and "washed" against snoopers, then maintained at minus 340° Kelvin in a radiation bath for five SY to make them proof against snoopers.Had it been enough?

Gently, he lowered himself into the indicated chair.
Orange-tinted contact lenses covered the Honored Matre's eyes, giving them a feral appeSahreance. was altogether dauntingA. nd her clothing!Red leotards beneath a dark blue caTphe.e surface of the
cape had been decorated with some pearly material to produce strange arabesques and dragon designs. She sat in the chair as though it were a throne, her clawlike hands resting easily on the arms.
Waff glanced around the rooHmi.s people had inspected this place in company with Ixian maintenance workers and representatives of the Honored Matre.
We have done our best, he thought, and he tried to relax.
The Honored Matre laughed.
Waff stared at her with as calm an expression as he could "mYuosutear.re gauging me now," he
accused. "You say to yourself that you have enormous resources to employ against me, subtle and gross instruments to carry out your commands."
"Do not take that tone with mTeh.e" Waff almost recoiled.
words were low and flat but carried such a weight of venom that
He stared at the stringy muscles of the woman's legs, that deep red leotard fabric which flowed over her skin as though it were organic to her.
Their meeting time had been adjusted to bring them together at a mutually personal mid-morning, their waking hours having been balanced en rouWtea.ff felt dislocated, though, and at a disadvantaWgeh.at if
the stories of his informants were truSeh?e must have weapons here.
She smiled at him without humor.
"You are trying to intimidate me," Waff said.

"And succeeding."Anger surged through WaffH. e kept this from his voic"eI . have come at your invitation."
"I hope you did not come to engage in a confrontation that you would surely lose," she said.
"I came to forge a bond between us," heAsnadid.he wondered:What do they need from uSsu?rely they must need something.
"What bond can there be between ussh?e" asked."Would you build an edifice on a disintegrating raft? Hah! Agreements can be broken and often are."
"For what tokens do we bargainh?e" asked.
"Bargain?I do not bargainI. am interested in this ghola you made for the witcHheers."tone gave away nothing but Waff's heartbeat quickened at her question.
In one of his ghola lifetimes, Waff had trained under a renegade TMhe tcaatp. abilities of a Mentat were beyond him and besides, reasoning required woTrdhse.y had been forced to kill the powindah Mentat but there had been some things of value in the experWieanfcfe.allowed himself a small moue of distaste at the memory but he recalled the things of value.
Attack and absorb the data that attack produces!
"You offer me nothing in exchanghee!" said, his voice loud.
"Recompense is at my discretion," she said.
Waff produced a scornful gaz"eD.o you play with me?"

She showed white teeth in a feral
"gYrino.u would not survive my play, nor want to."
"So I must be dependent upon your good will!"
"Dependency!"The word curled from her mouth as though it produced a distasteful sen"sWathioyn.do you sell these gholas to the witches and then kill the gholas?"
Waff pressed his lips together and remained si.lent.
"You have somehow changed this ghola while still making it possible for him to regain his original memories," she said.
"You know so muchW!" aff said.It was not quite a sneer and, he hoped, revealed noSthpiinegs.! She had spies among the witcheWs! as there also a traitor in the Tleilaxu heartlands?
"There is a girl-child on Rakis who figures in the plans of the witches," the Honored Matre said.
"How do you know this?"
"The witches do not make a move without our knoYwoinug!think of spies but you cannot know how far our arms will reach!"
Waff was dismayedC. ould she read his mindW? as it something born of the ScatterinAg?wild talent from out there where the original human seed could not observe?
"How have you changed this gholsah?e"
demanded.

Voice!
Waff, armed against such devices by his Mentat teacher, almost blurted an TanhsisweHr.onored Matre
had some of the witches' poweIrts!had been so unexpected coming from Yheoru.
expected such things
from a Reverend Mother and were preparHede. was a moment recovering his balanWcea.ff steepled his hands in front of his chin.
"You have interesting resources," she said.
A gamin expression came over Waff's featuHrees.knew how disarmingly elflike he could look.
Attack!
"We know how much you have learned from the Bene Gesserit," he said.
A look of rage swept over her face and was "Tgohneye. have taught us nothing!"
Waff pitched his voice at a humorously appealing level, caj"oSliunrge.ly, this is not bargaining."
"Isn't it?"She actually appeared surprised.
Waff lowered his hand"sC. ome now, Honored MatreY. ou are interested in this ghoYlao. u speak of things on Rakis. What do you take us for?"
"Very littleY. ou become less valuable by the instant."
Waff sensed the coldest machine logic in her respTonhseere. more chilling.She is capable of killing me right here!
was no smell of Mentat in it but something

Where were her weaponsW? ould she even require weaponsH?e did not like the look of those stringy muscles, the calluses on her hands, the hunter's gleam in her orangeCoeuyleds.she possibly guess (or even know) about the dart throwers in his sleeves?
"We are confronted by a problem that cannot be resolved by logical means," she said.
Waff stared at her in shoAck.Zensunni Master might have said thHaet! had said it himself on more than one occasion.
"You have probably never considered such a possibility," sheItsawida.s as though her words dropped
a mask away from her facWe.aff suddenly saw through to the calculating person behind these postures. Did she take him for some padfooted seelie fit only for collecting slig shit?
Bringing as much hesitant puzzlement into his voice as possible, he"Hasokwed:could such a problem be resolved?"
"The natural course of events will dispose of it," she said.
Waff continued to stare at her in simulated puzzlemHert.words did not smack of revelatiSotnil.l, the things implied!He said:"Your words leave me floundering."
"Humankind has become infinite," she sa"iTdh. at is the true gift of the Scattering."
Waff fought to conceal the turmoil these words cre"aItnefdin. ite universes, infinite time -- anything may happen," he said.
"Ahhh, you are a bright little manikin," she "sHaoidw.
does one allow for anythinIgt?is not logical."

She sounded, Waff thought, like one of the ancient leaders of the Butlerian Jihad, which had tried to rid humankind of mechanical mindsT.his Honored Matre was strangely out of date.
"Our ancestors looked for an answer with computers," he venLtuertedh.er try that!
"You already know that computers lack infinite storage capacity," she said.
Again, her words disconcerted hiCmo. uld she actually read mindsW? as this a form of mind-printing? What the Tleilaxu did with Face Dancers and gholas, others might do aHsewceelnl.tered his awareness and concentrated on Ixians, on their evil machiPneosw. indah machines!
The Honored Matre swept her gaze around the r"oAomre. we wrong to trust the Ixianssh?e"
asked.
Waff held his breath.
"I don't think you fully trust them," she "sCaoidm. e, come, little manI. offer you my good will."
Belatedly, Waff began to suspect that she was trying to be friendly and candid wShiteh cheirmta.inly had put aside her earlier pose of angry superioWritayf.f's informants from the Lost Ones said the Honored Matres made sexual decisions much in the manner of the Bene GWesasesrist.he trying to be seductive? But she clearly understood and had exposed the weakness of logic.
It was very confusing!
"We are talking in circles," he said.
"Quite the contraryC. ircles enclose.Circles limit.Humankind no longer is limited by the space in which to grow."

There she went againH!e spoke past a dry tongu"eIt: is said that what you cannot control you must accept."
She leaned forward, the orange eyes intent on his"Dfaocey. ou accept the possibility of a final disaster for the Bene Tleilax?"
"If that were the case I would not be here." "When logic fails, another tool must be used." Waff grinned". That sounds logical."
"Don't mock meH! ow dare you!"
Waff lifted his hands defensively and assumed a placating"Wtonhea:t tool would the Honored Matre suggest?"
"Energy!"
Her answer surprised him"E. nergy? In what form and how much?"
"You demand logical answers," she said.
With a feeling of sadness, Waff realized that she was not, after all ZTenhseunHnoi.nored Matre only played word games on the fringes of non-logic, circling it, but her tool was logic.
"Rot at the core spreads outward," he said.

It was as though she had not heard his testing state"mTheenrte.
is untapped energy in the depths of any
human we deign to touch," she saSihde.
extended a skeletal finger to within a few millimeters of his nose.
Waff pulled back into his chair until she dropped heHr earmsa.id:"Is that not what the Bene Gesserit said before producing their Kwisatz Haderach?"
"They lost control of themselves and of him," she sneered.
Again, Waff thought, she employed logic in thinking of the non-lHogoiwcal.much she had told him in
these little lapsesH.
e could glimpse the probable history of these Honored MOatrnees.of the natural
Reverend Mothers from the Fremen of Rakis had gone out in the ScaDtteivrienrgse.
people had fled on
the no-ships during and immediately after the Famine TiAmens.o-ship had seeded the wild witch and her concepts somewhereT. hat seed had returned in the form of this orange-eyed huntress.
Once more she hurled Voice at him, demand"iWngh:at have you wrought with this ghola?"
This time, Waff was prepared and shrugged itThoifsf. Honored Matre would have to be deflected or, if possible, slain.He had learned much from her but there was no way of telling how much she had learned from him with her unguessed talents.
They are sexual monsters, his informants had
Tsahidey.
enslave men by the powers of sex.
"How little you know the joys I could give you," shHe esraivdo.ice coiled like a whip around hHimow. tempting! How seductive!
Waff spoke defensively":Tell me why you --"
"I need tell you nothing!"
"Then you did not come to bargaHine." spoke sadlyT. he no-ships had, indeed, seeded those other

universes with rotW.
aff sensed the weight of necessity on his shouldWerhsa.t if he could not slay her?
"How dare you keep suggesting a bargain with an Honored Matre?" she dem"Kanndoewd. you that we set the price!"
"I do not know your ways, Honored Matre," Waff"Bsauitd.I sense in your words that I have offended."
"Apology accepted."
No apology intendedH! e stared at her blandlMy. any things could be deduced from her performance. Out of his millennial experiences, Waff reviewed what he had learnedThhiesref.emale from the
Scattering came to him for an essential piece of informaTthioenr.efore, she had no other sourcHee. sensed desperation in herW. ell masked but definitely therSeh. e needed confirmation or refutation of something she feared.
How like a predatory bird she was, sitting there with her claw hands so lightly on the arms of her chair!
Rot at the core spreads outwarHde.
had said it and she had not heCalreda.rly, atomic humankind
continued to explode on its Scatterings of ScatterinTghse.
people represented by this Honored Matre
had not found a way to trace the no-shTihpast. witches of the Bene Gesserit did.
was it, of coursSe.he hunted the no-ships just as the
"You seek the way to nullify a no-ship's invisibility," he said.
The statement obviously rocked hSerh.e had not expected this from the elflike manikin seated in front of her. He saw fear, then anger, then resolution pass across her features before she resumed her predatory mask. She knew, thoughS. he knew he had seen.
"So that is what you do with your ghola," she said.
"It is what the witches of the Bene Gesserit seek with him," Waff lied.

"I underestimated you," she sa"idD.id you make the same mistake with me?"
"I do not think so, Honored MaTtrhee.
breeding scheme that produced you is quite obviously
formidable. I think you could kick out a foot and kill me before I blinkedThane weyietc.hes are not in the same league with you."
A smile of pleasure softened her featu"rAesr.e the Tleilaxu to be our willing servants or compelled?"
He did not try to hide outra"Ygeo.u offer us slavery?"
"That is one of your options."
He had her nowA!rrogance was her weaknessS.ubmissively, he asked": What would you command me to do?"
"You will take back as your guests two younger Honored MTahtereys.are to be bred with you and . . . teach you our ways of ecstasy."
Waff inhaled and exhaled two slow breaths.
"Are you sterile?" she asked.
"Only our Face Dancers are muleSsh."e would already know thaIt was common knowledge.
"You call yourself Master," she said, "yet you have not mastered yourself."
More than you, Honored Matre bitAchn!d I call myself Masheikh, a fact that may yet destroy you.

"The two Honored Matres I send with you will make an inspection of everything Tleilaxu and return to me with their report," she said.
He sighed as though in resignati"oAn.re the two younger women comely?"
"Honored Matres!" she corrected him.
"Is that the only name you use?"
"If they choose to give you names, that is their privilege, not Syhoeurlse.a"ned sideways and rapped a bony knuckle against the flooMr.etal gleamed in her hanSd.he had a way of penetrating this room's shielding!
The hatch opened and two women dressed much like his Honored Matre eTnhteirredd.ark capes carried less decoration and both women were younWgear.ff stared at themW. ere they both ... He tried not to show elation but knew he faNileod.matter.The older one would think he admired the
beauty of these twoB. y signs known only to the Masters, he saw that one of the two newcomers was a
new Face DancerA.
successful exchange had been made and these Scattered Ones could not detect it!
The Tleilaxu had successfully passed a hurdWleo! uld the Bene Gesserit be as blind to these new gholas?
"You are being sensibly agreeable about this, for which you will be rewarded," the old Honored Matre said.
"I recognize your powers, Honored Matre," he sTahidat.
was trueH.
e bowed his head to conceal the
resolution that he knew he could not keep from his eyes.
She gestured to the newcome"rTs.hese two will accompany yoTu.heir slightest whim is your command. They will be treated with all honor and respect."
"Of course, Honored MatreK."eeping his head bowed he lifted both arms as though in salutation and
submission. A dart hissed from each sleevAes.
he released the darts, Waff jerked himself sideways in his
chair. The motion was not quite rapid enouTghe old Honored Matte's right foot shot out, catching him

in the left thigh and hurling him backward on his chair.
It was the old Honored Matre's last living Tahcte. dart from his left sleeve caught her in the back of her throat, entering through her opened mouth, a mouth left gaping in suNrparricsoe.tic poison cut off any
outcry. The other dart hit the non-Face Dancer of the newcomers in the rigHhits eFyaec. e Dancer accomplice cut off any warning shout by a blurred chop to the throat.
Two bodies slumped in death.
Painfully, Waff disentangled himself from the chair and righted it as he got toHhisisthfeigeht. throbbed. A fraction of a meter more and she would have broken hisHtehigreha!lized that her reaction had not been mediated by her central nervous systeAms. with some insects, attack could be initiated by the required muscle systemT. hat development would have to be investigated!
His Face Dancer accomplice was listening at the open hSahtechs.tepped aside to allow the entry of another Face Dancer in the guise of an Ixian guard.
Waff massaged his injured thigh while his Face Dancers disrobed the dead wThoemeonn.e who copied the Ixian put her head to that of the dead old Honored TMhiantgres. moved swiftly after thaPtr.esently,
there was no Ixian guard, only a faithful copy of the old Honored Matre and a younger Honored Matre attendant. Another pseudo-Ixian entered and copied the younger Honored MSatoroen. , there were only
ashes where dead flesh had beeAn. new Honored Matre scooped the ashes into a bag and concealed it beneath her robe.
Waff made a careful examination of the roTohme. consequences of discovery made him shuddSeurc. h
arrogance as he had seen here came from obviously awesome poTwheorsse. He detained the Face Dancer who had copied the old one.
"You have printed her?"
powers must be probed.
"Yes, MasterH.
er waking memories were still alive when I copied."
"Transfer to her.H" e gestured to the one who had been an Ixian gTuhaeryd. touched foreheads for a

few heartbeats then parted.
"It is done," said the older one.
"How many other copies of these Honored Matres have we made?"
"Four, Master."
"None of them detected?"
"None, Master."
"Those four must return to the heartland of these Honored Matres and learn all there is to know about them. One of those four must get back to us with what is learned."
"That is impossible, Master."
"Impossible?"
"They have cut themselves off from their souTrhcies. is their way, MasteTr.hey are a new cell and have established themselves on Gammu."
"But surely we coul.d."
"Your pardon, MasterT. he coordinates of their place in the Scattering were contained only in a no-ship's workings and have been erased."

"Their tracks are completely coveredT?h"ere was dismay in his voice.
"Completely, Master."
Disaster!He was forced to rein in his thoughts from a sudden frenzied d"aTrhtienyg.must not learn what we have done here," he muttered.
"They will not learn from us, Master."
"What talents have they developeWd?hat powers?Quickly!"
"They are what you would expect from a Reverend Mother of the Bene Gesserit but without the melange memories."
"You're sure?"
"There is no hint ofAist. you know, Master, we --
"Yes, yesI.
know."He waved her to silenc"eB. ut the old one was so arrogant, so . . ."
"Your pardon, Master, but time pressTehs.ese Honored Matres have perfected the pleasures of sex far beyond that developed by any others."
"So it's true what our informants said."
"They went back to the primitive Tantric and developed their own ways of sexual stimulation, Master. Through this, they accept the worship of their followers."

"Worship."He breathed the word".Are they superior to the Breeding Mistresses of the Sisterhood?"
"The Honored Matres believe so, MasStehra. ll we demon --"
"No!"Waff dropped his elfin mask at this discovery and assumed the expression of a dominant Master.
The Face Dancers nodded their heads in submissAionl.ook of glee came over Waff's fTachee.
returned
Tleilaxu of the Scattering reported truthfullByy!
of his people!
a simple mind-print he had confirmed this new weapon
"What are your orders, Master?" the old one asked.
Waff resumed his elfin mas"kW. e will explore these matters only when we have returned to the Tleilaxu
core at BandalongM.
eanwhile, even a Master does not give orders to an Honored MYoautrea.re my
masters until we are free of prying eyes."
"Of course, MasterS.hall I now convey your orders to the others outside?"
"Yes, and these are my ordeTrhs:is no-ship must never return to GammItum. No survivors."
"It will be done, Master."
ust vanish without a trace.

Technology, in common with many other activities, tends toward avoidance of risks by investors. Uncertainty is ruled out if possibClea.pital investment follows this rule, since people generally prefer the predictable. Few recognize how destructive this can be, how it imposes severe limits on variability and thus makes whole populations fatally vulnerable to the shocking ways our universe can throw the dice.
-Assessment of Ix, Bene Gesserit Archives
On the morning after that initial test in the desert, Sheeana awoke in the priestly complex to find her bed surrounded by white-robed people.
Priests and priestesses!
"She's awake," a priestess said.
Fear gripped Sheeana.She clutched the bed covers close to her chin while she stared out at those intent faces. Were they going to abandon her in the desert agSahien?had slept the sleep of exhaustion in the
softest bed with the cleanest linen she had experienced in her eight years but she knew everything the priests did could have a double meaniTngh.ey were not to be trusted!
"Did you sleep well?It" was the priestess who had spoken fSirhset. was a gray-haired older woman, her face framed in a white cowl with purple Ttrhime .old eyes were watery but alPeratl.e blue.The nose was an upturned stub above a narrow mouth and outjutting chin.
"Will you speak to ust?h"e woman persisted". I am Cania, your night attendaRnte.member? I helped you into your bed."
At least, the tone of voice was reassuSrihnege. ana sat up and took a better look at these peTohpelye.

were afraid!A desert child's nose could detect the telltale pheromoTnoes.Sheeana, it was a simple, straightforward observation:That smell equals fear.
"You thought you would hurt me," she
"sWaidh.y did you do that?"
The people around her exchanged looks of consternation.
Sheeana's fear dissipatedS.he had sensed the new order of things and yesterday's trial in the desert meant more changeS. he recalled how subservient the older woman . . . CSahneia?had been almost
groveling the previous nighSt.heeana would learn in time that any person who lived through the decision to die evolved a new emotional balanFcea. rs were transitoryT. his new condition was interesting.
Cania's voice trembled when she respond"eTdr:uly, Child of God, we did not intend harm."
Sheeana straightened the bedcovers on her "laMpy.
name is Sheeana.T"hat was desert politeness.
Cania already had produced a nam"eW. ho are these others?"
"They will be sent away if you don't want them . . . SCheaenainaa.i"ndicated a florid-faced woman at her left dressed in a robe similar to her "oAwlnl .except Alhosa, of coursSe.he is your day attendant."
Alhosa curtsied at the introduction.
Sheeana stared up at a face puffy with waterfat, heavy features in a nimbus of fluffy bSlhoifntidnghair. her attention abruptly, Sheeana looked at the men in the gTrhoeuyp. watched her with heavy-lidded intentness, some with looks of trembling suspiciTonh.e fear smell was strong.
Priests!
"Send them away.S"heeana waved a hand at the prie"sTtsh. ey are haram!"It was the gutter word, the lowest term of all for that which was most evil.

The priests recoiled in shock.
"Begone!"Cania commanded.There was no mistaking the look of malevolent glee on herCafanciae. had not been included among the vile oBneust. these priests clearly stood among those labeled as haram! They must have done something hideous for God to send a child-priestess to chastise them. Cania could believe it of priesTtsh.ey had seldom treated her the way she deserved.
Like chastened bedogs, the priests bowed themselves backward and left Sheeana's chAa moenrg.
those who went out into the hallway was a historian-locutor named Dromind, a dark man with a busy mind that tended to fasten onto ideas like the beak of a carrion bird onto a morseWl ohef nmtehaet.
chamber door closed behind them, Dromind told his trembling companions that the name Sheeana was a modern form of the ancient name, Siona.
"You all know Siona's place in the histories," he"Ssahied.served Shai-hulud in His transformation from human shape into the Divided God."
Stiros, a wrinkled older priest with dark lips and pale, glistening eyes, looked wonderingly at Dromind. "That is extremely curious," Stiros sa"idT.he Oral Histories claim that Siona was instrumental in His translation from the One into the MaSnhye. eana. Do you think. ."
"Let us not forget the Hadi Benotto translation of God's own holy words," another priest interrupted. "Shai-hulud referred many times to Siona."
"Not always with favor," Stiros reminded th"eRme.member her full nameS:iona Ibn Fuad al-Seyefa
Atreides."
"Atreides," another priest whispered.
"We must study her with care," Dromind said.
A young acolyte-messenger hurried up the hallway to the group and sought among them until he spied

Stiros. "Stiros," the messenger said, "you must clear this hallway immediately."
"Why?"It was an indignant voice from the press of the rejected priests. "She is to be moved into the High Priest's quarters," the messenger said. "By whose orders?S"tiros demanded.
"High Priest Tuek himself says this," the messenger "sTahide.y have been listening.H" e waved a hand vaguely toward the direction from which he had come.
All of the group in the hall understRooo.ms could be shaped to send voices from them into other places. There were always listeners.
"What have they heard?S"tiros demanded.His old voice quavered.
"She asked if her quarters were the bTehsety. out here."
"But what are we to doS?ti"ros asked.
"Study her," Dromind said.
are about to move her and she must not find any of you
The hall was cleared immediately and all of them began the process of studying TSheeepanatat.ern born here would print itself on all of their lives over the subsequenTt hyeearrosu. tine that took shape around Sheeana produced changes felt in the farthest reaches of the Divided God's inTfluweoncwe.ords ignited the change": Study her."
How naive she was, the priests thouHghotw.
curiously naiveB. ut she could read and she displayed an

intense interest in the Holy Books she found in Tuek's quaHrteerrsq. uarters now.
All was propitiation from the highest to the loTwueeskt. moved into the quarters of his chief assistant and the bumping process moved downwarFda.bricators waited upon Sheeana and measured hTehr.e
finest stillsuit was fashioned for hSerh.e acquired new robes of priestly gold and white with purple trim.
People began avoiding historian-locutor DrominHde.
took to buttonholing his fellows and expounding
the history of the original Siona as though this said something important about the present bearer of the ancient name.
"Siona was the mate of the Holy Duncan Idaho," Dromind reminded anyone who wou"lTdhleiisrten. descendants are everywhere."
"Indeed?Pardon me for not listening further but I am really on an urgent errand."
At first, Tuek was more patient with DromTihned. history was interesting and its lessons obvio"Guso.d has sent us a new Siona," Tuek s"aAidl.l should be clear."
Dromind went away and returned with more tidbits from the "pTahset. accounts from Dar-es-Balat take on a new meaning now," Dromind told his High P"Sriheostu.ld we not make further tests and comparisons of this child?"
Dromind had braced the High Priest immediately after breakTfhaest.remains of Tuek's meal still
occupied the serving table on the balcoTnyh.rough the open window, they could hear stirrings overhead in Sheeana's quarters.
Tuek put a cautioning finger to his lips and spoke in a hushe"dThveoicHeo. ly Child goes of her own choice to the desert.H" e went to a wall map and pointed to an area southwest of"AKpepeanre. ntly this is an area that interests her or . . . I should say, calls her."
"I am told she makes frequent use of dictionaries," Dromind"Ssuariedl.y, that cannot be a --"

"She is testing us," Tuek sa"iDd.o not be fooled."
"But Lord Tuek, she asks the most childish questions of Cania and Alhosa."
"Do you question my judgment, Dromind?"
Belatedly, Dromind realized he had overstepped the proper bouHnedsf.ell silent but his expression said many more words were compressed within him.
"God has sent her to weed out some evil that has crept into the ranks of the anointed,""GTou!ek said. Pray and ask your self if that evil has lodged itself within you."
When Dromind had gone, Tuek summoned a trusted "aWidhee. re is the Holy Child?"
"She has gone out into the desert, Lord, to commune with her Father."
"To the southwest?"
"Yes, Lord."
"Dromind must be taken far out to the east and left on thPelansat nsde.veral thumpers to make sure he never returns."
"Dromind, Lord?"
"Dromind."

Even after Dromind was translated into the Mouth of God, the priests continued to follow his original injunction. They studied Sheeana.
Sheeana also studied.
Gradually, so gradually that she could not identify the point of transition, she recognized her great power over those around herA. t first, it was a game, a continual Children's Day with adults jumping to obey
each childish whimB. ut it appeared that no whim was too difficult.
Did she require a rare fruit for her table?
The fruit was served to her on a golden dish.
Did she glimpse a child far below on the teeming streets and require that child as a playmate?
That child was hustled up to Sheeana's temple quaWrtehres.n fear and shock passed, the child might even join in some game, which the priests and priestesses observed inItnenotlcye.nt skipping about on the rooftop garden, giggling whispers -- all were subjected to intense anSahlyeseiasn. a found the awe of
such children a burdenS.he seldom called the same child back to her, preferring to learn new things from new playmates.
The priests achieved no consensus about the innocence of such encouTnhteersp.laymates were put through fearful interrogation until Sheeana discovered this and raged at her guardians.
Inevitably, word of Sheeana spread throughout Rakis and off-plTahnet.Sisterhood's reports
accumulated. The years passed in a kind of sublimely autocratic routine -- feeding Sheeana's cuItriosity. was a curiosity that appeared to have no limNiotns.e of those among the immediate attendants thought of this as educationS: heeana teaching the priests of Rakis and they teachingTher.Bene Gesserit,
however, observed this aspect of Sheeana's life at once and watched it closely.
"She is in good handLse.ave her there until she is ready for us," Taraza ord"Kereedp. on constant alert and see that I get regular reports."
a defense force

Not once did Sheeana reveal her true origins nor what Shaitan had done to her family and neighbors. That was a private thing between Shaitan and herSshelef. thought of her silence as payment for having
been spared.
Some things paled for SheeanSah.e made fewer trips into the desCerut.riosity continued but it became obvious that an explanation of Shaitan's behavior toward her might not be found on the opAennd sand. although she knew there were embassies of other powers on Rakis, the Bene Gesserit spies among her attendants made sure that Sheeana did not express too much interest in the SistSeorhoothoidn.g answers
to dampen such interest were provided and metered out to Sheeana as required.
The message from Taraza to her observers on Rakis was direct and p"Toihnetedg:enerations of
preparation have become the years of refinemeWnte. longer any doubt that this child is the one."
will move only at the proper momTenhte.re is no
In my estimation, more misery has been created by reformers than by any other force in human history. Show me someone who says "Something must be done!" and I will show you a head full of vicious intentions that have no other outlWet.hat we must strive for always! is to find the natural flow and go
with it.
-The Reverend Mother Taraza, Conversational Record, BG File GSXXMAT9

The overcast sky lifted as the sun of Gammu climbed, picking up the scents of grass and surrounding forest extracted and condensed by the morning dampness.
Duncan Idaho stood at a Forbidden Window inhaling the smTheilsls.morning Patrin had told hi"mY:ou are fifteen years of agYe.ou must consider yourself a young mYano.u no longer are a child."
"Is it my birthday?"
They were in Duncan's sleeping chamber where Patrin had just aroused him with a glass of citrus juice.
"I do not know your birthday."
"Do gholas have birthdays?"
Patrin remained silenIt.t was forbidden to speak of gholas with the ghola.
"Schwangyu says you can't answer that question," Duncan said.
Patrin spoke with obvious embarrassme"nTt.he Bashar wishes me to tell you that your training class will be delayed this morningH. e wishes you to do the leg and knee exercises until you are called."
"I did those yesterday!"
"I merely convey the Bashar's orderPsa."trin took the empty glass and left Duncan alone.
Duncan dressed quicklyT.hey would expect him for breakfast in the CommissDaarym.n them!He did

not need their breakfasWt. hat was the Bashar doingW? hy couldn't he start the classes on timLeg? knee exercises!That was just make-work because Teg had some other unexpected Adnugtyri.ly, Duncan took a Forbidden Route to a Forbidden WindLoewt .the damned guards be punished!
and
He found the odors coming through the open window evocative but could not place the memories that lurked at the edges of his awareneHsse. knew there were memorieDs.uncan found this frightening but
magnetic -- like walking along the edge of a cliff or openly confronting Schwangyu with hisHdeefiance.
had never walked along the edge of a cliff nor openly confronted Schwangyu with defiance, but he could imagine such thingsJ. ust seeing a filmbook holophoto of a cliff-edge path was enough to make his
stomach tighten.As for Schwangyu, he often imagined angry disobedience and suffered the same physical reaction.
Someone else is in my mind, he thought.
Not just in his mind -- in his bHoedyc.ould sense other experiences as though he had just awakened, knowing he had dreamed but unable to recall the drTehamis. dream-stuff called up knowledge that he knew he could not possess.
Yet he did possess it.
He could name some of the trees he smelled out there but those names were not in the library's records.
This Forbidden Window was forbidden because it pierced an outer wall of the Keep and could be
opened. It was often open, as now, for ventilatTiohne.
window was reached from his room by climbing
over a balcony rail and slipping through a storeroom air Hsheafht.ad learned to do this without the slightest disturbance of rail or storeroom or shQaufti.te early, it had been made clear to him that those trained by the Bene Gesserit could read extremely small sHigensc.ould read some of those signs himself, thanks to the teachings of Teg and Lucilla.
Standing well back in the shadows of the upper hallway, Duncan focused on rolling slopes of forest climbing to rocky pinnaclesH. e found the forest compellinTg.he pinnacles beyond it possessed a magical quality. It was easy to imagine that no human had ever touched thaHt olawndg.ood it would be to lose himself there, to be only his own person without worrying that another person dwelled witAhin him. stranger there.

With a sigh, Duncan turned away and returned to his room along his secrOetnlryouwteh.en he was back in the safety of his room did he allow himself to say that he had done it Nonoceonmeowreo. uld be punished for this venture.
Punishments and pain, which hung like an aura around the places forbidden to him, only made Duncan exercise extreme caution when he broke the rules.
He did not like to think of the pain Schwangyu would cause him if she discovered him at a Forbidden
Window. Even the worst pain, though, would not cause him to cry out, he told Hheimhsealdf. never
cried out even at her nastier tricHkse. merely stared back at her, hating her but absorbing her lTeosson. him, Schwangyu's lesson was direcRt:efine his ability to move unobserved, unseen and unheard, leaving no spoor to betray his passage.
In his room, Duncan sat on the edge of his cot and contemplated the blank wall in frOo nceo,f him.
when he had stared at that wall, an image had formed there -- a young woman with light amber hair and sweetly rounded featuresS. he looked out of the wall at him and smHileerd.lips moved without sound.
Duncan already had learned lip reading, though, and he read the words clearly.
"Duncan, my sweet Duncan."
Was that his mothehr?e wondered.His real mother?
Even gholas had real mothers somewhere back thLeorset. in the time behind the axlotl tanks there had been a living woman who bore him and . . . and loveYdesh,imlo.ved him because he was her chIfild.
that face on the wall was his mother, how had her image found its waHye thceoruel?d not identify the face but he wanted it to be his mother.
The experience frightened him but fear did not prevent him from wanting to Wrepheoaetveitr.
that
young woman was, her fleeting presence tantalized hTimhe. stranger within him knew that young woman.
He felt sure of thiSsometimes, he wanted to be that stranger only for an instant -- long enough to gather
up all of those hidden memories -- but he feared this stranger entered his awareness.
Would that be like death? he wondered.
Hdeesirweo. uld lose his real self, he thought, if the

Duncan had seen death before he wasHsiisx.guards had repelled intruders and one of the guards was killed. Four intruders died as weDll.uncan had watched the five bodies brought into the Keep -- flaccid muscles, arms draggingS. ome essential thing was gone from theNmo.thing remained to call up memories
-- self-memories or stranger-memories.
The five were taken somewhere deep within the KHeeeph.eard a guard say later that the four intruders were loaded with "shere.T"hat was his first encounter with the idea of an Ixian Probe.
"An Ixian Probe can raid the mind even of a dead person," Geasa ex"pSlhaeinredi.s a drug that protects you from the probYe.our cells will be totally dead before the drug effect is gone."
Adroit listening told Duncan the four intruders were being probed in other waysTahseswe eollt.her
ways were not explained to him but he suspected this must be something secret to the BeneHeGesserit. thought of it as another hellish trick of the Reverend MoTthheerys. must animate the dead and extract information from the unwilling flesDh.uncan visualized depersonalized muscles performing at the will of a diabolical observer.
The observer was always Schwangyu.
Such images filled Duncan's mind despite every effort by his teachers to dispel "foolishness invented by the ignorant."His teachers said these wild stories were valuable only to create fear of the Bene Gesserit among the uninitiatedD. uncan refused to believe that he was of the initiLaoteodk.ing at a Reverend
Mother he always thoughIt:'m not one of them!
Lucilla was most persistent late"lyR.eligion is a source of energy," she s"aYido.u must recognize this energy. It can be directed for your own purposes."
Their purposes, not mine, he thought.
He imagined his own purposes and projected his own images of himself triumphant over the Sisterhood, especially over SchwangyuD. uncan felt that his imaginative projections were a subterranean reality that worked on him from that place where the stranger dweBlluetd.he learned to nod and give the
appearance that he, too, found such religious credulity amusing.

Lucilla recognized the dichotomy in hSimhe.
told Schwangyu": He thinks mystical forces are to be
feared and, if possible, avoideAd.s long as he persists in this belief he cannot learn to use our most essential knowledge."
They met for what Schwangyu called "a regular assessment session," just the two of them in
Schwangyu's study.The time was shortly after their light supTpehre.
sounds of the Keep around them
were those of transition -- night patrols beginning, off-duty personnel enjoying one of their brief free-time periods. Schwangyu's study had not been completely insulated from such things, a deliberate contrivance
of the Sisterhood's renovatorsT. he trained senses of a Reverend Mother could detect many things from the sounds around her.
Schwangyu felt more and more at a loss in these "assessment sesIstiownass." increasingly obvious that
Lucilla could not be won over to those opposing TaLrauzcail.la also was immune to a Reverend
Mother's manipulative subterfugesM.
ost damnable of all, Lucilla and Teg between them were imparting
highly volatile abilities to the ghoDlaa. ngerous in the extremeA. dded to all of her other problems, Schwangyu nurtured a growing respect for Lucilla.
"He thinks we use occult powers to practice our arts," Lucill"aHsoawid.did he arrive at such a peculiar idea?"
Schwangyu felt the disadvantage imposed by this quesLtiuocni.lla already knew this had been done to weaken the gholaL. ucilla was saying": Disobedience is a crime against our Sisterhood!"
"If he wants our knowledge, he will surely get it from you," SchwangNyuo smaiadt.ter how dangerous, in Schwangyu's view, this was certainly a truth.
"His desire for knowledge is my best lever," Lucilla said, "but we both know that is noTt heenroeugh." was no reproof in Lucilla's tone but Schwangyu felt it nevertheless.
Damn her! She's trying to win me over! Schwangyu thought.
Several responses entered Schwangyu's min"dI: have not disobeyed my orderPs.a"h! A disgusting

excuse! "The ghola has been treated according to standard Bene Gesserit training pracItnicaedse."quate and untrue.And this ghola was not a standard object of educaTtihoenr.e were depths in him that could
only be matched by a potential Reverend MotAhenrd.
that was the problem!
"I have made mistakes," Schwangyu said.
There!That was a double-pronged answer that another Reverend Mother could appreciate.
"You made no mistake when you damaged him," Lucilla said.
"But I failed to anticipate that another Reverend Mother might expose the flaws in him," Schwangyu said.
"He wants our powers only to escape us," Lucilla"Hsaei'ds . thinking:Someday I'll know as much as they do and then I'll run away."
When Schwangyu did not respond, Lucilla s"aTidh:at was cleverI.f he runs, we will have to hunt him down and destroy him ourselves."
Schwangyu smiled.
"I will not make your mistake," Lucilla "sIaidte.ll you openly what I know you would see anyI way. now understand why Taraza sent an Imprinter to one so young."
Schwangyu's smile vanished".What are you doing?"
"I am bonding him to me the way we bond all of our acolytes to theirI taemachtreerast.ing him with candor and loyalty as one of our own."
"But he's male!"

"So the spice agony will be denied him, but nothingHeelsise,. I think, responding."
"And when the time comes for the ultimate stage of imprinStcinhgw?a"ngyu asked.
"Yes, that will be delicaYteo. u think it will destroy hiTmh.at, of course, was your plan."
"Lucilla, the Sisterhood is not unanimous in following Taraza's designs for thisCegrhtaoilnal.y, you know this."
It was Schwangyu's most powerful argument and the fact that it had been reserved for this moment said much. The fears that they might produce another Kwisatz Haderach were deep-seated and the
dissension in the Bene Gesserit comparably powerful.
"He is primitive genetic stock and not bred to be a Kwisatz Haderach," Lucilla said.
"But the Tleilaxu have interfered with his genetic inheritance!"
"Yes; at our orderTs.hey have sped up his nerve and muscle responses."
Is that all they have done?" Schwangyu asked.
"You've seen the cell studies," Lucilla said.
"If we could do as much as the Tleilaxu we would not need them," Schwan"gWyue swaiodu.ld have our own axlotl tanks."

"You think they have hidden something from us," Lucilla said.
"They had him completely outside our observation for nine months!"
"I have heard all of these arguments," Lucilla said.
Schwangyu threw up her hands in a gesture of capitul"aHtieo'ns. all yours, then, Reverend MothAern. d the consequences are on your heaBdu. t you will not remove me from this post no matter what you report to Chapter House."
"Remove you?Certainly not.I don't want your faction sending someone unknown to us."
"There is a limit to the insults I will take from you," Schwangyu said.
"And there's a limit to how much treachery Taraza will accept," Lucilla said.
"If we get another Paul Atreides or, the Gods forbid, another Tyrant, it will be Taraza's doing," Schwangyu said."Tell her I said so."
Lucilla stood". You may as well know that Taraza left entirely at my discretion how much melange I feed this ghola.I have already begun increasing his intake of the spice."
Schwangyu pounded both fists on her d"eDska.mn you all!You will destroy us yet!"

The Tleilaxu secret must be in their spOerumr. tests prove that their sperm does not carry forward in a
straight genetic fashionG.
aps occur.Every Tleilaxu we have examined has hidden his inner self from us.
They are naturally immune to an Ixian ProSbeec!recy at the deepest levels, that is their ultimate armor and their ultimate weapon.
-Bene Gesserit Analysis, Archives CodBeT: XX441WOR
On a morning of Sheeana's fourth year in priestly sanctuary, the reports of their spies brought a gleam of special interest to the Bene Gesserit watchers on Rakis.
"She was on the roof, you say?" the Mother Commander of the Rakian Keep asked.
Tamalane, the commander, had served previously on Gammu and knew more than most about what the Sisterhood hoped to conjoin herTe.he spies' report had interrupted Tamalane's breakfast of cifruit confit laced with melangeT. he messenger stood at ease beside the table while Tamalane resumed eating as she reread the report.
"On the roof, yes, Reverend Mother," the messenger Tsamida. lane glanced up at the messenger, Kipuna, a Rakian native acolyte being groomed for sensitive local dSuwtiaelsl.owing a mouthful of her
confit, Tamalane said":
'Bring them backT!'hose were her exact words?"
Kipuna nodded curtlyS.he understood the questionH. ad Sheeana spoken with preemptory command?
Tamalane resumed scanning the report, looking for the sensitive siSghnealsw. as glad they had sent

Kipuna herself.Tamalane respected the abilities of this Rakian womKainp.una had the soft round
features and fuzzy hair common among much of the Rakian priestly class, but there was no fuzzy brain under that hair.
"Sheeana was displeased," Kipuna sa"idT.he 'thopter passed nearby the rooftop and she saw the two manacled prisoners in it quite clearSlyh.e knew they were being taken to death in the d"esert.
Tamalane put down the report and smi"leSdo. she ordered the prisoners brought back to Ihfeirn.d her choice of words fascinating."
"Bring them back?" Kipuna aske"dT.hat seems a simple enough ordHero. w is it fascinating?"
Tamalane admired the directness of the acolyte's inteKreisptu. na was not about to pass up a chance at learning how a real Reverend Mother's mind worked.
"It was not that part of her performance that interested me," TamalanSehesabide.nt to the report, reading aloud:" 'You are servants unto Shaitan, not servants unto servanTtasm.' a"lane looked up at Kipuna. "You saw and heard all of this yourself?"
"Yes, Reverend MotherI.t was judged important that I report to you personally should you have other questions."
"She still calls him Shaitan," Tamalane s"aHido.w that must gall themO!f course, the Tyrant himself said it: 'They will call me Shaitan.' "
"I have seen the reports out of the hoard found at Dar-es-Balat," Kipuna said.
"There was no delay in bringing back the two prisoners?" Tamalane asked.
"As quickly as a message could be transmitted to the 'thopter, Reverend MThoetyhewr. ere returned within minutes."

"So they are watching her and listening all theGtiomoed.. Did Sheeana give any sign that she knew the two prisoners?Did any message pass between them?"
"I am sure they were strangers to her, Reverend MTotwheor.ordinary people of the lower orders, rather dirty and poorly clotheTd.hey smelled of the unwashed from the perimeter hovels."
"Sheeana ordered the manacles removed and then she spoke to this unwasheHderpaeixr.act words now: What did she say?"
" 'You are my people.' "
"Lovely, lovely," Tamalane sai"dS. heeana then ordered that these two be taken away, bathed and given new clothes before being releaseTd.ell me in your own words what happened next."
"She summoned Tuek who came with three of his councillor-attenIdtanwtsa.s . . . almost an argument."
"Memory-trance, please," Tamalane sai"dR. eplay the exchange for me."
Kipuna closed her eyes, breathed deeply and fell into memory-trTahnecne:."Sheeana says, 'I do not like it when you feed my people to ShaiCtaonu.n' cillor Stiros says, 'They are sacrificed to Shai-hulud!' Sheeana says, 'To ShaitanS!'heeana stamps her foot in angTeru.ek says, 'Enough, StirosI. will not hear more of this dissensionS.'heeana says, 'When will you learnS?ti'ros starts to speak but Tuek silences him with a glare and says, 'We have learned, Holy CShhielde.a'na says, 'I want --' "
"Enough," Tamalane said.
The acolyte opened her eyes and waited silently.

Presently, Tamalane said, "Return to your post, KipYunoau. have done very well, indeed."
"Thank you, Reverend Mother."
"There will be consternation among the priests," Tamalane said.
"Sheeana's wish is their command because Tuek believes inThheeyr. will stop using the worms as instruments of punishment."
"The two prisoners," Kipuna said.
"Yes, very observant of yoTuh.e two prisoners will tell what happened to thTehme. story will be distorted. People will say that Sheeana protects them from the priests."
"Isn't that exactly what she's doing, Reverend Mother?"
"Ahhhh, but consider the options open to the prTiehsetsy. will increase their alternative forms of punishment -- whippings and certain deprivationWs.hile fear of Shaitan eases because of Sheeana, fear of the priests will increase."
Within two months, Tamalane's reports to Chapter House contained confirmation of her own words.
"Short rations, especially short water rations, have become the dominant form of punishment," Tamalane reported. "Wild rumors have penetrated the farthest reaches of Rakis and soon will find lodging on many other planets as well."
Tamalane considered the implications of her report with Mcaarney.
eyes would see it, including some
not in sympathy with TarazAa.ny Reverend Mother would be able to call up an image of what must be
happening on RakisM.
any on Rakis had seen Sheeana's arrival atop a wild worm from theTdhe ert.
priestly response of secrecy had been flawed from the beginCniunrgio. sity unsatisfied tended to create its own answers.Guesses were often more dangerous than facts.

Previous reports had told of the children brought to play with ShTeheeanma.uch-garbled stories of
such children were repeated with increasing distortions and those distortions had been dutifully sent on to Chapter House.The two prisoners, returned to the streets in their new finery, only compounded the growing mythology.The Sisterhood, artists in mythology, possessed on Rakis a ready-made energy to be subtly amplified and directed.
"We have fed a wish-fulfillment belief into the populace," Tamalane repSohretedth. ought of the Bene
Gesserit-originated phrases as she reread her latest report.
"Sheeana is the one we have long awaited."
It was a simple enough statement that its meaning could be spread without unacceptable distortion.
"The Child of Shai-hulud comes to chastise the priests!"
That one had been a bit more complicaAtedfe. w priests died in dark alleys as a result of popular fervency. This had fed a new alertness into the corps of priestly enforcers with predictable injustices inflicted upon the populace.
Tamalane thought of the priestly delegation that had waited upon Sheeana as a result of turmoil among Tuek's councillors.Seven of them led by Stiros had intruded upon Sheeana's luncheon with a child from the streets.Knowing that this would happen Tamalane had been prepared and a secret recording of the incident had been brought to her, the words audible, every expression visible, the thoughts quite apparent to a Reverend Mother's trained eye.
"We were sacrificing to Shai-huludS!t"iros protested.
"Tuek told you not to argue with me about that," Sheeana said.
How the priestesses smiled at the discomfiture of Stiros and the other priests!

"But Shai-hulud --" Stiros began.
"Shaitan!"Sheeana corrected him and her expression was easily rDeaid: these stupid priests know nothing?
"But we have always thought --"
"You were wrong!S"heeana stamped a foot.
Stiros feigned the need for instructi"oAn.re we to believe that Shai-hulud, the Divided God, is also
Shaitan?"
What a complete fool he was, Tamalane thouEgvhetn. proceeded to do.
a pubescent girl could confound him, as Sheeana
"Any child of the streets knows this almost as soon as she canShweaelakn!a"
ranted.
Stiros spoke slyly":How do you know what is in the minds of street children?"
"You are evil to doubt mSeh!"eeana accused.It was an answer she had learned to use often, knowing it would get back to Tuek and cause trouble.
Stiros knew this only too wHelel. waited with downcast eyes while Sheeana, speaking with heavy patience as one telling an old fable to a child, explained to him that either god or devil or both could inhabit the worm of the deseHrtu. mans had only to accept thIits.was not left to humans to decide such things.
Stiros had sent people into the desert for speaking such hHeriseseyx. pression (so carefully recorded

for Bene Gesserit analysis) said such wild concepts were always springing up from the muck at the bottom of the Rakian heaBp.ut now!He had to contend with Tuek's insistence that Sheeana spoke gospel truth!
As she looked at the recording, Tamalane thought the pot was boilingTnhiicselsyh.e reported to
Chapter House.Doubts flogged Stiros; doubts everywhere except among the populace in their devotion to Sheeana.Spies close to Tuek said he was even beginning to doubt the wisdom of his decision to translate the historian-locutor, Dromind.
"Was Dromind right to doubt her?" Tuek demanded of those around him.
"Impossible!" the sycophants said.
What else could they saTy?he High Priest could make no mistake in such decisGioonds. would not
allow it.Sheeana clearly confounded him, thougShh. e put the decisions of many previous High Priests into a terrible limboR. einterpretation was being demanded on all sides.
Stiros kept pounding at Tue"kW: hat do we really know about her?"
Tamalane had a full account of the most recent such confronStatitrios. and Tuek alone, debating far
into the night, just the two of them (they thought) in Tuek's quarters, comfortably ensconced in rare blue chairdogs, melange-laced confits close at hanTda.malane's holophoto record of the meeting showed a
single yellow glowglobe drifting on its suspensors close above the pair, the light dimmed to ease the strain on tired eyes.
"Perhaps that first time, leaving her in the desert with a thumper, was not a good test," Stiros said.
It was a sly statemeTntu.ek was noted for not having an excessively complicated m"Ninodt. a good test? Whatever do you mean?"
"God might wish us to perform other tests."

"You have seen her yourseMlf!any times in the desert talking to God!"
"Yes!"Stiros almost pouncedC. learly, it was the response he want"eIdf. she can stand unharmed in the presence of God, perhaps she can teach others how this is accomplished."
"You know this angers her when we suggest it."
"Perhaps we have not approached the problem in quite the right way."
"Stiros!What if the child is righWt?e serve the Divided GoId.have been thinking long and earnestly upon this.Why would God divideI?s this not God's ultimate test?"
The expression on Stiros' face said this was exactly the kind of mental gymnastics his factiHone feared.
tried to divert the High Priest but Tuek was not to be shifted from a single-track plunge into metaphysics.
"The ultimate test," Tuek insiste"dT.o see the good in evil and the evil in good."
Stiros' expression could only be described as consternaTtiounek.
was God's Supreme AnointeNd.o
priest was allowed to doubt thTath!e thing that might now arise if Tuek went public with such a concept would shake the foundations of priestly authoriCtyle!arly, Stiros was asking himself if the time had not come to translate his High Priest.
"I would never suggest that I might debate such profound ideas with my High Priest," S"tBiruots said. perhaps I can offer a proposal that might resolve many doubts."
"Propose then," Tuek said.
"Subtle instruments could be introduced in her clothWineg.might listen when she talks to --"

"Do you think God would not know what we did?"
"Such a thought never crossed my mind!"
"I will not order her taken into the desert," Tuek said.
"But if it is her own idea to Sgtoir?o"s assumed his most ingratiating expressio"nS.he has done this many times."
"But not recentlyS.he appears to have lost her need to consult with God."
"Could we not offer suggestions to heSrt?ir"os asked.
"Such as?"
"Sheeana, when will you speak again with your FaDthoer?you not long to stand once more in His presence?"
"That has more the sound of prodding than suggestion."
"I am only proposing that --"
"This Holy Child is no simpletSonh!e talks to God, StiroGs.od might punish us sorely for such presumption."
"Did God not put her here for us to study?" Stiros asked.

This was too close to the Dromind heresy for Tuek's Hlikeinsge.nt a baleful stare at Stiros.
"What I mean," Stiros said, "is that surely God means us to learn from her."
Tuek himself had said this many times, never hearing in his own words a curious echo of Dromind's words.
"She is not to be prodded and tested," Tuek said.
"Heaven forbid!"Stiros said."I will be the soul of holy cautAionnd. Child will be reported to you immediately."
everything I learn from the Holy
Tuek merely noddedH. e had his own ways to be sure Stiros spoke the truth.
The subsequent sly proddings and testings were reported immediately to Chapter House by Tamalane and her subordinates.
"Sheeana has a thoughtful look," Tamalane reported.
Among the Reverend Mothers on Rakis and those to whom they reported, this thoughtful look had an obvious interpretation.Sheeana's antecedents had been deduced long aSgtoir.os' intrusions were making
the child homesickS. heeana kept a wise silence but she clearly thought much about her life in a pioneer village. Despite all of the fears and perils, those obviously had been happy times Sfhoer hweor.uld
remember the laughter, poling the sand for its weather, hunting scorpions in the crannies of the village hovels, smelling out spice fragments in the duFneros.m Sheeana's repeated trips to the area, the
Sisterhood had made a reasonably accurate guess as to the location of the lost village and what had happened to itS. heeana often stared at one of Tuek's old maps on the wall of her quarters.
As Tamalane expected, one morning Sheeana stabbed a finger at the place on the wall map where she had gone many times".Take me there," Sheeana commanded her attendants.

A 'thopter was summoned.
While priests listened avidly in a 'thopter hovering far overhead, Sheeana once more confronted her nemesis in the sandT.amalane and her advisors, tuned into the priestly circuits, observed just as avidly.
Nothing even remotely suggesting a village remained on the duneswept waste where Sheeana ordered herself deposited.She used a thumper this time howevAenr.other of Stiros' sly suggestions accompanied
by careful instructions on use of the ancient means to summon the Divided God.
A worm came.
Tamalane watched on her own relay projector, thinking the worm only a middling
Imtsonlesntegrt.h she
estimated at about fifty meterSs.heeana stood only about three meters in front of the gaping mThoeuth. huffing of the worm's interior fires was clearly audible to the observers.
"Will you tell me why you did it?" Sheeana demanded.
She did not flinch from the worm's hot brSeaanthd. crackled beneath the monster but she gave no sign that she heard.
"Answer me!" Sheeana commanded.
No voice came from the worm but Sheeana appeared to be listening, her head cocked to one side.
"Then go back where you came from," Sheeana Sshaeid.waved the worm away.
Obediently, the worm backed off and returned beneath the sands.

For days, while the Sisterhood spied upon them with glee, the priests debated that sparse encounter. Sheeana could not be questioned lest she learn that she had been oveArhseabredf.ore, she refused to discuss anything about her visits to the desert.
Stiros continued his sly proddinTgh.e result was precisely what the Sisterhood expecWtedit.hout any warning, Sheeana would awaken some days and s"aTyo:day, I will go into the desert."
Sometimes she used a thumper, sometimes she danced her summFaornso.ut on the sands beyond the sight of Keen or any other inhabited place, the worms came Stoheheearn.a alone in front of a worm talked to it while others listeneTda.malane found the accumulated recordings fascinating as they passed through her hands on their way to Chapter House.
"I should hate you!"
What a turmoil that caused among the priTesutes!k wanted an open debat"eS: hould all of us hate the
Divided God at the same time we love Him?"
Stiros barely shut off this suggestion with the argument that God's wishes had not been made clear.
Sheeana asked one of her gigantic visit"oWrs:ill you let me ride you again?" When she approached, the worm retreated and would not let her mount. On another occasion, she aske"dM: ust I stay with the priests?"
This particular worm proved to be the target of many questions, and among them:
"Where do people go when you eat them?"

"Why are people false to me?"
"Should I punish the bad priests?"
Tamalane laughed at that final question, thinking of the turmoil it would cause among TuekH'sepr eople. spies duly reported the dismay of the priests.
"How does He answer her?" Tuek ask"eHda.s anyone heard God respond?"
"Perhaps He speaks directly into her soul," a councillor ventured.
"That's it!"Tuek leaped at this offerin"gW.
e must ask her what God tells her to do."
Sheeana refused to be drawn into such discussions.
"She has a pretty fair assessment of her powers," Tamalane rep"oSrhte's. not going into the desert
very much now despite Stiros' proddingAss.
we might expect, the attraction has wanFeeda.r and elation
will carry her just so far before palSinhge. has, however, learned an effective command:
"Go away!"
The Sisterhood marked this as an important developmWenhte.n even the Divided God obeyed, no priest or priestess was about to question her authority to issue such a command.
"The priests are building towers in the desert," Tamalane rep"oTrtheedy. which to observe Sheeana when she does go out there."
want more secure places from
The Sisterhood had anticipated this development and had even done some of its own prodding to speed up the projects.

Each tower had its own windtrap, its own maintenance staff, its own water barrier, gardens and other elements of civilizationE. ach was a small community spreading the established areas of Rakis farther and farther into the domain of the worms.
Pioneer villages no longer were necessary and Sheeana got the credit for this development.
"She is our priestess," the populace said.
Tuek and his councillors spun on the point of Sahapiitna:n and Shai-hulud in one bodSyt?iros lived in
daily fear that Tuek would announce the fSatcitr.os' advisors finally rejected the suggestion that Tuek be translated. Another suggestion that Priestess Sheeana have a fatal accident was greeted with horror by all, even Stiros finding it too great a venture.
"Even if we remove this thorn, God may visit us with an even more terrible intrusionA,"ndhehseaid. warned: "The oldest books say that a little child shall lead us."
Stiros was only the most recent among those who looked upon Sheeana as something not quite mortal. It was observable that those around her, Cania included, had come to love SShhee nwaa. s so
ingenuous, so bright and responsive.
Many observed that this growing affection for Sheeana extended even to Tuek.
For the people touched by this power, the Sisterhood had an immediate recoTgnhietioBne.ne Gesserit knew a label for this ancient effextp: anding worship.Tamalane reported profound changes moving
through Rakis as people everywhere on the planet began praying to Sheeana instead of to Shaitan or even to Shai-hulud.
"They see that Sheeana intercedes for the weakest people," Tamalane rep"oItrteisd.a familiar pattern. All goes as orderedW. hen do you send the ghola?"

The outer surface of a balloon is always larger than the center of the damnTedhat'hsinthge!
point of the Scattering!
whole
-Bene Gesserit response to an Ixian suggestion that new investigative probes be sent out among the Lost
Ones
One of the Sisterhood's swifter lighters took Miles Teg up to the Guild Transport circlingHGeammu.
did not like leaving the Keep at this moment but the priorities were oHbevioaulsso.
had a gut reaction
about this ventureI.n his three centuries of experience, Teg had learned to trust his gut reMacatitotenrss. were not going well on GammEuv.ery patrol, every report of remote sensors, the accounts of Patrin's spies in the cities -- everything fueled Teg's disquiet.
Mentat fashion, Teg felt the movement of forces around the Keep and wHitihsinghiot.la charge was threatened. The order for him to report aboard the Guild Transport prepared for violence, however, came from Taraza herself with an unmistakable crypto-identifier on it.
On the lighter taking him upward, Teg set himself for Tbhaottsle preparations he could make had been made. Lucilla was warnedH. e felt confident about LucillSac. hwangyu was another matterH. e fully
intended to discuss with Taraza a few essential changes in the GammuFKirsete, pt.hough, he had another battle to winT.eg had not the slightest doubt that he was entering combat.

As his lighter moved in to dock, Teg looked out a port and saw the gigantic Ixian symbol within the
Guild cartouche on the Transport's dark siTdhe.is was a ship the Guild had converted to Ixian mechanism, substituting machines for the traditional navigaTtohr.ere would be Ixian technicians aboard
to service the equipmenAt.
genuine Guild navigator would be there, Ttohoe.
Guild had never quite
learned to trust a machine even while they paraded these converted Transports as a message to Tleilaxu and Rakians.
"You seew: e do not absolutely require your melange!"
This was the announcement contained in that giant symbol of Ix on the spaceship's side.
Teg felt the slight lurch of the docking grapples and took a deep, quietingHebrfeealt
.as he always
did just before battleE:mpty of all false dreamTs.his was a failureT.he talking had failed and now came the contest of blood. . unless he could prevail in some other wCaoym. bat these days was seldom a massive thing but death was there nonetheleTshs.at represented a more permanent kind of failIufrew. e cannot adjust our differences peacefully we are less than human.
An attendant with the unmistakable signs of Ix in his speech guided Teg to the room where Taraza waited. All along the corridors and in the pneumotubes carrying him to Taraza, Teg looked for signs to confirm the secret warning in the Mother Superior's messAaglle.seemed serene and ordinary -- the
attendant properly deferential toward the Bash"aIr. was a Tireg commander at Andioyu," the attendant said, naming one of the almost-battles where Teg had prevailed.
They came to an ordinary oval hatch in the wall of an ordinary
Tcohreridhoart.ch opened and Teg
entered a white-walled room of comfortable dimensions -- sling chairs, low side tables, glowglobes tuned to yellow.The hatch slid into its seals behind him with a solid thump, leaving his guide behind him in the corridor.
A Bene Gesserit acolyte parted the gossamer hangings that concealed a passage on TeSg'hseright.
nodded to himH.
e had been seenT. araza would be notified.
Teg suppressed a trembling in his calf muscles.
Violence?

He had not misinterpreted Taraza's secret warnWinge.re his preparations adequateT? here was a black
sling chair at his left, a long table in front of it and another chair at the end oTfegthewetanbt leto.
this
side of the room and waited with his back to theThwealbl.rown dust of Gammu still clung to his boot toes, he noted.
Peculiar smell in the rooHme.
sniffed.Shere! Had Taraza and her people armed themselves against an
Ixian Probe?Teg had taken his usual shere capsule before embarking on the lTigohoterm. uch knowledge in his head that might be useful to an enTehme yf.act that Taraza left the smell of shere around her quarters had another implicatioInt :was a statement to some observer whose presence she could not prevent.
Taraza entered through the gossamer hanginSghse.
appeared tired, he thoughHt.e found this
remarkable because the Sisters were capable of concealing fatigue until almost ready tWo adsrosph.e actually low in energy or was this another gesture for hidden observers?
Pausing just into the room, Taraza studied
Thege. Bashar appeared much older than when she had last
seen him, Taraza thoughDt. uty on Gammu was having its effect, but she found this reassTuergingw. as doing his job.
"Your quick response is appreciated, Miles," she said.
Appreciated!Their agreed word for "We are being watched secretly by a dangerous foe."
Teg nodded while his gaze went to the hangings where Taraza had entered.
Taraza smiled and moved farther into the roNoom.signs of the melange cycle in Teg, she observed.
Teg's advanced years always raised the suspicion that he might resort to the leavening effect of the spice. Nothing about him revealed even the faintest hint of the melange addiction that even the strongest sometimes turned to when they felt their end approachTieng. wore his old uniform jacket of Supreme
Bashar but without the gold starbursts at shoulder and cTolhlaisr. was a signal she recognizeHde. "Remember how I earned this in your servIichea. ve not failed you this time, either."
said:
The eyes that studied her were level; no hint of judgment escapedHitsheemnt.ire appearance spoke of

quiet within, everything at variance with what she knew must be occurring in him at thisHme oment. awaited her signal.
"Our ghola must be awakened at the first opportunity," sheShseaidw. aved a hand to silence him as he started to respond". I have seen Lucilla's reports and I know he is too yBouutngw.e are required to
act."
She spoke for the watchers, he realizWede.re her words to be believed?
"I now give you the order to awaken him," she said and she flexed her left wrist in the confirmation gesture of their secret language.
It was trueT! eg glanced at the hangings that concealed the passage where Taraza had eWntehroed. was it listening there?
He put his Mentat talents to the probTlehmer.e were missing pieces but that did not stop AhimM.entat could work without certain pieces if he had enough to create a pSaotmterenti.mes, the sketchiest outline
was enough.It supplied the hidden shape and then he could fit the missing pieces to complete a whole. Mentats seldom had all the data they might desire, but he was trained to sense patterns, to recognize systems and wholenessT. eg reminded himself now that he also had been trained in the ultimate military sense: You trained a recruit to train a weapon, to aim the weapon correctly.
Taraza was aiming himH.is assessment of their situation had been confirmed.
"Desperate attempts will be made to kill or capture our ghola before you can awaken him," she said.
He recognized her tonteh:e coldly analytic offering of data to a MeSnhtaet. saw that he was in Mentat mode, then.
The Mentat pattern-search rolled through his mFinirds.t, there was the Sisterhood's design for the ghola, largely unknown to him, but ranging somehow around the presence of a young female on Rakis who (so they said) could command wormIsd.aho gholas:charming persona and with something else that had
made the Tyrant and the Tleilaxu repeat him countless tDimuensc.ans by the shiploadW! hat service did

this ghola provide that the Tyrant had not let him remain among theAnddeatdh?e TleilaxuT: hey had
decanted Duncan Idaho gholas from their axlotl tanks for millennia, even after the death of the Tyrant.
The Tleilaxu had sold this ghola to the Sisterhood twelve times and the Sisterhood had paid in the hardest currency: melange from their own precious storWes.hy did the Tleilaxu accept in payment something
they produced so copiouslyO? bvious: to deplete the Sisterhood's supplieAs. there. The Tleilaxu were buying supremacy -- a power game!
special form of greed
Teg focused on the quietly waiting Mother Supe"rTiohre. our timing," he said.
Tleilaxu have been killing our gholas to control
Taraza nodded but did not speSako. there was moreO. nce again, he fell into Mentat mode.
The Bene Gesserit were a valuable market for the Tleilaxu melange, not the only source because there was always the trickle from Rakis, but valuable, yes; very valIutabwlea.s not reasonable that the
Tleilaxu would alienate a valuable market unless they had a more valuable market standing ready.
Who else had an interest in Bene Gesserit activTitihees?Ixians without a doubBt.ut Ixians were not a
good market for melangeT.he Ixian presence on this ship spoke of their independSeninccee.
Ixians and
Fish Speakers made common cause, the Fish Speakers could be set aside from this pattern quest.
What great power or assemblage of powers in this universe possessed . . .
Teg froze that thought as though he had applied the dive brakes in a 'thopter, letting his mind float free while he sorted other considerations.
Not in this universe.
The pattern took shapWe. ealth. Gammu assumed a new role in his Mentat computatiGoanms.mu had
been gutted long ago by the Harkonnens, abandoned as a festering carcass, which the Danians had restored. There was a time, though, when even Gammu's hopes were Wgointheo. ut hopes there had not even been dreamsC. limbing from that cesspool, the population had employed only the basest pragmatism. If it works, it is good.

Wealth.
In his first survey of Gammu he had noted the numbers of bankingTheuysews.ere even marked, some of them, as Bene Gesserit -- sGafaem. mu served as the fulcrum for manipulation of enormous
wealth. The bank he had visited to study its use as an emergency contact came back fully into his Mentat awareness. He had realized at once that the place did not confine itself to purely planetary Ibtusiness.
was a bankers' bank.
Not just wealth but WEALTH.
A Prime Pattern development did not come into Teg's mind but he had enough for a Testing Projection. Wealth not of this universPee. ople from the Scattering.
All of this Mentat sorting had taken only a few seHcoanvdins.g reached a testing point, Teg set himself loose-of-muscle and nerve, glanced once at Taraza and strode across to the concealedHeenntroyt.ed
that, Taraza gave no sign of alarm at his movemWenhtisp.ping aside the hangings, Teg confronted a man
almost as tall as himselmf:ilitary-style clothing with crossed spears at the collar
Ttahbes. face was heavy,
the jaws wide; green eyeAs. obviously with a weapon.
look of surprised alertness, one hand poised above a pocket that bulged
Teg smiled at the man, let the hangings fall and returned to Taraza. "We are being observed by people from the Scattering," he said. Taraza relaxedT. eg's performance had been memorable.
The hangings swished asidTe.he tall stranger entered and stopped about two paces fromATeggla.cial expression of anger gripped his features.
"I warned you not to tell hiTmh!e"
voice was a grating baritone with an accent new to Teg.

"And I warned you about the powers of this Mentat Bashar," TarazAa lsoaoidk. of loathing flashed across her features.
The man subsided and a subtle look of fear came over h"isHofancoer.ed Matre, I --"
"Don't you dare call me thaTt!a"raza's body tensed in a fighting posture that Teg had never before seen her display.
The man inclined his head sligh"tlDy.ear lady, you do not control the situation hIemreu. st remind you that my orders --"
Teg had heard enoug"hT. hrough me, she does control here," he s"aBide.fore coming here I set certain protective measures in motionT.his . . ." he glanced around him and returned his attention to the intruder, whose face now bore a wary expression " . . . is not a Tnwo-oshoipf. our no-ship monitors have you in
their sights at this moment."
"You would not survivet!h"e man barked.
Teg smiled amiably".No one on this ship would survivHe.e" clenched his jaw to key the nerve signal and activate the tiny pulsetimer in his skItulpl.layed its graphic signals against his visual cen"tAernsd.
you don't have much time in which to make a decision."
"Tell him how you knew to do this," Taraza said.
"The Mother Superior and I have our own private means of communication," T"eBgutsafiudr.ther than that, there was no need for her to warnHmere.summons was enoughT.he Mother Superior on a Guild Transport at a time like thiIsm?possible!"
"Impasse," the man growled.
"Perhaps," Teg said".But neither Guild nor Ix will risk a total and all-out attack by Bene Gesserit forces

under the command of a leader trained by Imref.er to the Bashar BurzmaYlio. ur support has just dissolved and vanished."
"I told him nothing of this," Taraza "sYaido.u have just witnessed the performance of a Mentat Bashar, which I doubt could be equaled in your univTerhsien.k of that if you consider going against Burzmali, a man trained by this Mentat."
The intruder looked from Taraza to Teg and back to T"aTrhaizsa.is the way out of our seeming impasse," Teg said". The Mother Superior Taraza and her entourage leave withYmoue. must decide immediately. Time is running out."
"You're bluffing."There was no force in the words.
Teg faced Taraza and bowe"dIt. you farewell."
has been a great honor to serve you, Reverend Mother SuIpebridr.
"Perhaps death will not part us," Taraza
Sister-equal.
Istaiwd.as the traditional farewell of a Reverend Mother to a
"Go!"The heavy-featured man dashed to the corridor hatchway and flung it open, revealing two Ixian
guards, looks of surprise on their facHesis.
voice hoarse, the man ordere"dT:ake them to their lighter."
Still relaxed and calm, Teg sa"iSdu: mmon your people, Mother SuperiorT."o the man standing at the hatchway, Teg said": You value your own skin too much to be a good sNolodnieer.of my people would have made such an error."
"There are true Honored Matres aboard this ship," the man g"Irataemd. sworn to protect them."
Teg grimaced and turned to where Taraza was leading her people from the adjoinintwg oroom: Reverend Mothers and four acolyteTs.eg recognized one of the Reverend MotheDrsa:rwi Odrade.He had seen her before only at a distance but the oval face and lovely eyes were saorreliskteingL:ucilla.

"Do we have time for introductionTs?a"raza asked.
"Of course, Mother Superior."
Teg nodded and grasped the hand of each woman as Taraza presented them.
As they left, Teg turned to the uniformed stra"nOgenre. "Otherwise we are less than human."
must always observe the niceties," Teg said.
Not until they were on the lighter, Taraza seated beside him and her entourage nearby, did Teg ask the overriding question.
"How did they take you?"
The lighter was plunging planetwaTrdh.e screen in front of Teg showed that the Ix-branded Guildship obeyed his command to remain in orbit until his party was safely behind its planetary defenses.
Before Taraza could respond, Odrade leaned across the aisle separating them an"dI hsavde:
countermanded the Bashar's orders to destroy that Guildship, Mother."
Teg swiveled his head sharply and glared at Od"rBaduet. they took you captive and .H.e."scowled. "How did you know I --"
"Miles!"
Taraza's voice conveyed overwhelming reproHofe.
grinned ruefullyY. es, she knew him almost as well
as he knew himself . . . better in some respects.

"They did not just capture us, Miles," Taraza "sWaide. allowed ourselves to be takeOns.tensibly, I was escorting Dar to RakisW. e left our no-ship at Junction and asked for the fastest Guild TraAnsllp oft. my Council, including Burzmali, agreed that these intruders from the Scattering would subvert the Transport and take us to you, aiming to pick up all the pieces of the ghola project."
Teg was aghasTt.he risk!
"We knew you would rescue us," Taraza
"sBaiudr.zmali was standing by in case you failed."
"That Guildship you've spared," Teg said, "will summon assistance and attack our --"
"They will not attack Gammu," Taraza s"aTido.o many diverse forces from the Scattering are assembled on Gammu.They would not dare alienate so many."
"I wish I were as certain of that as you appear to be," Teg said.
"Be certain, MilesB. esides, there are other reasons for not destroying the GuildIsxhiapn. d the Guild
have been caught taking sideTs.hat's bad for business and they need all of the business they can get."
"Unless they have more important customers offering greater profits!"
"Ahhhhh, Miles."She spoke in a musing voic"eW. hat we latter-day Bene Gesserit really do is try to let matters achieve a calmer tone, a balanYceo.u know this."
Teg found this true but he locked on one p"h.ra.se.: latter-day . .Th."e words conveyed a sense of summation-at-death. Before he could question this, Taraza continued:
"We like to settle the most passionate situations off the battlIefmieulds.t admit we have the Tyrant to thank for that attitudeI. don't suppose you've ever thought of yourself as a product of the Tyrant's conditioning, Miles, but you are."

Teg accepted this without commeIntt.was a factor in the entire spread of human soNcioetyM. entat could avoid it as a datum.
"That quality in you, Miles, drew us to you in the first place," Tar"aYzaousacida.n be damnably frustrating at times but we wouldn't have you any other way."
By subtle revelations in tone and manner, Teg realized that Taraza was not speaking solely for his benefit, but was also directing her words at her entourage.
"Have you any idea, Miles, how maddening it is to hear you argue both sides of an issue with equal force? But your simpatico is a powerful weapHono.w terrified some of our foes have been to find you confronting them where they had not the slightest suspicion you might appear!"
Teg allowed himself a tight smHile glanced at the women seated across the aisle from Wthehmy .was Taraza directing such words at this grouDpa?rwi Odrade appeared to be resting, head back, eyes closed. Several of the others were chatting among themselNveosn. e of this was conclusive to TEegve. n Bene Gesserit acolytes could follow several trains of thought simultaneoHueslyr.eturned his attention to Taraza.
"You really feel things the way the enemy feels them," Taraz"aThsatd.is what I meaAn.nd, of course, when you're in that mental frame there is no enemy for you."
"Yes, there is!"
"Don't mistake my words, MileWs.e have never doubted your loyalBtyu. t it's uncanny how you make us see things we have no other way of seTeihnegr.e are times when you are our eyes."
Darwi Odrade, Teg saw, had opened her eyes and was looking Saht ehiwma.s a lovely woman. Something disturbing about her appearancAe.s with Lucilla, she reminded him of someone in his past. Before Teg could follow this thought, Taraza spoke.

"Has the ghola this ability to balance between opposing forces?" she asked.
"He could be a Mentat," Teg said.
"He was a Mentat in one incarnation, Miles." "Do you really want him awakened so young?" "It is necessary, MileDs.eadly necessary."
The failure of CHOAMQ?uite simple:They ignore the fact that larger commercial powers wait at the edges of their activities, powers that could swallow them the way a slig swallows Tgahribsaigse.the true threat of the Scattering -- to them and to us all.
-Bene Gesserit Council notes, Archives #SXX90CH
Odrade spared only part of her awareness to the conversation between Teg andTThaeirrazlaig.hter

was a small one, its passenger quarters crampItedw. ould use atmospherics to dampen its descent, she
knew, and she prepared herself for the buffetTinhge. a craft, saving energy.
pilot would be sparing of their suspensors on such
She used these moments as she used all such time now to gird herself for the coming Tneimceessities. pressed; a special calendar drove hSerh.e had looked at a calendar before leaving Chapter House, caught as often happened to her by the persistence of time and its lasnegcuoangdes:, minutes, hours,
days, weeks, months, years . . . Standard Years, to be pPreecrissiest.ence was an inadequate word for the phenomenon.Inviolability was more like Tit.radition. Never disturb traditionS. he held the
comparisons firmly in mind, the ancient flow of time imposed on planets that did not tick to the primitive human clock.A week was seven daySs.even! How powerful that number remaineMd.ystical. It was
enshrined in the Orange Catholic BibTleh.e Lord made a world in six days "and on the seventh day He rested."
Good for HimO! drade thought.We all should rest after great labors.
Odrade turned her head slightly and looked across the aisle aHt eThegad.
no idea how many memories
of him she possessedS.he could mark how the years had treated that strongTfeaacceh.ing the ghola
had drained his energies, she saTwh.at child in the Gammu Keep must be a sponge absorbing anything and everything around him.
Miles Teg, do you know how we use you? she wondered.
It was a thought that weakened her but she allowed it to persist in her awareness almost with a feeling of
defiance. How easy it would be to love that old
Nmoatn!as a mate, of course . . . but love, nonetheless.
She could feel the bond tugging at her and recognized it with the fine edge of her Bene Gesserit abilities. Love, damnable love, weakening love.
Odrade had felt this tugging with the first mate she had been sent toCuseridouucse.sensation.Her
years of Bene Gesserit conditioning had made her wary Noof niet. of her proctors had allowed her the luxury of that unquestioning warmth, and she had learned in time the reasons behind such isolating care. But there she was, sent by the breeding mistresses, ordered to get that close to a single individual, to let him enter herA. ll of the clinical data lay there in her awareness and she could read the sexual excitement in her partner even as she allowed it in heSrsheelf.had, after all, been carefully prepared for this role by
men the Breeding Mistresses selected and conditioned with exquisite nicety for just such training.
Odrade sighed and looked away from Teg, closing her eyes in rememTbrraincien.g Males never let

their emotions reflect a bonding abandonment to their studIetntws.as a necessary flaw in the sexual education.
That first seduction upon which she had been Ssheent:had been quite unprepared for the melting ecstasy of a simultaneous orgasm, a mutuality and sharing as old as huma.n.koinldder.! And with
powers capable of overwhelming the reasoTnh.e look on her male companion's face, the sweet kiss, his total abandonment of all self-protective reserves, unguarded and supremely vulnerNaboleT. raining Male
had ever done thatD! esperately, she grasped for the Bene Gesserit lessoTnhsr.ough those lessons, she saw the essence of this man on his face, felt that essence in her deepeFstorfibjuesrts. an instant, she
permitted an equal response, experiencing a new height of ecstasy that none of her teachers had hinted might be attainableF. or that instant, she understood what had happened to the Lady Jessica and the other Bene Gesserit failures.
This feeling was love!
Its power frightened her (as the Breeding Mistresses had known it would) and she fell back into the careful Bene Gesserit conditioning, allowing a mask of pleasure to take over the brief natural expression on her face, employing calculated caresses where natural caresses would have been easier (but less effective).
The male responded as expected, stupidIlty.helped to think of him as stupid.
Her second seduction had been easSiehre.
could still call up the features of that first one, though, doing
it sometimes with a calloused sense of wonSdoerm. etimes, his face came to her of itself and for no reason she could identify immediately.
With the other males she had been sent to breed, the memory markers were
Sdihfeferheandt. to hunt
her past for the look of theTmh.e sensory recordings of those experiences did not go as Ndeoetps. o with that first one!
Such was the dangerous power of love.
And look at the troubles this hidden force had caused the Bene Gesserit over the mThilelenLnaiday. Jessica and her love for her Duke had been only one example among countlessLoovtheercsl.ouded reason. It diverted the Sisters from their dutiLeos.ve could be tolerated only where it caused no

immediate and obvious disruptions or where it served the larger purposes of the Bene Gesserit. Otherwise it was to be avoided.
Always, though, it remained an object of disquieting watchfulness.
Odrade opened her eyes and glanced again at Teg and TTahraezaM. other Superior had taken up a new subject.How irritating Taraza's voice could be at timOedsr!ade closed her eyes and listened to the conversation, tied to those two voices by some link in her awareness that she could not avoid.
"Very few people realize how much of the infrastructure in a civilization is dependency infrastructure," Taraza said."We have made quite a study of this."
Love is a dependency-infrastructure, Odrade thougWhth. y had Taraza hit on this subject at this time? The Mother Superior seldom did anything without deep mot"ivDeesp. endency infrastructure is a term
that includes all things necessary for a human population to survive at existing or increased numbers," Taraza said.
"Melange?"Teg asked.
"Of course, but most people look at the spice and say, 'How nice it is that we can have it and it can giv us so much longer lives than were enjoyed by our ancestors.' "
"Providing they can afford iTt.e"g's voice had a bite in it, Odrade noted.
"As long as no single power controls all of the market, most people have enough," Taraza said.
"I learned economics at my mother's knee," Teg "sFaoido.d, water, breathable air, living space not contaminated by poisons -- there are many kinds of money and the value changes according to the dependency."
As she listened to him, Odrade almost nodded in agreeHmiesntr.esponse was her owDn.on't belabor

the obvious, Taraza!Get to your point.
"I want you to remember your mother's teachings very clearly," TarazHa oswaidm. ild her voice was suddenly! Taraza's voice changed abruptly then and she snapp"eHdy:draulic despotism!"
She does that shift of emphasis well, Odrade thoMugehmt.ory spewed up the data like a spigot suddenly opened full forceH. ydraulic despotism:central control of an essential energy such as water, electricity, fuel, medicines, melange. . Obey the central controlling power or the energy is shut off and you die!
Taraza was talking once mo"reT:here's another useful concept that I'm sure your mother taught you -- the key log."
Odrade was very curious noTwa.raza was headed somewhere important with this conversatKioeny.
log: a truly ancient concept from the days before suspensors when lumbermen sent their fallen timber
rushing down rivers to central mill siSteosm.
etimes the logs jammed up in the river and an expert was
brought in to find the one log, the key log, which would free the jam when Treg,ovsheed. knew,
would have an intellectual understanding of the term but she and Taraza could call up actual witnesses from Other Memories, see the explosion of broken bits of wood and water as a jam was released.
"The Tyrant was a key log," Taraza sa"iHd.e created the jam and he released it."
The lighter began trembling sharply as it took its first bite of Gammu's atmOosdprhaedree.felt the tightness of her restraining harness for a few seconds, then the craft's passage became steadier. Conversation stopped for this interval, then Taraza continued:
"Beyond the so-called natural dependencies are some religions that have been created psychologically. Even physical necessities can have such an underground component."
"A fact the Missionaria Protectiva understands quite well," TegAsgaaidin. , Odrade heard that undercurrent of deep resentment in his voiTcaer.aza certainly must hear it, toWo.hat was she doing? She could weaken Teg!

"Ahhh, yes," Taraza sai"dO. ur Missionaria ProtectivaH. umans have such a powerful need that their own belief structure be the 'true beliIeff.i't gives you pleasure or a sense of security and if it is incorporated into your belief structure, what a powerful dependency that creates!"
Again, Taraza fell silent while their lighter went through another atmospheric buffeting.
"I wish he would use his suspensoTrsa!r"aza complained.
"It saves fuel," Teg sa"idL.ess dependency."
Taraza chuckled". Oh, yes, MilesY.
ou know the lesson weIll.see your mother's hand inDiat.mn the
dam when the child strikes out in a dangerous direction."
"You think of me as a chihlde?"asked.
"I think of you as someone who has just had his first direct encounter with the machinations of the so-called Honored Mattes."
So that's it, Odrade thougAhtn. d with a feeling of shock, Odrade realized that Taraza was aiming her words at a broader target than just Teg.
She's talking to me!
"These Honored Matres, as they call themselves," Taraza said, "have combined sexual ecstasy and worship. I doubt that they have even guessed at the dangers."
Odrade opened her eyes and looked across the aisle at the Mother SuTpaerarizoar's.
gaze was fixed
intently on Teg, an unreadable expression except for the eyes, which burned with the necessity for him to understand.

"Dangers," Taraza repeated".The great mass of humankind possesses an unmistakable unit-idenItity. can be one thingI.t can act as a single organism."
"So the Tyrant said," Teg countered.
"So the Tyrant demonstratedT!he Group Soul was his to manipulaTthe.ere are times, Miles, when survival demands that we commune with the sSoouul.ls, you know, are always seeking outlet."
"Hasn't communing with souls gone out of style in our Ttimege?a"sked.Odrade did not like the bantering tone in his voice and noted that it aroused a matching anger in Taraza.
"You think I talk about fashions in religiTona?ra"za demanded, her high-pitched voice insistently harsh.
"We both know religions can be creatIe'dm!
talking about these Honored Matres who ape some of our
ways but have none of our deeper awarenTeshse.y dare place themselves at the center of worship!"
"A thing the Bene Gesserit always avoids," he "sMaiyd. mother said that worshipers and the worshiped are united by the faith."
"And they can be divided!"
Odrade saw Teg suddenly fall into Mentat mode, an unfocused stare in his eyes, his featurSehseplacid.
saw now part of what Taraza was doTinhge.
Mentat rides Roman, one foot on each stEeaecdh.
foot is
based on a different reality as the pattern-search hurtles him forHweardm.ust ride different realities to a single goal.
Teg spoke in a Mentat's musing, unaccented vo"Diciev:ided forces will battle for supremacy."
Taraza gave a sigh of pleasure almost sensual in its natural venting.
"Dependency infrastructure," Taraza sai"dT. hese women from the Scattering would control dividing

forces, all of those forces trying mightily to take theTlheaatd.military officer on the Guildship, when he spoke of his Honored Matres, spoke with both awe and hIa'mtreds.ure you heard it in his voice, Miles. I know how well your mother taught you."
"I heard."Teg was once more focused on Taraza, hanging on her every word as was Odrade.
"Dependencies," Taraza said".How simple they can be and how compTleaxk.e, for example, tooth decay."
"Tooth decay?"Teg was shocked off his Mentat track and Odrade, observing this, saw that his reaction was precisely what Taraza wanteTd.araza was playing her Mentat Bashar with a fine hand.
And I am supposed to see this and learn from it, Odrade thought.
"Tooth decay," Taraza repeate"dA.
simple implant at birth prevents this bane for most of humankind.
Still, we must brush the teeth and otherwise care for Ittheims .so natural to us that we seldom think about it.The devices we use are assumed to be wholly ordinary parts of our enviroYnemt etnhte. devices, the materials in them, the instructors in tooth care and the Suk monitors, all have their interlocked relationships."
"A Mentat does not need interdependencies explained to him," TegThsearied. was still curiosity in his voice but with a definite undertone of resentment.
"Quite," Taraza said".That is the natural environment of a Mentat's thinking process."
"Then why do you belabor this?"
"Mentat, look at what you now know of these Honored Matres and Wtelhlatmies: their flaw?"
Teg spoke without hesitatio"nT: hey can only survive if they continue to increase the dependency of those who support themI.t's an addict's dead-end street."

"Precisely.And the danger?"
"They could take much of humankind down with them."
"That was the Tyrant's problem, MilIe'ms.
sure he knew
Nit.ow, pay attention to me with great care.
And you, too, Dar.T" araza looked across the aisle and met Odrade's g"aBzoet.h of you listen to me. We of the Bene Gesserit are setting very power.f.uel le.ments adrift in the human curreTnth.ey may jam up.They are sure to cause damagAen. d we..."
Once more, the lighter entered a period of severe buffCetoinv.ersation was impossible while they clung to their seats and listened to the roaring, creaking aroundWthheemn. this interruption eased, Taraza raised her voice.
"If we survive this damnable machine and get down to Gammu, you must go aside with Dar there, Miles. You have seen the Atreides ManifesStoh.e will tell you about it and prepare Tyhoaut. is all."
Teg turned and looked at OdraOden.ce more, her features tugged at his memoraiesre: markable
likeness to Lucilla, but there was something eHlsee.put this asideT.he Atreides Manifesto?He had read
it because it came to him from Taraza with instructions that hePdreopasroe.
me?For what?
Odrade saw the questioning look on Teg's fNacoew. , she understood Taraza's motivTe.he Mother
Superior's orders took on a new meaning as did words from the Manifesto itself.
"Just as the universe is created by the participation of consciousness, the prescient human carries that creative faculty to its ultimate extremTeh.is was the profoundly misunderstood power of the Atreides bastard, the power that he transmitted to his son, the Tyrant."
Odrade knew those words with an author's intimacy but they came back to her now as though she had never before encountered them.

Damn you, TarO! drade thought.What if you're wrong?
At the quantum level our universe can be seen as an indeterminate place, predictable in a statistical way only when you employ large enough numbeBres.tween that universe and a relatively predictable one
where the passage of a single planet can be timed to a picosecond, other forces come Finotro thpelay. in-between universe where we find our daily lives, that which you believe is a dominaYntoufrorce. beliefs order the unfolding of daily evenIfts.enough of us believe, a new thing can be made to exist. Belief structure creates a filter through which chaos is sifted into order.
-Analysis of the Tyrant, the Taraza FBilGe: Archives
Teg's thoughts were in turmoil as he returned to Gammu from the GuHiledsshtiepp.ped from the lighter
at the black-charred edge of the Keep's private landing field and looked around him as though for the first time.Almost noon.So little time had passed and so much had changed.
To what extent would the Bene Gesserit go in imparting an essential hlesswoon?ndered.Taraza had dislodged him from his familiar Mentat processHese. felt that the whole incident on the Guildship had
been staged just for himH.e had been shaken from a predictable couHrsoew. as he crossed the guarded strip to the entry pits.
strange Gammu appeared
Teg had seen many planets, learned their ways and how they printed themselves on their inhabitants.

Some planets had a big yellow sun that sat in close and kept living things warm, evolving,Sogmroewing. planets had little shimmer-suns that hung far away in a dark sky, and their light touched very little. Variations existed within and even outside this ranGgaem. mu was a yellow-green variation with a day of
31.27 standard hours and a 2.6 STYeg.
had thought he knew Gammu.
When the Harkonnens were forced to abandon it, colonists left behind by the Scattering came from the
Danian group, calling it by the Halleck name given to it in the great remTahpepicnogl.onists had been known as Caladanian in those days but millennia tended to shorten some labels.
Teg paused at the entryway to the protective revetments that led from the field down beneath the Keep. Taraza and her party lagged behind hHime. saw Taraza was talking intently to Odrade.
Atreides Manifesto, he thought.
Even on Gammu, few admitted to either Harkonnen or Atreides ancestry, although the genotypes were visible here -- especially the dominant Atreidtehso:se long, sharp noses, the high foreheads and sensual mouths. Often, the pieces were scattered -- the mouth on one face, those piercing eyes on another and countless mixtures.Sometimes, though, one person carried it all and then you saw the pride, that inner knowledge:
"I am one of them!"
Gammu's natives recognized it and gave it walkway room but few labeled it.
Underlying all of this was what the Harkonnens had left behind -- genetic lines tracing far away into the dawn times of Greek and Pathan and Mameluke, shadows of ancient history that few outside of professional historians or those trained by the Bene Gesserit could even name.
Taraza and her party caught up with
HTe .heard her say to Odrad"eY:ou must tell Miles all of it."
Very well, she would tell him, he thouHgeht.turned and led the way past the inner guards to the long passage under the pillboxes into the Keep proper.

Damn the Bene Gesserit! he thougWhth. at were they really doing here on Gammu?
Plenty of Bene Gesserit signs could be seen on this pthlaenebta:ck-breeding to fix selected traits, and here and there a visible emphasis on seductive eyes for women.
Teg returned a guard captain's salute without changing fSoceudsu.ctive eyes, yesH.
e had seen this soon
after his arrival at the ghola's Keep and especially during his first inspection tour of thHee phlaandet. seen himself in many faces, too, and recalled the thing old Patrin had mentioned so many times.
"You have the Gammu look, Bashar."
Seductive eyes!That guard captain back there had theSmhe.
and Odrade and Lucilla were alike in this.
Few people paid much attention to the importance of eyes when it came to seduction, heItthtoougkht. a Bene Gesserit upbringing to make that poBinigt. breasts in a woman and hard loins in a man (that tightly muscular look to the buttocks) -- these were naturally important in sexual maBtcuhtinwgsit.hout
the eyes, the rest of it could go for notEhiynegs. were essentialY. ou could drown in the right kind of
eyes, he had learned, sink right into them and be unaware of what was being done to you until penis was firmly clasped in vagina.
He had noted Lucilla's eyes immediately after his arrival on Gammu and had walked caNuotiously. doubts about how the Sisterhood used her talents!
There was Lucilla now, waiting at the central inspection and decontamination chSahmebegra.ve him the flickering handsign that all was well with the ghToelga. relaxed and watched as Lucilla and Odrade confronted each otherT. he two women had remarkably similar features despite the age diffeTrehnecier. bodies were quite different, though, Lucilla more solid against Odrade's willowy form.
The guard captain of the seductive eyes came up beside Teg and leaned close"Stcohwhaimng.yu has just learned who you brought back with you," she said, nodding toward T"Aarhahzha,. there she is now."
Schwangyu stepped from a lift tube and crossed to Taraza, giving only an angry glare to Teg.

Taraza wanted to surprise you, he thouWghet. all know why.
"You don't appear happy to see me," Taraza said, addressing Schwangyu.
"I am surprised, Mother Superior," Schwangyu s"aIidh. ad no idea.S"he glanced once more at Teg, a look of venom in her eyes.
Odrade and Lucilla broke off their mutual examina"tiIonh.ad heard about it, of course," Odrade said, "but it is a stopper to confront yourself in the face of another person."
"I warned you," Taraza said.
"What are your orders, Mother Superior?" Schwangyu asIktedw.as as close as she could come to asking the purpose of Taraza's visit.
"I would like a private word with Lucilla," Taraza said.
"I'll have quarters prepared for you," Schwangyu said.
"Don't bother," Taraza sai"dI.'m not stayingM.
iles has already arranged for my transpoDrut.ty requires
my presence at Chapter HousLe.ucilla and I will talk outside in the courtyaTradr.a"za put a finger to her cheek. "Oh, and I'd like to watch the ghola unobserved for a few mIi'mnutseusr.e Lucilla can arrange it."
"He's taking the more intense training quite well," Lucilla said as the two moved off toward a lift tube.
Teg turned his attention to Odrade, noting as his gaze passed across Schwangyu's face the intensity of her anger.She was not trying to conceal it.

Was Lucilla a sister or a daughter of OdrTaedge?wondered.It occurred to him suddenly that there
must be a Bene Gesserit purpose behind the resemblaYncees,.
of course -- Lucilla was an Imprinter!
Schwangyu overcame her angeSr.he looked with curiosity at Odrad"eI. was just about to take lunch, Sister," Schwangyu said". Would you care to join me?"
"I must have a word alone with the Bashar," Odrade"Ifsaiitd.is all right, perhaps we could remain here for our talk?I must not be seen by the ghola."
Schwangyu scowled, not trying to hide her upset from OdTrhaedye. knew at Chapter House where loyalties lay!But no one . . . no one! would remove her from this post of observational command. Opposition had its rights!
Her thoughts were clear even to THeeg.noted the stiffness of Schwangyu's back as she left them.
"It is bad When Sister is turned against Sister," Odrade said.
Teg gave a handsign to his guard captain, ordering her to clear tAhelonaree,a.Odrade saidA. lone it
would be.To Odrade, he said":This is one of my areNaso.
spies or other means of observing us here."
"I thought as much," Odrade said.
"We have a service room over theTree.g"
nodded to his lef"tF. urniture, even chairdogs if you prefer."
"I hate it when they try to cuddle me," she"Csoauidld.
we talk here?S"he put a hand under Teg's arm.
"Perhaps we could walk a bIitg. ot so stiff sitting in that lighter."
"What is it you're supposed to tell mhe?"asked as they strolled.

"My memories are no longer selectively filtered," she "sIaihda.ve them all, only on the female side, naturally."
"So?"Teg pursed his lipsT.his was not the overture he had expecOtedr.ade appeared more like one who would take off on a direct approach.
"Taraza says you have read the Atreides ManifGesotoo.d. You know it will cause upset in many quarters."
"Schwangyu already has made it the subject of a diatribe against 'you Atreides.' "
Odrade stared at him solemnAlys. known that without the reports.
the reports all said, Teg remained an imposing figure, but she had
"We are both Atreides, you and I," Odrade said.
Teg came to full alert.
"Your mother explained that to you in detail," Odrade said, "when you took your first school leave back to Lernaeus."
Teg stopped and stared down at
Hheorw.
could she know thisT?o his knowledge, he had never before
met and conversed with this remote Darwi OdraWdea.s he the subject of special discussions at Chapter
House? He held his silence, forcing her to carry the conversation.
"I will recount a conversation between a man and my birthmother," Odrad"Te hseayid.are in bed and the man says':I fathered a few children when I first escaped from the close bondage of the Bene Gesserit, back when I thought myself an independent agent, free to enlist and fight anywhere I chose.' "
Teg did not try to conceal his surpTrihsoe.se were his own wordMs! entat memory told him Odrade

had them down as accurately as a mechanical recoErdveern.
the tone!
"More?"she asked as he continued to stare at "hVeerr.y well.The man says':That was before they sent me to Mentat training, of coursWe.hat an eye-opener that waIs!had never been out of the Sisterhood's sight for an instantI! was never a free agent.' "
"Not even when I spoke those words," Teg said.
"True."She urged him by pressure on his arm as they continued their stroll across the
"cThahme ber.
children you fathered all belonged to the Bene GessTehriet. Sisterhood takes no chances that our genotype will be sent into the wild gene pool."
"Let my body go to Shaitan, their precious genotype remains in Sisterhood care," he said.
"My care," Odrade sai"dI. am one of your daughters."
Again, he forced her to stop.
"I think you know who my mother was," sheShsaeidh. eld up a hand for silence as he started to respond. "Names are not necessary."
Teg studied Odrade's features, seeing the recognizable signs tMheorteh.er and daughter were matched. But what of Lucilla?
As though she heard his question, Odrade s"aLiudc:illa is from a parallel breeding liQneu.ite remarkable, isn't it, what careful breed-matching can achieve?"
Teg cleared his throaHt.e felt no emotional attachment to this newly revealed daugHheterr.words and other important signals of her performance demanded his primary attention.

"This is no casual conversation," he s"aIisd.this all of what you were to reveal toI mtheo?ught the
Mother Superior said. ."
"There is more," Odrade agree"dT.he Manifesto -- I am its authIorw. rote it at Taraza's orders and following her detailed instructions."
Teg glanced around the large chamber as though to make sure no one ovHerehesaprodk. e in a lowered voice:"The Tleilaxu are spreading it far and wide!"
"Just as we hoped."
"Why are you telling me thTisa?raza said you were to prepare me for . . ."
"There will come a time when you must know our puIrtpiosseT. araza's wish that you make your own decisions then, that you really become a free agent."
Even as she spoke, Odrade saw the Mentat glaze in his eyes.
Teg breathed deeplyD. ependencies and key logsH! e felt the Mentat sense of an enormous pattern just beyond the reach of his accumulated daHtae. did not even consider for an instant that some form of filial devotion had prompted these revelationTs.here was a fundamentalist, dogmatic, and ritualistic essence apparent in all Bene Gesserit training despite every effort to prevenOt dtrhaids.e, this daughter out of his
past, was a full Reverend Mother with extraordinary powers of muscle and nerve control -- full memories on the female sideS!he was one of the special onSehs!e knew tricks of violence that few humans ever suspected. Still, that similarity, that essence remained and a Mentat always saw it.
What does she want?
Affirmation of his paternityS?he already had all of the confirmation she could need.

Observing her now, the way she waited so patiently for his thoughts to resolve, Teg reflected that it often was said with truth that Reverend Mothers no longer were completely members of the humTahneyrace.
moved somehow outside the main flow, perhaps parallel to it, perhaps diving into it occasionally for their own purposes, but always removed from humankiTndh.ey removed themselvesI.t was an identifying
mark of the Reverend Mother, a sense of extra identity that made them closer to the long-dead Tyrant than to the human stock from which they sprang.
Manipulation.That was their markT.hey manipulated everyone and everything.
"I am to be the Bene Gesserit eyes," Teg"Ts arda.za wants me to make a human decision for all of you."
Obviously pleased, Odrade squeezed his ar"mW.hat a father I have!"
"Do you really have a father?" he asked and he recounted for her what he had been thinking about the
Bene Gesserit removing themselves from humanity.
"Outside humanity," she sai"dW. humanity?"
hat a curious ideaA. re Guild navigators also outside their original
He thought about thiGs.uild navigators diverged widely from humankind's more common shBaopren. in
space and living out their lives in tanks of melange gas, they distorted the original form, elongated and repositioned limbs and organsB. ut a young navigator in estrus and before entering the tank could breed with a normI.t had been demonstratedT. hey became non-human but not in the way of the Bene
Gesserit.
"Navigators are not your mental kin," he
"sTaihde.y think humanG. uiding a ship through space, even
with prescience to find the safe way, has a pattern a human can accept."
"You don't accept our pattern?"
"As far as I can, but somewhere in your development you shift outside the originaIl tphainttkerny.ou
may perform a conscious act even to appear humThains. way you hold my arm right now, as though you

really were my daughter."
"I am your daughter but I'm surprised you think so little of us."
"Quite the contraryI: stand in awe of you."
"Of your own daughter?"
"Of any Reverend Mother."
"You think I exist only to manipulate lesser creatures?"
"I think you no longer really feel humThaenr.e's a gap in you, something missing, something you've removed. You no longer are one of us."
"Thank you," Odrade sai"dT. araza told me you would not hesitate to answer truthfully, but I knew that for myself."
"For what have you prepared me?"
"You will know it when it occurs; that is all I can say . . . all I am permitted to say."
Manipulating again! he thoughDt.amn them!
Odrade cleared her throaSt.he appeared about to say something more but she remained silent as she guided Teg around and strolled with him back across the chamber.

Even though she had known what Teg must say, his words painSehde hwera.nted to tell him that she was one of those who still felt human, but his judgment of the Sisterhood could not be denied.
We are taught to reject loWvee.
can simulate it but each of us is capable of cutting it off in an instant.
There were sounds behind theTmh.ey stopped and turnedL.ucilla and Taraza emerged from a lift tube speaking idly about their observations of the ghola.
"You are absolutely right to treat him as one of us," Taraza said.
Teg heard but made no comment as they awaited the approach of the two women.
He knows, Odrade thoughHt.e will not ask me about my birthmotThehre.re was no bonding, no real imprint. Yes, he knows.
Odrade closed her eyes and memory startled her by producing of itself an image of aThpeainthting. occupied a space on the wall of Taraza's morning rIoxoiamn. artifice had preserved the painting in the finest hermetically sealed frame behind a cover of invisible Opdlarza.de often stopped in front of the painting, feeling each time that her hand might reach out and actually touch the ancient canvas so cunningly preserved by the Ixians.
Cottages at Cordeville.
The artist's name for his work and his own name were preserved on a burnished plate beneath the painting: Vincent Van Gogh.
The thing dated from a time so ancient that only rare remnants such as this painting remained to send a physical impression down the ageSsh. e had tried to imagine the journeys that painting had taken, the
serial chance that had brought it intact to Taraza's room.
The Ixians had been at their best in the preservation and restoAranti ob.server could touch a dark

spot on the lower left corner of the fraImme.ediately, you were engulfed in the true genius, not only of the artist, but of the Ixian who had restored and preserved theHwisornka.me was there on the frame:
Martin Buro.When touched by the human finger, the dot became a sense projector, a benign spin-off of the technology that had produced the Ixian ProBbuer.o had restored not only the painting but the painter
-- Van Gogh's feeling -- accompaniment to each brush stArolkl eh. ad been captured in the brush strokes, recorded there by human movements.
Odrade had stood there engrossed through the whole performance so many times she felt she could recreate the painting independently.
Recalling this experience so near to Teg's accusation, she knew at once why her memory had reproduced the image for her, why that painting still fascinatedFohrert.he brief space of that replay she always felt totally human, aware of the cottages as places where real people dwelled, aware in some complete way of the living chain that had paused there in the person of the mad Vincent Van Gogh, paused to record itself.
Taraza and Lucilla stopped about two paces from Teg and OTdhraedre. was a smell of garlic on
Taraza's breath.
"We stopped for a small bite to eat," Taraza"Wsaoidu.ld you like anything?"
It was exactly the wrong questiOond.rade freed her hand from Teg's arSmhe.
turned quickly and
wiped her eyes on her cuLffo.oking up once more at Teg, she saw surprise on hisYefasc, es. he thought, those were real tears!
"I think we've done everything here that we can," Taraza said.
"It's time you were on your way to Rakis, Dar."
"Past time," Odrade said.

Life cannot find reasons to sustain it, cannot be a source of decent mutual regard, unless each of us resolves to breathe such qualities into it.
-Chenoeh:"Conversations with Leto II"
Hedley Tuek, High Priest of the Divided God, had grown increasingly angry withAlSthtoiruogsh.
too
old himself ever to hope for the High Priest's bench, Stiros had sons, grandsons, and numerous nephews. Stiros had transferred his personal ambitions to his famAilyc.ynical man, StirosH. e represented a
powerful faction in the priesthood, the so-called "scientific community," whose influence was insidious and pervasive.They veered dangerously close to heresy.
Tuek reminded himself that more than one High Priest had been lost in the desert, regrettable accidents. Stiros and his faction were capable of creating such an accident.
It was afternoon in Keen and Stiros had just departed, obviously fruSsttriarotesd.wanted Tuek to go into the desert and personally observe Sheeana's next venture tShuesrpe.icious of the invitation, Tuek declined.
A strange argument ensued, full of innuendo and vague references to Sheeana's behavior plus wordy attacks on the Bene GesserSit.tiros, always suspicious of the Sisterhood, had taken an immediate dislike
to the new commander of the Bene Gesserit Keep on Rakis, this . . . what, was
Ohehr, nyaems,e?
Odrade. Odd name but then the Sisters often took odd naTmheast. was their privilegeG. od Himself had never spoken against the basic goodness of the Bene GesAsegraiti.nst individual Sisters, yes, but the

Sisterhood itself had shared God's Holy Vision.
Tuek did not like the way Stiros spoke of SheCeyaniac.al. Tuek had finally silenced Stiros with pronouncements delivered here in the Sanctus with its high altar and images of the Divided God. Prismatic beam-relays cast thin wedges of brilliance through drifting incense from burning melange onto the double line of tall pillars that led up to theTuaeltkar.knew his words went directly to God from this setting.
"God works through our latter-day Siona," Tuek had told Stiros, noting the confusion on the old councillor's face."Sheeana is the living reminder of Siona, that human instrument who translated Him into His present Divisions."
Stiros raged, saying things he would not dare repeat before the full CHoeunpcriel.sumed too much on his long association with Tuek.
"I tell you she is sitting here surrounded by adults intent upon justifying themselves to her and --"
"And to God!T" uek could not let such words pass.
Leaning close to the High Priest, Stiros gra"tSehde:
is at the center of an educational system geared to
anything her imagination demandsW. e deny her nothing!"
"Nor should we."
It was as though Tuek had not spoSkteirno.s said, "Cania has provided her with recordings from
Dar-es-Balat!"
"I am the Book of Fate," Tuek intoned, quoting God's own words from the hoard at Dar-es-Balat.
"Exactly!And she listens to every word!"

"Why does this disturb youT?u"ek asked in his calmest tone.
"We don't test her knowledgSeh.e tests ours!"
"God must want it so."
No mistaking the bitter anger on Stiros' fTaucek.
observed this and waited while the old councillor
marshaled new argumentsR. esources for such arguments were, of course, enormoTuuse.k did not deny this. It was the interpretations that mattereWd.hich was why a High Priest must be the final interpreter. Despite (or perhaps because of) their way of viewing history, the priesthood knew a great deal of how God had come to reside on RakTihs.ey had Dar-es-Balat itself and all of its contents -- the earliest
known no-chamber in the universFeo. r millennia, while Shai-hulud translated the verdant planet of Arrakis into desert-Rakis, Dar-es-Balat waited under the sanFdros.m that Holy Hoard, the priesthood possessed God's own voice, His printed words and even holophEovtoesry. thing was explained and they
knew that the desert surface of Rakis reproduced the original form of the planet, the way it looked in the beginning when it was the only known source of the Holy Spice.
"She asks about God's family," Stiros s"aWid.hy should she have to ask about --"
"She tests usD. o we give Them Their proper placTesh?e Reverend Mother Jessica to her son, Muad'dib, to his son, Leto II -- the Holy Triumvirate of Heaven."
"Leto III," Stiros muttere"dW.
hat of the other Leto who died at Sardaukar haWndhsa?t of him?"
"Careful, Stiros," Tuek intone"dY. ou know my great-grandfather pronounced upon that question from
this very benchO. ur Divided God was reincarnated with part of Him remaining in heaven to mediate the
Ascendancy. That part of Him became nameless then, as the True Essence of God should always be!"
"Oh?"
Tuek heard the terrible cynicism in the old man's
Svotiircoes.' words seemed to tremble in the

incense-laden air, inviting terrible retribution.
"Then why does she ask how our Leto was transformed into the DividedStiGroosd?d"emanded.
Did Stiros question the Holy MetamorphosTisu?ek was aghastH.
e said:"In time, she will enlighten us."
"Our feeble explanations must fill her with dismay," Stiros sneered.
"You go too far, Stiros!"
"Indeed?You do not think it enlightening that she asks how the sandtrout encapsulate most of Rakis' water and recreate the desert?"
Tuek tried to conceal his growing anSgteiros did represent a powerful faction in the priesthood, but his tone and his words raised questions that had been answered by High Priests loTnhge ago.
Metamorphosis of Leto II had given birth to uncounted sandtrout, each carrying a Bit of Himself.
Sandtrout to Divided GodT: he sequence was known and worshipeTdo.
question this denied God.
"You sit here and do nothing!" Stiros accu"sWede.
are pawns of --"
"Enough!"Tuek had heard all he wanted to hear of this old man's cyDnircaiwsmin.g his dignity around him, Tuek spoke the words of God:
"Your Lord knows very well what is in your Yheoaurrt. soul suffices this day as a reckoner against you. I need no witnessesY. ou do not listen to your soul, but listen instead to your anger and your rage."
Stiros retired in frustration.
After considerable thought, Tuek enrobed himself in his most suitable finery of white, gold, and purple.

He went to visit Sheeana.
Sheeana was in the roof garden atop the central priestly complex, there with Cania and two others -- a young priest named Baldik, who was in Tuek's private service, and an acolyte priestess named Kipuna, who behaved too much like a Reverend Mother for Tuek's lTikhiengS. isterhood had its spies here, of
course, but Tuek did not like to be aware Koifpuitn. a had taken over much of Sheeana's physical
training and there had grown a rapport between child and acolyte priestess that aroused Cania's jealousy. Even Cania, however, could not stand in the way of Sheeana's commands.
The four of them stood beside a stone bench almost in the shadow of a ventilaKtoirputnoawehre. ld Sheeana's right hand, manipulating the child's fingeSrhse. eana was growing tall, Tuek noteSdi.x years she had been his chargHe.e could see the first beginnings of breasts poking out herThroebre. was not a breath of wind on the rooftop and the air felt heavy in Tuek's lungs.
Tuek glanced around the garden to assure himself that his security arrangements were not being ignored.
One never knew from what quarter danger might appFeoaurr.
of Tuek's own personal guards, well
armed but concealing it, shared the rooftop at a distance -- one at eachThcoernpearr.apet enclosing the garden was a high one, just the guards' heads standing above thTeherimon.ly building higher than this priestly tower was Keen's primary windtrap about a thousand meters to the west.
Despite the visible evidence that his security orders were being carried out, Tuek sensedWdaasnger. God warning him?Tuek still felt disturbed by Stiros' cynicisWma.s it wrong to allow Stiros that much latitude?
Sheeana saw Tuek approaching and stopped the odd finger-flexing exercises she was performing at Kipuna's instructions.Giving every appearance of knowledgeable patience, the child stood silently with her gaze fixed on the High Priest, forcing her companions to turn and watch with her.
Sheeana did not find Tuek a fearsome figSuhree. rather liked the old man although some of his questions were so bumblingA. nd his answers!Quite by accident, she had discovered the question that most disturbed Tuek.
"Why?"
Some of the attendant priests interpreted her question alou"dWahsy:
do you believe this?S"heeana

immediately picked up on this and thereafter her probings of Tuek and the others took the unvarying form:
"Why do you believe this?"
Tuek stopped about two paces from Sheeana and bo"wGeodo.d afternoon, Sheeana."He twisted his
neck nervously against the collar of his roTbhee. child chose to be out here so often.
sun felt hot on his shoulders and he wondered why the
Sheeana maintained her probing stare at TuSehke. knew this gaze disturbed him.
Tuek cleared his throaWt. hen Sheeana looked at him that way, he always wondIesreidt : God looking at me through her eyes?
Cania spoke". Sheeana has been asking today about the Fish Speakers."
In his most unctuous tones, Tuek s"aGido:d's own Holy Army."
"All of them women?S"heeana asked.She spoke as though she could not believTeoit.those at the
base of Rakian society, Fish Speakers were a name from ancient history, people cast out in the Famine
Times.
She is testing me, Tuek thougFhits.h Speakers.The modern carriers of the name had only a small
trading-spying delegation on Rakis, composed of both men and woTmheenir.
ancient origins no longer
were significant to their current activities, mostly working as an arm of Ix.
"Men always served the Fish Speakers in an advisory capacity," TueHk esawida.tched carefully to see how Sheeana would respond.
"Then there were always the Duncan Idahos," Cania said.

"Yes, yes, of coursteh:e Duncans."Tuek tried not to scowTl.hat woman was always interruptingT!uek did not like being reminded of this aspect to God's historical presence onThReakriesc.urrent ghola and his position in the Holy Army carried overtones of Bene Tleilax indulBgeunt cteh.ere was no avoiding the
fact that Fish Speakers had guarded the Duncans from harm, acting of course at the behesTt hoef God. Duncans were holy, no doubt of it, but in a special catBegyorGy.od's own account, He had killed some of the Duncans himself, obviously translating them immediately into heaven.
"Kipuna has been telling me about the Bene Gesserit," Sheeana said.
How the child's mind darted around!
Tuek cleared his throat, recognizing his own ambivalent attitude toward the Reverend Mothers. Reverence was demanded for those who were "Beloved of God," such as the Saintly CAhnednotehhe.
first High Priest had constructed a logical account of how the Holy Hwi Noree, Bride of God, had been a
secret Reverend MotherH.
onoring these special circumstances, the priesthood felt an irritating
responsibility toward the Bene Gesserit, which was carried out chiefly by selling melange to the
Sisterhood at a price ridiculously below that charged by the Tleilaxu.
In her most ingenuous tones, Sheeana s"aTide:ll me about the Bene Gesserit, Hedley."
Tuek glanced sharply at the adults around Sheeana, trying to catch a smile on thHeier
dfaicdesn.ot
know how to deal with Sheeana calling him by his first name thIant wonaey. sense, it was demeaninIng. another sense, she honored him by such intimacy.
God tests me sorely, he thought.
"Are the Reverend Mothers good peoplSe?h"eeana asked.
Tuek sighedT. he records all confirmed that God harbored reservations about the SisterGhooodd's.
words had been examined carefully and submitted finally to a High Priest's interprGetaotdiond.id not let the Sisterhood threaten his Golden PaTthh.at much was clear.

"Many of them are good," Tuek said.
"Where is the nearest Reverend MotheSr?h"eeana asked. "At the Sisterhood's Embassy here in Keen," Tuek said. "Do you know her?"
"There are many Reverend Mothers in the Bene Gesserit Keep," he said.
"What's a Keep?"'
"That's what they call their home here."
"One Reverend Mother must be in chaDrgoe. you know that one?"
"I knew her predecessor, Tamalane, but this one isSnheewh. as only just arriveHd.er name is
Odrade."
"That's a funny name."
Tuek's own thought, but he sai"dO: ne of our historians tells me it is a form of the name Atreides."
Sheeana reflected upon thiAs.treides. That was the family that had brought Shaitan into bBeienfgo.re the Atreides there had been only the Fremen and Shai-hTulhued.Oral History, which her people preserved against all priestly prohibition, chanted the begats of the most important people on Rakis. Sheeana had heard these names many nights in her village.

"Muad'dib begat the Tyrant."
"The Tyrant begat Shaitan."
Sheeana did not feel like arguing truth with TAuneykw. ay, he looked tired todaSy.he said merely: "Bring me this Reverend Mother Odrade."
Kipuna hid a gloating smile behind her hand.
Tuek stepped back, aghasHt.ow could he comply with such a demaEnvde?n the Rakian priesthood did not command the Bene GesseriWt! hat if the Sisterhood refused himC?ould he offer a gift of melange in exchange? That might be a sign of weakneTshs.e Reverend Mothers might bargainN!o harder
bargainers lived than the Sisterhood's cold-eyed Reverend MothTehrsi.s new one, this Odrade, looked to be one of the worst.
All of these thoughts fled through Tuek's mind in an instant.
Cania intruded, giving Tuek the needed approa"Pche.rhaps Kipuna could convey Sheeana's invitation," Cania said.
Tuek darted a glance at the young acolyte priesYt ess!.Many suspected (Cania among them, obviously) that Kipuna spied for the Bene GessOerfit.course, everyone on Rakis spied for someone. Tuek put on his most gracious smile as he nodded to Kipuna.
"Do you know any of the Reverend Mothers, Kipuna?"
"Some of them are known to me, My Lord High Priest," Kipuna said.
At least she still shows the proper deference!

"Excellent," Tuek said".Would you be so kind as to start this gracious invitation from Sheeana moving up through the Sisterhood's embassy."
"I will do my poor best, My Lord High Priest."
"I'm sure you will!"
Kipuna began a prideful turn toward Sheeana, the knowledge of success growing witShhineehanera.'s request had been ridiculously easy to ignite, given the techniques provided by the SistKerihpouonda.
smiled and opened her mouth to speAak.movement at the parapet about forty meters behind Sheeana caught Kipuna's attentionS. omething glinted in the sunlight theSreo.mething small and . . .
With a strangled cry, Kipuna grabbed up Sheeana, hurled her at the startled Tuek and"Rshuno!u"ted:
With that, Kipuna dashed toward the swiftly advancing brightness -- a tiny seeker trailing a long length of shigawire.
In his younger days, Tuek had played batHbaell.caught Sheeana instinctively, hesitated for an instant and then recognized the dangeWr. hirling with the squirming, protesting girl in his arms, Tuek dashed through the open door of the stair towHeer. heard the door slam behind him and Cania's rapid footsteps close on his heels.
"What is itW? hat is it?"Sheeana pounded her fists against Tuek's chest as she shouted.
"Hush, Sheeana!Hush!" Tuek paused on the first landinBgo. th a chute and suspensor-drop led from this landing into the building's corCe.ania stopped beside Tuek, her panting loud in the narrow space.
"It killed Kipuna and two of your guards," Cania ga"sCpuetd.them up!I saw itG.
od preserve us!"
Tuek's mind was a maelstroBmo. th the chute and the suspensor-drop system were enclosed wormholes through the towerT. hey could be sabotagedT. he attack on the roof might be only one element in a far more complex plot.

"Put me down!" Sheeana insiste"dW. hat's happening?"
Tuek eased her to the floor but kept one of her hands clutched in Hhies bheantd.over her, "Sheeana, dear, someone is trying to harm us."
Sheeana's mouth formed a silent "O," th"eTnh:ey hurt Kipuna?"
Tuek looked up at the roof doWoar.s that an ornithopter he heard up theSrteir?os! Conspirators could take three vulnerable people into the desert so easily!
Cania had regained her brea"thI. hear a 'thopter," she sa"idS.houldn't we be getting away from here?"
"We will go down by the stairs," Tuek said.
"But the --"
"Do as I say!"
Keeping a firm hold on Sheeana's hand, Tuek led the way down to the nextInlaandddinitgio. n to the chute and suspensor access, this landing had a door into a wide curvinOgnlhyalal. few short steps beyond the door lay the entrance to Sheeana's quarters, once Tuek's own quAagrtaeinrs.he hesitated.
"Something's happening on the roof," Cania whispered.
Tuek looked down at the fearfully silent child besideHheirmh. and felt sweaty.

Yes, there was some sort of uproar on the roof -- shouts, the hiss of burners, much runTnihneg about.
roof door, now out of sight above them, crashed oTpheins . decided TuekH.
e flung open the door into
the hallway and dashed out into the arms of a tightly grouped wedge of black-robedWwitohmaen. empty sense of defeat, Tuek recognized the woman at the point of the Owderdagdee:!
Someone plucked Sheeana away from him and hustled her back into the press of robedBeffiogrueres. Tuek or Cania could protest, hands were clapped over their moOutthhesr. hands pinioned them against a wall of the hallwaSyo. me of the robed figures went through the doorway and up the stairs.
"The child is safe and that's all that's important for the moment," Odrade whSihspeerleodo.ked into Tuek's eyes."Make no outcry."The hand was removed from his mouUths.ing Voice, she said":Tell me about the roof!"
Tuek found himself complying without reservati"oAn. seeker towing a long shigawireI.t came over the parapet. Kipuna saw it and --"
"Where is Kipuna?"
"Dead.Cania saw it."Tuek described Kipuna's brave dash toward the threat.
Kipuna dead! Odrade thoughSt.he concealed a fiercely angry sense of lWossh.at a wasteT. here must be admiration for such a brave death, but the Tlohses!Sisterhood always needed such courage and devotion, but it also required the genetic wealth Kipuna had represeItntweda.s gone, taken by these stumbling fools!
At a gesture from Odrade, the hand was removed from Cania's "mToeullthm. e what you saw," Odrade said.
"The seeker whipped the shigawire around Kipuna's neck. a."ndC.ania shuddered.
The dull thump of an explosion reverberated above them, then sOilednrcaed.e waved a handR. obed women spread along the hallway, moving silently out of sight beyond theOcnulryveO. drade and two others, both chill-eyed younger women with intense expressions, remained beside Tuek and Cania.

Sheeana was nowhere to be seen.
"The Ixians are in this somewhere," Odrade said.
Tuek agreedT. hat much shigawire . ".W. here have you taken the child?" he asked.
"We are protecting her," Odrade sa"iBde.
still."She tipped her head, listening.
A robed woman sped back around the curve of the hallway and whispered something in Odrade's ear. Odrade produced a tight smile.
"It is over," Odrade sa"idW. e will go to Sheeana."
Sheeana occupied a softly cushioned blue chair in the main room of her
Bqulacrtke-rrso. bed women
stood in a protective arc behind hTehr.e child appeared to Tuek quite recovered from the shock of the attack and escape but her eyes glittered with excitement and unasked queSsthioeenas.na's attention was directed at something off to Tuek's rigHhet. stopped and looked there, gasping at what he saw.
A naked male body lay against the wall in an oddly crumpled position, the head twisted until the chin lay back over the left shouldeOr.pen eyes stared out with the emptiness of death.
Stiros!
The shredded rags of Stiros' robe, obviously torn from him violently, lay in an untidy heap near the body's feet.
Tuek looked at Odrade.
"He was in on it," she s"aTidh.ere were Face Dancers with the Ixians."

Tuek tried to swallow in a dry throat.
Cania shuffled past him toward the boTduye.k could not see her face but Cania's presence reminded him that there had been something between Stiros and Cania in their youngeTrudekaysm. oved instinctively to place himself between Cania and the seated child.
Cania stopped at the body and nudged it with aShfeoottu. rned a gloating expression on Tu"eIk.had to make sure he was really dead," she said.
Odrade glanced at a companio"nG.et rid of the bodyS."he looked at SheeanaI.t was Odrade's first
chance for a more careful study of the child since leading the assault force here to deal with the attack on the temple complex.
Tuek spoke behind Odrad"eR. everend Mother, could you explain please what --
Odrade interrupted without turnin"gL. ater."
Sheeana's expression quickened at Tuek's wor"dIs.thought you were a Reverend Mother!"
Odrade merely noddedW. hat a fascinating childO. drade experienced the sensations she felt while
standing in front of the ancient painting in Taraza's quaSrtoemrse.
of the fire that had gone into the work
of art inspired Odrade nowW. ild inspiration!That was the message from the mad Van GCoghha.os brought into magnificent orderW. as that not part of the Sisterhood's coda?
This child is my canvas, Odrade thouSghet. felt her hand tingle to the feeling of that ancient Hbreursh. nostrils flared to the smells of oils and pigments.
"Leave me alone with Sheeana," Odrade orde"reEdv.erybody out."

Tuek started to protest but stopped when one of Odrade's robed companions gripped Ohidsraadrem. glared at him.
"The Bene Gesserit have served you before," she "sTahidis.
time, we saved your life."
The woman holding Tuek's arm tugged at him.
"Answer his questions," Odrade sa"idB.ut do it somewhere else." Cania took a step toward Sheea"nTah. at child is my --" "Leave!"Odrade barked, all the powers of Voice in the command. Cania froze.
"You almost lost her to a bumbling lot of conspiraOtodrrsa!"de said, glaring at Cani"aW. whether you get any further opportunity to associate with Sheeana."
e will consider
Tears started in Cania's eyes but Odrade's condemnation could not be dTeunrnieindg. , Cania fled with the others.
Odrade returned her attention to the watchful child.
"We've been a long time waiting for you," Odrade"Wsaeid.will not give those fools another opportunity to lose you."

Law always chooses sides on the basis of enforcement pMowoerar.lity and legal niceties have little to do with it when the real questionWish:o has the clout?
-Bene Gesserit Council ProceedingAs:rchives #XOX232
Immediately after Taraza and her party left Gammu, Teg threw himself into hNisew rikn.-Keep procedures had to be laid out, holding Schwangyu at arm's length from theTagrhaozlaa'.s orders.
"She can observe all she wanSthse.
can't touch."
In spite of the work pressures, Teg found himself staring into space at odd moments, prey to
free-floating anxiety.The experience of rescuing Taraza's party from the Guildship and Odrade's odd revelations did not fit into any data classification he constructed.
Dependencies . . . key logs . . .
Teg found himself seated in his own workroom, an assignment schedule projected in front of him with shift changes to approve and, for a moment, he had no idea of the time or evenIt thtoeokdaate.
moment to relocate himself.

Midmorning.Taraza and her party had been gone two dHayes.was aloneY.
es, Patrin had taken over
this day's training schedule with Duncan, freeing Teg for the command decisions.
The workroom around Teg felt aliYene.t, when he looked at each element in it, he found each thing
familiar. Here was his own personal data consoHleis.
uniform jacket had been draped neatly across a
chair-back beside himH.
e tried to fall into Mentat mode and found his own mind reHsiestinhgad.
not
encountered that phenomenon since training days.
Training days.
Taraza and Odrade between them had thrown him back into some form of training.
Self-training.
In a detached way, he felt his memory offering up a long-ago conversation withHoTwarafzaam. iliar it was. He was right there, caught in the moments of his own memory-snare.
Both he and Taraza had been quite tired after making the decisions and taking the actions to prevent a bloody confrontation -- the Barandiko incideNnto. thing but a hiccough in history now but at the time it
had demanded all of their combined energies.
Taraza invited him into the small parlor of her quarters on her no-ship after the agreement was signed. She spoke casually, admiring his sagacity, the way he had seen through to the weaknesses that would force a compromise.
They had been awake and active for almost thirty hours and Teg was glad for the opportunity to sit while
Taraza dialed her foodrink installatioInt. dutifully produced two tall glasses of creamy brown liquid.
Teg recognized the smell as she handed him his Igt lawssa.s a quick source of energy, a pick-me-up that the Bene Gesserit seldom shared with outsidBerust. Taraza no longer considered him an outsider.

His head tipped back, Teg took a long swallow of the drink, his gaze on the ornate ceiling of Taraza's small parlor.This no-ship was an old-fashioned model, built in the days when more care had been taken with decoration -- heavily incised cornices, baroque figures carved in every surface.
The taste of the drink pushed his memory back into childhood, the heavy infusion of melange . . .
"My mother made this for me whenever I was overly strenuous," he said, looking at the glass in his hand. He already could feel the calming energy flow through his body.
Taraza took her own drink to a chairdog opposite him, a fluffy white bit of animate furniture that fitted itself to her with the ease of long familiaFroitry.Teg, she had provided a traditional green upholstered
chair, but she saw his glance flick across the chairdog and grinned at him.
"Tastes differ, Miles.S"he sipped her drink and sighe"dM. y, that was strenuous but it was good work. There were moments when it was right on the edge of getting very nasty."
Teg found himself touched by her relaxatNioon. pose, no ready-made mask to set them apart and define their separate roles in the Bene Gesserit hierarSchey. was being obviously friendly and not even
a hint of seductivenessS.o this was just what it seemed to be -- as much as that could be said about any encounter with a Reverend Mother.
With quick elation, Teg realized that he had become quite adept at reading Alma Mavis Taraza, even when she adopted one of her masks.
"Your mother taught you more than she was told to teach you," Tara"zAa swaiisde. heretic. That's all we seem to be breeding nowadays."
"Heretic?"He was caught by resentment.
woman but another
"That's a private joke in the Sisterhood," Taraza "sWaide'.re supposed to follow a Mother Superior's orders with absolute devotionA. nd we do, except when we disagree."

Teg smiled and took a deep draught of his drink.
"It's odd," Taraza said, "but while we were in that tight little confrontation I found myself reacting to you as I would to one of my Sisters."
Teg felt the drink warming his stomaItchle. ft a tingling in his nostrHilse. placed the empty glass on a
side table and spoke while looking a"tMity.
eldest daughter . . ."
"That would be DimelYa.ou should have let us have her, Miles."
"It was not my decision."
"But one word from you .T.ar.a"za shrugged."Well, that's pastW.
hat about Dimela?"
"She thinks I'm often too much like one of you."
"Too much?"
"She is fiercely loyal to me, Mother SupeSrihoer. doesn't really understand our relationship and --"
"What is our relationship?"
"You command and I obey."
Taraza looked at him over the lip of her Wglahsesn.
she put down the glass, she s"aYide:s, you've
never really been a heretic, MilePse.rhaps . . . someday . . ."

He spoke quickly, wanting to divert Taraza from such "idDeiams.ela thinks the long use of melange makes many people become like you."
"Is that soI?sn't it odd, Miles, that a geriatric potion should have so many side effects?"
"I don't find that odd."
"No, of course you wouldn'St.h"e drained her glass and put it as"idI ew. as addressing the way a
significant life extension has produced in some people, you especially, a profound knowledge of human nature."
"We live longer and observe more," he said.
"I don't think it's quite that simSpolem. e people never observe anythinLg.ife just happens to themT.hey
get by on little more than a kind of dumb persistence, and they resist with anger and resentment anything that might lift them out of that false serenity."
"I've never been able to strike an acceptable balance sheet for the spice," he said, referring to a common
Mentat process of data sorting.
Taraza noddedO.
bviously, she found the same difficul"tyW. e of the Sisterhood tend to be more
single-track than Mentats," she sai"dW. persists."
e have routines to shake ourselves out of it but the condition
"Our ancestors have had this problem for a long time," he said.
"It was different before the spice," she said.
"But they lived such short lives."

"Fifty, one hundred years; that doesn't seem very long to us, but still . . ."
"Did they compress more into the available time?"
"Oh, they were frenetic at times."
She was giving him observations from her Other Memories, he reNaloiztedth. e first time he had shared in such ancient loreH. is mother had produced such memories on occasion, but always as a Wlesasson. Taraza doing that nowT?eaching him something?
"Melange is a many-handed monster," she said. "Do you sometimes wish we had never found it?" "The Bene Gesserit would not exist without it." "Nor the Guild."
"But there would have been no Tyrant, no MuadT'dhieb.spice gives with one hand and takes with all of its others."
"Which hand contains that which we desirhee?"asked."Isn't that always the question?"
"You're an oddity, you know that, MiMlese?ntats so seldom dip into philosophIythink it's one of your strengths. You are supremely able to doubt."

He shruggedT. his turn in the conversation disturbed him.
"You are not amused," she sa"iBdu. t cling to your doubts anywaDyo. ubt is necessary to a philosopher."
"So the Zensunni assure us."
"All mystics agree on it, MiNlese.ver underestimate the power of doubVtse. ry persuasive.S'tori holds up doubt and surety in a single hand."
Really quite surprised, he aske"dD:o Reverend Mothers practice Zensunni ritualsH?"e had never even suspected this before.
"Just once," she sai"dW.
e achieve an exalted form of s'tori, toIttailn. volves every cell."
"The spice agony," he said.
"I was sure your mother told yOobuv. iously, she never explained the affinity with the Zensunni."
Teg swallowed past a lump in his thFroaastc.inating! She gave him a new insight into the Bene Gesserit. This changed his entire concept, including his image of his own mTohtehyer.were removed from him into
an unattainable place where he could never follTohwe.y might think of him as a comrade on occasion but he could never enter the intimate circHle could simulate, no morHe.e would never be like Muad'dib or
the Tyrant.
"Prescience," Taraza said.
The word shifted his attentioSnh.e had changed the subject but not changed it.
"I was thinking about Muad'dib," he said.

"You think he predicted the future," she said.
"That is the Mentat teaching."
"I hear the doubt in your voice, MDilieds. he predict or did he creaPter?escience can be deadlyT.he
people who demand that the oracle predict for them really want to know next year's price on whalefur or something equally mundaneN. one of them wants an instant-by-instant prediction of his personal life."
"No surprises," Teg said.
"Exactly.If you possessed such fore-knowledge, your life would become an unutterable bore."
"You think Muad'dib life was a bore?"
"And the Tyrant's, toWo. e think their entire lives were devoted to trying to break out of chains they themselves created."
"But they believed . . ."
"Remember your philosopher's doubts, MileBse.ware! The mind of the believer stagnatIets.fails to grow outward into an unlimited, infinite universe."
Teg sat silently for a momeHnet. sensed the fatigue that had been driven beyond his immediate
awareness by the drink, sensed also the way his thoughts were roiled by the intrusion of new concepts. These were things that he had been taught would weaken a Mentat, yet he felt strengthened by them.
She is teaching me, he thougThht.ere is a lesson here.

As though projected into his mind and outlined there in fire, he found his entire Mentat-attention fixated on the Zensunni admonition that was taught to every beginning student in the Mentat School:
By your belief in granular singularities, you deny all movement -- evolutionary or devoluBteiolinefary. fixes a granular universe and causes that universe to peNrsoistht.ing can be allowed to change because that way your non-moving universe vanishBesu. t it moves of itself when you do not mItoveev.olves beyond you and is no longer accessible to you.
"The oddest thing of all," Taraza said, sinking into tune with this mood she had created, "is that the scientists of Ix cannot see how much their own beliefs dominate their universe."
Teg stared at her, silent and receptive.
"Ixian beliefs are perfectly submissive to the choices they make on how they will look at their universe," Taraza said."Their universe does not act of itself but performs according to the kinds of experiments they choose."
With a start, Teg came out of the memories and awoke to find himself in the GamHmeustKilleespa.t in
the familiar chair in his workrooAm. glance around the room showed nothing moved from where he had put it.Only a few minutes had passed but the room and its contents no longer weHree adliipenp.ed into
and out of Mentat modRe.estored.
The smell and taste of the drink Taraza had given him so long ago still tingled on his tongue and in his nostrils. A Mentat blink and he knew he could call up the scene entire once more -- the low light of shaded glowglobes, the feeling of the chair beneath him, the sounds of theirItvowicaess.all there for
replay, frozen into a time-capsule of isolated memory.
Calling up that old memory created a magical universe where his abilities were amplified beyond his wildest expectations.No atoms existed in that magical universe, only waves and awesome movements all around. He was forced there to discard all barriers built of belief and understaTnhdisingu.niverse was transparent. He could see through it without any interfering screens upon which to project itTs hfeorms. magical universe reduced him to a core of active imagination where his own image-making abilities were the only screen upon which any projection might be sensed.

There, I am both the performer and the performed!
The workroom around Teg wavered into and out of his sensory Hreealifteyl.t his awareness constricted to its tightest purpose and yet that purpose filled his uniHveerswe.as open to infinity.
Taraza did this deliberately! he thougShhte.
has amplified me!
A feeling of awe threatened hHime. recognized how his daughter, Odrade, had drawn upon such powers to create the Atreides Manifesto for TaraHzias. own Mentat powers were submerged in that greater pattern.
Taraza was demanding a fearful performance from Thihme. need for such a thing both challenged and terrified him.It could very well mean the end of the Sisterhood.
The basic rule is thNise: ver support weakness; always support strength.
-The Bene Gesserit Coda

"How is it that you can order the priests aroSunhde?e"ana asked."This is their place."
Odrade answered casually but picked her words to fit the knowledge she knew Sheeana already possessed: "The priests have Fremen rootTs.hey've always had Reverend Mothers somewhere near. Besides, child, you order them around, too."
"That's different."
Odrade suppressed a smile.
Little more than three hours had passed since her assault force had broken the attack on the temple complex. In that time, Odrade had set up a command center in Sheeana's quarters, carried on the necessary business of assessment and preliminary retaliation, all the while prompting and observing Sheeana.
Simulflow.
Odrade glanced around the room she had chosen as command cAenstecrap of Stiros' ripped garments still lay near the wall in front ofChaseur.alties. The room was an oddly shaped plaNceo.
two
walls parallel.She sniffed.Still a residual smell of ozone from the snoopers with which her people had assured the privacy of these quarters.
Why the odd shapeT?he building was ancient, remodeled and added to many times, but that did not
explain this roomA.
pleasantly rough texture of creamy stucco on walls and ceEilainbgo.rate spice-fiber
hangings flanked the two doorIst. was early evening and sunlight filtered by lattice shades stippled the wall opposite the windowsS.ilver-yellow glowglobes hovered near the ceiling, all tuned to match the sunlight. Muted street sounds came through the ventilators beneath the windTohwes.soft pattern of
orange rugs and gray tiles on the floor spoke of wealth and security but Odrade suddenly did not feel secure.
A tall Reverend Mother came from the adjoining communications said, "the messages have been sent to Guild, Ix, and Tleilaxu."
"roMoomth. er Commander," she

Odrade spoke absently".Acknowledged." The messenger returned to her duties. "What are you doing?S"heeana asked. "Studying something."
Odrade pursed her lips in thougThht.eir guides through the temple complex had brought them along a maze of hallways and stairs, glimpses of courtyards through arches, then into a splendid Ixian suspensor-tube system, which carried them silently to another hallway, more stairs, another curved hallway . . . finally, into this room.
Once more, Odrade swept her gaze around the room. "Why are you studying this room?" Sheeana asked. "Hush, child!"
The room was an irregular polyhedron with the smaller side to tAheboluetft.thirty-five meters long, half that at the widesMt. any low divans and chairs in various degrees of comSfhoeret.ana sat in queenly splendor on a bright yellow chair with wide soft aNrmots.a chairdog in the placMe.uch brown and blue
and yellow fabricO. drade stared at the white lattice of a ventilator above a painting of mountains on the
wider end wallA.
cool breeze came through the ventilators below the windows and wafted toward the
ventilator above the painting.
"This was Hedley's room," Sheeana said.
"Why do you annoy him by using his first name, child?"

"Does that annoy him?"
"Don't play word games with me, chYilodu!
know it annoys him and that's why you do it."
"Then why did you ask?"
Odrade ignored this while continuing her careful study of the Trhoeomw. all opposite the painting stood at an oblique angle to the outer wSahlel. had it nowC. lever! This room had been constructed so that even a whisper here could be heard by someone beyond the high venNtiolatdoor.ubt the painting concealed another airway to carry sounds from this roNoom.snooper, sniffer, or other instrument would
detect such an arrangemenNt. othing would "beep" at a spying eye or Oenalry. someone trained in deception had winkled it out.
the wary senses of
A hand signal summoned a waiting acolOytder.ade's fingers flickered in silent communicatio"nF:ind out who is listening beyond that ventilatoSr.h"e nodded toward the ventilator above the paint"inLge.t them continue. We must know to whom they report."
"How did you know to come and save me?" Sheeana Tashkeedc.hild had a lovely voice but it needed training, Odrade thoughtT. here was a steadiness to it, though, that could be shaped into a powerful instrument.
"Answer me!" Sheeana ordered.
The imperious tone startled Odrade, arousing quick anger, which she was forced to suppress. Corrections would have to be made immediately!
"Calm yourself, child," Odrade saSidh.e pitched the command in a precise tenor and saw it take effect.
Again, Sheeana startled he"rT: hat's another kind of VoicYe.ou're trying to calm mKe.ipuna told me all about Voice."

Odrade turned squarely facing Sheeana and looked down aSt hheeera.na's first grief had passed but there was still anger when she spoke of Kipuna.
"I am busy shaping our response to that attack," Odrade"Wsahiyd. do you distract meI?should think you would want them punished."
"What will you do to theTme?ll me!What will you do?"
A surprisingly vindictive child, Odrade thougThht.at would have to be curbeHda. tred was as dangerous an emotion as loveT.he capacity for hatred was the capacity for its opposite.
Odrade said:"I have sent Guild, Ix, and Tleilaxu the message we always dispatch when we have been annoyed. Three words:'You will pay.' "
"How will they pay?"
"A proper Bene Gesserit punishment is being fashioTnheedy. behavior."
"But what will you do?"
will feel the consequences of their
"In time, you may leaYrno. u may even learn how we design our punishmFeonrt.now, there is no need that you know."
A sullen look came over Sheeana's fSachee. said:"You're not even angryA. nnoyed. That's what you said."
"Curb your impatience, childT!here are things you do not understand."

The Reverend Mother from the communications room returned, glanced once at Sheeana and spoke to
Odrade. "Chapter House acknowledges receipt of your repoTrht.ey approve your response."
When the Reverend Mother from communications remained standing there, Odrade"Tshaeidre: is more?"
A flickering glance to Sheeana spoke of the woman's reservaOtidornasd. e held up her right palm, the signal for silent communication.
The Reverend Mother responded, her fingers dancing with unleashed excite"mTeanrat:za's message -- The Tleilaxu are the pivotal elemeGntu. ild must be made to pay dearly for its melSanhguet. down Rakian supply to themT.hrow Guild and Ix togetheTr.hey will overextend selves in face of crushing competition from the ScatteringI.gnore Fish Speakers for nowT.hey fall with IxM. aster of Masters responds to us from TleilaxHu.e goes to RakisT.rap him."
Odrade smiled softly to acknowledge that she understSohoed. watched the other woman leave the room. Not only did Chapter House agree with actions taken on Rakis, a suitable Bene Gesserit punishment had been fashioned with fascinating speOedb.viously Taraza and her advisors had anticipated this moment.
Odrade allowed herself a sigh of reTliehfe.
message to Chapter House had been tearnse:outline
account of the attack, the list of the Sisterhood's casualties, identification of the attackers and a confirming note to Taraza that Odrade already had transmitted the required warning to the"Ygouuilty: will pay."
Yes, those fool attackers now knew the hornet's nest had been arTohuastedw. ould create fear -- an essential part of the punishment.
Sheeana squirmed in her chaHire. r attitude said she would now try a new appro"Oacnhe. people said there were Face DancerSs.h"e gestured with her chin toward the roof.
of your
What a vast reservoir of ignorance this child was, Odrade thTohuagthte. mptiness would have to be

filled. Face Dancers!Odrade thought about the bodies they had examinTehde. Tleilaxu had finally sent their Face Dancers into actioInt. was a test of the Bene Gesserit, of coTuhrsees.e new ones were extremely difficult to detecTt.hey still gave off the characteristic smell of their unique pheromones, though. Odrade had sent that datum in her message to Chapter House.
The problem now was to keep the Bene Gesserit knowledge
Osedcrraedt.e summoned an acolyte
messenger. Indicating the ventilator with a flick of her eyes, Odrade spoke silently with her"Kfiinllgers:
those who listen!"
"You are too interested in Voice, child," Odrade said, speaking down to Sheeana in a most valuable tool for learning."
"But could I learn VoicIe?want to learn it."
"I am telling you to be silent and to learn by your silence."
"I command you to teach me Voice!"
"thSeilecnhcaeiri.s
Odrade reflected on Kipuna's reporStsh.eeana had established effective Voice control over most of those around herT. he child had learned it on her oAwnn. intermediate level Voice for a limited audience. She was a naturaTl.uek and Cania and the others were frightened by SheReaenliag.ious fantasies
contributed to that fear, of course, but Sheeana's mastery of Voice pitch and tone displayed an admirable unconscious selectivity.
The indicated response to Sheeana was obvious, Odrade kHneowne.sty. It was a most powerful lure and it served more than one purpose.
"I am here to teach you many things," Odrade said, "but I do not do this at your command."
"Everyone obeys me!S"heeana said.

She's barely into puberty and already at Aristocrat level, Odrade thGouogdhst.of our own making! What can she become?
Sheeana slipped out of her chair and stood looking up at Odrade with a questioning exTphreession. child's eyes were on a level with Odrade's shouldSehrese.ana was going to be tall, a commanding presence. If she survived.
"You answer some of my questions but you won't answer others," Sheean"aYosuaids.aid you'd been waiting for me but you won't explaWinh. y won't you obey me?"
"A foolish question, child."
"Why do you keep calling me child?"
"Are you not a child?"
"I menstruate."
"But you're still a child." "The priests obey me." "They're afraid of you." "You aren't?"
"No, I'm not."

"Good!It gets tiresome when people only fear you."
"The priests think you come from God."
"Don't you think that?"
"Why should IW? e --" Odrade broke off as an acolyte messenger entTerheed.acolyte's fingers danced in silent communication": Four priests listenedT. hey have been killedA. ll were minions of Tuek."
Odrade waved the messenger away.
"She talks with her fingers," Sheeana s"aHido.w does she do that?"
"You ask too many of the wrong questions, cAhnildd. you haven't told me why I should consider you an instrument of God."
"Shaitan spares meI. walk on the desert and when Shaitan comes, I talk to him."
"Why do you call him Shaitan instead of Shai-hulud?"
"Everybody asks that same stupid question!"
"Then give me your stupid answer."
The sullen expression returned to Sheeana's f"aIcte's.
because of how we met."

"And how did you meet?"
Sheeana tipped her head to one side and looked up at Odrade for a mome"Tnth, at'sena: secret."
"And you know how to keep secrets?"
Sheeana straightened and nodded but Odrade saw uncertainty in the moveTmhenct.hild knew when she was being led into an impossible position!
"Excellent!"Odrade said."The keeping of secrets is one of a Reverend Mother's most essential teachings. I'm glad we won't have to bother with that one."
"But I want to learn everything!"
Such petulance in her voicVee. ry poor emotional control.
"You must teach me everything!" Sheeana insisted.
Time for the whip, Odrade thougShhte. eana had spoken and postured sufficiently that even a fifth-grade acolyte could feel confident of controlling her now.
Using the full power of Voice, Odrade s"aDido:n't take that tone with me, chiNldo!t if you wish to learn anything!"
Sheeana went rigidS.he was more than a minute absorbing what had happened to her and then relaxing. Presently, she smiled, a warm and open express"ioOnh., I'm so glad you camIet'!s been so boring
lately."

Nothing surpasses the complexity of the human mind.
-Leto II:Dar-es-Balat Records
The Gammu night, often quickly foreboding in this latitude, was almost two hourGs aathweariyn.g
clouds shadowed the KeepA. t Lucilla's command, Duncan had returned to the courtyard for an intense session of self-directed practice.
Lucilla observed from the parapet where she had first watched him.
Duncan moved in the tumbling twists of the Bene Gesserit eightfold combat, hurling his body across the grass, rolling, flipping himself from side to side, darting up and then down.
It was a fine display of random dodging, Lucilla thoSuhgehtc.ould see no predictable pattern in his
movements and the speed was dazzlinHge. potential of his prana-bindu endowment.
was almost sixteen SY and already coming onto the platform
The carefully controlled movements of his training exercises revealed so Hmeuchha!d responded
quickly when she first ordered these evening sessioTnhse.
initial step of her instructions from Taraza had
been accomplished.The ghola loved herN. o doubt of iSt.he was mother-fixed to himA.nd it had been

accomplished without seriously weakening him, although Teg's anxieties had been aroused.
My shadow is on this ghola but he is not a supplicant nor a dependent follower, she reassured herself. Teg worries about it for no reason.
Just that morning, she had told Teg, "Wherever his strengths dictate, he continues to express himself freely."
Teg should see him right now, she thouTghhets.e new practice movements were largely Duncan's own creation.
Lucilla suppressed a gasp of appreciation at a particularly nimble leap, which took Duncan almost to the center of the courtyardT.he ghola was developing a nerve-muscle equilibrium that, given time, might be matched to a psychological equilibrium at least equal to TTehge's.cultural impact of such an achievement
would be awesomeL. ook at all those who gave instinctive allegiance to Teg and, through Teg, to the
Sisterhood.
We have the Tyrant to thank for much of that, she thought.
Before Leto II, no widespread system of cultural adjustments had ever endured long enough to approach the balance that the Bene Gesserit held as an Iitdewaal.s this equilibrium -- "flowing along the blade of a sword" -- that fascinated LucIitllaw. as why she lent herself so unreservedly to a project whose total design she did not know, but which demanded of her a performance that instinct labeled repugnant.
Duncan is so young!
What the Sisterhood required of her next had been spelled out explicitly bythTearSaezxau: al Imprint.
Only that morning, Lucilla had posed naked before her mirror, forming the attitudes and motions of face and body that she knew she would use to obey Taraza's oInrdearrsti.ficial repose, Lucilla had seen her
own face appear like that of a prehistoric love goddess -- opulent with flesh and the promise of softness into which an aroused male might hurl himself.

In her education, Lucilla had seen ancient statues from the First Times, little stone figures of human females with wide hips and sagging breasts that assured abundance for a sucklingAitnfwainllt,. Lucilla
could produce a youthful simulation of that ancient form.
In the courtyard below Lucilla, Duncan paused a moment and appeared to be thinking out his next movements. Presently, he nodded to himself, leaped high and twisted in the air, landing like a springbok on one leg, which kicked him sideways into gyrations more akin to dance than to combat.
Lucilla drew her mouth into a tight line of resolution.
Sexual Imprint.
The secret of sex was no secret at all, she thTouheghrto. ots were attached to life itsTelhf.is explained,
of course, why her first command-seduction for the Sisterhood had planted a male face in her memory. The Breeding Mistress had told her to expect this and not be alarmeBdubt yLuitc.illa had realized then
that the Sexual Imprint was a two-edged swYorodu.
might learn to flow along the edge of the blade but
you could be cut by Sito.metimes, when that male face of her first command-seduction returned unbidden into her mind, Lucilla felt confounded bTyhiet. memory came so frequently at the peak of an intimate moment, forcing her to great efforts of concealment.
"You are strengthened thus," the Breeding Mistresses reassured her.
Still, there were times when she felt that she had trivialized something better left a mystery.
A feeling of sourness at what she must do swept over LTuhceislela.evenings when she observed Duncan's training sessions had been her favorite times eachTdhaey.lad's muscular development showed such definite progress -- moving in the growth of sensitive muscle and nerve links -- all of the prana-bindu marvels for which the Sisterhood was so famTohues. next step was almost upon her, though, and she no longer could sink into watchful appreciation of her charge.
Miles Teg would come out presently, she knDeuwn.can's training would move again into the practice room with its more deadly weapons.

Teg.
Once more, Lucilla wondered about hSimhe.
had felt herself more than once attracted to him in a
particular way that she recognized immediateAlyn.
Imprinter enjoyed some latitude in selecting her own
breeding partners, provided she had no prior commitments nor contrary oTrdeegrsw. as old but his
records suggested he might still be virSilhee. learned to deal with that.
Why not?she had asked herself.
would not be able to keep the child, of course, but she had
Her plan had been simple in the extreCmome.plete the Imprint on the ghola and then, registering her intent with Taraza, conceive a child by the redoubtable MilesPrTaecgti.cal introductory seduction had
been indicated, but Teg had not succumbHedis. dressing chamber off the Weapons Room.
Mentat cynicism stopped her one afternoon in the
"My breeding days are over, LuciTllha.e Sisterhood should be satisfied with what I already have given."
Teg, clad only in black exercise leotards, finished wiping his sweaty face with a towel and dropped the towel into a hamperH. e spoke without looking at h"eWr: ould you please leave me now?"
So he saw through her overtures!
She should have anticipated that, Teg being who heLwucaisll.a knew she might still seduce hNimo. Reverend Mother of her training should fail, not even with a Mentat of Teg's obvious powers.
Lucilla stood there a moment undecided, her mind automatically planning how to circumvent this
preliminary rejection.Something stopped herN.
ot anger at the rejection, not the remote possibility that
he might indeed be proof against her wPilerisd.e and its possible fall (there was always that possibility)
had little to do with it.
Dignity.

There was a quiet dignity in Teg and she had the certain knowledge of what his courage and prowess had already given to the SisterhooNdo. t quite sure of her motives, Lucilla turned away from him.
Possibly it was the underlying gratitude that the Sisterhood felt towardTohimse.duce Teg now would be demeaning, not only of him but of hersSehlfe. could not bring herself to such an action, not without a direct order from a superior.
As she stood on the parapet, some of these memories clouded her Tsheenrseesw. as movement in the
shadows at the doorway from the Weapons WTinegg.
could be glimpsed therLe.ucilla took a firmer
grip on her responses and focused on DuncTahne.
ghola had stopped his controlled tumbling across the
lawn. He stood quietly, breathing deeply, his attention aimed upward at LuSchiellas.aw perspiration on his face and in dark blotchings on his light blue singlesuit.
Leaning over the parapet, Lucilla called down to "hTihma:t was very good, DuncaTn.omorrow, I will begin teaching you more of the foot-fist combinations."
The words came out of her without censoring and she knew their source Tahteyonwcee.re for Teg standing in the shadowed doorway down there, not for the gShhoelaw. as saying to Te"gS: ee! You aren't the only one who teaches him deadly abilities."
Lucilla realized then that Teg had insinuated himself further into her psyche than she should permit.
Grimly, she swung her gaze to the tall figure emerging from the doorway's shDaudnocwasn. running toward the Bashar.
already was
As Lucilla focused on Teg, reaction flashed through her ignited by the most elemental Bene Gesserit responses. The steps of this reaction could be defined lSaotemr:ething wrong!Danger! Teg is not Teg!
In the reactive flash, however, none of this took separate Sfohremr.esponded, hurling all the volume of
Voice she could muster:
"Duncan!Down!"
Duncan dropped flat on the grass, his attention riveted to the Teg-figure emerging from the Weapons
Wing. There was a field-model lasgun in the man's hands.
Face Dancer! Lucilla thoughOt.nly hyperalertness revealed him to hOern. e of the new ones!

"Face Dancer!" Lucilla shouted.
Duncan kicked himself sideways and leaped up, twisting flat in the air at least a meter off the ground.
The speed of his reaction shocked LuciSllhae.
had not known any human could move that Tfhaest!
lasgun's first bolt cut beneath Duncan as he seemed to float in the air.
Lucilla jumped to the parapet and dropped to a handhold on the window ledge of the next lower level. Before she was stopped, her right hand shot out and found the protruding rainspout that memory told her was there.Her body arched sideways and she dropped to a window ledge at the nexDteslepveeral.tion
drove her even though she knew she would be too late.
Something crackled on the wall above Shhere. saw a molten line cut toward her as she flung herself to the left, twisting and dropping onto the laHwenr. gaze captured the scene around her in a flashing
deit-grasp as she landed.
Duncan moved toward the attacker, dodging and twisting in a terrifying replay of his practice session. The speed of his movements!
Lucilla saw indecision in the face of the false Teg.
She darted toward the Face Dancer, feeling the creature's thouTgwhots:of them after me!
Failure was inevitable, though, and Lucilla knew it even as shTeheraFna. ce Dancer had only to shift his weapon into full burn at close ranHge could lace the air in front of Nhiomth. ing could penetrate such a defense. As she cast about in her mind, desperately seeking some way to defeat the attacker, she saw red smoke appear on the false Teg's breAastl.ine of red darted upward at an oblique angle through the muscles of the arm holding the lasgTunh.e arm fell away like a piece dropping from a sTtahteue.
shoulder tipped away from the torso in a spout of bTlhoeodf.igure toppled, dissolving into more red smoke and blood spray, crumbling into pieces on the steps, all dark tans and blue-tinged reds.
Lucilla smelled the distinctive Face Dancer pheromones as she stoDppuendc.an came up beside her. He peered past the dead Face Dancer at movement in the hallway.

Another Teg emerged behind the dead oLnuec.illa identified the realityT:eg himself.
"That's the Bashar," Duncan said.
Lucilla experienced a small surge of pleasure that Duncan had learned this identity-lesson hsoowwteoll:
recognize your friends even if you only saw bits of Sthheemp. ointed to the dead Face Danc"eSrm. ell him."
Duncan inhaled". Yes, I have iBt. ut he wasn't a very good coIpys.aw what he was as soon as you did."
Teg emerged into the courtyard carrying a heavy lasgun cradled across his lHefits arrimgh.t hand held a firm grip on the stock and triggHeer. swept his gaze around the courtyard, then focused on Duncan and finally on Lucilla.
"Bring Duncan inside," Teg said.
It was the order of a battlefield commander, depending only on superior knowledge of what should be done in the emergencyL.ucilla obeyed without question.
Duncan did not speak as she led him by the hand past the bloody meat that had been the Face Dancer, then into the Weapons WinOg.nce inside, he glanced back at the sodden heap and a"sWkehdo: let him
in?"
Not:"How did he get in?" she observDedu.ncan already had seen past the inconsequentials to the heart of their problem.
Teg strode ahead of them toward his own quaHrte ss.topped at the door, glanced inside and motioned for Lucilla and Duncan to follow.

In Teg's bedroom there was the thick smell of burned flesh and wisps of smoke dominated by the charred barbecue odor that Lucilla so detestceodo: ked human meat!A figure in one of Teg's uniforms
lay face down on the floor where it had fallen off his bed.
Teg rolled the figure over with one boot toe, exposing thsetafraincge: eyes, a rictus griLn.ucilla
recognized one of the perimeter guards, one of those who had come to the Keep with Schwangyu, so the
Keep's records said.
"Their point man," Teg sa"idP.atrin took care of him and we put one of my uniforms oItn whaims . enough to fool the Face Dancers because we didn't let them see the face before we Tahtteayckdeidn't have time to make a memory print."
"You know about that?L"ucilla was startled.
"Bellonda briefed me thoroughly!"
Abruptly, Lucilla saw the further significance of what TegShsaeids.uppressed a swift flare of anger. "How did you let one of them get into the courtyard?"
His voice mild, Teg sa"idT:here was rather urgent activity in heIreh.ad to make a choice, which turned out to be the right one."
She did not try to hide her an"gTehre.
choice to let Duncan fend for himself?"
"To leave him in your care or let other attackers get themselves firmly entrenchePdatirninsidaen. d I had a bad time clearing this winWg.e had our hands fullT."eg glanced at Duncan".He came through very well, thanks to our training."
"That . . . that thing almost got him!"

"Lucilla!"Teg shook his head".I had it timedY. ou two could last at least a minute out tIhekrnee. w you would throw yourself in that thing's path and sacrifice yourself to save DAunoctahne.r twenty seconds."
At Teg's words, Duncan turned a shiny-eyed look on Lu"Wcilolau.ld you have done that?"
When Lucilla did not respond, Teg s"aSidh:e would have done tha"t.
Lucilla did not deny Siht.e remembered now, though, the incredible speed with which Duncan had moved, the dazzling shifts of his attack.
"Battle decisions," Teg said, looking at Lucilla.
She accepted thisA. s usual, Teg had made the correct choSichee. knew, though, that she would have
to communicate with TarazaT.he prana-bindu accelerations in this ghola went beyond anything she had expected. She stiffened as Teg straightened to full alert, his gaze on the doorway behLinudcillhaer.
whirled.
Schwangyu stood there, Patrin behind her, another heavy lasgun over hiIsts amrmu.zzle, Lucilla noted, was aimed at Schwangyu.
"She insisted," Patrin saiTd.here was an angry set to the old aide's Tfahcee.deep lines beside his mouth pointed downward.
"There's a trail of bodies clear out to the south pillbox," Schwangy"uYosuarid.people won't let me out
there to inspectI.
command you to countermand those orders immediately."
"Not until my clean-up crews are finished," Teg said.
"They're still killing people out theIrec!an hear it!A" She glared at Lucilla.
venomous edge had entered Schwangyu's voice.

"We're also questioning people out there," Teg said.
Schwangyu shifted her glare to T"eIgf. it's too dangerous here then we will take the . . . the child to my quarters. Now!"
"We will not do that," Teg sHaiids. tone was low-key but positive.
Schwangyu stiffened with displeasurPea. trin's knuckles went white on the stock of his lasgun. Schwangyu swung her gaze past the gun and up to Lucilla's appraisingThsetartew. o women looked into each other's eyes.
Teg allowed the moment to hold for a beat, then"Lsuacidil:la, take Duncan into my sitting roomH.e" nodded toward a door behind him.
Lucilla obeyed, pointedly keeping her body between Schwangyu and Duncan the whole time. Once behind the closed door, Duncan s"aSidh:e almost called me 'the gholSah.'e's really upset." "Schwangyu has let several things slip past her guard," Lucilla said.
She glanced around Teg's sitting room, her first view of this part of his thqeuaBrtearssh:ar's inner
sanctum. It reminded her of her own quarters -- that same mixture of orderliness and casual disarray. Reading spools lay in a clutter on a small table beside an old-fashioned chair upholstered in Tshoeft gray. spool reader had been swung aside as though its user had just stepped out for a moment, intending to return soon.A Bashar's black uniform jacket lay across a nearby hard chair with sewing material in a
small open box atop
Tit.he jacket's cuff showed a carefully patched hole.
So he does his own mending.

This was an aspect of the famous Miles Teg she had not exIfpeschte .had thought about it, she would have said Patrin would absorb such chores.
"Schwangyu let the attackers in, didn't she?" Duncan asked.
"Her people did.L"ucilla did not hide her ang"eSr.he has gone too faAr. pact with the Tleilaxu!"
"Will Patrin kill her?"
"I don't know nor do I care!"
Outside the door, Schwangyu spoke with anger, her voice loud and quit"eAcrleeawr:e just going to wait here, Bashar?"
"You can leave anytime you wisThh."at was Teg.
"But I can't enter the south tunnel!"
Schwangyu sounded petulanLt.ucilla knew it for something the old woman did deliberWatehlya.t was
she planning?Teg must be very cautious noHwe.
had been clever out there, revealing for Lucilla the
gaps in Schwangyu's control, but they had not plumbed Schwangyu's resoLurucceisll.a wondered if she should leave Duncan here and return to Teg's side.
Teg said": You can go now but I advise you not to return to your quarters."
"And why not?S"chwangyu sounded surprised, really surprised and not covering it well.
"One moment," Teg said.

Lucilla became aware of shouting at a distaAnceh.eavy thumping explosion sounded from nearby and then another one more distanDt.ust sifted from the cornice above the door to Teg's sitting room.
"What was that?S"chwangyu again, her voice overly loud.
Lucilla moved to place herself between Duncan and the wall to the hallway.
Duncan stared at the door, his body poised for defense.
"That first blast was what I expected them toTedgo."again."The second, I fear, was what they did not expect."
A whistle piped nearby loud enough to cover something Schwangyu said.
"That's it Bashar!P"atrin.
"What is happening?S"chwangyu demanded.
"The first explosion, dear Reverend Mother, was your quarters being destroyed by our aTtthacekers. second explosion was us destroying the attackers."
"I just got the signal, BashaPra!"trin again."We got them alTl.hey came down by floater from the no-ship just as you expected."
"The ship?"Teg's voice was full of angry demand.
"Destroyed the instant it came through the space Nfoolds.urvivors."

"You fools!"Schwangyu screamed."Do you know what you've done?"
"I carried out my orders to protect that boy from any attack," T"eBgysathide. way, weren't you supposed to be in your quarters at this hour?"
"What?"
"They were after you when they blasted your quartTehrse. Tleilaxu are very dangerous, Reverend
Mother."
"I don't believe you!"
"I suggest you go looPka.trin, let her pass."
As she listened, Lucilla heard the unspoken argumTehnet. Mentat Bashar had been trusted here more
than a Reverend Mother and Schwangyu knewShite.
would be desperateT. hat was clever, suggesting
her quarters had been destroyeSd.he might not believe it, thougFho.remost in Schwangyu's mind now would be the realization that both Teg and Lucilla recognized her complicity in theThaettraeckw. as no telling how many others were aware of tPhaistr.in knew, of course.
Duncan stared at the closed door, his head tipped slightly to thTehreirgehtw. as a curious expression on his face, as though he saw through the door and actually watched the people out there.
Schwangyu spoke, the most careful control in her v"oIicdeo. n't believe my quarters were destroyed." She knew Lucilla was listening.
"There is only one way to make sure," Teg said.

Clever!Lucilla thought.Schwangyu could not make a decision until she was certain whether the Tleilaxu had acted treacherously.
"You will wait here for me, thTehna!t's an order!"Lucilla heard the swish of Schwangyu's robes as the
Reverend Mother departed.
Very bad emotional control, Lucilla thougWhth. at this revealed about Teg, though, was equally disturbing. He did it to heTr!eg had kept a Reverend Mother off balance.
The door in front of Duncan swung oTpegn. stood there, one hand on the la"tQchu.ick!" Teg said. "We must be out of the Keep before she returns."
"Out of the Keep?L"ucilla did not hide her shock. "Quick, I sayP!atrin has prepared a way for us." "But I must --"
"You must nothingC! ome as you areF.ollow me or we will be forced to take you."
"Do you really think you could take aL.uc.il.l"a broke offT. his was a new Teg in front of her and she knew he would not have made such a threat unless he was prepared to carry it out.
"Very well," she saiSd.he took Duncan's hand and followed Teg out of his quarters.
Patrin stood in the hallway looking to his "riSghhet.'s gone," the old man saHide. know what to do, Bashar?"
"Pat!"
looked at Teg".You

Lucilla had never before heard Teg use the batman's diminutive name.
Patrin grinned, a gleaming full-toothed sm"ilSeo. rry, Bashar.The excitement, you knowI.'ll leave you to it, then.I have my part to play."
Teg waved Lucilla and Duncan down the hallway to theShrieghot.beyed and heard Teg close on her heels. Duncan's hand was sweaty in her haHnde. pulled free and strode beside her without looking back.
The suspensor-drop at the end of the hallway was guarded by two of Teg's owHn epenoopdlde.ed to them. "Nobody follows."
They spoke in uniso"nR: ight, Bashar."
Lucilla realized as she entered the drop with Duncan and Teg that she had chosen sides in a dispute
whose workings she did not fully understaSnhde.
could feel the movements of the Sisterhood's politics
like a swift current of water pouring all aroundUhsuera.lly, the movement remained mostly a gentle wave washing the strand, but now she sensed a great destructive surge preparing to thunder its surf upon her.
Duncan spoke as they emerged into the sorting chamber for the south pillbox.
"We should all be armed," he said.
"We will be very soon," Teg s"aAidn.d I hope you're prepared to kill anyone who tries to stop us."

The significant fact is thNiso:
Bene Tleilax female has ever been seen away from the protection of their
core planets.(Face Dancer mules who simulate females do not count in this anTahlyesyis.cannot be breeders.) The Tleilaxu sequester their females to keep them from our hTahnidss.is our primary
deduction. It must also be in the eggs that the Tleilaxu Masters conceal their most essential secrets.
-Bene Gesserit Analysis -- Archives #XOXTM99 ..... 041
"So we meet at last," Taraza said.
She stared across the two meters of open space between their chairs at TylwyHtherWaanfafl.ysts assured her that this man was Tleilaxu Master of MaWstehras.t an elfin little figure he was to hold so much power.The prejudices of appearance must be discarded here, she warned herself.
"Some would not believe this possible," Waff said.
He had a piping little voice, Taraza noted; something else to be measured by different standards.
They sat in the neutrality of a Guild no-ship with Bene Gesserit and Tleilaxu monitors clinging to the Guildship's hull like predatory birds on a carc(aTshs.e Guild had been cravenly anxious to placate the Bene Gesserit."You will pay."The Guild knewP. ayment had been exacted from them before.) The small oval room in which they met was conventionally copper-walled and "spy-pTroaoraf.z"a did not believe
this for an instanSt.he presumed also that the bonds between Guild and Tleilaxu, forged of melange, still existed in full force.

Waff did not try to delude himself about TaTrahzisa. woman was far more dangerous than any Honored Matre. If he killed Taraza, she would be replaced immediately by someone just as dangerous, someone with every essential piece of information possessed by the present Mother Superior.
"We find your new Face Dancers very interesting," Taraza said.
Waff grimaced involuntarilyY. es, far more dangerous than the Honored Matres, who were not yet even blaming the Tleilaxu for the loss of an entire no-ship.
Taraza glanced at the small double-faced digital clock on the low side table at her right, a position where the clock could be read easily by either of tThheme .Waff-side face had been matched to his internal
clock. She noted that the two internal-time readings stood within ten seconds of synchronization at an arbitrary midafternoon.It was one of the niceties of this confrontation where even the positioning and spacing between their chairs had been specified in the arrangements.
The two of them were alone in the rToohme .oval space around them was about six meters in its long dimension, half that in widtTh.hey occupied identical sling chairs of peg-fastened wood, which supported orange fabric; not a bit of metal or other foreign material in either oTfhetheomnl.y other furnishing of the
room was the side table with its cloTchke.
table was a thin black surface of plaz on three spindly
wooden legs.Each of the principals in this meeting had been snooped withEaccahre.had three personal guards outside the room's one hatcTha.raza did not think the Tleilaxu would try a Face Dancer exchange, not under the present circumstances!
"You will pay."
The Tleilaxu, too, were extremely aware of their vulnerability, especially now that they knew a Reverend
Mother could expose the new Face Dancers.
Waff cleared his throa"tI.
do not expect us to reach an agreement," he said.
"Then why did you come?"

"I seek an explanation of this odd message we have received from your Keep oFnorRwakhiast. we supposed to pay?"
are
"I beg of you, Ser Waff, drop these foolish pretenses in thisThreoroema. re facts known to both of us that cannot be avoided."
"Such as?"
"No female of the Bene Tleilax has ever been provided to us for brAeenddinsgh."e thoughtL: et him
sweat that one!It was damnably frustrating not to have a line of Tleilaxu Other Memories for Bene
Gesserit investigation and Waff would know it.
Waff scowled". Surely you don't think I would bargain with the life Hoef -b-r"oke off and shook his head. "I cannot believe this is the payment you would ask."
When Taraza did not respond, Waff s"aTidh:e stupid attack on the Rakian temple was undertaken independently by people on the scenTeh.ey have been punished."
Expected gambit number three, Taraza thought.
She had participated in numerous analysis-briefings before this meeting, if one could call them briefings. Analyses there had been in exceVsse. ry little was known about this Tleilaxu Master, this Tylwyth Waff. Some extremely important optional projections had been arrived at by inference (if these proved to be true). The trouble was that some of the most interesting data came from unreliable sOonuercesas.lient
fact could be depended upon, howevTerh:e elfin figure seated across from her was deadly dangerous.
Waff's gambit number three engaged her attentioItn.was time to responTda.raza produced a knowing smile.
"That is precisely the kind of lie we expected from you," she said.

"Do we begin with insultsH?"e spoke without heat.
"You set the patterLn.et me warn you that you will not be able to deal with us the way you dealt with those whores from the Scattering."
Waff's frozen stare invited Taraza to a daring gaTmhbeit.Sisterhood's deductions, based partly on the disappearance of an Ixian conference ship, were accurMatea!intaining her same smile, she now pursued the optional conjecture line as though it were known"Ifactht.ink," she said, "the whores might like to learn that they have had Face Dancers among them."
Waff suppressed his angeTr.hese damnable witches!They knew!Somehow, they knew!His councillors had been extremely doubtful about this meetiAng.substantial minority had recommended againstTihte.
witches were so . . . so devilAisnhd.
their retaliations!
Time to shift his attention to Gammu, Taraza thoKugehept.
him off balanceS.he said:"Even when you
subvert one of us, as you did with Schwangyu on Gammu, you learn nothing of value!"
Waff flared": She thought to . . . to hire us like a band of asWsasesionns!ly taught her a lesson!"
Ahhhh, his pride shows itself, Taraza thouIgnhtet.resting. The implications of a moral structure behind such pride must be explored.
"You've never really penetrated our ranks," Taraza said.
"And you have never penetrated the TleilaxWu!a"ff managed to produce this boast with passable calm. He needed time to thinkT!o plan!
"Perhaps you would like to know the price of our silence," Taraza sugSgheestetodo. k Waff's stony
glare for agreement and adde"dF: or one thing, you will share with us everything you learn about those
Scattering-spawned whores who call themselves Honored Matres."

Waff shudderedM.
uch had been confirmed by killing the Honored MaTtrhees. sexual intricacies!Only
the strongest psyche could resist entanglement in such ecstaTsihees. potential of this tool was enormous! Must that be shared with these witches?
"Everything you learn from them," Taraza insisted.
"Why do you call them whores?"
"They try to copy us, yet they sell themselves for power and make a mockery of everything we represent. Honored Matres!"
"They outnumber you at least ten thousand to Wonee!have seen the evidence."
"One of us could defeat them all," Taraza said.
Waff sat in silence, studying hWera. s that merely a boasYt?ou could never be sure when it came to the
Bene Gesserit witchesT. hey did thingsT. he dark side of the magic universe belonged to tOhenmm. ore
than one occasion the witches had blunted the ShaWrias. through another trial?
it God's will that the true believers pass
Taraza allowed the silence to continue building its own tenSsihoenss.ensed Waff's turmoiIl.t reminded her of the Sisterhood's preliminary conference in preparation for this meeting witBhelhliomnd. a had asked the question of deceptive simplicity:
"What do we really know about the Tleilaxu?"
Taraza had felt the answer surge into every mind around the Chapter House conferenWcee tambaley:
know for sure only what they want us to know.
None of her analysts could avoid the suspicion that the Tleilaxu had deliberately created a
masking-image of themselvesT. leilaxu intelligence had to be measured against the fact that they alone

controlled the secret of the axlotl tanWksa. s that a lucky accident as some suggestTehde?n why had others been unable to duplicate this accomplishment in all of these millennia?
Gholas.
Were the Tleilaxu using the ghola process for their own kind of immoSrhtaelitcyo?uld see suggestive hints in Waff's actions . . . nothing definite but highly suspicious.
At the Chapter House conferences, Bellonda had returned repeatedly to their basic suspicions, hammering at them": All of it . . . all of it, IEvsearyy!thing in our archives could be garbage fit only for slig fodder!"
This allusion had caused some of the more relaxed Reverend Mothers around the table to shudder.
Sligs!
Those slowly creeping crosses between giant slugs and pigs might provide meat for some of the most expensive meals in their universe but the creatures themselves embodied everything the Sisterhood held repugnant about the TleilaxuS.ligs had been one of the earliest Bene Tleilax barter items, a product grown in their tanks and formed with the helical core from which all life took itTshsaht atphees.Bene
Tleilax made them added to the aura of obscenity around a creature whose multimouths ground incessantly on almost any garbage, passing that garbage swiftly into excrement that not only smelled of the sty but was slimy.
"The sweetest meat this side of heaven," Bellonda had quoted from a CHOAM promotion.
"And it comes from obscenity," Taraza had added.
Obscenity.
Taraza thought of this as she stared at WFoarff.what possible reason might people build around

themselves a mask of obscenityW? aff's flare of pride could not be fitted neatly into that image.
Waff coughed lightly into his haHnde. felt the pressure of the seams where he had concealed two of his potent dart-throwers.The minority among his councillors had advis"eAd:s with the Honored Matres, the winner in this encounter with the Bene Gesserit will be the one who emerges carrying the most secret information about the otherD. eath of the opponent guarantees success."
I might kill her but what then?
Three more full Reverend Mothers waited outside that hDatocuhb. tless Taraza had a signal prepared for the instant the hatch was openWedi.thout that signal, violence and disaster were sure to eHnseue.
did not believe for an instant that even his new Face Dancers could overcome those Reverend Mothers out there.The witches would be on full alTerht.ey would have recognized the nature of Waff's guards.
"We will share," Waff saTidh.e admissions implicit in this hurt him but he knew he had no alternatives. Taraza's brag about relative abilities might be inaccurate because of its extreme claim, but he sensed truth in it nonethelessH. e had no illusions, however, about what would ensue if the Honored Matres learned what had actually happened to their envoTyhs.e missing no-ship could not yet be laid at the Tleilaxu
door. Ships did vanishD. eliberate assassination was another matter altogethTerh.e Honored Matres surely would try to exterminate such a brash opponIfenot.nly as an examplTe.leilaxu returned from the Scattering said as muchH. aving seen Honored Matres, Waff now believed those stories.
Taraza said:"My second agenda item for this meeting is our ghola."
Waff squirmed in the sling chair.
Taraza felt repelled by Waff's tiny eyes, the round face with its snub nose and too-sharp teeth.
"You have been killing our gholas to control the movement of a project in which you have no part other than to provide a single element," Taraza accused.
Waff once more wondered if he must killWhaesr. nothing hidden from these damnable witchTesh?e implication that the Bene Gesserit had a traitor in the Tleilaxu core could not beHigonworelds.e could

they know?
He said:"I assure you, Reverend Mother Superior, that the ghola --
"Assure me of nothingW! e assure ourselves."A look of sadness on her face, Taraza shook her head slowly from side to sid"eA. nd you think we don't know that you sold us damaged goods."
Waff spoke quickly":He meets every requirement imposed by your contract!"
Again, Taraza shook her head from side to Tshidise. diminutive Tleilaxu Master had no idea what he was revealing here". You have buried your own scheme in his psyche," Taraza"Isawida.rn you, Ser
Waff, that if your alterations obstruct our design, we will wound you deeper than you think possible."
Waff passed a hand across his face, feeling the perspiration on his foDreahmenadab. le witches!But she did not know everythingT.he Tleilaxu returned from the Scattering and the Honored Matres she
maligned so bitterly had provided the Tleilaxu with a sexually loaded weapon that would not be shared, no matter the promises made here!
Taraza digested Waff's reactions silently and decided on a bo"lWd hlien.
we captured your Ixian
conference ship, your new Face Dancers did not die quite fast enWoueghle.arned a great deal."
Waff poised himself on the edge of violence.
Bullseye! Taraza thoughTt.he bold lie had opened an avenue of revelation into one of the more outrageous suggestions from her advisorIst. did not seem outrageous no"wT.he Tleilaxu ambition is to produce a complete prana-bindu mimic," her advisor had suggested.
"Complete?"
All of the Sisters at the conference had been astonished by the sugIgtesimtiopnli.ed a form of mental copy going beyond the memory print about which they already knew.

The advisor, Sister Hesterion from Archives, had come armed with a tightly organized list of supporting material. "We already know that what an Ixian Probe does mechanically, the Tleilaxu do with nerves and flesh. The next step is obvious."
Seeing Waff's reaction to her bold lie, Taraza continued to watch him caHre uwllays. dangerous right now.
at his most
A look of rage came over Waff's fTahce. things the witches knew were too dangeroHues! did not
doubt Taraza's claim in the slighteIstm.
ust kill her no matter the consequences toWmee!must kill them
all. Abominations! It's their word and it describes them perfectly.
Taraza correctly interpreted his expressioSnh.e spoke quickly:"You are in absolutely no danger from us as long as you do not injure our desiYgnous.r religion, your way of life, those are your business."
Waff hesitated, not so much from what Taraza said as from the reminder of heWr phoawt eerlse did they know?To continue in a subservient position, thouAghf!ter rejecting such an alliance with the Honored Matres.And with ascendancy so near after all of those milleDnnisima.ay filled himT. he minority among his councillors had been right after"Tahlle: re can be no bond between our peopAlensy. accord with powindah forces is a union based upon evil."
Taraza still sensed the potential violence in Hhiamd. she pushed him too faSrh?e held herself in defensive readiness.An involuntary jerking of his arms alerted Wheer.apons in his sleevesT!leilaxu resources were not to be underestimateHde. r snoopers had detected nothing.
"We know about the weapons you carry," she Asaniodt.her bold lie suggested itsel"fI.f you make a mistake now, the whores will also learn how you use those weapons."
Waff took three shallow breathWs.hen he spoke, he had himself under cont"rWol:e will not be Bene
Gesserit satellites!"
Taraza responded in an even-toned, soothing vo"iIceh: ave not by word or action suggested such a role for you."

She waitedT. here was no change in Waff's expression, no slightest shift in the unfocused glare he directed at her.
"You threaten us," he muttere"dY.ou demand that we share everything we --"
"Share!"she snapped."One does not share with unequal partners."
"And what would you share with us?" he demanded.
She spoke with the chiding tone she would use to a"ScehrildW: aff, ask yourself why you, a ruling member of your oligarchy, came to this meeting?"
His voice still firmly controlled, Waff counte"rAedn:d why did you, Mother Superior of the Bene
Gesserit, come here?"
She spoke mildly":To strengthen us."
"You did not say what you would share," he acc"uYsoeud. still hope for advantage."
Taraza continued to watch him carefuSllhye. me openly what you want," she said.
had seldom sensed such suppressed rage in a hu"mAasnk.
"And you will give it out of your great generosity!"
"I will negotiate."

"Where was the negotiation when you ordered me . . . ORDEREtDo
M-- E!
"You came here firmly resolved to break any agreement we made," sh"eNostaiodn. ce have you tried to negotiate!You sit in front of someone willing to bargain with you and you can only --"
"Bargain?"Waff's memory was hurled back to the Honored Matre's anger at that word.
"I said it," Taraza sa"idB.argain."
Something like a smile twitched the corners of Waff's m"Youotuh. think I have authority to bargain with you?"
"Have a care, Ser Waff," she s"aYido.u have the ultimate authoritIyt. resides in that final ability to destroy an opponent utterlyI. have not threatened that, but you havSeh.e" glanced at his sleeves.
Waff sighedW.
hat a quandaryS. he was powindah!How could one bargain with a powindah?
"We have a problem that cannot be resolved by rational means," Taraza said.
Waff hid his surprisTe.hose were the very words the Honored Matre had uHseedc!ringed inwardly at what that might signifyC. ould Bene Gesserit and Honored Matres make common caTusaera?za's bitterness argued otherwise, but when were the witches to be trusted?
Once more, Waff wondered if he dared sacrifice himself to eliminate thisWwhaittchw. ould it serve? Others among them surely knew what she knIetww. ould only precipitate the disastTerh.ere was that internal dispute among the witches, but, again, that might just be another ruse.
"You ask us to share something," Taraza bloodlines?"
"sWaidh.at if I were to offer you some of our prize human

There was no mistaking how Waff's interest quickened.
He said:"Why should we come to you for such thiWnges?lave our tanks and we can pick up genetic examples almost anywhere."
"Examples of what?s"he asked.
Waff sighedY. ou could never escape that Bene Gesserit incisivenIetssw. as like a sword thruHste. guessed that he had revealed things to her that led naturally to this Tsuhbejedcat.mage already had been
done. She correctly deduced (or spies had told her!) that the wild pool of human genes held little interest for the Tleilaxu with their more sophisticated knowledge of life's innermost lanIgtuangeev.er paid to
underestimate either the Bene Gesserit or the products of their breeding progGroadmsH. imself knew they had produced Muad'dib and the Prophet!
"What more would you demand in exchange for this?" he asked.
"Bargaining at last!" Taraza sa"idW. e both know, of course, that I am offering breeding mothers of the Atreides line."And she thought": Let him hope for thaTt!hey will look like Atreides but they will not be Atreides!"
Waff felt his pulse quickeWn.as this possible?Did she have the slightest idea what the Tleilaxu might learn from an examination of such source material?
"We would want first selection of their offspring," Taraza said.
"No!"
"Alternate first selection, then?"
"Perhaps."

"What do you mean, perhapsS?h"e leaned forwardW.
aff's intensity told her she was on a hot trail.
"What else would you ask of us?"
"Our breeding mothers must have unfettered access to your genetic laboratories."
"Are you mad?W" aff shook his head in exasperatioDni.d she think the Tleilaxu would give away their strongest weapon just like that?
"Then we will accept a fully operational axlotl tank."
Waff merely stared at her. Taraza shrugged". I had to try." "I suppose you did."
Taraza sat back and reviewed what she had learned Whearfef'.s reaction to that Zensunni probe had been interesting."A problem that cannot be resolved by rational meaTnhse." words had produced a
subtle effect on himH. e had seemed to rise out of some place within himself, a questioning look in his eyes. Gods preserve us allI!s Waff a secret Zensunni?
No matter the dangers, this had to be explOorderda.de must be armed with every possible advantage on Rakis.
"Perhaps we have done all we can for now," Taraza"Tshaeidre.
is time to complete our bargaGino.d
alone in His infinite mercy has given us infinite universes where anything may happen."

Waff clapped his hands once without think"inTgh.e gift of surprises is the greatest gift ofhaell!s"aid.
Not just Zensunni, Taraza thougShut.fi also.Sufi! She began to readjust her perspective on the Tleilaxu. How long have they been holding this close to their breasts?
"Time does not count itself," Taraza said, prob"iOngn.e has only to look at any circle."
"Suns are circles," Waff sa"idE.ach universe is a circleH."e held his breath waiting for her response.
"Circles are enclosures," Taraza said, picking the proper response out of her Other Memories. "Whatever encloses and limits must expose itself to the infinite."
Waff raised his hands to show her his palms then dropped his arms intoHihsisshloapu.lders lost some
of their tense upward thrus"tW.
hy did you not say these things at the beginnhineg?a"sked.
I must exercise great care, Taraza cautioned herTsehlef. admissions in Waff's words and manner required careful review.
"What has passed between us reveals nothing unless we speak more openly," s"hEevesnaidth. en, we would only be using words."
Waff studied her face, trying to read in that Bene Gesserit mask some confirmation of the things implied by her words and manneSr.he was powindah, he reminded himseTlfh.e powindah could never be
trusted . . . but if she shared the Great Belief . . .
"Did God not send His Prophet to Rakis, there to test us and tehacehasuks?e"d.
Taraza delved deep into her Other MemorAiesP. rophet on RakisM? uad'dib? No . . . that did not square with either Sufi or Zensunni beliefs in . . .

The Tyrant!She closed her mouth into a grim l"iWne.hat one cannot control one must accept," she said.
"For surely that is God's doing," Waff replied.
Taraza had seen and heard enouTghe Missionaria Protectiva had immersed her in every known religion. Other Memories reinforced this knowledge and filled it Sohuet. felt a great need to get herself safely away from this roomO.drade must be alerted!
"May I make a suggestionT?a"raza asked.
Waff nodded politely.
"Perhaps there is here the substance of a greater bond between us than we imagined,""Ishoeffesraid. you the hospitality of our Keep on Rakis and the services of our commander there."
"An Atreides?" he asked.
"No," Taraza lied".But I will, of course, alert our Breeding Mistresses to your needs."
"And I will assemble the things you require in payment," h"eWshayid.will the bargain be completed on
Rakis?"
"Is that not the proper place?" she as"kWedh.o could be false in the home of the Prophet?"
Waff sat back in his chair, his arms relaxed in hTisaralazpa. certainly knew the proper responseIts. was a revelation he had never expected.

Taraza stood". Each of us listens to God personally," she said.
And together in the kehl, he thouHghet.looked up at her, reminding himself that she was powindah.
None of them could be trusteCda.ution! This woman was, after all, a Bene Gesserit wTithchey. known to create religions for their own enPdosw. indah!
were
Taraza went to the hatch, opened it and gave her security Sshigenatul.rned once more toward Waff
who still sat in his chaHire.
has not penetrated our true design, she thouTghhet. ones we send to him
must be chosen with extreme caHree.
must never suspect that he is part of our bait.
His elfin features composed, Waff stared back at her.
How bland he looked, Taraza thougBhut.t he could be trappedA!n alliance between Sisterhood and
Tleilaxu offered new attractionsB. ut on our terms!
"Until Rakis," she said.
What social inheritances went outward with the ScatterWinge?know those times intimatelWy. e know
both the mental and physical settingTsh.e Lost Ones took with them a consciousness confined mostly to manpower and hardwareT. here was a desperate need for room to expand driven by the myth of Freedom. Most had not learned the deeper lesson of the Tyrant, that violence builds its owTnhelimits.

Scattering was wild and random movement interpreted as growth (expansIitonw)a. s goaded by a profound fear (often unconscious) of stagnation and death.
-The Scattering:Bene Gesserit Analysis (Archives)
Odrade lay full length on her side along the ledge of the bow window, her cheek lightly touching the warm plaz through which she could see the Great Square of HKeerenb.ack was supported by a red
cushion, which smelled of melange as did many things here on BReahkiinsd.
her lay three rooms, small
but efficient and well removed from both Temple and Bene Gesserit TKheisepr.emoval had been a requirement of the Sisterhood's agreement with the priests.
"Sheeana must be guarded more securely," Odrade had insisted.
"She cannot become the ward of only the SisterhoToude!k"
had objected.
"Nor of the priests," Odrade countered.
Six stories below Odrade's bow window vantage, an enormous bazaar spread out in loosely organized confusion, almost filling the Great SquaTreh.e silvered yellow light of a lowering sun washed the scene
with brilliance, picking out the bright colors of canopies, drawing long shadows across the uneven ground. There was a dusty radiance about the light where scattered clumps of people milled about patched umbrellas and the jumbled alignments of wares.
The Great Square was not actually squIatres.tretched out around the bazaar a full kilometer across
from Odrade's window and easily twice that distance to the left and right -- a giant rectangle of packed earth and old stones, which had been churned into bitter dust by daytime shoppers braving the heat in hopes of gaining a bargain then.
As evening advanced, a different sense of activity unfolded beneath Odrade -- more people arriving, a quickening and more frenetic pulse to the movement.

Odrade tipped her head to peer down sharply at the ground near her bSuoimldeingo.f the merchants directly beneath her window had wandered off to their nearby quaTrhteerys. would return soon, after a
meal and short siesta, ready to make full use of those more valuable hours when people in the open could breathe air that did not burn their throats.
Sheeana was overdue, Odrade noteTdh.e priests dared not delay much longTehr.ey would be working frantically now, firing questions at Sheeana, admonishing her to remember that she was God's own emissary to His ChurchR. eminding Sheeana of many contrived allegiances that Odrade would have to ferret out and make humorous before dispatching such trivia into proper perspective.
Odrade arched her back and went through a silent minute of tiny exercises to relieveStheensions. admitted to a certain sympathy for SheeaTnha.e girl's thoughts would be chaos right nSohwe.eana knew little or nothing about what to expect once she came fully under a Reverend Mother's Ttuhteerleagwe.as little doubt that the young mind was cluttered with myths and other misinformation.
As my mind was, Odrade thought.
She could not avoid remembrance at a moment such aHs etrhiism. mediate task was cleaerx: orcism, not only for Sheeana but for herself.
She thought the haunting thoughts of a Reverend Mother in her memOdoriaedse:, age five, the comfortable house on GammaT.he road outside the house is lined with what pass for middle-echelon mansions in the planet's seacoast cities -- low one-story buildings on wide avTehneuehso. uses reach far
down to an outcurving sea frontage where they are much wider than along the side do they become more expansive and less jealous of every square meter.
Oavnelnyueosn.
the sea
Odrade's Bene Gesserit-honed memory rolled through that faraway house, its occupants, the avenue, the playmates.She felt the tightness in her breast that told her such memories were attached to later events.
The Bene Gesserit creche on Al Dhanab's artificial world, one of the original Sisterhood safe planets. (Later, she learned that the Bene Gesserit once considered making the entire planet into a no-chamber. Energy requirements defeated this plan.)
The creche was a cascade of variety to a child from Gammu's comforts and frieBnednsehiGpse.sserit

education included intense physical traininTg.here were regular admonishments that she could not hope
to become a Reverend Mother without passage through much pain and frequent periods of seemingly hopeless muscular exercises.
Some of her companions failed at this stTahgey.
left to become nurses, servants, laborers, casual
breeders. They filled niches of necessity wherever the Sisterhood required tThhemere.
were times when
Odrade felt longingly that this failure might not be a bad life -- fewer responsibilities, lesTsehratgoals. had been before she emerged from Primary Training.
I thought of it as emerging, coming through victorIiocuasm. e out the other side.
Only to find herself immersed in new and harsher demands.
Odrade sat up on her Rakian window ledge and pushed her cushionShaesidtuer.ned her back on the bazaar. It was becoming noisier out theDrea. mned priests!They were stretching delay to its absolute limits!
I must think about my own childhood because that will help me with Sheeana, sheImthmoeudgihate. ly, she sneered at her own weakneAssn. other excuse!
It took some postulants at least fifty years to become Reverend MTohthiserws.as ground into them
during Secondary Traininga:
lesson of patienceO. drade showed an early penchant for deep study.
There was consideration that she might become one of the Bene Gesserit Mentats and probably an Archivist. This idea was dropped on the discovery that her talents lay in a more profitable dSihre tion. was aimed at more sensitive duties in Chapter House.
Security.
That wild talent among the Atreides often had this employCmaernet.with details, that was Odrade's hallmark. She knew her sisters could predict some of her actions simply from their deep knowledge of her. Taraza did it regularlyO. drade had overheard the explanation from Taraza's own lips:
"Odrade's persona is exquisitely reflected in her performance of duties."

There was a joke in Chapter Hou"Wse:here does Odrade go when she's off duSthye?
goes to work."
Chapter House imposed little need to adopt the covering masks that a Reverend Mother used automatically on the OutsideS.he might show emotions momentarily, deal openly with mistakes of her
own and of others, feel sad or bitter or even, sometimes, hMapenpyw.
ere available -- not for breeding,
but for occasional solaceA. ll such Bene Gesserit Chapter House males were quite charming and a few were even sincere in their charTmh.ese few, of course, were much in demand.
Emotions.
Recognition twisted through Odrade's mind.
So I come to it as I always do.
Odrade felt the warm evening sunlight of Rakis on herSbhaeckk.new where her body sat, but her mind opened itself to the coming encounter with Sheeana.
Love!
It would be so easy and so dangerous.
In this moment, she envied the Station Mothers, the ones allowed to live out a lifetime with a mated breeding partner.Miles Teg came from such a uniOonth. er Memories told her how it had been for the Lady Jessica and her DukEe.ven Muad'dib had chosen that form of mating.
It is not for me.
Odrade admitted to a bitter jealousy that she had not been permitted sucWh haatlifwee. re the

compensations of the life into which she had been guided?
"A life without love can be devoted more intensely to the SisteWrheoopdr.ovide our own forms of support to the initiatedD. o not worry about sexual enjoymeTnth.at is available whenever you feel the need."
With charming men!
Since the days of the Lady Jessica, through the Tyrant's times and beyond, many things had changed . . . including the Bene GesseriEt.very Reverend Mother knew it.
A deep sigh shuddered through OdraSdhee. of Sheeana.
I must not love this child!
glanced back over her shoulder at the bazSatialrl. no sign
It was doneO. drade knew she had played out the mnemonic game in its required Bene Gesserit form. She swiveled her body and sat cross-legged on the leItdgwea. s a commanding view of the bazaar and over the rooftops of the city and its bTashino.se few remnant hills out there south of here were, she
knew, the last of what had been the Shield Wall of Dune, the high ramparts of basement rock breached by Muad'dib and his sandworm-mounted legions.
Heat danced from the ground beyond the qanat and canal that protected Keen from intrusions by the new worms.Odrade smiled softlyT. he priests found nothing strange in moating their communities to
keep their Divided God from intruding upon them.
We will worship you, God, but don't botheTr huiss. is our religion, our ciYtyo. u see, we no longer call
this place ArrakeenN. your distance, GodY.
ow, it's KeenT. he planet no longer is Dune or ArraNkiosw. , it's RakisK. ou are the past and the past is an embarrassment.
eep
Odrade stared at those distant hills dancing in the heat shiOmtmheerr. Memories could superimpose the ancient landscape.She knew that past.

If the priests delay bringing Sheeana much longer I will punish them.
Heat still filled the bazaar below her, held there by storage in the ground and the thick walls surrounding the Great SquareT. emperature diffusion was amplified by the smoke of many small fires lighted in the surrounding buildings and among the tent-sheltered congeries of life scattered through the Ibtazhaaadr.
been a hot day, well above thirty-eight degrTeehsi.s building, though, had been a Fish Speaker Center in the old days and was cooled by Ixian machinery with evaporation pools on the roof.
We will be comfortable here.
And they would be as secure as Bene Gesserit protective measures could makReevtheeremn.d
Mothers walked those halls out theTreh.e priests had their representatives in the building but none of those would intrude where Odrade did not want thSehmee.ana would meet with them here on occasion but the occasions would be only as Odrade permitted.
It is happening, Odrade thougThta.raza's plan moves ahead.
Fresh in Odrade's mind was the latest communication from Chapter HWohuaste.that revealed about the Tleilaxu filled Odrade with excitement that she carefully dampTenheisd. Waff, this Tleilaxu Master, would be a fascinating study.
Zensunni!And Sufi!
"A ritual pattern frozen for millennia," Taraza said.
Unspoken in Taraza's report was another messaTgaer.aza is placing her complete confidence in me. Odrade felt strength flow into her from this awareness.
Sheeana is the fulcrumW. e are the leverO. ur strength will come from many sources.

Odrade relaxedS. he knew that Sheeana would not permit the priests to delay much Olodnrgaedre. 's own patience had suffered the assaults of anticipatIitonw. ould be worse for Sheeana.
They had become conspirators, Odrade and SheeaTnhae.
first stepI.t was a marvelous game to
Sheeana. She had been born and bred to distrust priWesthsa.t fun to have an ally at last!
Some form of activity stirred the people directly below Odrade's wiSnhdeowp.eered downward,
curious. Five naked men there had linked arms in a cTirhceleir.
robes and stillsuits lay in a pile at one
side watched over by a dark-skinned young girl in a long brown dress of spiHcerfihbaeirr. was bound by a red rag.
Dancers!
Odrade had seen many reports of this phenomenon but this was her first personal view of it since arriving. The onlookers included a trio of tall Priest Guardians in yellow helmets with higTh hcerests. Guardians wore short robes that freed their legs for action, and each carried a metal-clad staff.
As the dancers circled, the watchful crowd grew predictably reOstdivraed. e knew the patternS.oon, there would be a chanting outcry and a great mHeleeaed.s would be crackedB. lood would flow. People would scream and run aboEutv.entually, it would all subside without official interventSioonm. e would go away weepingS.ome would depart laughingA. nd the Priest Guardians would not interfere.
The pointless insanity of this dance and its consequences had fascinated the Bene Gesserit for centuries. Now it held Odrade's rapt attentioTnh.e devolution of this ritual had been followed by the Missionaria Protectiva. Rakians called it "Dance DiversionT."hey had other names for it, as well, and the most
significant was "Siaynoq."This dance was what had become of the Tyrant's greatest ritual, his moment of sharing with his Fish Speakers.
Odrade recognized and respected the energy in this phenomeNnoonR. everend Mother could fail to see that. The waste of it, however, disturbed hSeurc. h things should be channeled and focusTedhi.s ritual
needed some useful employmenAt. ll it did now was drain away forces that might prove destructive to the priests if left untapped.
A sweet fruit odor wafted into Odrade's nosStrhiles. sniffed and looked at the vents beside her window;

heat from the mob and the warmed earth created an upTdhraisft.carried odors from below through the Ixian vents.She pressed her forehead and nose against the plaz to peer directly dowAnwhhahrd, .the dancers or the mob had tipped over a merchant's Tsthaell.dancers were stomping in the frYuiet.llow
pulp spurted up to their thighs.
Odrade recognized the fruit merchant among the onlookers, a familiar wizened face she had seen several times at his stall beside her building's entranHcee. appeared unconcerned by his loLssi.ke all the others
around him, he concentrated his attention on the danTcehres. five naked men moved with a disjointed
high lift of their feet, an unrhythmic and seemingly uncoordinated display, which came around periodically
to a repeated pattern -- three of the dancers with both feet on the ground and the other two held aloft by their partners.
Odrade recognized iTt.his was related to the ancient Fremen way of sandwalTkhinisg. curious dance was a fossil with roots in the need to move without signaling your presence to a worm.
People began to crowd nearer the dancers out of the bazaar's great rectangle, hopping upward like children's toys to raise their eyes above the throng for a glimpse of the five naked men.
Odrade saw Sheeana's escort then, movement far off to the right where a wide avenue entered the square. Animal-track symbols on a building there said the wide avenue was God'sHiWstoaryic. al
awareness said the avenue had been Leto II's route into the city from his high-walled Sareer far off to the south. With a care for details, one could still discern some of the forms and patterns that had been the Tyrant's city of Onn, the festival center built around the more ancient city of AOrrnankehenad.
obliterated many marks of Arrakeen but some avenues persisoemd:e buildings were too useful to replace. Buildings inevitably defined streets.
Sheeana's escort came to a stop where the avenue debouched into the Ybealzloaawr-.helmeted
Guardians probed ahead, clearing a path with their staTvhees. guards were talWl: hen grounded, the
thick, two-meter staff would come only to the shoulders of the shortest amongEvtehnemin.
the most
disordered crowd you could not miss a Priest Guardian, but Sheeana's protectors were the tallest of the tall.
They were in motion once more leading their party toward OTdhraedire.robes swung open at each
stride revealing the slick gray of the best stillsTuhitesy. vee which skirted the thicker clusters of stalls.
walked straight ahead, fifteen of them in a shallow
A loose band of priestesses with Sheeana at their center marched behind theOgduraddes.caught

glimpses of Sheeana's distinctive figure, that sun-streaked hair and proudly upthrust face, within her escort. It was the yellow-helmeted Priest Guardians, though, who attracted Odrade's atteTnthieoyn. moved with an arrogance conditioned into them from infaTnhceys. e guards knew they were better than
the ordinary folkA.
nd the ordinary folk reacted predictably by opening a way for Sheeana's party.
It was all done so naturally that Odrade could see the ancient pattern of it as though she watched another ritual dance, which had not changed in millennia.
As she had often done, Odrade thought of herself now as an archeologist, not one who sifted the dusty detritus of the ages but rather a person who focused where the Sisterhood frequently concentrated its awareness: on the ways people carried their past within thTehme. Tyrant's own design was apparent
here. Sheeana's approach was a thing laid down by the God Emperor himself.
Beneath Odrade's window the five naked men continued to dAamncoen. g the onlookers, however,
Odrade saw a new awarenesWs. ithout any concerted turning of heads toward the approaching phalanx of Priest Guardians, the watchers below Odrade knew.
Animals always know when the herders arrive.
Now, the crowd's restiveness produced a quicker puTlhsey.
would not be denied their chaAos!clod
of dirt flew from the throng's outskirts and struck the ground near the dTahnecefrisv.e men did not miss a step in their extended pattern but their speed increTasheed.length of the series between repetitions spoke of remarkable memories.
Another clod of dirt flew from the crowd and struck a dancer's shNoounldeero.f the five men faltered.
The crowd began to scream and chSanotm. e shouted cursesT. he chanting became a hand-clapping intrusion onto the dancers' movements.
Still, the pattern did not change.
The mob's chanting became a harsh rhythm, repeated shouts that echoed against the Great Square's wails. They were trying to break the dancers' pattOerdnr.ade sensed a profound importance in the scene

below her.
Sheeana's party had come more than halfway across the bTazhaeayr. moved through the wider lanes
between stalls and turned now directly toward OdraTdhee.
crowd was at its densest about fifty meters
ahead of the Priest GuardianTs.he Guardians moved at a steady pace, disdainful of those who scurried aside. Under the yellow helmets, eyes were fixed straight ahead, staring over theNomt oobn. e of the
advancing Guardians gave any outward sign that he saw mob or dancers or any other barrier that might impede him.
The mob stopped its chanting abruptly as though an invisible conductor had waved his hand for silence. The five men continued to dancTeh.e silence below Odrade was charged with a power that made her
neck hairs stand upD. irectly below Odrade, the three Priest Guardians among the onlookers turned as one man and moved out of view into her building.
Deep within the crowd, a woman shouted a curse.
The dancers gave no sign that they heard.
The mob crowded forward, diminishing the space around the dancers by at leTashte hgailrfl. who guarded the dancers' stillsuits and robes no longer was visible.
Onward, Sheeana's phalanx marched, the priestesses and their young charge directly behind.
Violence erupted off to Odrade's rigPheto. ple there began striking each othMer.ore missiles arced toward the five dancing meTn.he mob resumed its chant in a quicker beat.
At the same time, the rear of the crowd parted for the GuWardaitacnhse.rs there did not take their attention from the dancers, did not pause in their contributions to the growing chaos, but a way was opened through them.
Absolutely captivated, Odrade stared downwarMd.any things occurred simultaneouslyth: e melee, the
people cursing and striking each other, the continuing chant, the implacable advance of the Guardians.

Within the shield of priestesses, Sheeana could be seen darting her gaze from side to side, trying to see the excitement around her.
Some within the crowd produced clubs and struck out at the people around them, but nobody threatened the Guardians or any other member of Sheeana's party.
The dancers continued to prance within a tightening circle of waEtcvheerryso. ne crowded close against
Odrade's building, forcing her to press her head against the plaz and peer at a sharp angle downward.
The Guardians leading Sheeana's party advanced through a widening lane amidst thisThcehaos. priestesses looked neither left nor rigYhte. llow-helmeted Guardians stared straight ahead.
Disdain was too feeble a word for this performance, Odrade deAcinddedi.t was not correct to say that the swirling mob ignored the incoming paErtyac. h was aware of the other but they existed in separate worlds, observing the strict rules of that separatOionnl.y Sheeana ignored the secret protocol, hopping upward to try for a glimpse past the bodies shielding her.
Directly beneath Odrade, the mob surged forwTarhde.
dancers were overwhelmed by the crush, swept
aside like ships caught in a gigantic waOvder.ade saw spots of naked flesh being pummeled and thrust from hand to hand through the screaming chOaonsl.y by the most intense concentration could Odrade separate the sounds being carried up to her.
It was madness'!
None of the dancers resisteWd.ere they being killedW? as it a sacrificeT?he Sisterhood's analyses did not even begin to touch this actuality.
Yellow helmets moved aside beneath Odrade, opening a way for Sheeana and her priestesses to pass into the building, then the Guardians closed ranTkhse.y turned and formed a protective arc around the building's entrance.They held their staves horizontally and overlapped at waist height.

The chaos beyond them began to subsNidoen. e of the dancers was visible but there were casualties, people sprawled on the ground, others staggeriBnglo. ody heads could be seen.
Sheeana and the priestesses were out of Odrade's view in the buOilddriandge. sort out what she had just witnessed.
Incredible.
sat back and tried to
Absolutely none of the Sisterhood's accounts or holophoto records captured thisPtahritngo!f it was the smells -- dust, sweat, an intense concentration of human pheromOondersa.de took a deep breatSh.he
felt herself trembling insideT.he mob had become individuals who moved out into the bSazhaears.aw weepers. Some cursed.Some laughed.
The door behind Odrade burst opSehne. eana entered laughingO. drade whirled and glimpsed her own guards and some of the priestesses in the hallway before Sheeana closed the door.
The girl's dark brown eyes glittered with excitemHeenrt. narrow face, already beginning to soften with the curves she would display as an adult, was tense with suppressed emThoetiotne.nsion dissolved as
she focused on Odrade.
Very good, Odrade thought, as she observed Ltheisss.on one of the bonding already has begun.
"You saw the dancers?" Sheeana demanded, whirling and skipping across the floor to stop in front of Odrade. "Weren't they beautiful?I think they're so beautifuCl!ania didn't want me to looSkh.e says it's dangerous for me to take part in SiaynBouqt. I don't careS!haitan would never eat those dancers!"
With a sudden outflowing awareness, which she had experienced before only during the spice agony, Odrade saw through to the total pattern of what she had just witnessed in the GreaItt Shqaudare.
needed only Sheeana's words and presence to make the thing clear.
A language!

Deep within the collective awareness of these people they carried, all unconsciously, a language that could say things to them they did not want toThheeard. ancers spoke iSt.heeana spoke itT. he thing
was composed of voice tones and movements and pheromones, a complex and subtle combination that had evolved the way all languages evolved.
Out of necessity.
Odrade grinned at the happy girl standing in front oNfohwe,r.Odrade knew how to trap the Tleilaxu. Now, she knew more of Taraza's design.
I must accompany Sheeana into the desert at the first opporWtuneitwy.ill wait only for the arrival of this
Tleilaxu Master, this WaffW. e will take him with us!
Liberty and Freedom are complex concepTths.ey go back to religious ideas of Free Will and are related to the Ruler Mystique implicit in absolute monarWchitsh. out absolute monarchs patterned after
the Old Gods and ruling by the grace of a belief in religious indulgence, Liberty and Freedom would never have gained their present meaninTgh.ese ideals owe their very existence to past examples of oppression. And the forces that maintain such ideas will erode unless renewed by dramatic teaching or new oppressions.This is the most basic key to my life.
-Leto II, God Emperor of DuDnea:r-es-Balat Records

Some thirty kilometers into the thick forest northeast of the Gammu Keep, Teg kept them waiting under the cover of a life-shield blanket until the sun dipped behind the high ground to the west.
"Tonight, we go a new direction," he said.
For three nights now, he had led them through tree-enclosed darkness with a masterful demonstration of
Mentat Memory, each step directed precisely along the track that Patrin had laid out for him.
"I'm stiff from too much sitting," Lucilla complai"nAendd.
it's going to be another cold night."
Teg folded the life-shield blanket and put it in the top of h"iYs opuactkw. o can start moving around a bit," he said". But we won't leave here until full dark."
Teg sat up with his back against the bole of a thickly branched conifer, looking out from the deeper shadows as Lucilla and Duncan moved into the glTahde. two of them stood there a moment, shivering
as the last of the day's warmth fled into the night'sYcehs,illi.t would be cold again tonight, Teg thought, but they would have little chance to think about that.
The unexpected.
Schwangyu would never expect them still to be this close to the Keep and on foot.
Taraza should have been more emphatic in her warnings about Schwangyu, Teg tShcohuwghant.gyu's violent and open disobedience of a Mother Superior defied tradMitioent.at logic would not accept the situation without more data.
His memory brought up a saying from school days, one of those warning aphorisms by which a Mentat was supposed to rein in his logic.

"Given a trail of logic, occam's razor laid out with impeccable detail, the Mentat may follow such logic to personal disaster."
So logic was known to fail.
He thought back to Taraza's behavior on the Guildship and immediately afteSrhwearwd.anted me to know I would be completely on my oIwmn.ust see the problem in my own way, not in her way.
So the threat from Schwangyu had to be a real threat that he discovered and faced and solved on his own.
Taraza had not known what would happen to Patrin because of all this.
Taraza did not really care what happened to POatrint.o meO.
r to Lucilla.
But what about the ghola?
Taraza must care!
It was not logical that she wouldTe. g. d. umped this line of reasoninTga.raza did not want him to act logically. She wanted him to do exactly what he was doing, what he had always done in the tight spots.
The unexpected.
So there was a species of logic to all of this but it kicked the performers out of the nest into chaos.
From which we must make our own order.

Grief welled up in his consciousnePsast.rin! Damn you, Patrin!You knew and I didnW't! hat will I do without you?
Teg could almost hear the old aide's response, that stiffly formal voice Patrin always used when he was chiding his commander.
"You will do your best, Bashar."
The most coldly progressive reasoning said Teg would never again see Patrin in the flesh nor hear the old man's actual voiceS. till . . . the voice remainTedh.e person persisted in memory.
"Shouldn't we be going?"
It was Lucilla, standing close in front of his position beneath tDheuntcreaen. them had shouldered their packs.
waited beside herB. oth of
While he sat thinking, night had falRleinc.h starlight created vague shadows in the glaTdeeg. lifted
himself to his feet, took his pack and, bending to avoid the low branches, emerged into Dthuencgalnade. helped Teg shoulder his pack.
"Schwangyu will consider this eventually," Lucilla s"aHide.r searchers will come after us heYreo.u know it."
"Not until they have followed out the false trail and found the end of it," "TCeogmes.a"id.
He led the way westward through an opening in the trees.
Three nights he had led them along what he called "Patrin's memoryA-psathhe." walked on this fourth

night, Teg berated himself for not projecting the logical consequences of Patrin's behavior.
I understood the depths of his loyalty but I did not project that loyalty into a most obvWioues result. were together so many years I thought I knew his mind as I knew mPaytrionw, nd.amn you!There was
no need for you to die!
Teg admitted to himself then that there had been aPnatereind. had seen iTt.he Mentat had not
permitted himself to see
Lit.ogic could move just as blindly as any other faculty.
As the Bene Gesserit often said and demonstrated.
So we walkS.chwangyu does not expect this.
Teg was forced to admit that walking the wild places of Gammu created a whole new perspective for him. This entire region had been allowed to overgrow with plant life during the Famine Times and the Scattering. It had been replanted later but mostly as a random wildeSrneecsrse.t trails and private
landmarks guided today's accessT.eg imagined Patrin as a youth learning this region -- that rocky butte visible in starlight through a gap in the trees, that spiked promontory, these lanes through giant trees.
"They will expect us to make a run for a no-ship, " he and Patrin had agreed, fleshing ou"tThtheeir plan. decoy must take the searchers in that direction."
Patrin had not said that he would be the decoy.
Teg swallowed past a lump in his throat.
Duncan could not be protected in the Keep, he justified himself.
That was true.

Lucilla had jittered through their first day under the life-shield that protected them from discovery by the instruments of aerial searchers.
"We must get word to Taraza!"
"When we can."
"What if something happens to yoIum? ust know all of your escape plan."
"If something happens to me, you will not be able to follow PatrinT'hs epreathis.n't time to put it in your memory."
Duncan took little part in the conversation thatHdeayw. atched them silently or dozed, awakening fitful and with an angry look in his eyes.
On the second day under the shielding blanket, Duncan suddenly demanded to kill me?"
"To frustrate the Sisterhood's plan for you," Teg said.
"oWf Thyegd: o they want
Duncan glared at Lucill"aW.
hat is that plan?"
When Lucilla did not answer, Duncan s"aSidh:e knows.She knows because I'm supposed to depend on her.I'm supposed to love her!"
Teg thought Lucilla concealed her dismay quite wOeblvl.iously, her plans for the ghola had fallen into disarray, all of the sequencing thrown out of joint by this flight.

Duncan's behavior revealed another possibiliWty:as the ghola a latent TruthsayeWr?hat additional powers had been bred into this ghola by the sly Tleilaxu?
At their second nightfall in the wilderness, Lucilla was full of accus"aTtaiornazs.a ordered you to restore his original memories!How can you do that out here?"
"When we reach sanctuary."
A silent and acutely alert Duncan accompanied them that Tnhigehret. was a new vitality in hHime. had heard!
Nothing must harm Teg, Duncan thougWhth. erever and whatever sanctuary might be, Teg must reach it safely. Then, I will know!
Duncan was not sure what he would know but now he fully accepted the pTrihzies
iwnildite. rness must
lead to that goaHl. e recalled staring out at the wild places from the Keep and how he had thought to be free here.That sense of untouched freedom had vanishTedh.e wilderness was only a path to something
more important.
Lucilla, bringing up the rear of this march, forced herself to remain calm, alert, and to accept what she could not changeP. art of her awareness held firmly to Taraza's orders:
"Stay close to the ghola and, when the moment comes, complete your assignment."
One pace at a time, Teg's body measured out the kilomTehtiesrsw. as the fourth nighPta. trin had estimated four nights to reach their goal.
And what a goal!
The emergency escape plan centered on a discovery Patrin had made here as a teenager of one of
Gammu's many mysteriesP. atrin's words came back to Te"gO: n the excuse of a personal

reconnaissance, I returned to the place two days Iatgios. untouchedI. ever been there."
"How can you be sure?"
am still the only person who has
"I took my own precautions when I left Gammu years ago, little things that would be disturbed by another person.Nothing has been moved."
"A Harkonnen no-globe?"
"Very ancient but the chambers are still intact and functioning."
"What about food, water..".
"Everything you could want or need is there, laid down in the nullentropy bins at the core."
Teg and Patrin made their plans, hoping they would never have to use this emergency bolt hole, holding the secret of it close while Patrin replayed for Teg the hidden way to this childhood discovery.
Behind Teg, Lucilla let out a small gasp as she tripped over a root.
I should have warned her, Teg thouDghutn. can obviously was following Teg's lead by souLnudc.illa, just as obviously, had much of her attention on her own private thoughts.
Her facial resemblance to Darwi Odrade was remarkable, Teg told hiBmasceklf.there at the Keep, the two women side by side, he had marked the differences dictated by their differinLgucailglae's youth showed itself in more subcutaneous fat, a rounding of the facialBfulet shth.e voices!Timbre, accent,
tricks of atonal inflection, the common stamp of Bene Gesserit speech manneTrihsemys.would be almost impossible to tell apart in the dark.

Knowing the Bene Gesserit as he did, Teg knew this was no aGcciivdeennt.the Sisterhood's propensity
for doubling and redoubling its prized genetic lines to protect the investment, there had to be a common ancestral source.
Atreides, all of us, he thought.
Taraza had not revealed her design for the ghola, but just being within that design gave Teg access to the growing shape of iNt. o complete pattern, but he could already sense a wholeness there.
Generation after generation, the Sisterhood dealing with the Tleilaxu, buying Idaho gholas, training them here on Gammu, only to have them assassinaAteldl . of that time waiting for the right momItenwt.as like
a terrible game, which had come into frenetic prominence because a girl capable of commanding the worms had appeared on Rakis.
Gammu itself had to be part of the deCsiaglnad. anian marks all over the placDea. nian subtleties piled atop the more brutal ancient waySso.mething other than population had come out of the Danian Sanctuary where the Tyrant's grandmother, the Lady Jessica, had lived out her days.
Teg had seen the overt and covert marks when he made his first reconnaissance tour of Gammu.
Wealth!
The signs were here to be reItadf.lowed around their universe, moving amoebalike to insinuate itself into any place where it could lodTghe.ere was wealth from the Scattering on Gammu, Teg kWneewal.th
so great that few suspected (or could imagine) its size and power.
He stopped walking abruptlPy.hysical patterns in the immediate landscape demanded his full attention. Ahead of them lay an exposed ledge of barren rock, its identifying markers planted in his memory by Patrin. This passage would be one of the more dangerous.
"No caves or heavy growth to conceal Hyoauv.e the blanket ready".

Teg removed the life-shield from his pack and carried it over hOisncaermm. ore he indicated that they should continue.The dark weave of the shield fabric hissed against his body as he moved.
Lucilla was becoming less of a cipher, he thoSuhgeht.aspired to a Lady in front of her nTahmee.Lady Lucilla. No doubt that had a pleasing sound to Ahefre. w such titled Reverend Mothers were appearing now that Major Houses were emerging from the long obscurity imposed by the Tyrant's Golden Path.
Lucilla, the Seductress-Imprinter.
All such women of the Sisterhood were sexual adeTpetsg.'s own mother had educated him in the
workings of that system, sending him to well-selected local women when he was quite young, sensitizing
him to the signs he must observe within himself as well as in the Iwt owmasena.
forbidden training
outside of Chapter House surveillance, but Teg's mother had been one of the Sisterhood's heretics.
"You will have a need for this, Miles."
No doubt there had been some prescience inSher.had armed him against the Imprinters who were trained in orgasmic amplification to fix the unconscious ties -- male to female.
Lucilla and DuncanA. n imprint on her would be an imprint on Odrade.
Teg almost heard the pieces go snick as they locked together in hiTshemninwd.hat of the young
woman on Rakis?Would Lucilla teach the techniques of seduction to her imprinted pupil, arm him to ensnare the one who commanded worms?
Not enough data yet for a Prime Computation.
Teg paused at the end of the dangerous open rock paHsseagpeu.t away the blanket and sealed his
pack while Duncan and Lucilla waited close behTinedg.
heaved a sighT.he blanket always worried him.
It did not have the deflective powers of a full battle shield but if a lasgun's beam hit the thing the consequent quick-fire could be fatal.

Dangerous toys!
This was how Teg always classified such weapons and mechanical deBveitcter. to rely on your wits, your own flesh, and the Five Attitudes of the Bene Gesserit Way as his mother had taught him.
Use the instruments only when they are absolutely required to amplify thtehaftlewsha:s the Bene
Gesserit teaching.
"Why are we stopping?" Lucilla whispered.
"I am listening to the night," Teg said.
Duncan, his face a ghostly blur in the tree-filtered starlight, stared Taet gT'segfe. atures reassured him.
They were lodged somewhere in an unavailable memory, Duncan thoIugchatn.
trust this man.
Lucilla suspected that they were stopping here because Teg's old body demanded respite but she could not bring herself to say thisT.eg said his escape plan included a way of getting Duncan toVReraykis.
well. That was all that mattered for the moment.
She already had figured out that this sanctuary somewhere ahead of them must involve a no-ship or a no-chamber. Nothing else would sufficeS.omehow, Patrin had been the key toTeigt.'s few hints had
revealed that Patrin was the source of their escape route.
Lucilla had been the first to realize how Patrin would have to pay for theiPratersincapwea.s the weakest link.He remained behind where Schwangyu could capture hCimap.ture of the decoy was inevitable. Only a fool would suppose that a Reverend Mother of Schwangyu's powers would be incapable of wresting secrets from a mere mSacleh.wangyu would not even require the heavy
persuasion. The subtleties of Voice and those painful forms of interrogation that remained a Sisterhood monopoly -- the agony box and nerve-node pressures -- those were all she would require.

The form Patrin's loyalty would take had been clear to LucillHa othwenc.ould Teg have been so blind?
Love!
That long, trusting bond between the two mScehnw. angyu would act swiftly and brutalPlya.trin knew it. Teg had not examined his own certain knowledge.
Duncan's voice shocked her from these thoughts.
" 'Thopter!Behind us!"
"Quick!"Teg whipped the blanket from his pack and threw it over Ttheym.huddled in earth-smelling darkness, listening to the ornithopter pass above thIetmd.id not pause or return.
When they felt certain they had not been detected, Teg once more led them up Patrin's memory-track.
"That was a searcher," Lucilla sa"iTdh. ey are beginning to suspect . . . or Patrin . . ."
"Save your energy for walking," Teg snapped.
She did not press hiTmh.ey both knew Patrin was deaAdr.gument over this had been exhausted.
This Mentat goes deep, Lucilla told herself.
Teg was the child of a Reverend Mother and that mother had trained him beyond the permitted limits before the Sisterhood took him into their manipulative haTnhdes. ghola was not the only one here with unknown resources.

Their trail turned back and forth upon itself, a game track climbing a steep hill through thick forest. Starlight did not penetrate the treeOsn. ly the Mentat's marvelous memory kept them on the path.
Lucilla felt duff underfooSth. e listened to Teg's movements, reading them to guide her feet.
How silent Duncan is, she thougHhot.w closed in upon himselHf.e obeyed ordersH.
e followed where
Teg led themS. he sensed the quality of Duncan's obedienHcee. kept his own counseDl.uncan obeyed because it suited him to do so -- for Sncohww.angyu's rebellion had planted something wildly independent in the gholaA. nd what things of their own had the Tleilaxu planted in him?
Teg stopped at a level spot beneath tall trees to regain hiLs uwciilnlad.could hear him breathing deeply. This reminded her once more that the Mentat was a very old man, far too old for theseShexeertions. spoke quietly:
"Are you all right, Miles?"
"I'll tell you when I'm not."
"How much farther?D" uncan asked.
"Only a short way now."
Presently, he resumed his course through the n"igWhte. the last bit."
must hurry," he sai"dT. his saddle-back ridge is
Now that he had accepted the fact of Patrin's death, Teg's thoughts swung like a compass needle to
Schwangyu and what she must be experienciSncgh. wangyu would feel her world falling in around her. The fugitives had been gone four nighPteso! ple who could elude a Reverend Mother this way might do anything! Of course, the fugitives probably were off-planet by nAown.o-ship.But what if . . .

Schwangyu's thoughts would be full of what-ifs.
Patrin had been the fragile link but Patrin had been well trained in the removal of fragile links, trained by a master -- Miles Teg.
Teg dashed dampness from his eyes with a quick shake of hiIsmhmeeadi.ate necessity required that
core of internal honesty which he could not avToeigd. had never been a good liar, not even to himself. Quite early in his training, he had realized that his mother and the others involved in his upbringing had conditioned him to a deep sense of personal honesty.
Adherence to a code of honor.
The code itself, as he recognized its shape in him, attracted Teg's fascinated aItttebnetigoann.
with
recognition that humans were not created equal, that they possessed different inherited abilities and experienced different events in their livTesh.is produced people of different accomplishments and different worth.
To obey this code, Teg realized early that he must place himself accurately into the flow of observable hierarchies accepting that a moment might come when he could evolve no further.
The code's conditioning went deeHpe.
could never find its ultimate rooItts.obviously was attached to
something intrinsic to his humanitIyt. dictated with enormous power the limits of behavior permitted to those above as well as to those below him in the hierarchical pyramid.
The key token of exchangloey: alty.
Loyalty went upward and downward, lodging wherever it found a deserving attacShumcehntl.oyalties,
Teg knew, were securely locked into hHime. felt no doubts that Taraza would support him in everything except a situation demanding that he be sacrificed to the survival of the SistAernhdootdh.at was right in itself. That was where the loyalties of all of them eventually lodged.
I am Taraza's BashaTr.hat is what the code says.

And this was the code that had killed Patrin.
I hope you suffered no pain, old friend.
Once more, Teg paused under the trTeeask.ing his fighting knife from its boot sheath, he scratched a small mark in a tree beside him.
"What are you doing?L"ucilla demanded.
"This is a secret mark," Teg s"aOidn.ly the people I have trained know abouAt nidt. Taraza, of course."
"But why are you . . ."
"I will explain later."
Teg moved forward, stopping at another tree where he made the tiny mark, a thing which an animal might make with a claw, something to blend into the natural forms of this wilderness.
As he worked his way ahead, Teg realized he had come to a decision abouHt eLrupcillalnas.
for
Duncan must be deflectedE.very Mentat projection Teg could make about Duncan's safety and sanity required this.The awakening of Duncan's pre-ghola memories must come ahead of any Imprint by Lucilla. It would not be easy to block her, Teg kInterwe.quired a better liar than he had ever been to dissemble for a Reverend Mother.
It must be made to appear accidental, the normal outcome of the circumLstuacniclleas.must never suspect opposition.
Teg held few illusions about succeeding against an aroused Reverend Mother in close
Bqueattreterrst.o
kill her.That, he thought he could dBou. t the consequences!Taraza could never be made to see such a

bloody act as obedience to her orders.
No, he would have to bide his time, wait and watch and listen.
They emerged into a small open area with a high barrier of volcanic rock close aheadScorufbtbhyem. bushes and low thorn trees grew close against the rock, visible as dark blotches in the starlight.
Teg saw the blacker outline of a crawl space under the bushes.
"It's belly crawling from here in," Teg said.
"I smell ashes," Lucilla sa"idS.omething's been burned here."
"This is where the decoy came," Teg marks of a no-ship's take-off burn."
"sHaide. left a charred area just down to our left -- simulating the
Lucilla's quickly indrawn breath was audibTlhe.e audacity!Should Schwangyu dare bring in a prescient searcher to follow Duncan's tracks (because Duncan alone among them had no Siona blood in his
ancestry to shield him) all of the marks would agree that they had come this way and fled off-planet in a no-ship . . . provided . . .
"But where are you taking ussh?e"
asked.
"It's a Harkonnen no-globe," Teg sa"iIdt . has been here for millennia and now it's ours."

Quite naturally, holders of power wish to suppress wild reseUanrcrehs.tricted questing after knowledge has a long history of producing unwanted competitTiohne. powerful want a "safe line of investigations," which will develop only those products and ideas that can be controlled and, most important, that will allow the larger part of the benefits to be captured by inside invUenstforstu. nately, a random universe
full of relative variables does not insure such a "safe line of investigations."
-Assessment of Ix, Bene Gesserit Archives
Hedley Tuek, High Priest and titular ruler of Rakis, felt himself inadequate to the demands just imposed upon him.
Dust-fogged night enveloped the city of Keen, but here in his private audience chamber the brilliance of many glowglobes dispelled shadowsE.ven here, in the heart of the Temple, though, the wind could be heard, a distant moan, this planet's periodic torment.
The audience chamber was an irregular room seven meters long and four meters at its wTidheest end. opposite end was almost imperceptibly narrowTerh.e ceiling, too, made a gentle slope in that direction. Spice fiber hangings and clever shadings in light yellows and grays concealed these irreguOlanreitieosf.
the hangings covered a focusing horn that carried even the smallest sounds to listeners outside the room.
Only Darwi Odrade, the new commander of the Bene Gesserit Keep on Rakis, sat with Tuek in the audience chamber.The two of them faced each other across a narrow space defined by their soft green cushions.
Tuek tried to conceal a grimaTche.e effort twisted his normally imposing features into a revealing mask.

He had taken great care in preparing himself for this night's confrontDatrioesnsse.rs had smoothed his robe over his tall, rather stout figuGreo.lden sandals covered his long feTeth.e stillsuit under his robe was only for displayn:o pumps or catchpockets, no uncomfortable and time-consuming adjustments
required. His silky gray hair was combed long to his shoulders, a suitable frame for his square face with
its wide thick mouth and heavy chHinis.
eyes fell abruptly into a look of benevolence, an expression he
had copied from his grandfatheTr.his was how he had looked on entering the audience chamber to meet
Odrade. He had felt himself altogether imposing, but, now, he suddenly felt naked and disheveled.
He's really a rather empty-headed fellow, Odrade thought.
Tuek was thinkingI: cannot discuss that terrible Manifesto with
Nheort! with a Tleilaxu Master and
those Face Dancers listening in the other roWomh.at ever possessed me to allow that?
"It is heresy, pure and simple," Tuek said.
"But you are only one religion among many," Odrade coun"tAerned. with people returning from the
Scattering, the proliferation of schisms and variant beliefs . . ."
"We are the only true belief!" Tuek said.
Odrade hid a smilHe.e said it right on cuAen. d Waff surely heard himT.uek was remarkably easy to lead. If the Sisterhood was right about Waff, Tuek's words would enrage the Tleilaxu Master.
In a deep and portentous tone, Odrade s"aTihde:
believers and non-believers alike."
Manifesto raises questions that all must address,
"What has all this to do with the Holy CThiulde?k" demanded."You told me we must meet on matters concerning --"
"Indeed!Don't try to deny that you know there are many people who are beginning to worship Sheeana. The Manifesto implicates --"

"Manifesto!Manifesto! It is a heretical document, which will be obliteraAtesd.for Sheeana, she must be returned to our exclusive care!"
"No."Odrade spoke softly.
How agitated Tuek was, she thougHhits.
stiff neck moved minimally as he turned his head from side to
side. The movements pointed to a wall hanging on Odrade's right, defining the place as though Tuek's head carried an illuminating beam to reveal that particular hanWginhga.t a transparent man, this High
Priest. He might just as well announce that Waff listened to them somewhere behind that hanging.
"Next, you will spirit her away from Rakis," Tuek said. "She stays here," Odrade sa"idJu. st as we promised you." "But why can't she . . ."
"Come now!Sheeana has made her wishes clear and I'm sure her words have been reported to you. She wishes to be a Reverend Mother."
"She already is the --"
"M'Lord Tuek!Don't try to dissemble with mSeh.e has stated her wishes and we are happy to comply. Why should you objectR? everend Mothers served the Divided God in the Fremen tiWmheys. not
now?"
"You Bene Gesserit have ways of making people say things they do not want to say," Tuek accused.
"We should not be discussing this privateMlyy.
councillors --"
"Your councillors would only muddy our discussTiohne.
implications of the Atreides Manifesto --"

"I will discuss only SheeanaT!u"ek drew himself up in what he thought of as his posture of adamant High
Priest.
"We are discussing her," Odrade said.
"Then let me make it clear that we require more of our people in her eSnhtoeurmaguest. all --"
"The way she was guarded on that rooftop?" Odrade asked.
be guarded at
"Reverend Mother Odrade, this is Holy RaYkiosu!
have no rights here that we do not grant!"
"Rights?Sheeana has become the target, yes the target! of many ambitions and you wish to discuss rights?"
"My duties as High Priest are clTeahre.
Holy Church of the Divided God will --"
"M'Lord Tuek!I am trying very hard to maintain the necessary courteWsiheas.t I do is for your benefit as well as our owTn.he actions we have taken --"
"Actions?What actions?"The words were pressed from Tuek with a hoarse grunTtihnegs.e terrible Bene Gesserit witches!Tleilaxu behind him and a Reverend Mother in frTounet!k felt like a ball in a fearsome game, bounced back and forth between terrifying enerPgieeasc.eful Rakis, the secure place of
his daily routines, had vanished and he had been projected into an arena whose rules he did not fully understand.
"I have sent for the Bashar Miles Teg," Odrade"Tsahiadt. is allH. is advance party should arrive soon. We are going to reinforce your planetary defenses."

"You dare to take over --"
"We take over nothinAg.t your own father's request, Teg's people redesigned your defeTnhse .
agreement under which this was done contains, at your father's insistence, a clause requiring our periodic review."
Tuek sat in dazed silencWe.aff, that ominous little Tleilaxu, had heard all ofTthheisr.e would be
conflict! The Tleilaxu wanted a secret agreement setting melange prTicheesy. Gesserit interference.
would not permit Bene
Odrade had spoken of Tuek's father and now Tuek wished only that his long-dead fatherAsat here. hard man.He would have known how to deal with these opposing fHorecehs.ad always handled the
Tleilaxu quite wellT. uek recalled listening (just as Waff listened now!) to a Tleilaxu envoy named Wose .
. . and another one named PoLoke.dden Pook.What odd names they had.
Tuek's confused thoughts abruptly offered up another naOmdera. de had just mentioned iTt:eg! Was that old monster still active?
Odrade was speaking once moTreu.ek tried to swallow in a dry throat as he leaned forward, forcing himself to pay attention.
"Teg will also look into your on-planet defenAsfetse.r that rooftop fiasco --"
"I officially forbid this interference with our internal affairs," Tuek"Tshaeidre. Guardians are adequate to --"
is no needO. ur Priest
"Adequate?"Odrade shook her head sadl"yW. Rakis."
hat an inadequate word, given the new circumstances on
"What new circumstances?T"here was terror in Tuek's voice.

Odrade merely sat there staring at him.
Tuek tried to force some order into his thouCgohutsl.d she know about the Tleilaxu listening back there? Impossible! He inhaled a trembling breatWh. hat was this about the defenses of RakTihse? defenses were excellent, he reassured himseTlfh.ey had the best Ixian monitors and no-shMipos.re than
that, it was to the advantage of all independent powers that Rakis remain equally independent as another source of the spice.
To the advantage of everyone except the Tleilaxu with the damnable melange overproduction from their axlotl tanks!
This was a shattering thougAht. Tleilaxu Master had heard every word spoken in this audience chamber!
Tuek called on Shai-hulud, the Divided God, to protectThamt .terrible little man back there said he
spoke also for Ixians and Fish SpeakeHrse. produced documentsW.
as that the "new circumstances" of
which Odrade spoke?Nothing remained long hidden from the witches!
The High Priest could not repress a shudder at the thought otfhaWt aroffu:nd little head, those glittering eyes; that pug nose and those sharp teeth in that brittle Wsmafilfe.looked like a slightly enlarged child until you met those eyes and heard him speak in his squeakyTvuoeikcer.ecalled that his own father had complained of those voices":The Tleilaxu say such terrible things in their childish voices!"
Odrade shifted on her cushionSsh.e thought of Waff listening out theHrea.d he heard enough?Her own secret listeners certainly would be asking themselves that questionRneovwer.end Mothers always replayed these verbal contests, seeking improvements and new advantages for the Sisterhood.
Waff has heard enough, Odrade told hersTeilmf.e to shift the play.
In her most matter-of-fact tones, Odrade s"aMid':Lord Tuek, someone important is listening to what we say here.Is it polite that such a person listen secretly?"
Tuek closed his eyeSs.he knows!

He opened his eyes and met Odrade's unrevealing sSthaere.looked like someone who might wait through eternity for his response.
"Polite?I . . . I . . ."
"Invite the secret listener to come sit with us," Odrade said.
Tuek passed a hand across his damp forehHeaisd.father and grandfather, High Priests before him, had laid down ritual responses for most occasions, but nothing for a moment suchInavsitethitsh.e Tleilaxu
to sit here?In this chamber with . T.u.ek was reminded suddenly that he did not like the smell of
Tleilaxu Masters.His father had complained of th"aTt:hey smell of disgusting food!"
Odrade got to her fe"eIt. would much rather look upon those who hear my words," sh"eShsalild.I go myself and invite the hidden listener to --"
"Please!"Tuek remained seated but lifted a hand to stop"Ihehra.d little choiceH. e comes with
documents from Fish Speakers and IxianHse.
said he would help us to return Sheeana to our --"
"Help you?"Odrade looked down at the sweating priest with something akin toThpisityo.ne thought he ruled Rakis?
"He is of the Bene Tleilax," Tuek
"sHaide. is called Waff and --"
"I know what he is called and I know why he is here, M'LoWrdhTatueaks.tonishes me is that you would allow him to spy on -"
"It is not spyingW! e were negotiatingI.
mean, there are new forces to which we must adjust our --"

"New forces?Oh, yes:the whores from the ScatterinDg.oes this Waff bring some of them with him?"
Before Tuek could respond, the audience chamber's side door opWenaefdf. entered right on cue, two
Face Dancers behind him.
He was told not to bring Face DancOedrsr!ade thought.
"Just you!"Odrade said, pointing". Those others were not invited, were they, M'Lord ?"
Tuek lifted himself heavily to his feet, noting the nearness of Odrade, remembering all of the terrible stories about the Reverend Mothers' physical proweTshs.e presence of Face Dancers added to his confusion. They always filled him with such terrible misgivings.
Turning toward the door and trying to compose his features into a look of invitation, T"Ouenklysa.id. :
. only Ambassador Waff, please."
Speech hurt Tuek's throaTt.his was worse than terriblHe!e felt naked before these people.
Odrade gestured to a cushion near
"hWera. ff is it?Please come and sit down."
Waff nodded to her as though he had never seen her Hbeofworep.olite!With a gesture to his Face
Dancers that they remain outside, he crossed to the indicated cushion but stood waiting beside it.
Odrade saw a flux of tensions move through the little TlSeiolamxeut.hing like a snarl flickered across his lips. He still had those weapons in his sleeWvesa.s he about to break their agreement?
It was time, Odrade knew, for Waff's suspicions to regain all of their original strength aHned more. would be feeling trapped by Taraza's maneuverinWgsa.ff wanted his breeding motherTs!he reek of his pheromones announced his deepest fearHs.e carried in his mind, then, his part of their agreement -- or at least a form of that sharinTga.raza did not expect Waff really to share all of the knowledge he had gained from the Honored Matres.

"M'Lord Tuek tells me you have been . . . ahhh, negotiating," OdraLdet shaiimd. remember that word! Waff knew where the real negotiation must be concluAdesd.she spoke, Odrade sank to her
knees, then back onto her cushion, but her feet remained positioned to throw her out of any line of attack from Waff.
Waff glanced down at her and at the cushion she had indicated fSolowhliym, .he sank onto his cushion but his arms remained on his knees, the sleeves directed at Tuek.
What is he doing? Odrade wonderWeda. ff's movements said he was embarked on a plan of his own.
Odrade said:"I have been trying to impress upon the High Priest the importance of the Atreides
Manifesto to our mutual --"
"Atreides!"Tuek blurted.He almost collapsed onto his cushio"nIt. cannot be Atreides."
"A very persuasive manifesto," Waff said, reinforcing Tuek's obvious fears.
At least that was according to plan, Odrade thoSuhgeht.said:"The promise of s'tori cannot be ignored. Many people equate s'tori with the presence of their god."
Waff sent a surprised and angry stare at her.
Tuek said": Ambassador Waff tells me that Ixians and Fish Speakers are alarmed by that document, but
I have reassured him that --"
"I think we may ignore the Fish Speakers," Odrade"Tsahiedy.
hear the noise of god everywhere."
Waff recognized the cant in her woWrdas.s she jibing at himS?he was right about the Fish Speakers, of

course. They had been so far weaned from their old devotions that they influenced very little and whatever they did influence could be guided by the new Face Dancers who now led them.
Tuek tried to smile at Wa"Yff.ou spoke of helping us to . . ."
"Time for that later," Odrade interruptSehde.
had to keep Tuek's attention on the document that
disturbed him so muchS.he paraphrased from the Manifest"oY: our will and your faith -- your belief system -- dominate your universe."
Tuek recognized the wordHs.e had read the terrible documeTnth.is Manifesto said God and all of His
works were no more than human creatioHnse. wondered how he should responNdo. let such a thing go unchallenged.
High Priest could
Before Tuek could find words, Waff locked eyes with Odrade and responded in a way he knew she
would interpret correctlyO.
drade could do no less, being who she was.
"The error of prescience," Waff sa"iIds.n't that what this document calls Isitn?'t that where it says the mind of the believer stagnates?"
"Exactly!" Tuek saidH. e felt thankful for the Tleilaxu interventiTonh.at was precisely the core of this dangerous heresy!
Waff did not look at him, but continued to stare at ODdirdadteh.e Bene Gesserit think their design inscrutable? Let her meet a greater powSerh.e thought herself so strongB!ut the Bene Gesserit could not really know how the Almighty guarded the future of the Shariat!
Tuek was not to be stopp"eIdt. assaults everything we hold sacreAdn! d it's being spread everywhere!"
"By the Tleilaxu," Odrade said.
Waff lifted his sleeves, directing his weapons at THueekh.esitated only because he saw that Odrade

had recognized part of his intentions.
Tuek stared from one to the otWhear.s Odrade's accusation trueO? r was that just another Bene
Gesserit trick?
Odrade saw Waff's hesitation and guessed its reaSshoen. cast through her mind, seeking an answer to his motivations.What advantage could the Tleilaxu gain by killing TOuebkv?iously, Waff aimed to substitute one of his Face Dancers for the High PBriuetst.what would that gain him?
Sparring for time, Odrade sa"idY:ou should be very cautious, Ambassador Waff."
"When has caution ever governed great necessities?" Waff asked.
Tuek lifted himself to his feet and moved heavily to one side, wringing h"isPlheasned!s.These are holy precincts. It is wrong to discuss heresies here unless we plan to destroy Htheemlo.o" ked down on Waff. "It's not true, is iYt?ou are not the authors of that terrible document?"
"It is not ours," Waff agreDeda.mn that fop of a prieTstu!ek had moved well to one side and once more presented a moving target.
"I knew it!T"uek said, striding around behind Waff and Odrade.
Odrade kept her gaze on WaHfef. planned murder!She was sure of it.
Tuek spoke from behind h"eYr.ou do not know how you wrong us, Reverend MoStehrerW.
aff has
asked that we form a melange carItele.xplained that our price to you must remain unchanged because one of you was the grandmother of God."
Waff bowed his head, waitinTgh.e priest would come back into ranGgeo.d would not permit a failure.

Tuek stood behind Odrade looking down at WaAff.shudder passed through the prieTslte.ilaxu were so . . . so repellent and amoTrahle.y could not be trusteHd.ow could Waff's denial be accepted?
Not wavering from her contemplation of Waff, Odrade "sBaiudt:, M'Lord Tuek, was not the prospect
of increased income attractive to youS?h"e saw Waff's right arm come around slightly, almost aimed at her. His intentions became clear.
"M'Lord Tuek," Odrade said, "this Tleilaxu intends to murder us both."
At her words, Waff jerked both arms up, trying to aim at the two separated and difficBuletfotarergets.
his muscles responded, Odrade was under his guSarhde. heard the faint hiss of dart throwers but felt no sting. Her left arm came up in a slashing blow to break Waff's rigHhterarrmig.ht foot broke his left arm.
Waff screamed.
He had never suspected such speed in the Bene GeIstsewriat.s almost a match for what he had seen in the Honored Matre on the Ixian conference sEhivpe.n through his pain he realized that he must report this. Reverend Mothers command synaptic bypasses under duress!
The door behind Odrade burst opWena. ff's Face Dancers rushed into the chambBeur.t Odrade already was behind Waff, both hands on his th"roSatot.p or he dies!" she shouted.
The two froze.
Waff squirmed under her hands.
"Be still!" she commandeOd.drade glanced at Tuek sprawled on the floor to her Oringeht.dart had hit its target.
"Waff has killed the High Priest," Odrade said, speaking for her own secret listeners.

The two Face Dancers continued to stare atTherir.
indecision was easy to seNeo. ne of them, she
saw, had realized how this played into Bene Gesserit hTanradps. the Tleilaxu indeed!
Odrade spoke to the Face Dance"rRs.emove yourselves and that body to the corridor and close the door. Your Master has done a foolish thiHnge. will have need of you lateTro." Waff, she said":For the moment, you need me more than you need your Face DaSnceenrds. them away."
"Go," Waff squeaked.
When the Face Dancers continued to stare at her, Odrade"Ifsayido:u do not leave immediately, I will kill him and then I will dispatch both of you."
"Do it!" Waff screamed.
The Face Dancers took this as the command to obey their MOdasratedre.
heard something else in
Waff's voice.He obviously would have to be talked out of suicidal hysteria.
Once she was alone with him, Odrade removed the exhausted weapons from his sleeves and pocketed them. They could be examined in detail laTtehr.ere was little she could do for his broken bones except
render him briefly unconscious and set theSmhe. green fabric from the High Priest's furnishings.
improvised splints from cushions and torn strips of
Waff reawakened quicklyH. e groaned when he looked at Odrade.
"You and I are now allies," Odrade
"saTihde.
things that have transpired in this chamber have been
heard by some of my people and by representatives from a faction that wants to replace Tuek with one of their own number."
It was too fast for WaHfef. was a moment grasping what she had the most important thing.
Hsaiisd.mind fastened, though, on

"Allies?"
"I imagine Tuek was difficult to deal with," she"Osafifde.r him obvious benefits and he invariably waffled. You have done some of the priests a favor by killing him."
"They are listening now?" Waff squeaked.
"Of courseL. et us discuss your proposed spice monopoTlyh.e late lamented High Priest said you mentioned this.Let me see if I can deduce the extent of your offer."
"My arms," Waff moaned.
"You're still alive," she sa"idB.e thankful for my wisdomI .could have killed you."
He turned his head away from "hTehr.at would have been better."
"Not for the Bene Tleilax and certainly not for my Sisterhood," sh"Le estaimd.e seeY.
es, you promised
to provide Rakis with many new spice harvesters, the new airborne ones, which only touch the desert with their sweeper heads."
"You listened!" Waff accused.
"Not at alAl.
very attractive proposal, since I'm sure the Ixians are providing them free for their own
reasons. Shall I continue?"
"You said we are allies."

"A monopoly would force the Guild to buy more Ixian navigation machines," s"hYeousaiwd.ould have the Guild in the jaws of your crusher."
Waff lifted his head to glare at Thheer. movement sent agony through his broken arms and he groaned. Despite the pain, he studied Odrade through almost lidded Deyides.the witches really believe that was
the extent of the Tleilaxu plaHn?e hardly dared hope the Bene Gesserit were so misled.
"Of course that was not your basic plan," Odrade said.
Waff's eyes snapped wide opeSnh.e was reading his mind"I! am dishonored," he sai"dW. saved my life you saved a useless thinHge." sank back.
hen you
Odrade inhaled a deep breaTthi.me to use the results of the Chapter House analSyhse .leaned close to Waff and whispered in his e"aTrh: e Shariat needs you yet."
Waff gasped.
Odrade sat backT. hat gasp said it aAll.nalysis confirmed.
"You thought you had better allies in the people from the Scattering," s"hTehosaseid.Honored Matres and other hetairas of that iIlk.ask you:does the slig make alliance with its garbage?"
Waff had heard that question uttered only in Hkhisel.face pale, he breathed in shallow gaTsphse. implications in her wordsH! e forced himself to ignore the pain in his aArmllise.s, she saidS. he knew about the Shariat!How could she possibly know?
"How can either of us be unmindful of the many advantages in an alliance between Bene Tleilax and
Bene Gesserit?" Odrade asked.
Alliance with the powindah witcheWs?aff's mind was filled with turmoTilh.e agony of his arms was held

so tentatively at bayT.his moment felt so fragilHe!e tasted acid bile on the back of his tongue.
"Ahhhh," Odrade said".Do you hear thatT?he priest, Krutansik, and his faction have arrived outside our door. They will propose that one of your Face Dancers assume the guise of the late HedlAeynyTuek. other course would cause too much turmKoirlu. tansik is a fairly wise man who has held himself in the background until nowH. is Uncle Stiros groomed him well."
"What does your Sisterhood gain from alliance with us?" Waff managed.
Odrade smiledN.
ow she could speak the truTthh.at was always much easier and often the most
powerful argument.
"Our survival in the face of the storm that is brewing among the Scattered Ones,""Tslheeilasxauid. survival, too.The farthest thing from our desires is an end to those who preserve the Great Belief."
Waff cringedS. he spoke it openlyT! hen he understoodW. see through to the secrets beneath her words.
hat matter if others heardT?hey could not
"Our breeding mothers are ready for you," Odrade Sshaeid.stared hard into his eyes and made the handsign of a Zensunni priest.
Waff felt a tight band release itself from his bTrheaestu. nexpected, the unthinkable, the unbelievable
thing was true!The Bene Gesserit were not powindaAhl!l the universe would yet follow the Bene Tleilax into the True FaithG! od would not permit otherwisEe.specially not here on the planet of the Prophet!

Bureaucracy destroys initiativeT.here is little that bureaucrats hate more than innovation, especially innovation that produces better results than the old routIinmeps.rovements always make those at the top of the heap look inepWt. ho enjoys appearing inept?
-A Guide to Trial and Error in Government, Bene Gesserit Archives
The reports, the summations and scattered tidbits lay in rows across the long table where Taraza sat. Except for the night watch and essential services, Chapter House Core slumbered arouOndnlyhetrh.e
familiar sounds of maintenance activities penetrated her private chambTewrso.
glowglobes hovered over
her table, bathing the dark wood surface and rows of ridulian paper in yelloTwheligwhitn. dow beyond her table was a dark mirror reflecting the room.
Archives!
The holoprojector flickered with its continuing production above the tabletop -- more bits and pieces that she had summoned.
Taraza rather distrusted Archivists, which she knew was an ambivalent attitude because she recognized the underlying necessity for datBa.ut Chapter House Records could only be viewed as a jungle of abbreviations, special notations, coded insertions, and footnotSeusc. h material often required a Mentat
for translation or, what was worse, in times of extreme fatigue demanded that she delve into Other Memories. All Archivists were Mentats, of course, but this did not reassure TYaorauzac.ould never consult Archival Records in a straightforward mannMeru.ch of the interpretation that emerged from that
source had to be accepted on the word of the ones who brought it or (hateful!) you had to rely on the mechanical search by the holosystemT.his, in its turn, required a dependency on those who maintained
the system.It gave functionaries more power than Taraza cared to delegate.
Dependencies!

Taraza hated dependencyT.his was a rueful admission, reminding her that few developing situations
were ever precisely what you imagined they wouldEvben. errors . . . given enough time.
the best of Mentat projections accumulated
Still, every move the Sisterhood made required the consultation of Archives and seemingly endless
analyses. Even ordinary commerce demanded this group?Sign that agreement?
Sith. e found this a frequent irritatioSnh.ould they form
There always came the moment during a conference when she was forced to introduce a note of decision:
"Analysis by Archivist Hesterion accepted."
Or, as was often the ca"sAe:rchivists' report rejected; not pertinent."
Taraza leaned forward to study the holoproject"ioPno:ssible breeding plan for Subject Waff."
She scanned the numbers, gene plans from the cell sample forwarded by OFidnrgaedren.ail scrapings
seldom produced enough material for a secure analysis but Odrade had done quite well under the cover of setting the man's broken boneTsa.raza shook her head at the daOtaff.spring would surely be like all
the previous ones the Bene Gesserit had attempted with TleiTlahxeu:females would be immune to memory probing; males, of course, would be an impenetrable and repellent chaos.
Taraza sat back and sigheWd.hen it came to breeding records, the monumental cross-referencing assumed staggering proportionsO. fficially, it was the "College of Ancestral Pertinence," CAP to the Archivists. Among the Sisters at large, it was known as the "Stud Record," which, although accurate, failed to convey the sense of detail listed under the proper Archival heSadhienghsa.d asked for Waff's projections to be carried out into three hundred generations, an easy and rather rapid task, sufficient for all practical purposesT. hree-hundred-Gen mainlines (such as Teg, his collaterals and siblings) had
proved themselves dependable for millenniIan.stinct told her it would be bootless to waste more time on the Waff projections.
Fatigue welled up in TarazSah.e put her head in her hands and rested them for a moment on the table,

feeling the coolness of the wood.
What if I am wrong about Rakis?
Opposition arguments could not be shuffled away into ArchivalDdaumstn.
this dependency on
computers! The Sisterhood had carried its main lines in computers even back in the Forbidden Days after the Butlerian Jihad's wild smashing of "the thinking machinInes.t"hese "more enlightened" days, one
tended not to question the unconscious motives behind that ancient orgy of destruction.
Sometimes, we make very responsible decisions for unconscious reaAsoncso.nscious search of
Archives or Other Memories carries no guarantees.
Taraza released one of her hands and slapped it against the taSbhleetodpi.d not like dealing with the Archivists who came trotting in with answers to her questAiondsi.sdainful lot they were, full of secret jokes. She had heard them comparing their CAP work to stock breeding, to Farm Forms and Animal Racing Authority.Damn their jokes!The right decision now was far more important than they could possibly imagine.Those serving sisters who only obeyed orders did not have Taraza's responsibilities.
She lifted her head and looked across the room at the niche with its bust of Sister Chenoeh, the ancient one who had met and conversed with the Tyrant.
You knew, Taraza thoughYt.ou were never a Reverend Mother but still you kYneowur. it. How did you know to make the right decision?
reports show
Odrade's request for military assistance required an immediate ansTwher.time limits were too tight. But with Teg, Lucilla, and the ghola missing, the contingency plan had to be brought into play.
Damn Teg!
More of his unexpected behavioHre. actions had been predictable.
could not leave the ghola in jeopardy, of coSucrhsew. angyu's

What had Teg doneH?ad he gone to ground in Ysai or one of the other major cities on GNaom. Imf u? that were the case, Teg would have reported by now through one of the secret contacts they had prepared. He possessed a complete list of those contacts and had investigated some of them personally.
Obviously, Teg did not place full trust in the conHtaecths.ad seen something during his inspection tour that he had not passed along through Bellonda.
Burzmali would have to be called in and briefed, of cBourrzsme.ali was the best, trained by Teg himself; prime candidate for Supreme BashBaru. rzmali must be sent to Gammu.
I'm playing a hunch, Taraza thought.
But if Teg had gone to ground, the trail started on GTamhemtura. il could have ended there as well. Yes, Burzmali to GammuR. akis must waitT. here were certain obvious attractions in this moItvew. ould
not alert the GuildT.he Tleilaxu and the ones from the Scattering, however, would certainly rise to the bait. If Odrade failed to trap the Tleilaxu . . . no, Odrade would Tnohtatfaoinl.e had become almost a certainty.
The unexpected.
You see, MilesI? have learned from you.
None of this deflected the opposition within the Sisterhood, though.
Taraza put both palms flat on her table and pressed hard, as though trying to sense the people out there in Chapter House, the ones who shared Schwangyu's opiniVonosc.al opposition had subsided but that
always meant the violence was being readied.
What shall I do?

The Mother Superior was supposed to be immune to indecision in aBuctritshise. Tleilaxu connection
had unbalanced their dataS.ome of the recommendations for Odrade appeared obvious and already had been transmitted.That much of the plan was plausible and simple.
Take Waff into the desert far beyond unwanted Ceyoenst.rive a situation-in-extremis and the
consequent religious experience in the old and reliable pattern dictated by the Missionaria Protectiva. Test whether the Tleilaxu were using the ghola process for their own kind of immOodrtraalditey. was perfectly capable of carrying out that much of the revisedItpldaenp. ended heavily on this young woman, Sheeana, though.
The worm itself is the unknown.
Taraza reminded herself that today's worm was not the original worm ofDResapkiitse. Sheeana's demonstrated command over them, they were unpredictabAles. Archives would say, they had no track record. Taraza held little doubt that Odrade had made an accurate deduction about the Rakians and their dances. That was a plus.
A language.
But we do not yet speakThita.t was a negative.
I must make a decision tonight!
Taraza sent her surface awareness roaming backward along that unbroken line of Mothers Superior, all of those female memories encapsulated within the fragile awareness of herself and two others -- Bellonda and Hesterion.It was a tortuous track through Other Memories, which she felt too tired toRfigohlltow.
at the edge of the track would be observations of Muad'dib, the Atreides bastard who had shaken the universe twice -- once by dominating the Imperium with his Fremen hordes, and then by spawning the Tyrant.
If we are defeated this time it could be the end of us, sheWtheoucgohutl.d be swallowed whole by these hell-spawned females from the Scattering.

Alternatives presented themselvesT:he female child on Rakis could be passed into the Sisterhood's core to live out her life somewhere at the end of a no-ship'sAfnligihgtn.ominious retreat.
So much depended on TeHga. d he failed the Sisterhood at last or had he found an unexpected way to conceal the ghola?
I must find a way to delay, Taraza thoWugeht.must give Teg time to communicate withOdursa. de will have to drag out the plan on Rakis.
It was dangerous but it had to be done.
Stiffly, Taraza lifted herself from her chairdog and went to the darkened window across from her. Chapter House Planet lay in star-shadowed darkneAss.refuge:Chapter House PlanetS. uch planets
were not even recipients of names anymore; only numbers somewhere in ArcThhivisesp. lanet had seen fourteen hundred years of Bene Gesserit occupancy but even that must be considered temSphoerary. thought of the guardian no-ships orbiting overheTadeg: 's own defense system in depStht.ill, Chapter House remained vulnerable.
The problem had a nam"ea:ccidental discovery."
It was an eternal flaOwu. t there in the Scattering, humankind expanded exponentially, swarming across unlimited space.The Tyrant's Golden Path secure at laOsrt. was it?Surely, the Atreides worm had
planned more than the simple survival of the species.
He did something to us that we have not yet unearthed -- even after all of theseI mthiillneknnIiak. now
what he didM.
y opposition says otherwise.
It was never easy for a Reverend Mother to contemplate the bondage they had suffered under Leto II as he whipped his Imperium for thirty-five hundred years along his Golden Path.
We stumble when we review those times.

Seeing her own reflection in the window's dark plaz, Taraza glared at Iht ewrsaeslf.a grim face and the fatigue easily visible.
I have every right to be tired and grim!
She knew that her training had channeled her deliberately into negative pTathteersnes.were her
defenses and her strengthsS.he remained distant in all human relationships, even in the seductions she had performed for the Breeding MistresseTsa.raza was the perpetual devil's advocate and this had become a dominant force in the entire Sisterhood, a natural consequence of her elevation to Mother Superior. Opposition developed easily in that environment.
As the Sufis saiRd:ot at the core always spreads outward.
What they did not say was that some rots were noble and valuable.
She reassured herself now with her more dependable Tdhaeta:Scattering took the Tyrant's lessons outward in the human migrations, changed in unknown ways but ultimately submissive to recoAgndtion.
in time, a way would be found to nullify a no-ship's invisTibairlaitzya.
did not think the people of the
Scattering had found this -- at least not the ones skulking back into the places that had spawned them.
There was absolutely no safe course through the conflicting forces, but she thought the Sisterhood had armed itself as well as it couTldh.e problem was akin to that of a Guild navigator threading his ship through the folds of space in a way that avoided collisions and entrapments.
Entrapments, they were the key, and there was Odrade springing the Sisterhood's traps on the Tleilaxu.
When Taraza thought about Odrade, which was often in these crisis times, their long association reasserted itself.It was as though she looked at a faded tapestry in which some figures remained bright. Brightest of all, assuring Odrade's position close to the seats of Sisterhood command, was her capacity for cutting across details and getting at the surprising meat of a cIotnwfliacst. a form of that dangerous Atreides prescience working secretly within hUers.ing this hidden talent was the one thing that had
aroused the most opposition, and it was the one argument that Taraza admitted had the most validity. That thing working far below the surface, its hidden movements indicated only by occasional turbulence, that was the problem!

"Use her but stand ready to eliminate her," Taraza had a"rWgueedw. ill still have most of her offspring."
Taraza knew she could depend on Lucilla . . . provided Lucilla had found sanctuary somewhere with
Teg and the gholaA. lternate assassins existed at the Keep on Rakis, of coTuhrsaet. weapon might have to be armed soon.
Taraza experienced a sudden turmoil within hersOetlhf.er Memories advised caution in the utmost.
Never again lose control of the breeding linYeess!, if Odrade escaped an elimination attempt, she would
be alienated foreverO.
drade was a full Reverend Mother and some of those must still remain out there in
the Scattering -- not among the Honored Matres the Sisterhood had observed . . . but still . . .
Never Again!That was the operational mottNo.ever another Kwisatz Haderach or another Tyrant.
Control the breedersC: ontrol their offspring.
Reverend Mothers did not die when their flesh Tdhieedy.
sank farther and farther into the Bene Gesserit
living core until their casual instructions and even their unconscious observations became a part of the continuing Sisterhood.
Make no mistakes about Odrade!
The response to Odrade required specific tailoring and exquisiteOcdarraed. e, who allowed certain
limited affections, "a mild warmth," she called them, argued that emotions provided valuable insights if you did not let them govern yoTua.raza saw this mild warmth as a way into the heart of Odrade, a vulnerable opening.
I know what you think of me, Dar, with your mild warmth toward an old companion from school days. You think I am a potential danger to the Sisterhood but that I can be saved from myself by watchful "friends."
Taraza knew that some of her advisors shared Odrade's opinion, listened quietly and reserved judgment.

Most of them still followed the Mother Superior's lead but many knew of Odrade's wild talent and had
recognized Odrade's doubtsO. delude herself about it.
nly one thing kept most of the Sisters in line and Taraza did not try to
Every Mother Superior acted out of a profound loyalty to her SisteNrhoothoidn.g must endanger Bene
Gesserit continuity, not even herselIfn.
her precise and harshly self-judgmental way, Taraza examined her
relationship to the Sisterhood's continuing life.
Obviously, there was no immediate necessity to eliminate OdYraedte, . Odrade was now so close to the center of the ghola design that little occurring there could escape her sensitive obseMrvuatcihont.hat had
not been revealed to her would become knoTwhne.
Atreides Manifesto had been almost a gamble.
Odrade, the obvious person to produce the Manifesto, could only achieve a deeper insight as she wrote the document, but the words themselves were the ultimate barrier to revelation.
Waff would appreciate that, Taraza knew.
Turning from the dark window, Taraza went back to her chaTirhdeogm. oment of crucial decision -- go or no-go -- could be delayed but intermediate steps must be Stahkeenc.omposed a sample message in her mind and examined it while sending a summons to BurTzmhealiB. ashar's favorite student would
have to be sent into action but not as Odrade wanted.
The message to Odrade was essentially simple:
"Help is on the waYyo. u are on the scene, DWar.here safety of girl Sheeana is concerned, use own judgment. In all other matters that do not conflict with my orders, carry out the plan."
There.That was itO.
drade had her instructions, the essentials that she would accept as "the plan" even
while she would recognize an incomplete patteOrnd.rade would obeyT. he "Dar" was a nice touch,
Taraza thought.Dar and TarT. hat opening into Odrade's limited warmth would not be well shielded from the Dar-and-Tar direction.

The long table on the right is set for a banquet of roast desert hare in sauTceheceopthedera. dishes,
clockwise to the right from the far end of the table, are aplomage sirian, chukka under glass, coffee with melange (note the hawk crest of the Atreides on the urn), pot-a-oie and, in the Balut crystal bottle,
sparkling Caladan wineN.
ote the ancient poison detector concealed in the chandelier.
-Dar-es-Balat, Description at a Museum Display
Teg found Duncan in the tiny dining alcove off the no-globe's gleaming Pkaitucshienng.
in the passage to
the alcove, Teg studied Duncan carefulelyig: ht days here and the lad appeared finally to have recovered from the peculiar rage that had seized him as they entered the globe's access tube.
They had come through a shallow cave musky with the odors of a natTivhee breoacrk. s at the back of the lair were not rocks, although they would have deceived even the most sophisticated examAination. slight protrusion in the rocks would shift if you knew or stumbled upon the secTrehtatcocdirec.ular and twisting movement opened the entire rear wall of the cave.
The access tube, brilliantly lighted automatically once they sealed the portal behind them, was decorated
with Harkonnen griffins on walls and ceiliTngeg.
was struck by the image of a young Patrin stumbling into
this place for the first time (The shoTchke!
awe!The elation!) and he failed to observe Duncan's reaction
until a low growl swelled in the enclosed space.
Duncan stood growling (almost a moan), fists clenched, gaze fixed on a Harkonnen griffin along the right-hand wall.Rage and confusion warred for supremacy on his fHacee.lifted both fists and crashed them against the raised figure, drawing blood from his hands.

"Damn them to the deepest pits of hell!" he shouted.
It was an oddly mature curse issuing from the youthful mouth.
The instant the words were out Duncan relapsed into uncontrolled shuLdudceirlsla.
put an arm around
him and stroked his neck in a soothing, almost sensual way, until the shuddering subsided.
"Why did I do that?" Duncan whispered.
"You will know when your original memories are restored," she said.
"Harkonnens," Duncan whispered and blood suffused his fHacee.looked up at Lucill"aW. them so much?"
"Words cannot explain it," she sa"iYd.ou will have to wait for the memories."
hy do I hate
"I don't want the memoriesD!"uncan shot a startled look at T"eYg.es! Yes, I do want them."
Later as he looked up at Teg in the no-globe's dining alcove, Duncan's memory obviously returned to that moment.
"When, Bashar?"
"Soon."
Teg glanced around the areDau. ncan sat alone at the auto-scrubbed table, a cup of brown liquid in front of him.Teg recognized the smelol:ne of the many melange-laced items from the nullentropy Tbhines.
bins were a treasure house of exotic foods, clothing, weapons, and other artifacts -- a museum whose

value could not be calculateTd.here was a thin layer of dust all through the globe but no deterioration of the things stored hereE.very bit of the food was laced with melange, not at an addict level unless you were a glutton, but always noticeabElev.en the preserved fruit had been dusted with the spice.
The brown liquid in Duncan's cup was one of the things Lucilla had tasted and pronounced capable of sustaining life.Teg did not know precisely how Reverend Mothers did this, but his own mother had been
capable of itO.
ne taste and they knew the contents of food or drink.
A glance at the ornate clock set into the wall at the closed end of the alcove told Teg it was later than thought, well into the third hour of their arbitrary afternDouonnc.an should still be up on the elaborate
practice floor but they both had seen Lucilla take off into the globe's upper reaches and Teg saw this as a chance for them to talk unobserved.
Pulling up a chair, Teg seated himself on the opposite side of the table.
Duncan said, "I hate those clocks!"
"You hate everything here," Teg said, but he took a second look at thIte wclaoscka.nother antique, a round face with two analog hands and a digital second coTunhteert.wo hands were priapean -- naked human figures:a large male with enormous phallus and a smaller female with legs spreaEdawchidtei.me the two clock hands met, the male appeared to enter the female.
"Gross," Teg agreedH. e pointed to Duncan's drin"kY: ou like that?"
"It's all right, siLr.ucilla says I should have it after exercise."
"My mother used to make me a similar drink for after heavy exertions," THeeg lseaainde. d forward and inhaled, remembering the aftertaste, the cloying melange in his nostrils.
"Sir, how long must we stay herDeu?"ncan asked.

"Until we are found by the right people or until we're sure we will not be found."
"But . . . cut off in here, how will we know?"
"When I judge it's time, I'll take the life-shield blanket and start keeping watch outside."
"I hate this place!"
"Obviously.But have you learned nothing about patience?"
Duncan grimaced". Sir, why are you keeping me from being alone with Lucilla?"
Teg, exhaling as Duncan spoke, locked on the partial exhalation and then resumed brHeaethkinew. , though, that the lad had observeIdf .Duncan knew, then Lucilla must know!
"I don't think Lucilla knows what you're doing, sir," Duncan said, "but it's getting pretty Hobevious." glanced around him". If this place didn't take so much of her attentioWn h.e.re. does she dash off to like that?"
"I think she's up in the library."
"Library!"
"I agree it's primitive but it's also fascinatiTnegg." lifted his gaze to the scrollwork on the nearby kitchen ceiling. The moment of decision had arriveLdu.cilla could not be depended upon to remain distracted much longer.Teg shared her fascination, thougIht. was easy to lose yourself in these marTvehles. whole
no-globe complex, some two hundred meters in diameter, was a fossil preserved intact from the time of the Tyrant.

When she spoke about it, Lucilla's voice took on a husky, whispering "qSuuarleitly,. have known about this place."
the Tyrant must
Teg's Mentat awareness had been immersed immediately in this suggeWstihoyn.did the Tyrant permit
Family Harkonnen to squander so much of their last remaining wealth on such an enterprise?
Perhaps for that very reason -- to drain them.
The cost in bribes and Guild shipping from the Ixian factories must have been astronomical.
"Did the Tyrant know that one day we would need this place?" Lucilla asked.
No avoiding the prescient powers that Leto II had so often demonstrated, Teg agreed.
Looking at Duncan seated across from him, Teg felt his neck hairsThriesriengw. as something eerie about this Harkonnen hideaway, as though the Tyrant himself might have beenWhaerte.had happened
to the Harkonnens who built Tite?g and Lucilla had found absolutely no clues to why the globe had been abandoned.
Neither of them could wander through the no-globe without experiencing an acute sense ofTehgistory. was constantly confounded by unanswered questions.
Lucilla, too, commented on this.
"Where did they goT?here's nothing in my Other Memories to give the slightest clue."
"Did the Tyrant lure them out and kill them?"
"I'm going back to the libraPreyr.haps today I'll find something."

For the first two days of their occupation, the globe had received a careful examination by Lucilla and
Teg. A silent and sullen Duncan tagged along as though he feared to be lefEtacahlonnee.w discovery awed them or shocked them.
Twenty-one skeletons preserved in transparent plaz along a wall near theMcaocraeb!re observers of everyone who passed through there to the machinery chambers and the nullentropy bins.
Patrin had warned Teg about the skeletoOnns. one of his first youthful examinations of the globe, Patrin had found records that said the dead ones were the artisans who had built the place, all slain by the Harkonnens to preserve the secret.
Altogether, the globe was a remarkable achievement, an enclosure cut out of Time, sealed away from everything external.After all of these millennia, its frictionless machinery still created a mimetic projection that even the most modern instruments could not distinguish from the background of dirt and rock.
"The Sisterhood must acquire this place intact!" Lucilla kept sa"yIti'nsga. kept their family's breeding records!"
treasure houseT!hey even
That wasn't all the Harkonnens had preserved hTeerge. kept finding himself repelled by subtle and gross touches on almost everything in the gloLbiek.e that clock!Clothing, instruments for maintaining the environment, for education and pleasure -- everything had been marked by that Harkonnen compulsion to flaunt their uncaring sense of superiority to all other people and all other standards.
Once more, Teg thought of Patrin as a youth in this place, probably no older than Wthheatghhoalda. prompted Patrin to keep it a secret even from his wife of so manyPaytreianrsh?ad never touched on the reasons for secrecy, but Teg made his own deductiAon .unhappy childhoodT. he need for his own secret place.Friends who were not friends but only people waiting to sneer aNt ohniem.of those companions could be permitted to share such a wonItdewr.as his!This was more than a place of lonely security. It had been Patrin's private token of victory.
"I spent many happy hours there, BasEhavre.rything still worksT. he records are ancient but excellent once you grasp the dialecTt.here is much knowledge in the plaBceu.t you will understand when you get there. You will understand many things I have never told you."

The antique practice floor showed signs of Patrin's frequent uHseaghe.ad changed the weapons coding on some of the automata in a way Teg recognTizheed.time-counters told of muscle-torturing hours at the complicated exercisesT. his globe explained those abilities which Teg had always found so
remarkable in PatrinN.
atural talents had been honed here.
The automata of the no-globe were another matter.
Most of them represented defiance of the ancient proscriptions against such dMevoicre s.than that,
some had been designed for pleasure functions that confirmed the more revolting stories Teg had heard about the HarkonnensP. ain as pleasure!In its own way, these things explained the primly unbending morality that Patrin had taken away from Gammu.
Revulsion created its own patterns.
Duncan took a deep swallow of his drink and looked at Teg over the lip of the cup.
"Why did you come down here alone when I asked you to complete that last round of asked.
"The exercises made no senseD."uncan put down his cup.
Texeegrcises?"
Well, Taraza, you were wrong, Teg thouHghet. has struck out for complete independence sooner than you predicted.
Also, Duncan had stopped addressing his Bashar as "sir."
"You disobey me?"
"Not exactly."

"Then exactly what is it you're doing?"
"I have to know!"
"You won't like me very much when you do know."
Duncan looked startled".Sir?"
Ahhhh, the "sir" is back!
"I have been preparing you for certain kinds of very intense pain," T"eIgt issainde. cessary before we can restore your original memories."
"Pain, sir?"
"We know of no other way to bring back the original Duncan Idaho -- the one who died."
"Sir, if you can do that, I will be nothing but grateful."
"So you sayB. ut you may very well see me then as just one more whip in the hands of those who have recalled you to life."
"Isn't it better to know, sir?"
Teg passed the back of a hand across his m"oIfutyho. u hate me . . . can't say I'd blame you."

"Sir, if you were in my place, is that how you wouldDufenecla?n"'s posture, tone of voice, facial expression -- all showed trembling confusion.
So far so good, Teg thougThht.e procedural steps were laid out with a precision that demanded that every response from the ghola be interpreted with cDauren.can was now filled with uncertainHtye.
wanted something and he feared that thing.
"I'm only your teacher, not your father!" Teg said.
Duncan recoiled at the harsh to"nAe.ren't you my friend?"
"That's a two-way streeTt.he original Duncan Idaho will have to answer that for himself."
A veiled look entered Duncan's ey"eWs.ill I remember this place, the Keep, Schwangyu and . . ." "Everything.You'll undergo a kind of double-vision memory for a time, but you'll remember it all." A cynical look came over the young face and, when he spoke, it was with b"Sitoterynoeuss.and I will
become comrades."
All of a Bashar's command and presence in his voice, Teg followed the reawakening instructions precisely.
"I'm not particularly interested in becoming your comraHde."fixed a searching glare on Duncan's face. "You might make Bashar somedaIy.think it possible you have the right sBtuuftf.I'll be long dead by then."
"You're only comrades with Bashars?"

"Patrin was my comrade and he never rose above squad leader."
Duncan looked into his empty cup and then at"WTehgy. worked hard up there, too."
didn't you order something to drinYko?u
Perceptive questionI.t did not do to underestimate this yoHuteh. knew that food sharing was one of the most ancient rituals of association.
"The smell of yours was enough," Teg
"sOaildd.
memories.I don't need them right now."
"Then why did you come down here?"
There it was, revealed in the young voice -- hope anHd efewara.nted Teg to say a particular thing.
"I wanted to take a careful measurement of how far those exercises have carried you," "TI eg said. needed to come down here and look at you."
"Why so careful?"
Hope and fearI!t was time for the precise shift of focus.
"I've never trained a ghola before."
Ghola.The word lay suspended between them, hanging on the cooking smells that the globe's filters had not scrubbed from the aiGr.hola! It was laced with spice pungency from Duncan's empty cup.
Duncan leaned forward without speaking, his expression eaLguecri.lla's observation came into Teg's

mind: "He knows how to use silence."
When it became obvious that Teg would not expand on that simple statement, Duncan sank back with a disappointed look.The left corner of his mouth turned downward, a sullen, festering expression.
Everything focused inward the way it had to be.
"You did not come down here to be alone," Teg"Ysoaiud.came here to hidYe.ou're still hiding in there and you think no one will ever find you."
Duncan put a hand in front of his mIotuwtha. s a signal gesture for which Teg had been waTihtieng. instructions for this moment were cle"aTr:he ghola wants the original memories wakened and fears this utterly. That is the major barrier you must sunder."
"Take your hand away from your mouTthe!g"
ordered.
Duncan dropped his hand as though it had been buHrneedst.ared at Teg like a trapped animal.
"Speak the truth," Teg's instructions warn"eAd.t this moment, every sense afire, the ghola will see into your heart."
"I want you to know," Teg said, "that what the Sisterhood has ordered me to do to you, that this is distasteful to me."
Duncan appeared to crouch into hims"eWlf.hat did they order you to do?"
"The skills I was ordered to give you are flawed."
"F-flawed?"

"Part of it was comprehensive training, the intellectual Inpartht.at respect, you have been brought to the level of regimental commander."
"Better than Patrin?"
"Why must you be better than Patrin?"
"Wasn't he your comrade?"
"Yes."
"You said he never rose above squad leader!"
"Patrin was fully capable of taking over command of an entire multi-planeHt efowrcaes. magician whose wisdom I employed on many occasions."
"But you said he never --"
a tactical
"It was his choicTe.he low rank gave him the common touch that we both found useful many times."
"Regimental commander?"Duncan's voice was little more than a whisHpeer. stared at the tabletop.
"You have an intellectual grasp of the functions, a bit impetuous but experience usually smooths that out. Your weapons skills are superior for your age."
Still not looking at Teg, Duncan ask"eWd:hat is my age . . . sir?"

Just as the instructions cautioneTdh:e ghola will dance all around the central is"sWueh.at is my age?" How old is a ghola.
His voice coldly accusing, Teg sa"iIdf: you want to know your ghola-age, why don't you ask that?"
"Wha . . . what is that age, sir?"
There was such a weight of misery in the youthful voice that Teg felt tears start in the corners of his eyes
He had been warned about this, t"oDo.o not reveal too much compassionT!e"g covered the moment by clearing his throaHt. e said:"That's a question only you can answer."
The instructions were explic"itT: urn it back on himK!eep him focused inwardE.motional pain is as important to this process as the physical pain."
A deep sigh shuddered through DuncHane. closed his eyes tightlWy. hen Teg had first seated himself at the table, Duncan had thoughIts: this the momentW? ill he do it nowB?ut Teg's accusing tone, the verbal attacks, were completely unexpectedA. nd now Teg sounded patronizing.
He's patronizing me!
Cynical anger surged into DuncaDni.d Teg think him such a fool that he could be taken in by the most common ploy of a commandeTr?one of voice and attitude alone can subjugate another's Dwuinllc.an
sensed something else in the patronizing, thouaghc:ore of plasteel that would not be penetraIntetedg. rity
. . . purposeA. nd Duncan had seen the tears start, the covering gesture.
Opening his eyes and looking directly at Teg, Duncan"Isadido:n't mean to be disrespectful or ungrateful or rude, sirB. ut I can't go on without answers."
Teg's instructions were clea"rY: ou will know when the ghola reaches the point of desperNatoiong.hola will try to hide thiIst. is intrinsic to their psychYeo. u will recognize it in voice and posture."

Duncan had almost reached the critical poSiinlte.nce was mandatory for Teg noFwo.rce Duncan to ask his questions, to take his own course.
Duncan said": Did you know that I once thought of killing Schwangyu?"
Teg opened his mouth and closed it without a sSoiulenndc.e! But the lad was serious!
"I was afraid of her," Duncan s"aIidd. on't like being afraidH."e lowered his gaze".You once told me that we only hate what's really dangerous to us."
"He will approach it and retreat, approach and reWtreaait until he plunges."
"I don't hate you," Duncan said, looking once more a"tI Trese. nted it when you said ghola to my
face. But Lucilla's rightW:
e should never resent the truth even when it hurts."
Teg rubbed his own lipTsh.e desire to speak filled him but it was not yet plunge time.
"Doesn't it surprise you that I considered killing SchwangDyun?"can asked.
Teg held himself rigiEd.ven the shaking of his head would be taken as a response.
"I thought of slipping something into her drink," Duncan"Bsauitd.that's a coward's way and I'm not a coward. Whatever else, I'm not that."
Teg remained silently immobile.
"I think you really care what happens to me, Bashar," Dunca"nBusat idy.ou're rightw: e will never be comrades. If I survive, I will surpass yTouh.en . . . it will be too late for us to be coYmoraudessp.oke the truth."

Teg was unable to prevent himself from inhaling a deep breath of Mentat reanloizaatvioonid: ing the
signs of strength in the ghoSlao.mewhere recently, perhaps in this very alcove just now, the youth had ceased being a youth and had become a mThane. realization saddened TegI.t went so fastN! o normal growing-up in between.
"Lucilla does not really care what happens to me the way you do," Dunc"Sanhe'ssaijdu.st following her orders from that Mother Superior, Taraza."
Not yet!Teg cautioned himselfH. e wet his lips with his tongue.
"You have been obstructing Lucilla's orders," Duncan
"sWaidh.at is it she's supposed to do to me?"
The moment had com"eW.
hat do you think she's supposed to dToe?g"
demanded.
"I don't know!"
"The original Duncan Idaho would know."
"You know!Why won't you tell me?"
"I'm only supposed to help restore your original memories."
"Then do it!"
"Only you can really do it."

"I don't know how!"
Teg sat forward on the edge of his chair, but did notPlsupnegaek.point?He sensed something lacking in Duncan's desperation.
"You know I can read lips, sir," Duncan "sOaindc.e I went up to the tower observatoI rsya.w Lucilla and Schwangyu down below talkinSgc. hwangyu said:'Never mind that he's so younYg!ou've had your orders.' "
Once more cautiously silent, Teg stared back at DunItcawna. s like Duncan to move around secretly in the Keep, spying, seeking knowledgAe.nd he had seated himself in that memory-mode now, not realizing that he still was spying and seeking . . . but in a different way.
"I didn't think she was supposed to kill me," Duncan"Bsuatidy. ou know what she was supposed to do because you've been obstructing herD."uncan pounded a fist on the tab"lAe.nswer me, damn you!"
Ahhhh, full desperation!
"I can only tell you that what she intends conflicts with myI owrdaesrsc. ommanded by Taraza herself to strengthen you and guard you from harm."
"But you said my training was . . . was flawed!"
"Necessary.It was done to prepare you for your original memories."
"What am I supposed to do?"
"You already know."

"I don't, I tell yoPul!ease teach me!"
"You do many things without having been taught tDheidm.we teach you disobedience?"
"Please help me!I"t was a desperate wail.
Teg forced himself to chilly remotene"sWs.hat in the nether hell do you think I'm doing?"
Duncan clenched both fists and pounded them on the table, making his cup Hdeangclea.red at Teg. Abruptly, an odd expression came over Duncan's face -- something grasping in his eyes.
"Who are you?" Duncan whispered.
The key question!
Teg's voice was a lash striking out at a suddenly defenseless "vWicthimo :do you think I am?"
A look of utter desperation twisted Duncan's featuHres.managed only a gasping stutt"eYr:ou're . . . you're . . ."
"Duncan!Stop this nonsense!"Teg jumped to his feet and stared down with assumed rage.
"You're . . ."
Teg's right hand shot out in a swiftTharec.open palm cracked against Duncan's che"eHk.ow dare you disobey me?"Left hand out, another rocking sla"pH.ow dare you?"

Duncan reacted so swiftly that Teg experienced an electric instant of absoluteSushcohcks.peed! Although there were separate elements in Duncan's attack, it occurred in one fluaid lebalupr:upward,
both feet on the chair, rocking the chair, using that motion to slash the right arm down at Teg's vulnerable shoulder nerves.
Responding out of trained instincts, Teg dodged sideways and flailed his left leg over the table into Duncan's groin.Teg still did not completely escapTeh.e heel of Duncan's hand continued downward to strike beside the knee of Teg's flailing Iltegn.umbed the whole leg.
Duncan sprawled across the tabletop, trying to slide backward in spite of the disabliTnegg kick.
supported himself, left hand on table, and chopped with the other hand to the base of Duncan's spine, into the nexus deliberately weakened by the exercises of the past few days.
Duncan groaned as paralyzing agony shot through his bAondoyt.her person would have been immobilized, screaming, but Duncan merely groaned as he clawed toward Teg, continuing the attack.
Relentless in the necessities of the moment, Teg proceeded to create greater pain in his victim, making sure each time that Duncan saw the attacker's face at the instant of greatest agony.
"Watch his eyes." the instructions warnAedn.d Bellonda, reinforcing the procedure, had caution"eHd:is eyes will seem to look through you but he will call you Leto."
Much later, Teg found difficulty in recalling each detail of his obedience to the reawakening procedure. He knew that he continued to function as commanded but his memory went elsewhere, leaving the flesh free to carry out his ordeOrsd. dly, his trick memory fastened onto another act of disobeditehnece:
Cerbol Revolt, himself at middle age but already a Bashar with a formidable repHuteatihoand.
donned
his best uniform without its medals (a subtle touch, that) and had presented himself in the scorching noon heat of Cerbol's battle-plowed fieldCs.ompletely unarmed in the path of the advancing rebels!
Many among the attackers owed him their lMiveoss.t of them had once given him their deepest allegiance. Now, they were in violent disobediencAen. d Teg's presence in their path said to those advancing soldiers:
"I will not wear the medals that tell what I did for you when we were Icowmilrladneost. be anything that says I am one of yIouw. ear only the uniform that announces that I am still the BKailslhamr.e if that

is how far you will carry your disobedience."
When most of the attacking force threw down their arms and came forward, some of their commanders
bent the knee to their old Bashar and he remonstr"aYteodu:
knees! Your new leaders have taught you bad habits."
never needed to bow to me or get on your
Later, he told the rebels he shared some of their grievCanercbeos.l had been badly misuseBd.ut he also warned them:
"One of the most dangerous things in the universe is an ignorant people with real gTrihevatanicses. nowhere near as dangerous, however, as an informed and intelligent society with grievTahnecedsa.mage that vengeful intelligence can wreak, you cannot even imagTihne. Tyrant would seem a benevolent father figure by comparison with what you were about to create!"
It was all true, of course, but in a Bene Gesserit context, and it helped little with what he was commanded to do to the Duncan Idaho ghola -- creating mental and physical agony in an almost helpless victim.
Easiest to recall was the look in Duncan's Teyhey. did not change focus, but glared directly up into
Teg's face, even at the instant of the final screaming shout:
"Damn you, LetoW! hat are you doing?"
He called me Leto.
Teg limped backward two stepHsi.s left leg tingled and ached where Duncan had struTcekgitr.ealized
that he was panting and at the end of his resHerevews.as much too old for such exertions and the things
he had just done made him feel dTirthye.
reawakening procedure was thoroughly fixed in his awareness,
though. He knew that gholas once had been awakened by conditioning them unconsciously to attempt murder on someone they loveTd.he ghola psyche, shattered and forced to reassemble, was always psychologically scarred.This new technique left the scars in the one who managed the process.
Slowly, moving against the outcry of muscles and nerves that had been stunned by agony, Duncan slid

backward off the table and stood leaning against his chair, trembling and glaring at Teg.
Teg's instructions said":You must stand very quietlDy.o not moveL. et him look at you as he will."
Teg stood unmoving as he had been instrucMteedm. ory of the Cerbol Revolt left his mHined: knew
what he had done then and noInw.a way, the two times were simHilaer.had told the rebels no ultimate truths (if such existed); only enough to lure them back into thPeaifnolda.nd its predictable
consequences. "This is for your own good."
Was it really good, what they did to this Duncan Idaho ghola?
Teg wondered what was occurring in Duncan's consciousnTeesgs. had been told as much as was known about these moments, but he could see that the words were inadDequunactaen. 's eyes and face
gave abundant evidence of internal turmoil -- a hideous twisting of mouth and cheeks, the gaze darting this way and that.
Slowly, exquisite in its slowness, Duncan's face relaHxeisd.body continued to tremblHe.e felt the
throbbing of his body as a distant thing, aches and darting pains that had happened to somHeoene else. was here, though, in this immediate moment -- whatever and wherever thiHs iswamse. mories would not mesh. He felt suddenly out of place in flesh too young, not fitted to his pre-ghola eTxhisetednacret.ing
and twisting of awareness was all internal now.
Teg's instructors had sai"dH: e will have ghola-imposed filters on his pre-ghola memoSrioems.e of the original memories will come flooding bacOkt.her recollections will return more slowTlyh.ere will be no meshing, though, until he recalls that original moment of deBaethll.o"nda had then given Teg the known details of that fatal moment.
"Sardaukar," Duncan whisperedH. e looked around him at the Harkonnen symbols that permeated the no-globe. "The Emperor's crack troops wearing Harkonnen uniformAs!"wolfish grin twisted his mouth. "How they must have hated that!"
Teg remained silently watchful.

"They killed me," Duncan saIitd.was a flatly unemotional statement, all the more chilling for its positive delivery. A violent shudder passed through him and the trembling subs"iAdetd.least a dozen of them in
that little room."He looked directly at Te"gO. ne of them got through at me like a meat cleaver right down on my head.H" e hesitated, his throat working convulsiveHlyi.s gaze remained on Te"gD. id I buy Paul enough time to escape?"
"Answer all of his questions truthfully."
"He escaped."
Now, they came to a testing momWenht.ere had the Tleilaxu acquired the Idaho ceTllhse?
Sisterhood's
tests said they were original, but suspicions remainTehde.
Tleilaxu had done something of their own to
this ghola.His memories could be a valuable clue to that thing.
"But the Harkonnens . . ." Duncan
Hsaiisd.memories from the Keep meshe"dO.h, yes.Oh, yes!"A
fierce laugh shook himH. e sent a roaring victory shout at the long-dead Baron Vladimir Harko"Innen:
paid you back, BaronO! h, I did it to you for all of the ones you destroyed!"
"You remember the Keep and the things we taught you?" Teg asked.
A puzzled frown drew deep crease lines across Duncan's foreEhmeaodt.ional pain warred with his
physical pains.He nodded in response to Teg's questiTonh.ere were two lives, one that had been walled off behind the axlotl tanks and another . . . another . . . Duncan felt inScompetlheitne.g remained suppressed within himT. he reawakening was not finisheHd.e stared angrily at TeWg. as there more?
Teg had been brutaNl. ecessary brutality?Was this how you had to restore a ghola?
"I . . D."uncan shook his head from side to side like a great wounded animal in front of the hunter.
"Do you have all of your memories?" Teg insisted.
"All?Oh, yes.I remember Gammu when it was Giedi Prime -- the oil-soaked, blood-soaked hell hole of
the Imperium!Yes, indeed, BasharI.
was your dutiful studenRt.egimental commander!"Again, he
laughed, throwing his head back in an oddly adult gesture for that young body.

Teg experienced the sudden release of a deep satisfaction, far deeper thanIt rhelaidef.worked as they said it would.
"Do you hate me?h"e asked.
"Hate you?Didn't I tell you I would be grateful?"
Abruptly, Duncan lifted his hands and peered at tHhe s.hifted his gaze downward at his youthful body. "What a temptation!" he muttereHd.e dropped his hands and focused on Teg's face, tracing the lines of identity". Atreides," he said". You're all so damned alike!"
"Not all," Teg said.
"I'm not talking about appearance, BashaHr.i"s eyes went out of focu"Is. asked my age.T" here was a long silence, then": Gods of the deepS!o much time has passed!"
Teg said what he had been instructed to
"saTyh:e Sisterhood has need of you."
"In this immature bodyW? hat am I supposed to do?"
"Truly, I don't know, DuncaTnh.e body will mature and I presume a Reverend Mother will explain matters to you."
"Lucilla?"
Abruptly, Duncan looked up at the ornate ceiling, then at the alcove and its baroqHuee clock. remembered coming here with Teg and LuciTllha.is place was the same but it was different.
"Harkonnens," he whisperedH.
e sent a glowering look at T"eDg.o you know how many of my family

the Harkonnens tortured and killed?"
"One of Taraza's Archivists gave me a report."
"A report?You think words can tell it?"
"No.But that was the only answer I had to your question."
"Damn you, BasharW! hy do you Atreides always have to be so truthful and honorable?"
"I think it's bred into us."
"That's quite right.T"he voice was Lucilla's and came from behind Teg.
Teg did not turHn.ow much had she heardH?ow long had she been there?
Lucilla came up to stand beside Teg but her attention was on D"Iunsceaen.that you've done it, Miles."
"Taraza's orders to the letter," Teg said.
"You have been very clever, Miles," she
"sMaidu.ch more clever than I suspected you couldThbaet.
mother of yours should have been severely punished for what she taught you."
"Ahhhh, Lucilla the seductress," Duncan saHide. glanced at Teg and returned his attention to Lucilla. "Yes, now I can answer my other question -- what she's supposed to do."
"They're called Imprinters," Teg said.

"Miles," Lucilla said, "if you have complicated my task in ways that prevent me from carrying out my orders, I will have you roasted on a skewer."
The emotionless quality of her voice sent a shudder throughHeTekgn.ew her threat was a metaphor, but the implications in the threat were real.
"A punishment banquet!" Duncan sa"idH.ow nice."
Teg addressed himself to Dunca"nT:here's nothing romantic about what we've done to you, Duncan.
I've assisted the Bene Gesserit in more than one assignment that left me feeling dirty, but never dirtier than this one."
"Silence!" Lucilla orderedT.he full force of Voice was in the command.
Teg let it flow through him and past him as his mother had taug"hTth, otsheeno: f us who give our true loyalty to the Sisterhood have only one concseurnrv: ival of the Bene GesserNit.ot survival of any individual but of the Sisterhood itseDlfe. ceptions, dishonesties -- those are empty words when the question is the Sisterhood's survival."
"Damn that mother of yours, MileLsu!"cilla paid him the compliment of not hiding her rage.
Duncan stared at LucillWa. ho was she?Lucilla? He felt his memories stirring of themselvLeusc. illa was not the same person . . . not the same at all, and yet . . . bits and pieces weHreerthveoiscaem.Hee.r
features. Abruptly, he saw again the face of the woman he had glimpsed on the wall of his room at the
Keep.
"Duncan, my sweet Duncan."
Tears fell from Duncan's eyHesi.s own mother -- another Harkonnen victTimo.rtured . . . who knew what else?Never seen again by her "sweet Duncan."

"Gods, I wish I had one of them to kill right now," Duncan moaned.
Once more, he focused on LuciTlleaa. rs blurred her features and made the comparisons eaLsiuecri.lla's face blended with that of the Lady Jessica, beloved of Leto AtDreuidnecsa.n glanced at Teg, back to Lucilla, shaking the tears from his eyes as he moTvheed.memory faces dissolved into that of the real
Lucilla standing in front of hiSmim.
ilarities . . . but never the saNmeev. er again the same.
Imprinter.
He could guess the meaninAg. pure Duncan Idaho wildness arose in h"iIms .it my child you want in your womb, Imprinter?I know you're not called mothers for nothing."
Her voice cold, Lucilla sa"idW: e'll discuss it another time."
"Let us discuss it in a congenial place," Duncan"Psaeirdh.aps I'll sing you a sonNgo. t as good as old
Gurney Halleck would do it but good enough to prepare for a little bedsport."
"You find this amusing?" she asked.
"Amusing?No, but I am reminded of GurnTeyel.l me, Bashar, have you brought him back from the dead, too?"
"Not to my knowledge," Teg said.
"Ahhhh, there was a singing man!" Duncan "sHaied. could be killing you while he sang and never miss a note."
Her manner still icy, Lucilla sa"iWd:e of the Bene Gesserit have learned to avoid mIut seicv.okes too

many confusing emotionsM.
emory-emotions, of course."
It was meant to awe him with a reminder of all those Other Memories and the Bene Gesserit powers these implied but Duncan only laughed louder.
"What a shame that is," he s"aYido.u miss so much of lifAe."nd he began humming an old Halleck refrain:
"Review friends, troops long past revie. w.".
But his mind whirled elsewhere with the rich new flavor of these reborn moments and once more he felt the eager touch of something powerful that remained buried withinWhhimat.ever it was, it was violent
and it concerned Lucilla, the ImprintIenr. imagination, he saw her dead and her body awash in blood.
People always want something more than immediate joy or that deeper sense called haTphpiisneiss. one of the secrets by which we shape the fulfillment of our dTehsiegnsso.mething more assumes
amplified power with people who cannot give it a name or who (most often the case) do not even
suspect its existenceM.
ost people only react unconsciously to such hidden foTrcheuss, we have only to
call a calculated something more into existence, define it and give it shape, then people will follow.
-Leadership Secrets of the Bene Gesserit

With a silent Waff about twenty paces ahead of them, Odrade and Sheeana walked down a weed-fringed road beside a spice-storage yarAdl.l of them wore new desert robes and glistening stillsuits. The gray nulplaz fence that defined the yard beside them held bits of grass and cottony
seedpods in its meshesL.ooking at the seedpods, Odrade thought of them as life trying to break through a human intervention.
Behind them, the blocky buildings that had arisen around Dar-es-Balat baked in the sunlight of early afternoon. Hot dry air burned her throat when she inhaled too quOicdkrlayd. e felt dizzy and at war
within herself.Thirst nagged at herS.he walked as though balanced on the edge of a precTiphiece. situation she had created at Taraza's command might explode momentarily.
How fragile it is!
Three forces balanced, not really supporting each other but joined by motives that could shift in an instant and topple the whole alliancTeh.e military people sent by Taraza did not reassure OdWradhere
was Teg?Where was Burzmali?For that matter, where was the ghoHlae? should be here by noWw.hy had she been ordered to delay matters?
Today's venture would certainly delay matteArslt!hough it had Taraza's blessing, Odrade thought this excursion into the desert of the worms might be a permanent Adneldayt.here was WaffI.f he survived, would there be any pieces for him to pick up?
Despite the healing applications of the Sisterhood's best quicknit amplifiers, Waff said his arms still ached where Odrade had broken themH.e was not complaining, merely providing informatiHone. appeared to
accept their fragile alliance, even the modifications that incorporated the Rakian priestlyNcoabdaol.ubt
he was reassured that one of his own Face Dancers occupied the High Priest's bench in the guise of Tuek. Waff spoke forcefully when he demanded his "breeding mothers" from the Bene Gesserit and, consequently, withheld his part of their bargain.
"Only a small delay while the Sisterhood reviews the new agreement," Odrade ex"pMlaienaendw. hile . .
."

Today was "meanwhile."
Odrade put aside her misgivings and began to enter the mood of this Wveanftfu'sreb. ehavior fascinated her, especially his reaction on meeting Sheeaqnuai:te plainly fearful and more than a little in awe.
The minion of his Prophet.
Odrade glanced sideways at the girl walking dutifully besideThheerre. was the real leverage for shaping these events into the Bene Gesserit design.
The Sisterhood's breakthrough into the reality behind Tleilaxu behavior excited OWdrafdfe's. fanatic
"true faith" gained shape with each new response from Shhiem.felt fortunate just to be here studying a Tleilaxu Master in a religious settinTgh.e very grit under Waff's feet ignited behavior that she had been trained to identify.
We should have guessed, Odrade thougThht.e manipulations of our own Missionaria Protectiva should have told us how the Tleilaxu didkeiet:ping themselves to themselves, blocking off every intrusion for all of those plodding millennia.
They did not appear to have copied the Bene Gesserit struAcntudrew. hat other force could do such a thing? It was a religionT.he Great Belief!
Unless the Tleilaxu are using their ghola system as a kind of immortality.
Taraza could be righRt.eincarnated Tleilaxu Masters would not be like Reverend Mothers -- no Other
Memories, only personal memoriesB. ut prolonged!
Fascinating!
Odrade looked ahead at Waff's baPclko.dding. It appeared to come naturally to hSimhe.
recalled that
he called Sheeana "Alyama.A" nother confirming linguistic insight into Waff's Great BeIltiefm. eant

"Blessed One."The Tleilaxu had kept an ancient language not only alive but unchanged.
Did Waff not know that only powerful forces such as religions did that?
We have the roots of your obsession in our grasp, IWt iasffn! ot unlike some that we have creaWteed. know how to manipulate such things for our own purposes.
Taraza's communication burned in Odrade's awarene"sTsh: e Tleilaxu plan is transparenAt:scendancy.
The human universe must be made into a Tleilaxu univTehrseey. without help from the ScatterinEg.rgo."
could not hope to achieve such a goal
The Mother Superior's reasoning could not be denEiveden.
the opposition within that deep schism that
threatened to shatter the Sisterhood agreeBdu. t the thought of those human masses in the Scattering, their numbers exploding exponentially, produced a lonely sense of desperation in Odrade.
We are so few compared to them.
Sheeana stooped and picked up a pebSbhlee. looked at it a moment and then threw it at the fence beside them.The pebble sailed through the meshes without touching them.
Odrade took a firmer grip on hersTehlfe.
sounds of their footsteps on the blown sand that drifted across
this little-used roadway seemed suddenly over-louTdh.e spindly causeway leading out over the
Dar-es-Balat ring-qanat and moat lay no more than two hundred paces ahead at the end of this narrow road.
Sheeana spoke:"I am doing this because you ordered it, MoBthuetr.I still don't know why." Because this is the crucible where we test Waff and, through him, reshape the Tleilaxu! "It is a demonstration," Odrade said.

That was trueI.t was not the whole truth, but it served.
Sheeana walked head down, gaze intent on where she placed eacWh asstepth. is how she always approached her Shaitan? Odrade wondereTd.houghtful and remote?
Odrade heard a faint thwocking sound high up behindThheerw. atchful ornithopters were arrivinTg.hey would keep their distance, but many eyes would observe this demonstration.
"I will dance," Sheeana sa"idT.hat usually calls a big one."
Odrade felt her heartbeat quickeWn.ould the "big one" continue to obey Sheeana despite the presence of two companions?
This is suicidal madness!
But it had to be doTnea:raza's orders.
Odrade glanced at the fenced spice yard beside tThheme .place appeared oddly familiaMr.ore than
deja vu.Inner certainty informed by Other Memories told her this place remained virtually unchanged from ancient timesT. he design of the spice silos in the yard was as old asovRaalktiasn: ks on tall legs, metal and plaz insects waiting stilt-legged to leap upon their Sphreeys.uspected an unconscious message from the original designersM: elange is both boon and bane.
Beneath the silos, a sandy wasteland where no growth was permitted spread out beside mud-walled buildings, an amoeba arm of Dar-es-Balat reaching almost to the qanatTehdegeT.yrant's long-hidden
no-globe had produced a teeming religious community that hid most of its activities behind windowless walls and underground.
The secret working of our unconscious desires!

Once more, Sheeana spok"eT: uek is different."
Odrade saw Waff's head lift sharpHlye. had heardH. the Prophet's messenger?
e would be thinkingC: an we conceal things from
Too many people already knew that a Face Dancer masqueraded as Tuek, Odrade Tthhoeught.
priestly cabal, of course, believed they were giving the Tleilaxu enough netting in which to snare not only the Bene Tleilax but the Sisterhood as well.
Odrade smelled the biting odors of chemicals that had been used to kill wild growth in the spice storage yard. The odors forced her attention back to necessitSiehse. did not dare indulge in mental wanderings
out here!It would be so easy for the Sisterhood to become caught in its own trap.
Sheeana stumbled and emitted a small cry, more irritation thanWpaafifn.turned his head sharply and looked at Sheeana before returning his attention to the roadTwhaey.child had merely stumbled on a
break in the road surface, he saDwri.fted sand concealed places where the roadway had been cracked. The faery structure of the causeway ahead of him appeared sound, howNeovt esru. bstantial enough to
support one of the Prophet's descendants, but more than enough for a supplicant human to cross it into the desert.
Waff thought of himself chiefly as a supplicant.
I come as a beggar into the land of thy messenger, God.
He had his suspicions about OdraTdhe.e Reverend Mother had brought him here to drain him of his knowledge before killing himW. ith God's help, I may surprise her Hyeet. knew his body was proof
against an Ixian Probe, although she obviously did not have such a cumbersome device on her person. But it was the strength of his own will and confidence in God's grace that reassured Waff.
And what if the hand they hold out to us is held out in sincerity?
That, too, would be God's doing.

Alliance with the Bene Gesserit, firm control of RWakhisa:t a dream that waTs!he Shariat ascendant at last and the Bene Gesserit as missionaries.
When Sheeana again missed her footing and uttered another small sound of complaint, Odrade said: "Don't favor yourself, child!"
Odrade saw Waff's shoulders stiffeHne.
did not like that peremptory manner with his "Blessed One."
There was backbone in the little mOand.rade recognized it as the strength of fanaticiEsmve.n if the
worm came to kill him, Waff would not Fflaeieth.
in God's will would carry him directly into his own
death -- unless he were shaken out of his religious security.
Odrade suppressed a smilSe.he could follow his thinking proceGsso: d will soon reveal His Purpose.
But Waff was thinking about his cells growing in the slow renewal at BaNndoalomnagt.ter what
happened here, his cells would carry on for the Bene Tleilax . . . and for God -- a serial Waff always serving the Great Belief.
"I can smell Shaitan, you know," Sheeana said.
"Right now?"Odrade looked up at the causeway ahead of thWemaf.f already was a few steps onto that arching surface.
"No, only when he comes," Sheeana said.
"Of course you can, chiAldn. yone could."
"I can smell him a long way off."

Odrade inhaled deeply through her nose, sorting the smells from the background of bufranintt flint:
whiffs of melange . . . ozone, something distinctly Sahceid.motioned for Sheeana to precede her
single-file onto the causewayW. aff was holding his steady twenty paces aheTahde. down to the desert some sixty meters ahead of him.
causeway dipped
I will taste the sand at the first opportunity, Odrade thTohuagthtw. ill tell me many things.
As she mounted the causeway over the water moat, she looked off to the southwest at a low barrier along the horizonA. bruptly, Odrade was confronted by a compelling Other MemTohryer.e was none of
the crispness in it of actual vision, but she recognized it -- a mingling of images from the deepest sources within her.
Damn!she thought.Not now!
There was no escapSe.uch intrusions came with purpose, an unavoidable demand upon her awareness.
Warning!
She squinted at the horizon, allowing the Other Memory to superimposea iltosenlgf:-ago high barrier far away out there . . . people moving along the topThoefreit.was a faery bridge in that memory-distance, insubstantial and beautifulI.t linked one part of that vanished barrier to another part and she knew without seeing it that a river ran beneath that long-gone bTrihdegeI.daho River!Now, the superimposed image provided movemento: bjects falling from the bridgTe.hey were too far away to identify but she
had the labels for this image projection nWowit.h a sense of horror and elation, she identified that scene.
The faery bridge was collapsinTgu!mbling into the river below it.
This vision was not some random destructTiohni.s was classical violence carried in many memories, which had come down to her in the moments of spice aOgdornayd.e could classify the finely tuned components of the imageT:housands of her ancestors had watched that scene in imaginative reconstruction. Not a real visual memory but an assemblage of accurate reports.
That is where it happened!

Odrade stopped and let the image projections have their way with her awaWreanrnesinsg. ! Something dangerous had been identifiedS.he did not try to dig out the warning's substIafncseh.e did that, she
knew it could fall apart in skeins, any one of which might be relevant, but the original certainty would vanish.
This thing out there was fixed in the Atreides hiLsteotory.II, the Tyrant, had fallen to his dissolution from that faery bridgeT.he great worm of Rakis, the Tyrant God Emperor himself, had been tumbled from that bridge on his wedding peregrination.
There!Right there in the Idaho River beneath his destroyed bridge, the Tyrant had been submerged in his own agonyR. ight there, the transubstantiation from which the Divided God was born -- it all began there.
Why is that a warning?
Bridge and river had vanished from this lTahned. high wall that had enclosed the Tyrant's dryland Sareer was eroded into a broken line on a heat-shimmering horizon.
If a worm came now with its encapsulated pearl of the Tyrant's forever-dreaming memory, would that memory be dangerous?So Taraza's opposition in the Sisterhood argued.
"He will awaken!"
Taraza and her advisors denied even the possibility.
Still, this claxon from Odrade's Other Memories could not be shunted aside.
"Reverend Mother, why have we stopped?"

Odrade felt her awareness lurch back into an immediate present that demanded her aOtteunt titohne.re in that warning vision was where the Tyrant's endless dream began but other dreams iSnhtreuedaenda. stood in front of her with a puzzled expression.
"I was looking out thereO."drade pointed."That was where Shai-hulud began, Sheeana."
Waff stopped at the end of the causeway, one step short of the encroaching sand and now about forty paces ahead of Odrade and SheeanOad. rade's voice brought him to stiff alertness but he did not turn. Odrade could feel the displeasure in his postWurea.ff would not like even a hint of cynicism directed at
his Prophet.He always suspected cynicism from Reverend MotheErssp. ecially where religious matters were concerned.Waff was not yet ready to accept that the long-detested and feared Bene Gesserit
might share his Great BelieTf.hat ground would have to be filled in with care-as was always the way with the Missionaria Protectiva.
"They say there was a big river," Sheeana said.
Odrade heard the lilting note of derision in Sheeana's vTohiecec.hild learned quickly!
Waff turned and scowled at theHme. heard it, tooW. hat was he thinking about Sheeana now?
Odrade held Sheeana's shoulder with one hand and pointed with the"Tohtheerer. was a bridge right there. The great wall of the Sareer was left open there to permit the passage of the IdaThhoe River. bridge spanned that break."
Sheeana sighed". A real river," she whispered.
"Not a qanat and too big for a canal," Odrade said.
"I've never seen a river," Sheeana said.

"That was where they dumped Shai-hulud into the river," OdradeShseaidg.estured to her lef"tO. ver on this side, many kilometers in that direction, he built his palace."
"There's nothing over there but sand," Sheeana said.
"The palace was torn down in the Famine Times," Odrade"Pseaoidp.le thought there was a hoard of spice in itT. hey were wrong, of coursHe.e was much too clever for that."
Sheeana leaned close to Odrade and whispe"reTdh:ere is a great treasure of the spice, thoTuhgeh. chantings tell about iIt.'ve heard it many timeMs.y . . . they say it's in a cave."
Odrade smiledS. heeana referred to the Oral History, of couArsned.
she had almost sai"dM:
y father . .
." meaning her real father who had died in this dOesderat.de already had lured that story from the girl.
Still whispering close to Odrade's ear, Sheeana s"aWidh:y is that little man with
Iusd?on't like him."
"It is necessary for the demonstration," Odrade said.
Waff took that moment to step off the causeway onto the first soft slope of oHpe msoavnedd.
with
care but no visible hesitatioOn.nce on the sand, he turned, his eyes glistening in the hot sunlight, and stared first at Sheeana and then at Odrade.
Still that awe in him when he looks at Sheeana, Odrade thWouhgathtg. reat things he believes he will discover here.He will be restoredA. nd the prestige!
Sheeana sheltered her eyes with one hand and studied the desert.
"Shaitan likes the heat," Sheeana sa"iPde.ople hide inside when it's hot but that's when Shaitan comes."

Not Shai-hulud, Odrade thoughSt.haitan! You predicted it well, TyranWt. hat else did you know about our times?
Was it really the Tyrant out there dormant in all of his worm descendants?
None of the analyses Odrade had studied gave a sure explanation of what had driven one human being to make himself into a symbiote with that original worm of AWrrahkaits.went through his mind in the
millennia of that awful transformationW? as any of that, even the smallest fragment, preserved in today's
Rakian worms?
"He is near, Mother," Sheeana sa"iDd.o you smell him?"
Waff peered apprehensively at Sheeana.
Odrade inhaled deeplya: rich swelling of cinnamon on the bitter flint undertFoinre,. brimstone -- the crystal-banked inferno of the great worSmh.e stooped and brought up a pinch of blown sand to her
tongue. All of the background was thetrhee:
Dune of Other Memory and the Rakis of this day.
Sheeana pointed at an angle to her left, directly into the light breeze from th"Oe udtestheretr.e.We must hurry."
Without waiting for permission from Odrade, Sheeana ran lightly down the causeway, past Waff and out onto the first duneS.he stopped there until Odrade and Waff caught up withOfhfert.he dune face she
led them, up another with sand clogging their passage, out along a great curving barracan with wisps of dusty saltation blowing from its creSsot.on, they had put almost a kilometer between themselves and the water-girded security of Dar-es-Balat.
Again, Sheeana stopped.
Waff came to a panting halt behind Pheerrs.piration glistened where his stillsuit hood crossed his brow.

Odrade stopped a pace behind WaSfhfe. where Sheeana's attention was fixed.
took deep, calming breaths while she peered past Waff to
A furious tide of sand had poured across the desert beyond the dune where they stood, driven by a storm wind.Bedrock lay exposed in a long narrow avenue of giant boulders, which lay scattered and upturned like the broken building blocks of a mad promethTeharno.ugh this wild maze, the sand had
poured like a river, leaving its signature in deep scratches and gouges, then plunging off a low escarpment to lose itself in more dunes.
"Down there," Sheeana said, pointing at the avenue of bedOroffckth. eir dune she went, sliding and scrambling in spilled sandA. t the bottom, she stopped beside a boulder at least twice her height.
Waff and Odrade paused just behind her.
The slipface of another giant barracan, sinuous as the back of a sporting whale, lifted into the silver-blue sky beside them.
Odrade used the pause to recompose her oxygen balTanhcaet. mad run had made great demands on flesh. Waff, she noted, was red-faced and breathing deeTplhye. flinty cinnamon smell was oppressive in
the confined passageW.
aff sniffed and rubbed at his nose with the back of aShheaenadn.a lifted herself
on one toe, pivoted and darted ten paces across the rocky avSehneuep.ut one foot up on the sandy
incline of the outer dune and lifted both arms to thSeloswkyly. she began to dance, moving up onto the sand.
The 'thopter sounds grew louder overhead.
"Listen!"Sheeana called, not pausing in her dance.
at first and then with increasing tempo,
It was not to the 'thopters that she called their atteOndtiroand.e turned her head to present both ears to a new sound intruding on their rock-tumbled maze.
A sibilant hiss, subterranean and muted by sand -- it became louder with shocking sTwhieftrneesws.as heat in it, a noticeable warming of the breeze that twisted down their rocky Tahveenhuises.ing swelled

to a crescendo roarA. bruptly, the crystal-ringed gaping of a gigantic mouth lifted over the dune directly above Sheeana.
"Shaitan!"Sheeana screamed, not breaking the rhythm of her da"nHcer.e I am, Shaitan!"
As it crested the dune, the worm dipped its mouth downward toward SShaeneadnac.ascaded around
her feet, forcing her to stop her danTchee. smell of cinnamon filled the rocky deTfihlee. above them.
"Messenger of God," Waff breathed.
worm stopped
Heat dried the perspiration on Odrade's exposed face and made the automatic insulation of her stillsuit puff outward perceptiblyS. he inhaled deeply, sorting the components behind that cinnamon asTsahuelt.
air around them was sharp with ozone and swiftly oxygenHreirchs.enses at full alert, Odrade stored impressions.
If I survive, she thought.
Yes, this was valuable daTtah.e day might come when others would use it.
Sheeana backed out of the spilled sand onto the exposedShroeckre. sumed her dance, moving more
wildly, flinging her head at each tuHrna.ir whipped across her face and each time she whirled to confront the worm, she screamed "Shaitan!"
Daintily, like a child on unfamiliar ground, the worm once more moved fIotrwslaidrd.across the dune
crest, curled itself down onto the exposed rock and presented its burning mouth slightly above and about two paces from Sheeana.
As it stopped, Odrade became conscious of the deep furnace rumbling of theShweocrmou.ld not tear her gaze away from the reflections of lambent orange flames within the crIet awtuares. a cave of mysterious fire.

Sheeana stopped her dancSe.he clenched both fists at her sides and stared back at the monster she had summoned.
Odrade took timed breaths, the controlled pacing of a Reverend Mother gathering all of herIf powers. this was the end -- well, she had obeyed Taraza's ordLeerts.the Mother Superior learn what she would from the watchers overhead.
"Hello, Shaitan," Sheeana sai"dI. have brought a Reverend Mother and a man of the Tleilaxu with me."
Waff slumped to his knees and bowed.
Odrade slipped past him to stand beside Sheeana.
Sheeana breathed deeplyH. er face was flushed.
Odrade heard the click-ticking of their overworked stillsTuhites. hot, cinnamon-drenched air around
them was charged with the sounds of this meeting, all dominated by the murmurous burning within the quiescent worm.
Waff came up beside Odrade, his trancelike gaze fixed on the worm.
"I am here," he whispered.
Odrade silently cursed himA.ny unwarranted noise could attract this beast onto thSehme . knew what
Waff was thinking, thoughN: o other Tleilaxu had ever stood this close to a descendant of his Prophet. Not even the Rakian priests had ever done this!
With her right hand, Sheeana made a sudden downward ge"sDtuorwe.n to us, Shaitan!s"he said.

The worm lowered its gaping mouth until the internal firepit filled the rocky defile in front of them.
Her voice little more than a whisper, Sheeana "sSaeide: how Shaitan obeys me, Mother?"
Odrade could feel Sheeana's control over the worm, a pulse of hidden language between child and monster. It was uncanny.
Her voice rising in impudent arrogance, Sheeana
"saI idw:ill ask Shaitan to let us ride hSimhe!"
scrambled up the slipface of the dune beside the worm.
Immediately, the great mouth lifted to follow her movem"eSntatsy. stopped.
there!"Sheeana shouted.The worm
It's not her words that command it, Odrade thoSuogmhte. thing else . . . something else . . .
"Mother, come with me," Sheeana called.
Thrusting Waff ahead of her, Odrade obeyTehde.y scrambled up the sandy slope behind Sheeana. Dislodged sand spilled down beside the waiting worm, piling up in theAdheefailde. of them, the worm's tapering tail curved along the dune crSeshte. eana led them at a sand-clotted trot to the very tip of the
thing. There, she gripped the leading edge of a ring in the corrugated surface and scrambled up onto her desert beast.
More slowly, Odrade and Waff followTedh.e worm's warm surface felt non-organic to Odrade, as though it were some Ixian artifact.
Sheeana skipped forward along the back and squatted just behind its mouth where the rings bulged thick and wide.
"Like this," Sheeana saiSdh. e leaned forward and clutched beneath the leading edge of a ring, lifting it

slightly to expose pink softness underneath.
Waff obeyed her immediately but Odrade moved with more caution, storing impreTshsieonrisn. g surface was as hard as plascrete and covered with tiny encrustaOtidonrasd. e's fingers probed the
softness under the leading edgIet. pulsed faintlyT. he surface around them lifted and fell with an almost imperceptible rhythm.Odrade heard a tiny rasping with each movement.
Sheeana kicked the worm surface behind her.
"Shaitan, go!"she said.
The worm did not respond.
"Please, Shaitan," Sheeana pleaded.
Odrade heard the desperation in Sheeana's voTichee.
child was so confident of her Shaitan but Odrade
knew that the girl had been allowed to ride only that firsOt dtirmadee.
had the full story from death-wish
to priestly confusion but none of it told her what would happen next.
Abruptly, the worm lurched into motiIotnl.ifted sharply, twisted to the left and made a tight curve out of the rocky defile, then moved directly away from Dar-es-Balat into the open desert.
"We go with God!" Waff shouted.
The sound of his voice shocked OdraSduec.h wildness!She sensed the power in his faTithe
thwock-thwock of following ornithopters came from overheTadh.e wind of their passage whipped past
Odrade full of ozone and the hot furnace odors stirred up by the friction of the rushing behemoth.
Odrade glanced over her shoulders at the 'thopters, thinking how easy it would be for enemies to rid this planet of a troublesome child, an equally troublesome Reverend Mother and a despised Tleilaxu -- all in
one violently vulnerable moment on the open desTehrte.
priestly cabal might attempt it, she knew, hoping

that Odrade's own watchers up there would be too late to prevent it.
Would curiosity and fear hold them back? Odrade admitted to a mighty curiosity herself. Where is this thing taking us?
Certainly, it was not headed toward KeSehne.
lifted her head and peered past SheeaOnna. the horizon
directly ahead lay that tell-tale indentation of fallen stones, that place where the Tyrant had been spilled from the surface of his faery bridge.
The place of Other Memory warning.
Abrupt revelation locked Odrade's minSdh.e understood the warningT. he Tyrant had died at a place of
his own choosingM.
any deaths had left their imprint on that place but his the gTrehaetesTt.yrant chose
his peregrination route with purposSe.heeana had not told her worm to go thIterme.oved that way of its own volition.The magnet of the Tyrant's endless dream drew it back to the place where the dream began.

There was this drylander who was asked which was more important, a literjon of water or a vast pool of water? The drylander thought a moment and then s"aTidh:e literjon is more importanNt.o single person
could own a great pool of waBteur.t a literjon you could hide under your cloak and run away Nwoith it. one would know."
-The Jokes of Ancient Dune, Bene Gesserit Archives
It was a long session in the no-globe's practice hall, Duncan in a mobile cage driving the exercise, adamant that this particular training series would continue until his new body had adapted to the seven central attitudes of combat response against attack from eight directHioisnsg. reen singlesuit was dark
with perspiration.Twenty days they had been at this one lesson!
Teg knew the ancient lore that Duncan revived here but knew it by different names and sequencing. Before they had been into it five days, Teg doubted the superiority of modern mNeotwho,dhs.e was
convinced that Duncan did something completely new -- mixing the old with what he had learned in the
Keep.
Teg sat at his own control console, as much an observer as a parTtihceipacnotn.soles that guided the dangerous shadow forces in this practice had required mental adjustment by Teg, but he felt familiar with them now and moved the attack with facility and frequent inspiration.
A simmering Lucilla glanced into the hall occasionSahlley. watched and then left without commeTnetg.
did not know what Duncan was doing about the Imprinter but there was a feeling that the reawakened ghola played a delaying game with his seductrSehsse. would not allow that to continue long, Teg knew,
but it was out of his hanDdsu.ncan no longer was "too young" for the ImpriTntheart. a mature male mind with experiences from which to make his own decisions.
young body carried
Duncan and Teg had been on the floor with only one break all mHournnginerg.pangs gnawed at Teg
but he felt reluctant to halt the sessDiounn. can's abilities had climbed to a new level today and he was still improving.
Teg, seated in a fixed console's cage seat, twisted the attack forces into a complex maneuver, striking from left, right, and above.

The Harkonnen armory had produced an abundance of these exotic weapons and training instruments, some of which Teg had known only from historical accoDuunntsc.an knew them all, apparently, and with
an intimacy that Teg admireHd.unter-seekers geared to penetrate a force shield were part of the shadow system they used now.
"They automatically slow down to go through the shield," Duncan explained in his young-o"ldTovooice. fast a strike, of course, and the shield repels."
"Shields of that type have almost gone out of fashion," Te"gAsafiedw. of sport but otherwise . . ."
societies maintain them as a kind
Duncan executed a riposte of blurred speed that dropped three hunter-seekers to the floor damaged enough to require the no-globe's maintenance servicHese. removed the cage and damped the system but left it idling while he came over to Teg, breathing deeply butLeoaoskiliyn.g past Teg, Duncan smiled and nodded. Teg whirled but there was only the flick of Lucilla's gown as she left them.
"It's like a duel," Duncan sa"iSdh. e tries to thrust through my guard and I counterattack."
"Have a care," Teg sa"idT.hat's a full Reverend Mother."
"I've known a few of them in my time, Bashar."
Once more, Teg found himself confoundHede. had been warned that he would have to readjust to this different Duncan Idaho but he had not fully anticipated the constant mental demands of that readjustment. The look in Duncan's eyes right now was disconcerting.
"Our roles are changed a bit, Bashar," Duncan Hsaeidp.icked up a towel from the floor and mopped his face.
"I'm no longer sure of what I can teach you," Teg adHmeittwedi.shed, though, that Duncan would take his warning about LucillaD. id Duncan imagine that the Reverend Mothers of those ancient days were

identical with the women of todaTye?g thought that highly unlikelIyn. Sisterhood evolved and changed.
the way of all other life, the
It was obvious to Teg that Duncan had come to a decision about his place in Taraza's machinations. Duncan was not merely biding his timHe was training his body to a personally chosen peak and he had made a judgment about the Bene Gesserit.
He has made that judgment on insufficient data, Teg thought.
Duncan dropped the towel and looked at it for a mo"mLeetntm. e be the judge of what you can teach me, Bashar."He turned and stared narrowly at Teg seated in the cage.
Teg inhaled deeplyH. e smelled the faint ozone from all of this durable Harkonnen equipment ticking
away in readiness for Duncan's return to actTiohne.
ghola's perspiration carried a bitter dominant.
Duncan sneezed.
Teg sniffed, recognizing the omnipresent dust of their activIittiecso.uld be more tasted than smelled at times. Alkaline. Over it all was the fragrance of the air scrubbers and oxy regeneTrhaetorers.was a distinct floral aroma built into the system but Teg could not identify the Inflotwheer.month of their
occupation, the globe also had taken on human odors, slowly insinuated into the original composite --
perspiration, cooking smells, the never-quite-suppressed acridity of waste reclamaTtio
.Teg, these
reminders of their presence were oddly offensiAven.d he found himself sniffing and listening for sounds
of intrusion -- something more than the echoing passage of their own footsteps and the subdued metallic clashings from the kitchen area.
Duncan's voice intruded":You're an odd man, Bashar."
"What do you mean?"
"There's your resemblance to the Duke LTethoe. facial identity is weirHd.e was a bit shorter than you but the identity . .H."e shook his head, thinking of the Bene Gesserit designs behind those genetic markers in Teg's face -- that hawk look, the crease lines and that inner thing, that certainty of moral

superiority.
How moral and how superior?
According to the records he had seen at the Keep (and Duncan was sure they had been placed there especially for him to discover) Teg's reputation was an almost universal thing throughout human society of this age.At the Battle of Markon, it had been enough for the enemy to know that Teg was there opposite them in personT. hey sued for termsW. as that true?
Duncan looked at Teg in the console cage and put this question to him.
"Reputation can be a beautiful weapon," Teg
"sIatido. ften spills less blood."
"At Arbelough, why did you go to the front with your trDooupnsc?a"n asked.
Teg showed surprise".Where did you learn that?"
"At the KeepY. ou might have been killeWd. hat would that have served?"
Teg reminded himself that this young flesh standing over him held unknown knowledge, which must guide
Duncan's quest for informationI.t was in that unknown area, Teg suspected, that Duncan was most valuable to the Sisterhood.
"We took severe losses at Arbelough on the preceding two days," Te"gI fsaaiilde.d to make a correct assessment of the enemy's fear and fanaticism."
"But the risk of . . ."
"My presence at the front said to my own pe'Iopshlea:re your risks.' "

"The Keep's records said Arbelough had been perverted by Face DaPnacterirns. told me you vetoed your aides when they urged you to sweep the planet clean, sterilize it and --"
"You were not there, Duncan."
"I am trying to bSeo.
you spared your enemy against all advice."
"Except for the Face Dancers."
"But then you walked unarmed through the enemy ranks and before they had laid down their weapons."
"To assure them they would not be mistreated."
"That was very dangerous."
"Was it?Many of them came over to us for the final assault on Kroinin where we broke the anti-Sisterhood forces."
Duncan stared hard at TeNgo. t only did this old Bashar resemble Duke Leto in appearance, but he also
had that same Atreides charisma: legendary figure even among his former enemTieg.
had said he was
descended from Ghanima of the Atreides, but there had to be more in it tThahne twhay.s of the Bene
Gesserit breeding mastery awed him.
"We will go back to the practice now," Duncan said.
"Don't damage yourself."

"You forget, BasharI. remember a body as young as this one and right here on Giedi Prime."
"Gammu!"
"It was properly renamed but my body still recalls the orTighiantali.s why they sent me heIrek.now it."
Of course he would know it, Teg thought.
Restored by the brief respite, Teg introduced a new element in the attack and sent a sudden burn-line against Duncan's left side.
How easily Duncan parried the attack!
He was using an oddly mixed variation on the five attitudes, each response seemingly invented before it was required.
"Each attack is a feather floating on the infinite road," DuncaHn issavido.ice gave no hint of exertion. "As the feather approaches, it is diverted and removed."
As he spoke, he parried the shifting attack and countered.
Teg's Mentat logic followed the movements into what he recognized as dangerousDpelpaceensd.encies and key logs!
Duncan shifted over to attack, moving ahead of it, pacing his movements rather than resTpeognding. was forced to his utmost abilities as the shadow forces burned and flickered across tDheunfcloano'rs. weaving figure in its mobile cage danced along the space betweenNthoet mo.ne of Teg's hunter-seekers or burn-line counters touched the moving figuDreu.ncan was over them, under them, seeming totally unafraid of the real pain that this equipment could bring him.

Once more, Duncan increased the speed of his attack.
A bolt of pain shot up Teg's left arm from his hand on the controls to his shoulder.
With a sharp exclamation, Duncan shut down the equipm"Seonrtr.y, Bashar.That was superb defense on your part but I'm afraid age defeated you."
Once more, Duncan crossed the floor and stood over Teg.
"A little pain to remind me of the pain I caused you," THege
sruaibdb.ed his tingling arm.
"Blame the heat of the moment," Duncan
"sWaide.
have done enough for now."
"Not quite," Teg sai"dI.t is not enough to strengthen only your muscles."
At Teg's words Duncan felt an alerting sensation throughout hisHbeodsye.nsed the disorganized touch of that uncompleted thing that the reawakening had failed to aSrooumsee.thing crouched within him, Duncan thought.It was like a coiled spring waiting for release.
"What more would you do?" Duncan askHeids. voice sounded hoarse.
"Your survival is in the balance here," Teg "sAaildl .of this is being done to save you and get you to
Rakis."
"For Bene Gesserit reasons, which you say you do not know!"
"I don't know them, Duncan."

"But you're a Mentat."
"Mentats require data to make projections."
"Do you think Lucilla knows?"
"I'm not sure but let me warn you again abouSthehehr.as orders to get you to Rakis prepared for what you must do there."
"Must?"Duncan shook his head from side to s"iAdem.
I not my own person with rights to make my
own choices?What do you think you've reawakened here, a damned Face Dancer capable only of obeying orders?"
"Are you telling me you will not go to Rakis?"
"I'm telling you I will make my own decisions when I know what it is II'm'm ntot dao.hired assassin."
"You think I am, Duncan?"
"I think you're an honorable man, someone to be admGiirveed.me credit for having my own standards of duty and honor."
"You've been given another chance at life and --"
"But you are not my father and Lucilla is not my mImopthrienrt.er? For what does she hope to prepare me?"

"It may be that she does not know, DunLcikane. me, she may have only part of the deKsingonw. ing how the Sisterhood works, that is highly likely."
"So the two of you just train me and deliver me to AHrerraek'sis.the package you ordered!"
"This is a far different universe than the one where you were originally born," "TAesg istaiwda. s in your
day, we still have a Great Convention against atomics and the pseudoatomics of lasgun-shield interaction. We still say that sneak attacks are forbiddTehne.re are pieces of paper scattered around to which we
have put our names and we --"
"But the no-ships have changed the basis for all of those treaties," Dunc"aInthsianidk. I learned my
history fairly well at the KeeTpe.ll me, Bashar, why did Paul's son have the Tleilaxu provide him with my ghola-self, hundreds of me! for all those thousands of years?"
"Paul's son?"
"The Keep's records call him the God EmpYerour. name him Tyrant."
"Oh.I don't think we know why he diPderiht.aps he was lonely for someone from --"
"You brought me back to confront the worm!" Duncan said.
Is that what we're doing? Teg wondeHreed. had considered this possibility more than once, but it was only a possibility, not a projectioEnv.en so, there had to be something more in Taraza's dTeseig n.
sensed this with every fiber of his Mentat trainDinidg. Lucilla know?Teg did not delude himself that he
could pry revelation from a full Reverend MotNheor. . . . he would have to bide his time, wait and watch and listen.In his own way, this obviously was what Duncan had decItidweda.s a dangerous course if he thwarted Lucilla!
Teg shook his hea"dT. ruly, Duncan, I do not know."

"But you follow orders."
"By my oath to the Sisterhood."
"Deceptions, dishonesties -- those are empty words when the question is the Sisterhood's survival," Duncan quoted him.
"Yes, I said that," Teg agreed.
"I trust you now because you said it," Duncan"Bsauitd.I do not trust Lucilla."
Teg dropped his chin to his breDasatn. gerous . . . dangerous . . .
Much more slowly than once he had done, Teg brought his attention out of such thoughts and went through the mental cleansing process, concentrating on the necessities laid upon him by Taraza.
"You are my Bashar."
Duncan studied the Bashar for a momFeantti.gue lines were obvious on the old man's fDaucen.can was reminded suddenly of Teg's great age, wondering if it ever tempted men such as Teg to seek out the Tleilaxu and become gholasP.robably not.They knew they might become Tleilaxu puppets.
This thought flooded Duncan's awareness, holding him immobile so plainly that Teg, lifting his gaze, saw it at once.
"Is something wrong?"
"The Tleilaxu have done something to me, something that has not yet been exposed," Duncan husked.

"Exactly what we fearedI!t" was Lucilla speaking from the doorway behind STheeg. advanced to within two paces of Dunca"nI. have been listeningY. ou two are very informative."
Teg spoke quickly, hoping to blunt the anger he sensed "iHn ehehra. s mastered the seven attitudes today."
"He strikes like fire," Lucilla said, "but remember that we of the Sisterhood flow like water and fill in every place."She glanced down at Te"gD. o you not see that our ghola has gone beyond the attitudes?"
"No fixed position, no attitude," Duncan said.
Teg looked up sharply at Duncan, who stood with his head erect, his forehead smooth, his eyes clear as he returned Teg's gazeD. uncan had grown surprisingly in the short time since being awakened to his
original memories.
"Damn you, Miles!" Lucilla muttered.
But Teg kept his attention on DuncTahne.
youth's entire body seemed wired to a new kind of vigor.
There was a poise about him that had not been there before.
Duncan shifted his attention to Luci"lYla.ou think you will fail in your assignment?"
"Surely not," she sai"dY. ou're still a male."
And she thoughYt: es, that young body must flow hot with the juices of procrIenadtieoend. , the
hormonal igniters are all intact and susceptible to arousHinisg.present stance, though, and the way he looked at her, forced her to raise her awareness to new, energy-demanding levels.

"What have the Tleilaxu done to you?" she demanded.
Duncan spoke with a flippancy that he did not"OfeeGl:reat Imprinter, if I knew I would tell you."
"You think it's a game we play?" she demanded.
"I do not know what it is we play at!"
"By now, many people know we are not on Rakis where we would have been expected to flee," she said.
"And Gammu swarms with people returned from the Scattering," Teg"Tshaeidy. have the numbers to explore many possibilities here."
"Who would suspect the existence of a lost no-globe from the Harkonnen days?" Duncan asked.
"Anyone who made the association between Rakis and Dar-es-Balat," Teg said.
"If you think this is a game, consider the urgencies of the play," LucSilhlae spaiivdo. ted on one foot to concentrate on Teg". And you have disobeyed Taraza!"
"You are wrongI! have done exactly what she ordered me toI admo. well she knows me."
her Bashar and you forget how
With an abruptness that shocked her to silence, the subtleties of Taraza's maneuverings impressed themselves upon Lucilla . . .
We are pawns!

What a delicate touch Taraza always demonstrated in the way she moved her pawnLsucaiblloaudt.id not feel diminished by the realization that she was a pTahwatn.was knowledge bred and trained into every Reverend Mother of the SisterhooEdv.en Teg knew iNt. ot diminished, noT. he thing around them had escalated in Lucilla's awarenesSs.he felt awed by Teg's wordHso. w shallow had been her previous
view of the forces within which they were enmesIht ewd.as as though she had seen only the surface of a turbulent river and, from that, had glimpsed the currents benNeaotwh., however, she felt the flow all
around her and a dismaying realization.
Pawns are expendable.
By your belief in singularities, in granular absolutes, you deny movement, even the movement of evolution! While you cause a granular universe to persist in your awareness, you are blind to movement. When things change, your absolute universe vanishes, no longer accessible to your self-limiting perceptions. The universe has moved beyond you.
-First Draft, Atreides Manifesto, Bene Gesserit Archives
Taraza put her hands beside her temples, palms flat in front of her ears, and presseEdvein haerrd. fingers could feel the tiredness in therrige:ht between the hands -- fatiguAe. brief flicker of eyelids and she fell into the relaxation trancHea. nds against head were the sole focal points of fleshly awareness.

One hundred heartbeats.
She had practiced this regularly since learning it as a child, one of her first Bene GesEsexraitctlsykills.
one hundred heartbeatsA.
fter all of those years of practice, her body could pace them automatically by
an unconscious metronome.
When she opened her eyes at the count of one hundred, her head feSlthebehttoepr.ed she would have at least two more hours in which to work before fatigue overcame her oncTehomsoereo.ne hundred heartbeats had given her extra years of wakefulness in her lifetime.
Tonight, though, thinking of that old trick sent her memories spiraling bacSkhwearfdo.und herself
caught in her own childhood, the dormitory with the Sister Proctor pacing the aisle at night to make sure they all remained properly asleep in their beds.
Sister Baram, the Night Proctor.
Taraza had not thought of that name in ySeiasrtes.r Baram had been short and fat, a failed Reverend Mother. Not for any immediately visible reason, but the Medical Sisters and their Suk doctors had found something. Baram had never been permitted to try the spice agSohney.had been quite forthcoming
about what she knew of her defeItct.had been discovered while she was still in her pteeerniosd: ic nerve tremors, which manifested when she began to sink into sAleespy.mptom of something deeper that had caused her to be sterilizeTd.he tremors made Baram wakeful in the niAghist.le patrol was a logical assignment.
Baram had other weaknesses not detected by her supeAriorws.akeful child toddling to the washroom could lure Baram into low-voiced conversatioNna. ive questions elicited mostly naive answers, but sometimes Baram imparted useful knowledgSeh. e had taught Taraza the relaxation trick.
One of the older girls had found Sister Baram dead in the washroom one TmhoernNinigg.ht Proctor's
tremors had been the symptom of a fatal defect, a fact important mostly to the Breeding Mistresses and their endless records.
Because the Bene Gesserit did not usually schedule the full "solo death education" until well into the

acolyte stage, Sister Baram was the first dead person Taraza hadSisseter . Baram's body had been
found partly beneath a washbasin, the right cheek pressed to the tile floor, her left hand caught in the plumbing under a sinkS.he had tried to pull her failing body upright and death had caught her in the attempt, exposing that last motion like an insect caught in amber.
When they rolled Sister Baram over to carry her away, Taraza saw the red mark where a cheek had been pressed to the flooTr.he Day Proctor explained this mark with a scientific practicAalnityy.
experience could be turned into data for these potential Reverend Mothers to incorporate later into their acolyte "Conversations With Death."
Post Mortem lividity.
Seated at her Chapter House table, all of those years removed from the event, Taraza was forced to use her carefully focused powers of concentration to dispel that memory, leaving her free to deal with the
work spread before herS.o many lessonsS. o fearfully full, her memorSyo.
many lifetimes stored there.
It reaffirmed her sense of being alive to see the work in frontTohfinghser.to doS. he was needed. Eagerly, Taraza bent to her labors.
Damn the necessity to train the ghola on Gammu!
But this ghola required Fiat.miliarity with dirt underfoot preceded the required restoration of that original persona.
It had been wise to send Burzmali into the Gammu IafreMnail.es had really found a hideaway . . . if he
were to emerge now, he would need all the help he couOldncgeetm.
ore, she considered whether it was
time to play the prescient gamSeo. ghola might be required.
"Ready him for delivery."
dangerous!And the Tleilaxu had been alerted that their replacement
Her mind swung to the Rakis problTemha.t fool Tuek should have been monitored more carefHulolyw. long could a Face Dancer safely impersonate hTimhe?re was no faulting Odrade's on-scene decision, though. She had put the Tleilaxu into an untenable posiTtihoen. impersonator could be exposed, plunging the Bene Tleilax into a sink of hatred.

The game within the Bene Gesserit design had become very deFliocratgee. nerations now, they had held out to the Rakian priesthood the bait of a Bene Gesserit aBlliuatncneo.w!The Tleilaxu must
consider that they had been chosen instead of the prOiedstrsa.de's three-cornered alliance, let the priests think every Reverend Mother would take the Oath of Subservience to the DivideTdheGoPdri.estly
Council would stutter with excitement at the prospTehcte.
Tleilaxu, of course, saw the chance to
monopolize melange, controlling at last the one source independent of them.
A rap at Taraza's door told her the acolyte had arrived wIitthwtaesa.a standing order when the
Mother Superior worked lateT. araza glanced at the table chrono, an Ixian device so accurate it would gain or lose only one second in a cen1tu:r2y3::11 A.M.
She called to admit the acolyTthe.e girl, a pale blond with coldly observant eyes, entered and bent to arrange the contents of her tray beside Taraza.
Taraza ignored the girl and stared at the work remaining on thSeotambluec. h to doW. ork was more
important than sleepB. ut her head ached and she felt the telltale dazed sensation akin to a stunned brain that told her the tea would provide little reSlhieef. had worked herself into mental starvation and it would have to be put right before she could even sHtaenrd.shoulders and back throbbed.
The acolyte started to leave but Taraza motioned for her to"Rwubaitm.
y back please, Sister."
The acolyte's educated hands slowly worked out the constrictions in Taraza'sGoboacdk.girl.Taraza smiled at this thoughOt. f course she was gooNd.o lesser creature could be assigned to the Mother Superior.
When the girl had gone, Taraza sat silently in deep thSoouglhittt.le timeS. he begrudged every minute of
sleep. There was no escaping it, thougEhv.entually, the body made its unavoidable demanSdhse.
had
pressed herself beyond easy recuperation for days nIogwno. ring the tea laid out beside her, Taraza arose and went down the hall to her tiny sleepingThcerlel., she left a call with the Night Guard for
11:00 A.M.and composed herself fully robed on the hard cot.
Quietly, she regulated her breathing, insulated her senses from distraction and fell into the between-state.

Sleep did not come.
She went through her full repertoire and still sleep evaded her.
Taraza lay there for a long time, recognizing at last the futility of willing herself to sleep with any of the techniques at her disposaTl.he between-state would have to do its slow mending Mfiersatn. while, her
mind continued to churn.
The Rakian priesthood she had never considered to be a central prAoblrleeamdy.
caught up in religion,
the priests could be manipulated by religiTonh.ey saw the Bene Gesserit chiefly as a power that could enforce their dogmaL. et them continue to think thIits.was bait that would blind them.
Damn that Miles TegT!hree months of silence, and no favorable report from Burzmali, eCithhaerrr.ed ground, signs of a no-ship's lift-oWff.here could Teg have goneT?he ghola might be deaTd.eg had never before done such a thinOgl.d Reliability.That was why she had chosen hTimh.at and his military skills and his likeness to the old Duke Leto -- all of the things they had prepared in him.
Teg and LucillaA.
perfect team.
If not dead, was the ghola beyond their reDacidh?the Tleilaxu have himA?ttackers from the Scattering? Many things were possibleO. ld Reliability.Silent. Was his silence a messageIf? so, what was he trying to say'?
With both Schwangyu and Patrin dead, there was the smell of conspiracy around the Gammu events, Could Teg be someone planted long ago by the Sisterhood's eneImmiepso?ssible! His own family was
proof against such doubtsT.eg's daughter at the family home was as mystified as anyone.
Three months now and not a word.
Caution.She had warned Teg to exercise the utmost caution in protecting theTgehgolhaa. d seen the great danger on GammuS.chwangyu's last reports made that clear.

Where could Teg and Lucilla have taken the ghola?
Where had they acquired a no-shipC?onspiracy?
Taraza's mind kept circling around her deep suspiciWonass.
it Odrade's doingT? hen who conspired
with Odrade?Lucilla? Odrade and Lucilla had never met before that brief encounter on GaOmrmhua.d they? Who bent close to Odrade and breathed a mutual air weighted with whOisdpreards?e gave no sign, but what proof was thaLt?ucilla's loyalty had never been doubteTdh.ey both functioned perfectly as assigned.But so would conspirators.
Facts!Taraza hungered for factsT.he bed rustled beneath her and her sense-insulation collapsed, shattered by worries as much as by the sound of her own moveRmeesingtns.edly, Taraza once more composed herself for relaxation.
Relaxation and then sleep.
Ships from the Scattering flitted through Taraza's fatigue-fogged imaginaLtoiosnt . Ones returned in their uncounted no-ships.Was that where Teg found a shTiph?is possibility was being explored as quietly as they could on Gammu and elsewheSreh.e tried counting imaginary ships but they refused to proceed in the orderly fashion required for sleep inductiTonar.aza came alert without moving on her cot.
Her deepest mind was trying to reveal somethFiantgig. ue had blocked that path of communication but now -- she sat up fully awake.
The Tleilaxu had been dealing with people returned from the ScatWteriitnhg.these whorish Honored Mattes and with returned Bene Tleilax as wTealrl.aza sensed a single design behind evenTths.e Lost Ones did not return out of simple curiosity about their Trohoetsg. regarious desire to reunite all of
humankind was not enough in itself to bring them of conquest.
Tbahcek.Honored Matres clearly came with dreams
But what if the Tleilaxu sent out in the Scattering had not carried with them the secret of the axlotl tanks?
What then?Melange. The orange-eyed whores obviously used an inadequate substitTuhtee.
people of
the Scattering might not have solved the mystery of the Tleilaxu Ttahnekys.would know about axlotl tanks and try to recreate themB. ut if they failed -- melange!

She began to explore this projection.
The Lost Ones ran out of the true melange their ancestors took into the ScWathteartinsgo.urces did they have then?The worms of Rakis and the original Bene TleTilhaex. whores would not dare reveal their true interestT. heir ancestors believed that the worms could not be transplaWnteads. it possible the Lost Ones had found a suitable planet for the woOrmf sc?ourse it was possiblTe.hey might begin
bargaining with the Tleilaxu as a diversiRona.kis would be their real targOetr.
the reverse could be true.
Transportable wealth.
She had seen Teg's reports on the wealth being accumulated on GSaommmeu.among the ones returning had coinages and other negotiable chipTs.hat much was plain from the banking activities.
What greater currency was there, though, than the spice?
Wealth.That was it, of coursAe.nd whatever the chips, the bargaining had begun.
Taraza grew aware of voices outside her dTohoer. acolyte Sleep-Guard was arguing with someone. The voices were low but Taraza heard enough to bring her into full alert.
"She left a wake-up for late morning," the Sleep-Guard protested.
Someone else whispered":She said she was to be told the moment I returned."
"I tell you she is very tiSrehde.
needs --"
"She needs to be obeyeTde!ll her I'm back!"

Taraza sat up and swung her legs over the edge of tHher cfoete.t found the flooGr.ods! How her
knees ached.It pained her, too, that she could not place the intruding whisper, the person arguing with her guard.
Whose return did I . . . Burzmali!
"I'm awake," Taraza called.
Her door opened and the Sleep-Guard leaned"Mino.ther Superior, Burzmali has returned from
Gammu."
"Send him in at onceT!a"raza activated a single glowglobe at the head of heIrtscoyte.llow light washed away the room's darkness.
Burzmali entered and closed the door behind Whimith. out being toldh. e touched the sound-insulation switch on the door and all outside noises vanished.
Privacy?It was bad news then.
She looked up at BurzmaHlie.
was a short, slender fellow with a sharply triangular face narrowing to a
thin chin.Blond hair swept over a high foreheHadis.
widely spaced green eyes were alert and watchful.
He looked far too young for the responsibilities of a Bashar, but then Teg had looked even younger at Arbelough. We are getting old, damn Sith.e forced herself to relax and place her trust in the fact that Teg had trained this man and expressed full confidence in him.
"Tell me the bad news," Taraza said.
Burzmali cleared his throa"tS. till no sign of the Bashar and his party on Gammu, Mother SupHeerior." had a heavy, masculine voice.

And that's not the worst of it, Taraza thoSuhgeht.saw the clear signs of Burzmali's nervousness.
"Let's have it all," she order"eOd.bviously, you have completed your examination of the Keep's ruins."
"No survivors," he sai"dT. he attackers were thorough."
"Tleilaxu?"
"Possible."
"You have doubts?"
"The attackers used that new Ixian explosive, 12-IU.ri. . I think it may have been used to mislead us. There were mechanical brain-probe holes in Schwangyu's skull, too."
"What of Patrin?"
"Exactly as Schwangyu reporteHd.e blew himself up in that decoy sThihpe.y identified him from bits of two fingers and one intact eyTeh.ere was nothing left big enough to probe."
"But you have doubtGs!et to them!"
"Schwangyu left a message that only we might read."
"In the wear marks on furniture?"

"Yes, Mother Superior, and --"
"Then she knew she would be attacked and had time to leave a mI essaswagey.our earlier report on the devastation of the attack."
"It was quick and totally overpoweriTngh.e attackers did not try to take captives."
"What did she say?"
"Whores."
Taraza tried to contain her shock, although she had been expecting thaTt hweoerdff.ort to remain calm almost drained her energiesT.his was very badT.araza permitted herself a deep sigShc.hwangyu's opposition had persisted to the enBdu. t then, seeing disaster, she had made a proper deciKsinoonw. ing
she would die without the opportunity to transfer her Memory Lives to another Reverend Mother, she had acted from the most basic loyaIltfy.you can do nothing else, arm your Sisters and frustrate the enemy.
So the Honored Matres have acted!
"Tell me about your search for the ghola," Taraza ordered.
"We were not the first searchers over that ground, Mother SuTpehreiroer. was much additional burning of trees and rocks and underbrush."
"But it was a no-ship?"
"The marks of a no-ship."

Taraza nodded to herselAf. silent message from Old Reliability?
"How closely did you examine the area?"
"I flew over it but on a routine trip from one place to another."
Taraza motioned Burzmali to a chair near the foot of h"eSritcodto.wn and relaxI. want you to do some guessing for me."
Burzmali lowered himself carefully onto the ch"aGiru.essing?"
"You were his favorite studeIntw.
ant you to imagine that you are Miles YToeug. know you must get
the ghola out of the KeeYpo. u do not place your full trust in anyone around you, not even in Lucilla. What will you do?"
"An unexpected thing, of course."
"Of course."
Burzmali rubbed his narrow chPinr.esently, he said": I trust PatrinI.
trust him fully."
"All right, you and PatrWin.hat do you do?"
"Patrin is a native of Gammu."
"I have been wondering about that myself," she said.

Burzmali looked at the floor in front of "hPiamtr.in and I will make an emergency plan long before it is needed. I always prepare secondary ways of dealing with problems."
"Very goodN.
ow -- the planW. hat do you do?"
"Why did Patrin kill himselfB?u"rzmali asked.
"You're sure that's what he did."
"You saw the reportSs.chwangyu and several others were sure ofI
to do that for his Bashar."
iatc. cept itP. atrin was loyal enough
"For you!You are Miles Teg nowW. hat plan have you and Patrin concocted?"
"I would not deliberately send Patrin to certain death."
"Unless?"
"Patrin did that on his owHne. might if the plan originated with him and not with .H.e . mmigeh. t do it to protect me, to make sure no one discovered the plan."
"How could Patrin summon a no-ship without our learning of it?"
"Patrin was a Gammu nativHei.s family goes back to the Giedi Prime days."
Taraza closed her eyes and turned her head away from BurSzomaBliu.rzmali followed the same suggestive tracks that she had been probing in her mWined.knew Patrin's originsW. hat was the significance of that Gammu associationH?er mind refused to speculatTe.his was what came of allowing herself to become too tiredS!he looked once more at Burzmali.

"Did Patrin find a way to make secret contact with family and old friends?"
"We've explored every contact we could find."
"Depend on it; you haven't traced them all."
Burzmali shrugged". Of course notI.
have not acted on that assumption."
Taraza took a deep brea"thG. o back to GammuT.ake with you as much help as our Security can
spare. Tell Bellonda those are my ordeYrso. u must insinuate agents into every walk of Flinfed. Patrin knew.What of his surviving familyF?riends? Winkle them out."
out who
"That will cause a stir no matter how careful wOethaerres.
will know."
"That cannot be helpeAd.nd Burzmali!"
He was on his fe"eYt.es, Mother Superior?"
"The other searchersY: ou must stay ahead of them."
"May I use a Guild navigator?"
"No!"
"Then how --"

"Burzmali, what if Miles and Lucilla and our ghola are still on Gammu?"
"I've already told you that I do not accept the idea of their leaving in a no-ship!"
For a long silent period, Taraza studied the man standing at the foot ofTrhaeinr ecdotb.y Miles Teg. The old Bashar's favorite studenWt. hat was Burzmali's trained instinct suggesting.
In a low voice, she prompt"eYd:es?"
"Gammu was Giedi Prime, a Harkonnen place."
"What does that suggest to you?"
"They were rich, Mother SuperioVre. ry rich."
"So?"
"Rich enough to accomplish the secret installation of a no-r.o.oemve.n of a large no-globe."
"There are no recordIsx! Gammu for . . ."
has never even vaguely suggested such a thTihngey.
have not probed on
"Bribes, third-party purchases, many transshipments," Burzmali s"aTidh.e Famine Times were very disruptive and before that there were all those millennia of the Tyrant."
"When the Harkonnens kept their heads down or lost Sthtiellm, .I will admit the possibility."

"Records could have been lost," Burzmali said.
"Not by us or the other governments that survWivehda.t prompts this line of speculation?"
"Patrin."
"Ahhhhh."
He spoke quickly":If such a thing were discovered, a Gammu native might know about it."
"How many of them would knoDwo? you think they could have kept such a secret fYores.! I. .see what you meanI.f it were a secret of Patrin's family . . .
"I have not dared question any of them about it."
"Of course notB! ut where would you look . . . without alerting . . .
"That place on the mountain where the no-ship marks were left."
"It would require you to go there in person!"
"Very hard to conceal from spies," he agr"eUedn.less I went with a very small force and seemingly on another purpose."
"What other purpose?"

"To place a funeral marker in memory of my old Bashar."
"Suggesting that we know he is deYade?s!"
"You've already asked the Tleilaxu to replace our ghola."
"That was a simple precaution and does not bear on . . . Burzmali, this is extremely Idadnoguebrot us. we can mislead the kinds of people who will observe you on Gammu."
"The mourning of myself and the people I take with me will be dramatic and believable."
"The believable does not necessarily convince a wary observer."
"Do you not trust my loyalty and the loyalty of the people I will take with me?"
Taraza pursed her lips in thougShhte.
reminded herself that fixed loyalty was a thing they had learned to
improve upon from the Atreides patterHno. w to produce people who command the utmost devotion. Burzmali and Teg both were fine examples.
"It might work," Taraza agreeSdh.e stared speculatively at BurzmaTli.eg's favorite student could be right!
"Then I'll go," Burzmali saHide.
turned to leave.
"One moment," Taraza said.
Burzmali turned". You will saturate yourselves with shere, all of Ayonud. if you're captured by Face
Dancers -- these new ones! -- you must burn your own heads or shatter them comTapkle etlhye.

necessary precautions."
The suddenly sobered expression on Burzmali's face reassured TaHraezah.ad been proud of himself for a moment thereB. etter to dampen his pridNe.o need for him to be reckless.
We have long known that the objects of our palpable sense experiences can be influenced by choice -- both conscious choice and unconsciouTs.his is a demonstrated fact that does not require that we believe some force within us reaches out and touches the univIerasded. ress a pragmatic relationship between
belief and what we identify as "reAal.l"l of our judgments carry a heavy burden of ancestral beliefs to which we of the Bene Gesserit tend to be more susceptible thanIt misosnt.ot enough that we are aware of this and guard against Aitl.ternative interpretations must always receive our attention.
-Mother Superior TarazaA: rgument in Council
"God will judge us here," Waff gloated.
He had been doing that at unpredictable moments all during this long ride across thSehedeeasneart. appeared not to notice but Waff's voice and comments had begun to wear on TOhderaRdaek. ian sun
had moved far down to the west but the worm that carried them appeared untiring in its drive across the ancient Sareer toward the remnant mounds of the Tyrant's barrier wall.

Why this direction? Odrade wondered.
No answer satisfiedT.he fanaticism and renewed danger from Waff, though, demanded immediate response. She called up the cant of the Shariat that she knew drove him.
"Let God do the judging and not men."
Waff scowled at the taunting note in her vHoiecel.ooked at the horizon ahead and then up at the
'thopters, which kept pace with them.
"Men must do God's work," he muttered.
Odrade did not answeWr. aff had been deflected into his doubts and now would be asking hDimidself:
these Bene Gesserit witches really share the Great Belief?
Her thoughts dove back into the unanswered questions, tumbling through all she knew about the worms of Rakis.Personal memories and Other Memories wove a mad montSahgee. could visualize robed
Fremen atop a worm even larger than this one, each rider leaning back against a long hooked pole that dug into a worm's rings as her hands now gripped thiSs hoenefe. lt the wind against her cheeks, the robe whipping against her shanksT.his ride and others merged into a long familiarity.
It has been a long time since an Atreides rode this way.
Was there a clue to their destination back in Dar-es-BHaolawt? could there beB? ut it had been so hot and her mind had been questing forward to what might happen on this venture into thSehedehsaedrt.
not been as alert as she might have been.
In common with every other community on Rakis, Dar-es-Balat pulled inward from its edges during the heat of the early afternooOn.drade recalled the chafing of her new stillsuit while she waited in a building's
shadows near the western limits of Dar-es-BaSlahte.
waited for the separate escorts to bring Sheeana
and Waff from the safe houses where Odrade had installed them.

What a tempting target she had maBduet. they had to be certain of Rakian compliaTnhce. Bene
Gesserit escorts delayed deliberately.
"Shaitan likes the heat," Sheeana had said.
Rakians hid from the heat but the worms came outWtahsent.hat a significant fact, revealing the reason for this worm to take them in a particular direction?
My mind is bouncing around like a child's ball!
What did it signify that Rakians hid from the sun while a little Tleilaxu, a Reverend Mother, and a wild young girl went coursing across the desert atop a wIotrmw?as an ancient pattern on RakNiso.thing
surprising about it at aTll.he ancient Fremen had been mostly nocturnal, thouTghhe.ir modern descendants depended more on shade to protect them from the hottest sunlight.
How safe the priests felt behind their guardian moats!
Every resident of a Rakian urban center knew the qanat was out there, water running slick in shadowed darkness, trickles diverted to feed the narrow canals whose evaporation was recaptured in the
windtraps.
"Our prayers protect us," they said, but they knew very well what really protected them.
"His holy presence is seen in the desert."
The Holy Worm.
The Divided God.

Odrade looked down at the worm rings in front oAf nhderh. ere he is!
She thought of the priests among the watchers in the 'thopters ovHerohweadt.hey loved to spy on
others! She had felt them watching her back in Dar-es-Balat while she awaited the arrival of Sheeana and
Waff. Eyes behind the high grills of hidden balconEieyse.s peering through slits in thick waEllys.es concealed behind mirror-plaz or staring out from shadowed places.
Odrade had forced herself to ignore the dangers while she marked the passage of time by the movement of the shadow line on a wall above ahesru:re clock in this land where few kept other than suntime.
Tensions had built, amplified by the need to appear unconceWrnoeudl.d they attack?Would they dare, knowing that she had taken her own precautioHnos?w angry were the priests at being forced to join the Tleilaxu in this secret triumvirateH?er Reverend Mother advisors from the Keep had not liked this dangerous baiting of the priests.
"Let one of us be the bait!"
Odrade had been adaman"tT: hey would not believe they are sure to send Albertus."
Situ. spicions would keep them awaBy.esides,
So Odrade had waited in the Dar-es-Balat courtyard, green-shadowed in the depths where she stood looking upward at the sunline six stories overhead -- past lacy balustrades at each balconigerdeelnevel: plants, brilliant red, orange, and blue flowers, a rectangle of silvery sky above the tiers.
And the hidden eyes.
Motion at the wide street door to her rAighsti!ngle figure in priestly gold, purple, and white let himself
into the courtyardS. he studied him, looking for signs that the Tleilaxu might have extended their sway by another Face Dancer mimicB. ut this was a man, a priest she recogniAzelbde:rtus, the senior of
Dar-es-Balat.

Just as we expected.
Albertus moved through the wide atrium and across the courtyard toward her, walking with careful dignity. Were there dangerous portents in himW?ould he signal his assassinsS?he glanced upward at the tiered balconies:little flickering motions at the higher levTelhs.e approaching priest was not alone.
But neither am I!
Albertus came to a stop two paces from Odrade and looked up at her from where he had kept his attention -- on the intricate gold and purple designs of the courtyard's tiled floor.
He has weak bones, Odrade thought.
She gave no sign of recognitiAonlb. ertus was one of those who knew that his High Priest had been replaced by a Face Dancer mimic.
Albertus cleared his throat and took a trembling breath.
Weak bones!Weak flesh!
While the thought amused Odrade, it did not reduce her waRrienveessre. nd Mothers always noted that
sort of thingY.
ou looked for the marks of the breedSinugc.h selectivity as existed in the ancestry of
Albertus carried flaws, elementals that the Sisterhood would try to correct in his descendants if it ever appeared worthwhile to breed himT.his would be considered, of coursAel.bertus had risen to a position
of power, doing it quietly but definitely, and it must be determined whether that implied valuable genetic material. Albertus had been poorly educated, thougAh. first-year acolyte could have handled him. Conditioning among the Rakian priesthood had degenerated badly since the old Fish Speaker days.
"Why are you here?O"drade demanded, making it as much an accusation as a question.

Albertus trembled". I bring a message from your people, Reverend Mother."
"Then say it!"
"There has been a slight delay, something about the route here being known by too many."
That, at least, was the story they had agreed to tell the Bpuritesthtse.
other things on the face of
Albertus were easy to reaSd.ecrets shared with him were dangerously close to exposure.
"I almost wish I had ordered you killed," Odrade said.
Albertus recoiled two full paceHsi.s eyes went vacant, as though he had died right there in front of her. She recognized the reactionA. lbertus had entered that fully revelatory phase where fear gripped his scrotum. He knew that this terrible Reverend Mother Odrade might pass a death sentence upon him quite casually or kill him with her own haNnodtsh. ing he said or did would escape her awful scrutiny.
"You have been considering whether to kill me and destroy our Keep at Keen," Odrade accused.
Albertus trembled violently".Why do you say such things, Reverend MotheTrh?e"re was a revealing whine in his voice.
"Don't try to deny it," she s"aIidw. onder how many have found you as easy to read asYoIudoar?e supposed to be a keeper of secreYtso.u are not supposed to be walking around with all of our secrets written on your face!"
Albertus fell to his kneSesh.e thought he would grovel.
"But your own people sent me!"

"And you were only too happy to come and decide whether it might be possible to kill me."
"Why would we --"
"Silence!You do not like it that we control SheeYanoau. are fearful of the TleilaxMu.atters have been taken from your priestly hands and things have been set in motion that terrify you."
"Reverend Mother!What are we to doW? hat are we to do?"
"You will obey uMs!ore than that, you will obey SheeaYnao!u fear what we venture this daYyo?u have greater things to fear!"
She shook her head in mock dismay, knowing the effect all of this was having on pooHr eAlbertus. cringed beneath the weight of her anger.
"On your feet!s"he ordered."And remember that you are a priest and the truth is demanded of you!"
Albertus stumbled to his feet and kept his head boSwheedc.ould see his body responding to the decision that he abandon subterfugWe. hat a trial that must be for hDimut!iful to the Reverend Mother who so obviously read his heart, now he must be dutiful to his rHeleigmiouns. t confront the ultimate paradox of all religions:
God knows!
"You hide nothing from me, nothing from Sheeana, and nothing from God," Odrade said.
"Forgive me, Reverend Mother."
"Forgive you?It is not in my power to forgive you nor should you ask iYt oouf mare. a priest!"

He lifted his gaze to Odrade's angry face.
The paradox was upon him completely nGowod.
was surely hereB! ut God was usually a long way
away and confrontations could be put oTfof.morrow was another day of liSfeu.rely it wasA. nd it was acceptable if you permitted yourself a few small sins, perhaps a lie Foor rtwthoe. time being onlAy.nd maybe a big sin if temptations were grGeaotd. s were supposed to be more understanding of great sinners. There would be time to make amends.
Odrade stared at Albertus with the analyzing eye of the Missionaria Protectiva.
Ahhh, Albertus, she thoughBt.ut now you stand in the presence of a fellow human who knows all of the things you believed were secrets between you and your god.
For Albertus, his present situation could be little different from death and that ultimate submission to the final judgment of his goTd.hat surely described the unconscious setting for the way Albertus let his will
power crumble nowA. Mother.
ll of his religious fears had been called up and were focused on a Reverend
In her driest tones, not even compelling him with Voice, Odrad"eI swaiadn:t this farce ended immediately."
Albertus tried to swallowH.e knew he could not lHiee.
might know a remote capability of lying but that
was useless.Submissively, he looked up at Odrade's forehead where the line of her stillsuit cap had been drawn tightly across her browH.e spoke in little more than a whisper:
"Reverend Mother, it is only that we feel deprYivoeud. and the Tleilaxu go into the desert with our
Sheeana. Both of you will learn from her and H. is. .s"houlders sagged". Why do you take the Tleilaxu?"
"Sheeana wishes it," Odrade lied.

Albertus opened his mouth and closed it without speaSkhineg.could see acceptance flood through him.
"You will return to your fellows with my warning," Odrade"Tshaeid.survival of Rakis and of your
priesthood depend utterly on how well you obey Ymoeu. will not hinder us in the slightAesntd!
these puerile plots against us -- Sheeana reveals to us your every evil thought!"
as to
Albertus surprised her theHn.e shook his head and emitted a dry chucOkdlera. de already had noted
that many of these priests enjoyed discomfiture but had not suspected that they might find amusement in their own failures.
"I find your laughter shallow," she said.
Albertus shrugged and restored some of his facial mOadsrka.de had seen several such masks on him. Facades! He wore them in layerAs.nd far down under all of that defensiveness lay the someone who cared, the one she had exposed here so briTefhlyes.e priests had a dangerous way of falling into florid explanations, though, when taxed too heavily with questions.
I must restore the one who cares, Odrade thoSuhgeht.cut him off as he started to speak.
"No more!You will wait upon me when I return from the dFeosrertn.ow, you are my messenger. Carry my message accurately and you will win a greater reward than you have ever iFmaailgianned. you will suffer the agonies of Shaitan!"
Odrade watched Albertus scurry out of the courtyard, shoulders hunched, his head thrust forward as though he could not get his mouth within speaking distance of his peers soon enough.
On the whole, she thought, it had gone Aweclla.lculated risk and very dangerous to her personSahlley. was sure there had been assassins on the balconies above her waiting for a signal from AAnldbertus. now, the fear he carried back with him was a thing the Bene Gesserit understood intimately through millennia of manipulationsA. s contagiously virulent as any plaguTeh.e teaching Sisters called it "a
directed hysteria."It had been directed (aimed was more accurate) at the heart of the Rakian priesthood. It could be relied upon, especially with the reinforcement that now would be set inThmeotpiorine.sts
would submit.Only the few immune heretics were to be feared now.

This is the awe-inspiring universe of maTghice:re are no atoms, only waves and motions all around. Here, you discard all belief in barriers to understandYinogu. put aside understanding itselTf.his universe cannot be seen, cannot be heard, cannot be detected in any way by fixed percIet pitsiotnhse. ultimate void where no preordained screens occur upon which forms may be proYjeoctuedh.ave only one awareness here -- the screen of the mIamgia:gination! Here, you learn what it is to be humYaonu. are a creator of order, of beautiful shapes and systems, an organizer of chaos.
-The Atreides Manifesto, Bene Gesserit Archives
"What you are doing is too dangerous," Teg "sMaiyd. orders are to protect you and strengthen Iyou. cannot permit this to continue."
Teg and Duncan stood in the long, wood-paneled hallway just outside the no-globe's practiIcte floor.
was late afternoon by the clock of their arbitrary routine and Lucilla had just swept away in anger after a vituperative confrontation.
Every meeting between Duncan and Lucilla lately had taken on the nature of Jaustbanttolew. , she had
stood in the doorway to the practice hall, a solid figure saved from being stolid by her softening curves, the seductive movements obvious to both males.

"Stop it, Lucilla!" Duncan had ordered.
Only her voice betrayed her ang"eHr:ow long do you think I will wait to carry out my orders?"
"Until you or someone else tells me that I --"
"Taraza requires things of you that none of us here knows!" Lucilla said.
Teg tried to soothe the mounting ang"ePrsle:ase. Isn't it enough that Duncan continues to improve his performance? In a few days, I will start keeping regular watch ouWtsiedec.an --"
"You can stop interfering with me, damn you!" Lucilla snaSphpeedw. hirled and stalked away.
As he saw the hard resolution on Duncan's face now, something furious began to worHkeinfelTt eg. impelled by the necessities of their isolated situatHioins. intellect, that marvelously honed Mentat instrument, was shielded here from the mental uproar to which it adjusted on the Hoeutsthidoeu.ght that
if he could only silence his mind, bring everything to stillness, all things would become clear to him.
"Why are you holding your breath, Bashar?"
Duncan's voice impaled TeIgt. required a supreme act of will to resume normal breaHtheingfe.lt the emotions of his two companions in the no-globe as an ebb and flow temporarily removed from other forces.
Other forces.
Mentat awareness could be an idiot in the presence of other forces that swept through the universe. There might exist in the universe people whose lives were infused with powers he could not imagine. Before such forces he would be chaff moved on the froth of wild currents.

Who could plunge into such an uproar and emerge intact?
"What can Lucilla possibly do if I continue to resist her?" Duncan asked.
"Has she used Voice on you?" Teg asHkeisd.own voice sounded remote to him.
"Once."
"You resisted?"Remote surprise lurked somewhere within Teg.
"I learned the way of that from Paul Muad'dib himself."
"She is capable of paralyzing you and --" "I think her orders prohibit violence." "What is violence, Duncan?"
"I'm going to the showers, BashAare.
you coming?"
"In a few minutesT."eg took a deep breath, sensing how close he was to exhauTshtisona.fternoon on the practice floor and afterward had drained hHime . watched Duncan leaveW. here was Lucilla?What was she planning?How long could she waiTt?hat was the central question and it put the no-globe's peculiar emphasis on their isolation from Time.
Again, he sensed that ebb and flow which their three lives influIemncuesdt. talk to LucillWa! here has she gone?The library?No! There is something else I must do first.

Lucilla sat in the room she had chosen for her personal quItarwtears a small space with an ornate bed filling an inset into one waGllr.oss and subtle signs around her said this had been the room of a favorite Harkonnen hetaira.Pastel blues with darker blue accents shaded the fabDriecsp. ite the baroque
carvings on bed, alcove, ceiling, and every functioning appurtenance, the room itself could be swept out
of her consciousness once she relaxed heSrhee. sexually gross figures on the alcove ceiling.
Teg will have to be dealt with.
lay back on the bed and closed her eyes against the
It would have to be done in such a way that it did not offend Taraza or weakenTetghepgrehsoelnat.ed
a special problem in many ways, especially in the way his mental processes could dip into and out of deeper sources akin to those of the Bene Gesserit.
The Reverend Mother who bore him, of course!
Something passed from such a mother to such a Icthbiledg. an in the womb and probably did not end
even when they were finally separateHde.
had never undergone the all-ravening transmutation that
produced Abominations . . . no, not tBhautt. he had subtle and real poweTrhs.ose born of Reverend
Mothers learned things impossible to others.
Teg knew precisely how Lucilla viewed love in all of its manifesStahtieonhsa.d seen it on his face that once in his quarters at the Keep.
"Calculating witch!"
He might as well have spoken it aloud.
She recalled the way she had favored him with her benign smile and dominating exTphreastsihoand. been a mistake, demeaning to both of thSemhe. sensed in such thoughts a latent sympathy for Teg. Somewhere within her, despite all of the careful Bene Gesserit training, there were chinks in her armor. Her teachers had warned her about that many times.

"To be capable of inducing real love, you must feel it, but only temAponrdariolnyc. e is enough!"
Teg's reactions to the Duncan Idaho ghola said mTuecgh.was both drawn to and repelled by their young charge.
As I am.
Perhaps it had been a mistake not to seduce Teg.
In her sex education, where she had been taught to gain strength from intercourse rather than lose herself in it, her teachers had emphasized analysis and historical comparisons, of which there were many in a Reverend Mother's Other Memories.
Lucilla focused her thoughts on Teg's male preseDnocein. g this, she could feel a female response, her flesh wanting Teg close to her and aroused to sexual peak -- ready for the moment of mystery.
Faint amusement crept into Lucilla's awareneNsso.t orgasm.No scientific labels!It was purest Bene Gesserit cant:moment of mystery, the Imprinter's ultimate speciaIlmty.mersion in the long Bene Gesserit continuity required this concepSt.he had been taught to believe deeply in a dutahleitys:cientific
knowledge by which the Breeding Mistresses guided them but, at the same time, the moment of mystery that confounded all knowledgeB. ene Gesserit history and science said the procreative drive must remain irretrievably buried in the psychIet. could not be removed without destroying the species.
The safety net.
Lucilla gathered her sexual forces around her now as only a Bene Gesserit ImprinteSrhecobueldg.an to focus her thoughts on DuncaBn.y now, he would be in the showers and thinking about this evening's training session with his Reverend Mother-teacher.
I will go to my student presently, she thoTuhgeht.important lesson must be taught or he will not be fully prepared for Rakis.

Those were Taraza's instructions.
Lucilla swung the focus of her thoughts fully onto DuInt cwana.s almost as though she saw him standing naked under the shower.
How little he understood of what there might be to learn!
Duncan sat alone in the dressing cubicle off the showers which adjoined the pracHticee whasll. immersed in a deep sadnesTs.his brought remembered pains to old wounds that this young flesh had never experienced.
Some things never changedT!he Sisterhood was at its old-old games again.
He looked up and around this dark-paneled Harkonnen pAlarcaeb.esques were carved into walls and ceiling, strange designs in the tesserae of the fMlooorn.sters and lovely human bodies intermingled across the same defining linesO. nly a flicker of attention separated one from the other.
Duncan looked down at this body that the Tleilaxu and their axlotl tanks had producedIt fsotrillhfiemlt. strange at momentsH. e had been a man of many adult experiences in the last instant he remembered
from his pre-ghola life -- fighting off a swarm of Sardaukar warriors, giving his young Duke a chance to escape.
His Duke!Paul had been no older than this flesh tCheonditioned, though, the way the Atreides always were: Loyalty and honor above all else.
The way they conditioned me after they saved me from the Harkonnens.
Something within him could not evade that ancient Hde tk.new its sourceH. e could outline the process by which it had been embedded in him.

There it remained.
Duncan glanced at the tiled floWoro. rds had been worked in the tile along the cubicle's splashbItoard.
was a script that one part of him identified as an ancient thing from the old Harkonnen times but that another part of him found to be an all-too-familiar Galach.
"CLEAN SWEET CLEAN BRIGHT CLEAN PURE CLEAN"
The ancient script repeated itself around the room's perimeter as though the words themselves might create something that Duncan knew was alien to the Harkonnens of his memories.
Over the door to the showers, more script:
"CONFESS THY HEART AND FIND PURITY"
A religious admonition in a Harkonnen stronghoHlda?d the Harkonnens changed in the centuries after his death?Duncan found this hard to believTeh.ese words were things that the builders probably had thought appropriate.
He felt rather than heard Lucilla enter the room behindDuhnimca.n stood and fastened the clips of the tunic he had appropriated from the nullentropy bins (but only after removing all Harkonnen insignia!).
Without turning, he sai"dW:
hat now, Lucilla?"
She stroked the fabric of the tunic along his lef"tTahrem.Harkonnens had rich tastes."
Duncan spoke quietly":Lucilla, if you touch me again without my permission, I will try to try so hard that you very likely will have to kill me."
Ikilwl ilylou.

She recoiled.
He stared into her eye"Is. am not some damned stud for the witches!"
"Is that what you think we want of you?"
"Nobody has said what you want of me but your actions are obvious!"
He stood poised on the balls of his Tfheet.unawakened thing within him stirred and sent his pulse racing.
Lucilla studied him carefullDy.amn that Miles TegS!he had not expected resistance to take this form. There was no doubting Duncan's sinceriWty.ords by themselves no longer would serHve was immune to Voice.
Truth.
It was the only weapon left to her.
"Duncan, I do not know precisely what it is Taraza expects you to do oI ncaRnakgiuse. ss but my guess may be wrong."
"Guess, then."
"There is a young girl on Rakis, barely into her Hternns.ame is SheeanaT.he worms of Rakis obey her. Somehow, the Sisterhood must gather this talent into its own store of abilities."
"What could I possibl.y.

"If I knew, I certainly would tell you now."
He heard her sincerity unmasked by her desperation. "What does your talent have to do with thheis?d"emanded. "Only Taraza and her councillors know."
"They want some hold on me, something from which I cannot escape!"
Lucilla already had arrived at this deduction but she had not expected him to see it that quickly. Duncan's youthful face concealed a mind that worked in ways she had not yet faLthuocmillae'ds.
thoughts raced.
"Control the worms and you could revive the old reliIgtiown.a"s Teg's voice from the doorway behind
Lucilla.
I did not hear him arrive!
She whirledT. eg stood there with one of the antique Harkonnen lasguns held casually across his left arm, its muzzle directed at her.
"This is to insure that you listen to me," he said.
"How long have you been there listening?"
Her angry glare did not change his expression.

"From the moment you admitted you don't know what Taraza expects of Duncan," T"Negorsadido. I. But I can make a few Mentat projections -- nothing firm yet but all of them suTgegllesmtievei.f I am wrong."
"About what?"
He glanced at Dunca"nO. ne of the things you were told to do was to make him irresistible to most women."
Lucilla tried to conceal her dismTayar.aza had warned her to conceal this from Teg as long as possible.
She saw that concealment no longer was possiTbeleg. abilities imparted to him by his damnable mother!
had read her reaction with those damnable
"A great deal of energy is being gathered and aimed at Rakis," THege sloaiodk.ed steadily at Duncan.
"No matter what the Tleilaxu have buried in him, he has the stamp of ancient humankind inIshis genes. that what the Breeding Mistresses need?"
"A damned Bene Gesserit stud!" Duncan said.
"What do you intend to do with that weapon?" Lucilla Sahskeedn.odded at the antique lasgun in Teg's hands.
"This?I didn't even put a charge cartridge inHiet."lowered the lasgun and leaned it into a corner beside him.
"Miles Teg, you will be punished!" Lucilla grated.
"That will have to wait," he s"aIitd's. almost night outsideI.'ve been out there under the life-shield.
Burzmali has been hereH. e has left his sign to tell me he read the message I scratched with those animal marks on the trees."

A glittering alertness came into Duncan's eyes.
"What will you do?" Lucilla asked.
"I have left new marks arranging a rendezvRoiugsh.t now, we are all going up to the libWraery.are
going to study the mapWs. e will commit them to memoAryt. are when we run."
She gave him the benefit of a curt nod.
the very least, we should know where we
Duncan noted her movement with only part of his awarHeniesssm. ind already had leaped ahead to the
ancient equipment in the Harkonnen libraHrye.
had been the one to show both Lucilla and Teg how to
use it correctly, calling up an ancient map of Giedi Prime dating from the time when the no-globe had been built.
With Duncan's pre-ghola memory as guide and his own more modern knowledge of the planet, Teg had tried to bring the map up to date.
"Forest Guard Station" became "Bene Gesserit Keep."
"Part of it was a Harkonnen hunting lodge," Duncan had"Tshaeidy. hunted human game raised and conditioned specifically for that purpose."
Towns vanished under Teg's updatinSgo.me cities remained but received new labe"Yls.sai," the nearest metropolis, had been marked "Barony" on the original map.
Duncan's eyes went hard in memo"rTyh. at's where they tortured me."

When Teg exhausted his memory of the planet, much was marked unknown but there were frequent curly-ended Bene Gesserit symbols to identify the places where Taraza's people had told Teg he might find temporary sanctuary.
Those were the places Teg wanted committed to memory.
As he turned to lead them up to the library, Te"gI swaiidll: erase the map when we have learned it. There's no telling who might find this place and study it."
Lucilla swept past him"I.t's on your head, Miless!h" e said.
Teg called after her retreating ba"cAk: Mentat tells you that I did what was required of me."
She spoke without turnin"gH: ow logical!"
This room reconstructs a bit of the desert of DThuenes.andcrawler directly in front of you dates from
the Atreides timesG. rouped around it, moving clockwise from your left, are a small harvester, a carryall, a primitive spice factory and the other support equipmAelnlt.are explained at each statioNno. te the
illuminated quotation above the displa"yF: OR THEY SHALL SUCK OF THE ABUNDANCE OF THE SEAS AND OF THE TREASURE IN THE SANTDhi.s" ancient religious quotation was oft repeated by the famous Gurney Halleck.

-Guide Announcement, Museum of Dar-es-Balat
The worm did not slow its relentless progress until just beforeBdyustkh.e.n, Odrade had played out her questions and still had no answeHrso.w did Sheeana control the wormSsh?eeana said she was not steering her Shaitan in this directioWn.hat was this hidden language to which the desert monster responded? Odrade knew that her Sister-guardians up there in the 'thopters that paced them would be exhausting the same questions plus one more.
Why did Odrade let this ride continue?
They might even hazard a few guesSsehse: does not call us in because that might disturb the Sbheeast. does not trust us to pluck her party from its back.
The truth was far simplceur:riosity.
The hissing passage of the worm could have been a surging vessel breastiTnghesedarsy. flinty odors of overheated sand, swept across them by a following wind, said otherOwnilsye. open desert stretched around them now, kilometer after kilometer of whaleback dunes as regular in their spacing as ocean waves.
Waff had been silent for a long peHrioed.crouched in a miniature reproduction of Odrade's position,
his attention directed ahead, a blank expression on his Hfaicsem.
ost recent statement:
"God guard the faithful in the hour of our trial!"
Odrade thought of him as living proof that a strong enough fanaticism could endure Zfeonrsuangneis.
and the old Sufi survived in the TleilaItxuw. as like a deadly microbe that had lain dormant all of those millennia, waiting for the right host to feed its virulence.

What will happen to the thing I planted in the Rakian priesstheoowd?ondered.Saint Sheeana was a certainty.
Sheeana sat on a ring of her Shaitan, her robe pulled up to expose her thiSnheshgarnipkps.ed the ring with both hands between her legs.
She had said that her first worm ride went directly to the city been taking her to her own kind?
Wof hKy etehne.re?Had the worm simply
This one beneath them now certainly had a differentSghoeaela.na no longer questioned but then Odrade had ordered her to remain silent and practice the low tTrahnact,e.at least, would assure that every last detail of this experience could be recalled easily from her mIefmtohreyr.e were a hidden language between Sheeana and worm, they would find it later.
Odrade peered at the horizoTnh.e remnant base of the ancient wall around the Sareer was only a few kilometers ahead.Long shadows from it lay across the dunes, telling Odrade that the remnant was higher than she had originally suspecteIdt. was a shattered and broken outline now, with great boulders strewn along its baseT. he notch where the Tyrant had tumbled from his bridge into the Idaho River lay well to their right, at least three kilometers off their pNaoth.river flowed there now.
Waff stirred beside he"rI. heed Thy call, God," he sa"iIdt . is Waff of the Entio who prays in Thy Holy
Place."
Odrade swiveled her gaze toward him without moving her Ehnetaiod?. Her Other Memories knew an Entio, a tribal leader in the great Zensunni Wandering, long before WDhuante.was this?What ancient memories did these Tleilaxu keep alive?
Sheeana broke her silenc"eS. haitan is slowing."
The remains of the ancient wall blocked their Iwt aloyo. med at least fifty meters over the highest dunes. The worm turned slightly to the right and moved between two giant boulders that towered aboIvt e them. came to a stopT. he long ridged back lay parallel to a mostly intact section of the wall's base.

Sheeana stood and looked at the barrier.
"What is this place?" Waff askHede. raised his voice above the sound of the 'thopters circling overhead.
Odrade released her tiring grip and flexed her finSgheers.continued to kneel while she studied their surroundings. Shadows from the tumbled boulders drew hard lines on sand spills and smallerSereoncks.
close up, not twenty meters away, the wall revealed cracks and fissures, dark openings into the ancient foundation.
Waff stood and massaged his hands.
"Why have we been brought here?" he asHkeisd.voice was faintly plaintive.
The worm twitched.
"Shaitan wants us to get off," Sheeana said.
How does she know? Odrade wonderTedh.e worm's movement had not been enough to make any of them stumble.It could have been some private reflex after the long journey.
But Sheeana faced the ancient wall's foundation, sat down on the curve of the worm anSdheslid off. dropped in a crouch on soft sand.
Odrade and Waff moved forward and watched with fascination as Sheeana slogged through the sand to the front of the creaturTe.here, Sheeana placed both hands on her hips and faced the gaping mouth.
Hidden flames played orange light across the young face.
"Shaitan, why are we here?" Sheeana demanded.

Again, the worm twitched.
"He wants all of you off him," Sheeana called.
Waff looked at Odrad"eI.f God wishes thee to die, He causes thy steps to lead thee to the place of thy death."
Odrade gave him back a paraphrase from the cant of the S"hOabreiayt: God's messenger in all things."
Waff sighedD. oubt was plain on his facBeu. t he turned and was first off the worm, dropping just ahead of Odrade.They followed Sheeana's example, moving to the front of the creOatdurraed. e, every sense
alert, fixed her gaze on Sheeana.
It was much hotter in front of the gaping mTohuethf.amiliar bite of melange filled the air around them.
"We are here, God," Waff said.
Odrade, getting more than a little tired of his religious awe, spared a glance for their surroundings -- the shattered rocks, the eroded barrier reaching into the dusky sky, sand sloping against the time-scarred stones, and the slow scorching huff-huff of the worm's internal fires.
But where is hereO?drade wondered.What is special about this place to make it the worm's destination?
Four of the watching 'thopters passed in line overhTehaed.sound of their wing fans and the hissing jets momentarily drowned out the worm's background rumblings.
Shall I call them dowOn?drade wondered.It would take only a hand signInals.tead, she lifted two hands in the signal for the watchers to remain aloft.

Evening's chill was on the sand nOowdr.ade shivered and adjusted her metabolism to the new demands. She felt confident that the worm would not engulf them with Sheeana beside them.
Sheeana turned her back on the wo"rHme.
wants us to be here," she said.
As though her words were a command, the worm twisted its head away from them and slid off through the tall scattering of giant bouldeTrsh.ey could hear it speeding away back into the desert.
Odrade faced the base of the ancient wDaalrlk. ness would be upon them soon but enough light
remained in the high desert's long dusk that they might yet see some explanation of why the creature had
brought them hereA.
tall fissure in the rock wall to her right seemed as good a place to investigate as
any. Keeping part of her attention on the sounds from Waff, Odrade climbed a sandy incline toward the dark opening.Sheeana kept pace with her.
"Why are we here, Mother?"
Odrade shook her heaSd.he heard Waff following.
The fissure directly in front of her was a shadowy hole into daOrkdnraedsse. stopped and held Sheeana beside her.She judged the opening to be about a meter wide and some four times that iTnheheight. rocky sides were curiously smooth, as though polished by human hSaanndds. had drifted into the
opening. Light from the setting sun reflected off the sand to bathe one side of the opening in a wash of gold.
Waff spoke from behind the"mW: hat is this place?"
"There are many old caves," Sheeana s"aFidre. men hid their spice in caveSs.h"e inhaled deeply through her nose."Do you smell it, Mother?"
There was a definite melange odor to the place, Odrade agreed.

Waff moved past Odrade and into the fissHuere.turned there, looking up at the walls where they met in a sharp angle above himF.acing Odrade and Sheeana, he backed farther into the opening, his attention
on the wallsO.
drade and Sheeana stepped closer to hiWmi.th an abrupt hissing of spilled sand, Waff
vanished from their sighIt.n the same instant, the sand all around Odrade and Sheeana slipped forward into the fissure, dragging both of them witOh dirta. de grabbed Sheeana's hand.
"Mother!" Sheeana cried.
The sound echoed from invisible rock walls as they slid down a long slope of spilling sand into concealing darkness.The sand drifted them to a stop in a final wash of gentle moOvedmraednet., in sand up to her knees, extricated herself and pulled Sheeana with her onto a hard surface.
Sheeana started to speak but Odrade s"aHidu:sh! Listen!" There was a grating disturbance off to the left. "Waff?"
"I'm in it up to my waTisht.e"re was terror in his voice.
Odrade spoke dryly".God must want it that waPyu.ll yourself out gentlyI.t feels like rock under our feet. Gently now!We don't need another avalanche."
As her eyes adjusted, Odrade looked up the sand slope down which they had Ttuhme bolepden. ing where they had entered this place was a distant slit of dusky gold far away above them.
"Mother," Sheeana whispered. "I'm scared."
"Say the Litany Against Fear," Odrade orde"reAdn.d be stillO. ur friends know we are heTreh.ey will

help us get out."
"God has brought us to this place," Waff said.
Odrade did not responIdn.
the silence, she pursed her lips and gave a high-pitched whistle, listening for
the echoes.Her ears told her they were in a large space with some sort of low obstruction behind them. She turned her back on the narrow fissure and gave another whistle.
The low barrier lay about a hundred meters away.
Odrade freed her hand from Sheean"aS'st.ay right here, pleaseW. aff?"
"I hear the 'thopters," he said.
"We all hear them," Odrade sa"iTdh. ey are landingW.
e will have help presentlMy.eanwhile, please
stay where you are and remain sileIntn.eed the silence."
Whistling and listening for the echoes, placing each foot carefully, Odrade worked her way deeper into the darkness.An outstretched hand encountered a rough rock surfSachee. felt along iOt. nly about waist
high. She could feel nothing beyond Tith.e echoes of her whistles said it was a smaller space there and partly enclosed.
A voice called from high behind "hRere.verend Mother!Are you there?"
Odrade turned, cupped her hands around her mouth and sho"uStteady: back!We've been spilled into a deep cave.Bring a light and a long rope."
A tiny dark figure moved back out of the distant opTehneingli.ght up there was growing dimmSehre. lowered her cupped hands and spoke into the darkness.

"Sheeana?Waff? Come toward me about ten paces and wait there."
"Where are we, Mother?S"heeana asked.
"Patience, child."
A low, muttering sound came from WOafdfr.ade recognized the ancient words of the IslamiHyaet. was praying. Waff had dropped all attempts to conceal his origins fromGohoedr.. The believer was a receptacle for her to feed with the sweets of the Missionaria Protectiva.
Meanwhile, the possibilities of this place where the worm had brought them excited GOudidraedde.by one hand on the rock barrier, she explored along it to hTerheletfot.p was quite smooth in placAesll. of it sloped inward away from hOert.her Memories offered a sudden projection:
Catchbasin!
This was a Fremen water storage baOsidnr.ade inhaled deeply, testing for moistuTreh.e air was flint dry.
A bright light from the fissure stabbed downward, driving away the daArknveosisc.e called from the opening and Odrade recognized it as one of her Sisters.
"We can see you!"
Odrade stepped back from the low barrier and turned, peering all aWroaufnfda. nd Sheeana stood
about sixty meters away staring at their surroundinTghse.
chamber was roughly circular, some two
hundred meters in diameterA.
rock dome arched high overheaSdh.e examined the low barrier beside
her: yes, a Fremen catchbasinS.he could discern the small rock island in its center where a captive worm could be kept ready to spill into the wOattehre.r Memories replayed that agonized, twisting death which produced the spice poison to ignite a Fremen orgy.

A low arch framed more darkness on the far side of theShbeascino.uld see the spillway there where water had been brought down from a windtTrahpe.re would be more catchbasins back there, an entire complex of them designed to hold a wealth of moisture for an ancienSthetrikbne.ew the name of this place now.
"Sietch Tabr," Odrade whispered.
The words ignited a flood of useful memoTriheiss. had been Stilgar's place in the time of Muad'dib. Why did that worm bring us to Sietch Tabr?
A worm took Sheeana to the City of KTeheant. others might know of heTr?hen what was there to know here?Were there people back there in that darkneOsds?rade sensed no indications of life in that direction.
Her Sister at the opening interrupted these thoug"Whtse.'ve had to ask for the rope to be brought from Dar-es-Balat! The people at the museum say this is probably Sietch TThaebyr! thought it had been destroyed!"
"Send down a light so I can explore it," Odrade called.
"The priests ask that we leave it undisturbed!"
"Send me a light!" Odrade insisted.
Presently, a dark object tumbled down the sandslope in a small spill
Oofdrsaadned. sent Sheeana
scampering for itA.
touch on the switch and a bright beam went lancing at the dark archway beyond the
catchbasin. Yes, more basins thereA. nd beside this basin, a narrow stairway cut into the Trhoecks. teps led upward, turning and removing themselves from her view.
Odrade bent and whispered in Sheeana's "eWar.atch Waff carefullyI.f he moves after us, call out."

"Yes, MotherW.
here are we going?"
"I must look at this plaIcea.m the one who has been brought here for a purSphoese.r"aised her voice and addressed Waff:"Waff, please wait there for the rope."
"What have you been whispering?" he demand"Wed.hy must I waitW? hat are you doing?"
"I have been praying," Odrade sa"iNd.ow, I must continue this pilgrimage alone."
"Why alone?"
In the old language of the Islamiyat, she "sIat idis: written."
That stopped him!
Odrade led the way at a fast walk toward the rock stairs.
Sheeana, hurrying along beside Odrade, sa"iWd:e must tell people about this plaTche.e old Fremen caves are safe from Shaitan."
"Be still, child," Odrade saSidh.e aimed the light up into the stairwItayc.urved through the rock, angling sharply to the right up theOred. rade hesitated.The warning sense of danger she had felt at the beginning of this venture came back intensifieItd.was an almost palpable thing within her.
What is up there?
"Wait here, Sheeana," Odrade sa"idD.on't let Waff follow me."

"How can I stop himS?h"eeana glanced fearfully back across the chamber where Waff stood.
"Tell him it is God's will that he remSaayin.it this way . . .
Odrade bent close to Sheeana and repeated the words in Waff's ancient languag"eS,aythenno:thing else. Stand in his way and repeat it if he tries to pass."
Sheeana mouthed the new words quieStlhy.e had them, Odrade sawT.he girl was quick.
"He's afraid of you," Odrade sa"iHd.e won't try to harm you."
"Yes, Mother."Sheeana turned, folded her arms across her breast and looked across the chamber at
Waff.
Aiming the light ahead of her, Odrade went up the rockSisetatcirhs.Tabr!What surprise have you left for us here, old worm?
In a long low hallway at the top of the stairs, Odrade came on the first desert-mummifiTehderbeodies.
were five of them, two men and three women, no identifying marks or clothing
Tonhetyhehma.d been
completely stripped and left for the desert's dryness to presDerevhey.dration had pulled skin and flesh tightly around the bonesT. he bodies were propped in a row, their feet extended across the passage. Odrade was forced to step over each of these macabre obstructions.
She passed her handlight across each body as she Twheenyt. had been stabbed almost identicalAly. slashing blade had been thrust upward just below the arch of the sternum.
Ritual killings?
Dryly puckered flesh had been withdrawn from the wounds, leaving a dark spot to maTrhkestehem.

bodies were not from Fremen times, Odrade knFerwem. a body's water.
en death stills made ashes of all flesh to recover
Odrade probed ahead with her light and paused to consider her poDsiisticoonv.ery of the bodies intensified her sense of perIil.should have brought a weapoBnu. t that would have aroused Waff's suspicions.
The persistence of that inner warning could not be evTahdiesd.relic of Sietch Tabr was perilous.
The beam of her light revealed another stairway at the end of tChiasuthioaulls. ly, Odrade moved
forward. At the first step, she sent the beam of her light probing uSphwaallrodw.
steps.Only a little way
up, more rock -- a wider space up thOedrera. de turned and sent the light stabbing around this hallway. Chips and burn marks scarred the rock waOllnsc. e more, she looked up the stairway.
What is up there?
The sense of danger was intense.
One slow step at a time, pausing often, Odrade climShbeede.merged into a larger passage hewn through the native rockM. ore bodies greeted herT. hese had been abandoned in the disarray of their
final moments.Again, she saw only mummified flesh stripped of clothTihnegy.
lay scattered along this
wider passage -- twenty of theSmh.e wove her way around theSmo.me had been stabbed in the same way as the five on the lower leSvoeml. e had been slashed and hacked and burned by lasgun beams. One had been beheaded and the skin-masked skull lay against a wall of the passage like a ball abandoned from some terrible game.
This new passage led straight ahead past openings into small chambers on botShhesidsaews.
nothing
of value in the small chambers where she sent her probinga lifgehwt: scattered strands of spice fiber, small spills of melted rock, melt bubbles occasionally on floors, walls, and ceilings.
What violence was this?
Suggestive stains could be seen on some of the chamber Sflpoiollresd.
blood?One chamber had a tiny

mound of brown cloth in a cornSecrr.aps of torn fabric scattered under Odrade's foot.
There was dusDt. ust everywhere. Her feet stirred it up in passing.
The passage ended at an archway that gave onto a deepSlheedgsee.nt her light beyond the ledagne: enormous chamber, far larger than the one down beIltoswc.urved ceiling went so high she knew it must extend into the rock base of the great wWaildl.e, shallow steps led down from the ledge onto the chamber floor.Hesitantly, Odrade went down the steps and out onto the Sflhoeors.ent her light
sweeping all aroundO.
ther passages led out of the great chamSbeorm. e, she saw, had been blocked by
stone and the stones torn away to be left scattered on the ledge and on this great floor.
Odrade sniffed the aiCr.arried on the dust stirred up by her feet there was a definite smell of melange.
The smell wove through her sense of pSerhiel.
wanted to leave, hurry back to the othBeurts. the danger
was a beaconS. he had to learn where that beacon led.
She knew where she was now, thouTghhi.s was the great gathering chamber of Sietch Tabr, site of countless Fremen spice orgies and tribal convocatioHnse.re, the Naib Stilgar had presideGdu. rney Halleck had been hereT. he Lady JessicaP. aul Muad'dib.Chani, mother of GhanimaH. ere, Muad'dib trained his fightersT. he original Duncan Idaho was here . . . and the first Idaho ghola!
Why have we been brought heWre?hat is the danger?
It was here, right herSeh!e could feel i°t.
In this place, the Tyrant had concealed a spice hBoeanred. Gesserit records said the hoard had filled this entire chamber to the ceiling and into many of the surrounding passages as well.
Odrade pivoted, her gaze following the path of her Olivgehrt. there was the ledge of the NaAibnsd. there, the deeper Royal Ledge Muad'dib had commissioned.
And there is the archway where I entered.

She sent her light along the floor, noting places where searchers had chipped and burned the rock seeking more of the Tyrant's fabulous hoaFrids.h Speakers had taken most of that melange, its hiding place revealed by the Idaho ghola who had been consort of the famedThSeionreac. ords said
subsequent searchers had found more caches hidden behind false walls and Tflhoeorres. were many
authenticated accounts and the verifications of Other MemorTiehse.
Famine Times had seen violence
here when desperate searchers won through to this plTahcaet. might explain the bodieMs.any had fought just for the chance to search Sietch Tabr.
As she had been taught, Odrade tried to use her sense of danger asDaidguthiedem.
iasma of past
violence cling to these stones after all of those milleTnnhiaat? was not her warninHg.er warning was something immediate.Odrade's left foot encountered an uneven place on the fHloeorr.light picked out a
dark line in the dusSt.he scattered the dust with a foot, revealing a letter and then an entire word burned in a flowing script.
Odrade read the word silently and then aloud.
"Arafel."
She knew this worRd.everend Mothers of the Tyrant's time had impressed it into the Bene Gesserit consciousness, tracing its roots out to the most ancient sources.
"Arafel:the cloud darkness at the end of the universe."
Odrade felt the gasping accumulation of her warning sIetnsfoe.cused on that single word.
"The Tyrant's holy judgment," the priests called that w"Tohrde. cloud darkness of holy judgment!"
She moved out along the word, staring down at it, noting the curling at the end that trailed off into a smal arrow. She looked where the arrow pointeSdo.meone else had seen the arrow and had cut into the
ledge where it pointedO. drade crossed to where the searcher's burner had left a darker pool of melted rock on the chamber flooSr.treams of melted stone ran out in fingers away from the ledge, each finger trailing from a deep hole burned into the rock of the ledge.

Bending, Odrade peered into each hole with her Nligohtht:ing. She sensed the treasure hunter's excitement riding on her warning-feaTr.he extent of the wealth this chamber had once held staggered imagination. In the worst of the old times, a hand-carried luggage case could hold enough spice to buy a planet. And the Fish Speakers had squandered this hoard, losing it in squabbles and shattering
misjudgments and ordinary foolishness too picayune for history to reTcohredy. Ixian alliance when the Tleilaxu broke the melange monopoly.
Did the searchers find it aTlhl?e Tyrant was superbly clever.
Arafel.
At the end of the universe.
Had he sent a message down the eons to the Bene Gesserit of today?
had been glad to accept
She cast the beam of her light once more around the chamber and then upward.
The ceiling described an almost perfect half globe overhIteahda.d been intended, she knew, as a model of the night sky seen from the entrance to Sietch BTuatbre.ven by the time of Liet Kynes, the first planetologist here, the original stars painted on that ceiling had been gone, lost in the tiny rock chippings of small quakes and the everyday abrasions of life.
Odrade's breath quickenedT. he sense of peril had never been greaTtehre.
danger beacon shone within
her! Quickly, she trotted directly across to the steps where she had descended to thTisurfnlionogr. there, she cast backward in her mind for Other Memories to limn thisThpelyacec.ame slowly, forcing past that heart-pounding sense of dooPmo.inting the beam of her light upward and peering along it, Odrade placed those ancient memories over the scene in front of her.
Bits of reflected brillianc'e!
Other Memories positioned themin:dicators of the stars in a long-gone sky and right Tthheere!
silvery-yellow half circle of the Arrakeen sSuhne.
knew it for a sunset sign.

The Fremen day starts at night.
Arafel!
Keeping her light on that sunset marker, she mounted the steps backward and went around the chamber on the ledge to the exact position she had seen in Other Memories.
Nothing remained of that ancient sun arc.
Searchers had chipped at the wall where it had Sbteoenne. bubbles glistened where a burner had been passed along the walNl. o breaks entered the original rock.
By the tightness in her chest, Odrade knew she teetered on the edge of a dangerous Tdihsecovery. beacon had led her here!
Arafel . . . at the edge of the uniBveerysoen. d the setting sun!
She swept her light right and Alenfto. ther passage entrance opened on her lSeftto.nes that had blocked
it lay scattered on the ledgHee. r heart pounding, Odrade slipped through the opening and found a short hall plugged with melted stone at the eOnnd. her right, directly behind where the sunset marker had
been, she found a small room thick with the smell of meOladnrgaed.e entered the room and saw more signs of chipping and burning on walls and ceiTlihneg. danger sense was oppressive heSreh.e chanted
the Litany Against Fear silently while she swept the beam of her light over thTeheropolmac.e was
almost square, about two meters on a sTidhee.
ceiling was less than half a meter above her head.
Cinnamon pulsed in her nostrilSsh. e sneezed and, blinking, saw a tiny discoloration on the floor beside the threshold.
More marks of that ancient search?
Bending close with her light held at a sharp angle on one side, she saw that she had glimpsed only the

shadow of something etched deeply into the roDcuks.t concealed most of
Sit.he knelt and brushed the
dust aside.Very thin etching and very deeWp.hatever this was, it had been meant to endTuhre. last
message of a lost Reverend MotheTr?his was a known Bene Gesserit artifiSchee. fingertips against the etching and reconstructed its tracery in her mind.
pressed sensitive
Recognition leaped into her awareneossn:e word -- inscribed in ancient Chakobsa, "Here."
This was no ordinary "here" to mark an ordinary place but the accented and emphatic "here" that said: "You have found me!H" er hammering heart emphasized it.
Odrade rested her handlight on the floor near her right knee and let her fingers explore the threshold beside that ancient summonsT.he stonework appeared unbroken to the eye but her fingers detected a tiny discontinuity.She pressed the discontinuity, twisted, turned, changed the angle of pressure several times and repeated her effort.
Nothing.
Sitting back on her heels, Odrade studied the situation.
"Here."
The warning sense had grown even more acSuhtee. could feel it as a pressure on her breathing.
Withdrawing slightly, she pulled her light back and lay full length on the floor to stare narrowly along the base of the thresholdH. ere! Could she place a tool there beside that word and lever the threNshool.d?
. . a tool was not indicatTedh.is thing had the smell of the Tyrant, not of a Reverend MShoethetri.ed to push the threshold sidewaysN. othing moved.
Feeling the tensions and danger sense accentuated by frustration, Odrade stood and kicked at the threshold beside the etched worIdt. moved!Something grated roughly against sand over her head.

Odrade dodged backward as sand cascaded onto the floor in front Aof dheepr. rumbling sound filled
the tiny chamberT. he stones shook under her feTeth.e floor tipped downward in front of her toward the doorway, opening a space under the door and its wall.
Once more, Odrade found herself precipitated forward and down into an unkHneorwlnig.ht tumbled with her, its beam rolling over and oSvhere. saw mounds of dark reddish brown in front of her. Cinnamon filled her nostrils.
She fell beside her light onto a soft mounding of meTlahnegeo.pening through which she had fallen lay
out of reach some five meters overheSahde.
grabbed up her lighIts beam picked out wide stone steps
cut into the rock beside the openiSnogm.
ething written on the risers but she saw only that there was a
way out.Her first panic subsided, but the sense of danger left her almost breathless, forcing the movements of her chest muscles.
Left and right she sent the beam of her light into this place where she hItadwfaasllean.long room directly beneath the passage she had taken from the great chaTmhbeere.ntire length of it was piled with melange!
Odrade probed upward with her light and saw why no searcher tapping on that passage floor overhead had detected this chamberC. riss-crossed rock bracings transferred all strain deep into the stone walls. Anyone tapping overhead would get back the sounds of solid rock.
Once more, Odrade looked at the melange aroundEhven.
at today's tank-deflated prices, she knew
she was standing on a treasuTreh.is hoard would measure many long tons.
Is that the danger?
The warning sense within her remained just as acute asTheeveTr.yrant's melange was not what she
should fear.The triumvirate would make an equitable distribution of this lot and that would be the end of it. A bonus in the ghola project.
Another danger remainedS.he could not avoid the warning.

Again, she sent the light beam along the mounded meHlanergea.ttention was drawn to the strip of wall
above the spiceM. another message:
ore words!Still in Chakobsa, written with a cutter in a fine flowing script, there was
"A REVEREND MOTHER WILL READ MY WORDS!"
Something cold settled in Odrade's guSthse.
moved to her right with the light, plowing through an
empire's ransom in melangeT.here was more to the message:
"I BEQUEATH TO YOU MY FEAR AND LONELINETSOS.YOU I GIVE THE CERTAINTY THAT THE BODY AND SOUL OF THE BENE GESSERIT WILL MEET THE SAME FATE AS ALL OTHER BODIES AND ALL OTHER SOULS."
Another paragraph of the message beckoned to the right of thSisheonpel.owed through the cloying melange and stopped to read.
"WHAT IS SURVIVAL IF YOU DO NOT SURVIVE WHOALSEK? THE BENE TLEILAX THAT! WHAT IF YOU NO LONGER HEAR THE MUSIC OF LMIFEM? ORIES ARE NOT ENOUGH UNLESS THEY CALL YOU TO NOBLE PURPOSE!"
There was more of it on the narrow end wall of the long cOhadmrabde .stumbled through the melange and knelt to read:
"WHY DID YOUR SISTERHOOD NOT BUILD THE GOLDEN PAYTOHU?
KNEW THE
NECESSITY. YOUR FAILURE CONDEMNED ME, THE GOD EMPEROR, TO MILLENNIA OF PERSONAL DESPAIR."
The words "God Emperor" were not in Chakobsa but in the language of the Islamiyat, where they conveyed an explicit second meaning to any speaker of that tongue:
"Your God and Your Emperor because you made me so."

Odrade smiled grimlyT.hat would drive Waff into a religious frenTzhye!
shatter his security.
higher he went, the easier to
She did not doubt the accuracy of the Tyrant's accusation, nor the potential in his prediction that the
Sisterhood could endT. he sense of danger had led her to this place unerrSinogmlye.thing more had been at work, tooT. he worms of Rakis still moved to the Tyrant's ancientHbeeamt.ight slumber in his
endless dream but monstrous life, a pearl in each worm to remind it, carried on as the Tyrant had predicted.
What was it he had told the Sisterhood in his ownShtiemree?called his words:
"When I am gone, they must call me Shaitan, Emperor of GeThheennwa.heel must turn and turn along the Golden Path."
Yes -- that was what Taraza had me"aBnutt.
don't you seeT?he common people of Rakis have been
calling him Shaitan for more than a thousand years."
So Taraza had known this thiWngi.thout ever seeing these words, she had known.
I see your design, TarazAan. d now I know the burden of fear you have carried all theseI
feel it every bit as deeply as you do.
ycaenars.
Odrade knew then that this warning sense would not leave until she ended, or the Sisterhood vanished from existence, or the peril was resolved.
Odrade lifted her light, got to her feet and slogged through the melange to the wide steps out of this place. At the steps, she recoileMd. ore of the Tyrant's words had been cut into each Trriesmerb. ling, she
read them as they moved upward to the opening.
"MY WORDS ARE YOUR PAST,

"MY QUESTIONS ARE SIMPLE:
"WITH WHOM DO YOU ALLY?
"WITH THE SELF-IDOLATORS OF TLEILAX? "WITH MY FISH SPEAKER BUREAUCRACY? "WITH THE COSMOS-WANDERING GUILD? "WITH HARKONNEN BLOOD SACRIFICERS?
"WITH A DOGMATIC SINK OF YOUR OWN CREATION?
"HOW WILL YOU MEET YOUR END?
"AS NO MORE THAN A SECRET SOCIETY?"
Odrade climbed past the questions, reading them a second time as shNe owbelent.purpose?What a fragile thing that always waAs.nd how easily distortedB. ut the power was there immersed in constant peril. It was all spelled out on the walls and stairs of that chTaamrabzear. knew without having it explained. The Tyrant's meaning was clear:
"Join me!"
As she emerged into the small room, finding a narrow ledge along which she could swing herself to the door, Odrade looked down at the treasure she had foSuhned.shook her head in wonder at Taraza's
wisdom. So that was how the Sisterhood might eTnadr.aza's design was clear, all the pieces in place.

Nothing certain.Wealth and power, it was all the same in theTheendn. oble design had been started and it must be completed even if that meant the death of the Sisterhood.
What poor tools we have chosen!
That girl waiting back there in the deep chamber below the desert, that girl and the ghola being prepared on Rakis.
I speak your language now, old woIrtmh.as no words but I know the heart of it.
Our fathers ate manna in the desert,
In the burning place where whirlwinds came.
Lord, save us from that horrible land!
Save us, oh-h-h-h-h save us

From that dry and thirsty land.
-Songs of Gurney Halleck, Museum of Dar-es-Balat
Teg and Duncan, both heavily armed, emerged from the no-globe with Lucilla into the coldest part of the night. The stars were like needlepoints overhead, the air absolutely still until they disturbed it.
The dominant smell in Teg's nostrils was the brittle mustiness ofTshneowod. or infused every breath and when they exhaled, fat clouds of vapor puffed around their faces.
Tears of cold started in Duncan's eHyees. had been thinking much of old Gurney as they prepared to
leave the no-globe, Gurney with his cheek scarred by a Harkonnen inkvineTrwuhstiepd.
companions
would be needed now, Duncan thougHhte.
did not trust Lucilla much and Teg was oldD, uonldca. n
could see Teg's eyes glinting in the starlight.
Slinging a heavy antique lasgun over his left shoulder, Duncan thrust his hands deep into his pockets for warmth. He had forgotten how cold this planet could Lguecti.lla seemed impervious to it, obviously
drawing warmth from one of her Bene Gesserit tricks.
Looking at her, Duncan realized he had never trusted the witches much, not even the LadIyt was easy to think of them as traitors, devoid of any loyalty except to their own STishteeryhohoadd.
Jessica. so
damned many secret tricksL!ucilla had given up her seductive ways, thouSghhe. knew he meant what
he had saidH.
e could feel her anger simmerinLge.t her simmer!
Teg stood quite still, his attention focused outward, listeWninags . it right to trust the single plan he and
Burzmali had worked outT?hey had no backupW. as it only eight days ago they had settled oItn feitl?t
longer despite the press of preparationHse.
glanced at Duncan and LucilDlau. ncan carried a heavy old
Harkonnen lasgun, the long field modEelv.en the extra charge cartridges were heaLvyu.cilla had refused to carry more than a single tiny lasgun in her bOodniece.small burst was all it heAldn. assassin's toy.
"We of the Sisterhood are noted for going into battle with only our skills as weapons,"Itshe said. diminishes us to change that pattern."

She had knives in her leg sheaths, thoTueg
gh. had seen themP.oison on them, too, he suspected.
Teg hefted the long weapon in his own hanmdso: dern field-style lasgun he had brought from the Keep. Over his shoulder, a mate to Duncan's weapon hung from its sling.
I must rely on Burzmali, Teg told himIsetlrfa.ined him; I know his qualitIiefs.he says we trust these new allies, we trust them.
Burzmali had been obviously overjoyed to find his old commander alive and safe.
But it had snowed since their last encounter and the snow lay all around them, a tabula rasa upon which all tracks would be writteTn.hey had not counted on snoWw.ere there traitors in Weather
Management?
Teg shiveredT. he air was coldI.t felt like the chill of off-planet space, empty and giving starlight free access to the forest glade around theTmh.e thin light reflected cleanly off the snow-covered ground and the white dusting on the rockDsa. rk outlines of conifers and the leafless branches of deciduous trees displayed only their whitely diffused edgAesl.l else was deepest shadow.
Lucilla blew on her fingers and leaned close to Teg to w"hSihspoeurl:dn't he be here by now?"
He knew that was not her real ques"tiCoann.
Burzmali be trusted?T"hat was her questionS.he had
been asking it one way and another ever since Teg had explained the plan to her eight days ago.
All he could say wa"Is: have staked my life on it."
"Our lives, too!"

Teg too disliked the accumulated uncertainties, but all plans relied ultimately on the skills of those who executed them.
"You're the one who insisted we must get out of there and go on to Rakis," he remHiendheodpheder. she could see his smile, a gesture to take the sting out of his words.
Lucilla was not placateTd.eg had never seen a Reverend Mother this obviously nervSohues.would be even more nervous if she knew of their new aOllifesc!ourse, there was the fact that she had failed to carry out her full assignment from TaraHzao.w that must gall her!
"We took an oath to protect the ghola," she reminded him.
"Burzmali has taken that same oath."
Teg glanced at Duncan standing silently between thDeumn.can gave no sign that he heard the argument or shared the nervousnessA. n ancient composure held his features motionleHsse. was listening to the night, Teg realized, doing what all three of them should be doing juTsthenroeww. as an odd look of ageless maturity on his young features.
If ever I needed trusted companions, it's nDouwn!can thought.His mind had gone questing backward into the Giedi Prime days of his pre-ghola roTohtiss. was what they had called "a Harkonnen nigShatf.e" within the warm shielding of their suspensor-buoyed armor, the Harkonnens had enjoyed hunting their
subjects on such nightsA. souls!
wounded fugitive could die of the cTolhde.
Harkonnens knew!Damn their
Predictably, Lucilla caught Duncan's attention with a look that"Wsaeid:have unfinished business, you and I."
Duncan turned his face up into the starlight, making sure she could see his smile, an offensive and knowing look that caused Lucilla to stiffen inwarHdley.slipped the heavy lasgun from his shoulder and
checked it.She noted the ornate scrollwork on its stock and along the Ibtarwreals.
an antique but still it
gave off a deadly sense of purpoDseu.ncan rested it over his left arm, right hand on the grip, finger on the trigger, exactly as Teg was carrying his own modern weapon.

Lucilla turned her back on her companions and sent her senses probing onto the hillside above them and below. Even as she moved, sound erupted all arouGnldo.bs of sound filled their night -- a great burst of rumblings off to the right, then silenAcen.other burst from downslopeS.ilence. From upslope!On all
sides!
At the first sound, all three of them crouched into the shelter of the rocks outside the no-globe's cave entrance.
The sounds filling their night carried little definiitniotrnu:sive racketing, partly mechanical, partly squeaks and wails and hissesI.ntermittently, a subterranean drumming made the ground vibrate.
Teg knew these soundTs.here was a battle going on out thHeree.could hear the background hissing of burners and, in the distant sky, the lancing beams of armored lasguns.
Something flashed overhead -trailing blue and red spaArknso.ther and another!The earth trembledT. eg inhaled through his noseb:urned acid and a suggestion of garlic.
No-ships!Many of them!
They were landing in the valley below the ancient no-globe.
"Back inside!" Teg ordered.
As he spoke, he saw it was too Pleaotep.le were moving in from all around thTemeg. lifted his long
lasgun and aimed it downslope toward the loudest of the intrusive noises and the nearest detectable
movement. Many people could be heard shouting down thFeree.
glowglobes moved among the
screening trees, set loose by whoever came from thTehre. dancing lights drifted upslope on a cold breeze. Dark figures moved in the shifting illumination.
"Face Dancers!" Teg grunted, recognizing the attackTehrso.se drifting lights would be clear of the trees within seconds and on his position in less than a minute!

"We've been betrayed!" Lucilla said.
A great shout roared from the hill above t"hBeamsh: ar!" Many voices!
Burzmali?Teg asked himselfH. e glanced back in that direction and then down at the steadily advancing
Face Dancers.No time to pick and choosHee. Duncan and run!"
"But what if --"
"It's your only chance!"
leaned toward Lucilla".That's Burzmali above usT.ake
"You fool!"she accused, even as she turned to obey.
Teg's "Yes!" did nothing to ease her fTeahriss. was what came of depending on the plans of others!
Duncan had other thoughtHs.e understood what Teg was about to do -- sacrifice himself that two might escape. Duncan hesitated, looking at the advancing attackers below them.
Seeing the hesitation, Teg blared at h"iTmh:is is a battle ordeIr!am your commander!"
It was the closest thing to Voice Lucilla had ever heard fromSahemgaanp.ed at Teg.
Duncan saw only the face of the Old Duke telling him tIot owbaesy.too muchH. e grabbed Lucilla's arm, but before hustling her up the slope, he "sWaide':ll lay down a covering fire once we're clear!"
Teg did not responHd.e crouched against a snow-dusted rock as Lucilla and Duncan scrambled away.

He knew he must sell himself dearly nAownd. signature from the old Bashar.
there must be something elsthee:
unexpected.A final
The advancing attackers were coming up faster, exchanging excited shouts.
Setting his lasgun on maxibeam, Teg pressed the triAggefrie. ry arc swept across the slope below him. Trees burst into flame and crashePde.ople screamed.The weapon would not perform long at this discharge level but while it did the carnage produced its desired effect.
In the abrupt silence after that first sweep, Teg shifted his position to another screening rock on his left and again sent a flaming lance down the dark sOlonpley. a few of the drifting glowglobes had survived
that first slashing violence with its falling trees and dismembered bodies.
More screams greeted his second counterattaHcke. turned and scrambled across the rocks to the other side of the no-globe's access cavTeh.ere, he sent sweeping fire down the opposite slMopoer.e
screams. More flames and crashing trees.
No answering fire came back.
They want us alive!
The Tleilaxu were prepared to spend whatever number of Face Dancer lives it required to run his lasgun out of its charges!
Teg shifted the sling of the old Harkonnen weapon to a better position on his shoulder, getting it ready to swing into actionH. e discarded the almost empty charge in his modern lasgun, recharged it and rested
the weapon across the rockTs.eg doubted he would get the chance to recharge the second weLaepton. them think down there that he had run out of charge cartrBidugt etsh.ere were two Harkonnen handguns
in his belt as a last resoTrht.ey would be potent at close ranSgoem. who ordered such carnage, let them come closer!
e of the Tleilaxu Masters, the ones
Cautiously, Teg lifted his long lasgun from the rock and moved backward, drifting up into the higher
rocks, slipping left and then rigHhte.
paused twice to sweep the slopes below him with short bursts as

though conserving the gun's chargTe.here was no sense in trying to conceal his movemTehnetsy. would have a life-tracer on him by now and, besides, there were the tracks in the snow.
The unexpected!Could he suck them in close?
Well above the no-globe's access cave he found a deeper pocket in the rocks, its bottom filled with snow. Teg dropped into this position, admiring the fine field of fire this new vantage pHroevisdteudd.ied
it briefly:protected behind him by higher crags and open downslope on threeHseidelisf.ted his head cautiously and tried to see around the screening rocks upslope.
Only silence there.
Had that shout come from Burzmali's peopElvee?n so, there was no guarantee that Duncan and Lucilla could escape in these circumstanceIst. depended on Burzmali now.
Is he as resourceful as I always thought?
There was no time to consider the possibilities or change a single element of the Bsaittutlaetiohna.d been joined.He was committedT. eg drew a deep breath and peered downslope over the rocks.
Yes, they had recovered and were resuming the advWanicteh.out telltale glowglobes this time and
silently now.No more shouts of encouragemenTt.eg rested the long lasgun on a rock in front of him and
swept a burning arc from left to right in one long burst, letting it fade out at the end in an obvious loss of charge.
Unslinging the old Harkonnen weapon, he readied it, waiting in sTilehnecye.would expect him to flee up the hill.He crouched behind the screening rocks, hoping there was enough movement above him to
confuse the life-tracersH.
e still heard people below him on that fire-wracked sTloepge.counted silently
to himself, spacing out the distance, knowing from long experience how much time the attackers would require to come within deadly rangAen. d he listened carefully for another sound he knew from previous encounters with the Tleilaxuth: e sharp barking of commands in high-pitched voices.
There they were!

The Masters were spread out farther downslope than he had anticiFpeaatrefdu.l creatures!Teg set the old lasgun on maxibeam and lifted himself suddenly from his protective cradle in the rocks.
He saw the arc of advancing Face Dancers in the light of burning trees aTndhebrhuigsh-pitched voices of command came from behind the advance, well out of the dancing orange light.
Aiming over the heads of the nearest attackers, Teg sighted beyond the jumble of flames and pressed the
trigger: two long bursts, back and forHthe.
was momentarily surprised by the extent of the destructive
energy in the antique weapoTn.he thing obviously was the product of superb craftsmanship but there had been no way to test it in the no-globe.
This time, the screams carried a different phiticghh: and frantic!
Teg lowered his aim and cleared the immediate slope of Face Dancers, letting them feel the full force of
the beam, revealing that he carried more than one weaBpaocnk.
and forth he swept the deadly arc,
giving the attackers plenty of time to see the charge ebb into a final sputter.
Now!They had been sucked in once and would be more cauTtihoeurse.
just might be a chance to join
Duncan and LucillaT. his thought full in his mind, Teg turned and scrambled out of his shelter across the upslope rocks.At his fifth step, he thought he had run into a hoTt hweraell.was time for his mind to recognize what had happenedth: e shocking blast of a stunner full into his face and Ict hceasmt!e from
directly upslope where he had sent Duncan and LucCilhlag. rin filled Teg as he fell into darkness.
Others could do the unexpected, too!

All organized religions face a common problem, a tender spot through which we may enter and shift them to our designsH: ow do they distinguish hubris from revelation?
-Missionaria Protectiva, the Inner Teachings
Odrade kept her gaze carefully away from the cool green of the quadrangle below her where Sheeana sat with one of the teaching SisteTrhs.e teaching Sister was the best, precisely fitted to this next phase in Sheeana's education.Taraza had chosen them all with care.
We proceed with your plan, Odrade thouBghutt. did you anticipate, Mother Superior, how we might be marked by a chance discovery here on Rakis?
Or was it chance?
Odrade sent her gaze over the lower rooftops to the spread of the Sisterhood's central stronghold on
Rakis. Rainbow tiles baked out there in glaring noon light.
All of this ours.
This was, she knew, quite the largest embassy the priests permitted in their holy cityAonfd Kheeern. presence in this Bene Gesserit stronghold defied the agreement she had made withBuTtutehka.t had been before the discoveries at Sietch TaBber.sides, Tuek no longer really existeTdh.e Tuek who marched the priestly precincts was a Face Dancer living out a precarious charade.

Odrade brought her thoughts back to Waff, who stood with two guardian Sisters, behind her, waiting near the door of this penthouse sanctuary with its fine view through armor-plaz windows and its impressive black furnishings into which a robed Reverend Mother might blend with only the lighter shades of her face visible to a visitor.
Had she gauged Waff correctlEy?verything had been done precisely according to Missionaria Protectiva teachings.Had she opened the crack in his psychic armor sufficieHntely?should be goaded to speak soonT. hen she would know.
Waff stood back there calmly enouSghe.
could see his reflection in the pHlaez.gave no sign of
understanding that the two tall, dark-haired Sisters flanking him were there to prevent his possible violence. But he certainly knew.
My guardians, not his.
He stood with his head bent to conceal his features from her but she knew he wasTuhnact eprtaaritn. was sure.Doubts could be like a starving animal and she had fed those hungry doubHtse whaedll. been so sure that their venture into the desert would be the occasion for hiHs isdeZatehn.sunni and Sufi beliefs were telling him now that God's will preserved him there.
Surely, though, Waff was reviewing now his agreement with the Bene Gesserit, seeing at last the ways he had compromised his people, how he had put his precious Tleilaxu civilization in terrible jYeoepsa,rdy.
his composure was wearing thin, but only Bene Gesserit eyes detectedIt twhiosu. ld be time soon to
begin rebuilding his awareness into a pattern more amenable to the Sisterhood's Lneetedhsim. longer.
stew a bit
Odrade returned her attention to the view, loading the suspense of thisThdeelaBye.ne Gesserit had
chosen this embassy location because of the extensive rebuilding that had changed the entire northeastern quarter of the old citTy.hey could build and remodel here in their own way and for their own purposes. Ancient structures designed for easy access by people on foot, wide lanes for official groundcars and occasional squares in which ornithopters might land -- all of that had been changed.
Keeping up with the times.
These new buildings stood much closer to the green-planted avenues whose tall and exotic trees flaunted

their enormous water consumption'T. hopters were relegated to rooftop landing pads on selected buildings. Pedestrian lanes clung to narrow elevations attached to the buildCinogins.-operated,
key-operated and palm-identification liftslots had been inset into the new buildings, their glowing energy
fields masked by dark brown, vaguely transparent covTehrse.
liftslots were spines of darker color in the
flat gray of plascrete and plaHzu. mans dimly seen in the tubes gave the effect of impurities moving up and down in otherwise pure mechanical sausages.
All in the name of modernization.
Waff stirred behind her and cleared his throat.
Odrade did not turTn.he two guardian Sisters knew what she was doing and gave nWo asifgf'ns. mounting nervousness was merely confirmation that all went well.
Odrade did not feel that all was going truly well.
She interpreted the view out her window as just another disquieting symptom of this disquieting planet. Tuek, she recalled, had not liked this modernization of hisHceityh.ad complained that some way must
be found to stop it and preserve the old landmHariks s.Face Dancer replacement continued that argument.
How like Tuek himself this new Face Dancer Dwidas.such Face Dancers think for themselves or just play out their parts in accordance with a Master's ordWeresr?e they still mules, these new onHeso?w
much different were these Face Dancers from the fully human?
Things about the deception worried Odrade.
The false Tuek's councillors, the ones fully involved in what they thought of as "the Tleilaxu plot," spoke of public support for modernization and openly gloated that they had their wayAalbt elratusts. regularly
reported everything to OdradeE. ach new report worried her moErev.en the obvious subservience of
Albertus bothered her.
"Of course, the councillors do not mean public public support," Albertus said.

She could only agreTe.he behavior of the councillors signaled that they had powerful backing among the middle echelons of the priesthood, among the climbers who dared joke about their Divided God at weekend parties . . . among those being soothed by the hoard Odrade had found at Sietch Tabr.
Ninety thousand long tonHs!alf a year's harvest from the deserts of REakviesn. a significant bargaining chip in the new balances.
I wish I had never met you, Albertus.
a third of it represented
She had wanted to restore in him the one who Wcahraets.she had actually done was easily recognized by one trained in the Missionaria Protectiva's ways.
A groveling sycophant!
It made no difference now that his subservience was driven by an absolute belief in her holy association with Sheeana.Odrade had never before focused on how easily the Missionaria Protectiva's teachings destroyed human independenceT. hat was always the goal, of courMsea:ke them followers, obedient to
our needs.
The Tyrant's words in that secret chamber had done more than ignite her fears for the Sisterhood's future.
"I bequeath to you my fear and loneliness."
From that millennial distance, he had planted doubts in her as surely as she had planted them in Waff.
She saw the Tyrant's questions as though they had been limned with glowing light on her inner eye.

"WITH WHOM DO YOU ALLY?"
Are we no more than a secret sociHetoyw?
creation?
will we meet our enIdn? a dogmatic stink of our own
The Tyrant's words had been burned into her consciousWnehses.re was the "noble purpose" in what the Sisterhood did?Odrade could almost hear Taraza's sneering response to such a question.
"Survival, Dar!That's all the noble purpose we neSeudr.vival! Even the Tyrant knew that!"
Perhaps even Tuek had knownAint.d what had that bought him in the end?
Odrade felt a haunting sympathy for the late High PTruiekt. had been a superb example of what a tightly knit family could producEe.ven his name was a cluuen:changed from Atreides days on this planet. The founding ancestor had been a smuggler, confidant of the firstTLueekto.had come from a family
that held firmly to its roots, sayi"nTgh: ere is something worth preserving in our paTsht.e" example this set for descendants was not lost on a Reverend Mother.
But you failed, Tuek.
These blocks of modernization visible out her window were a sign of that failure -- sops to the rising power elements in Rakian society, those elements that the Sisterhood had worked so long to foster and strengthen. Tuek had seen this as a harbinger of the day when he would be too weak politically to prevent the things implied by such modernization:
A shorter and more upbeat ritual.
New songs, more in the modern manner.
Changes in the dancin(g".Traditional dances take so long!")

Above all, fewer ventures into the dangerous desert for the young postulants from the powerful families.
Odrade sighed and glanced back at WTahffe. little Tleilaxu chewed his lower Glipo.od!
Damn you, AlbertusI! would welcome your rebellion!
Behind the closed doors of the Temple, the transition of the High Priesthood already was being debated. The new Rakians spoke of the need "to keep up with the Ttihmeeys.m" eant:"Give us more power!"
It has always been this way, Odrade thouEgvhetn.
in the Bene Gesserit.
Still, she could not escape the thoupgohot:r Tuek.
Albertus reported that Tuek, just before his death and replacement by the Face Dancer, had warned his kin they might not retain familial control of the High Priesthood when hTeuedkiedh.ad been more subtle
and resourceful than his enemies expecteHdi.s family already was calling in its debts, gathering its resources to retain a power base.
And the Face Dancer in Tuek's place revealed much by his mimic perforTmheanTceu.ek family had not yet learned of the substitution and one might almost believe the original High Priest had not been replaced, so good was this Face DancOebr.serving that Face Dancer in action betrayed much to the watchful Reverend MothersT. hat, of course, was one of the things that had Waff squirming now.
Odrade turned abruptly on one heel and strode across to the Tleilaxu TMimasetetro.
have at him!
She stopped two paces from Waff and glared down aWt haifmf .met her gaze with defiance.
"You've had enough time to consider your position," she acc"uWsehdy. do you remain silent?"

"My position?You think you give us a choice?"
"Man is but a pebble dropped in a pool," she quoted at him from his own beliefs.
Waff took a trembling breaSthh.e spoke the proper words, but what lay behind such wTohrdeys? no longer sounded right coming from the mouth of a powindah woman.
When Waff did not respond, Odrade continued her quota"tAionnd:
works can be no more."
if man is but a pebble, then all his
An involuntary shudder swept through Odrade, causing a look of carefully masked surprise in the watchful guardian SistersT. hat shudder was not part of the required performance.
Why do I think of the Tyrant's words at this moment?
Odrade wondered.
"THE BODY AND SOUL OF THE BENE GESSERIT WILL MEET THE SAME FATE AS ALL OTHER BODIES AND ALL OTHER SOULS."
His barb had gone deep into her.
How was I made so vulnerabTleh?e answer leaped into her awareneTssh:e Atreides Manifesto!
Composing those words under Taraza's watchful guidance opened a flaw within me.
Could that have been Taraza's purpotsoe:make Odrade vulnerableH? ow could Taraza have known

what would be found here on RakTish?e Mother Superior not only displayed no prescient abilities, she tended to avoid this talent in otheOrsn. the rare occasions when Taraza had demanded such a performance of Odrade herself, the reluctance had been obvious to the trained eye of a Sister.
Yet she made me vulnerable.
Had it been an accident?
Odrade sank into a swift recital of the Litany Against Fear, only a few eyeblinks but in that time Waff visibly came to a decision.
"You would force it upon us," he
"sBaiudt.
you do not know what powers we have reserved for such a
moment." He lifted his sleeves to show where the dart throwers had"Tbehese. comparison with our real weapons."
"The Sisterhood has never doubted this," Odrade said.
"Is it to be violent conflict between hues?"asked.
"It is your choice to make," she said.
"Why do you court violence?"
were but paltry toys by
"There are those who would love to see Bene Gesserit and Bene Tleilax at each other's throats," Odrade said. "Our enemies would enjoy stepping in to pick up the pieces after we had weakened ourselves sufficiently."
"You state the argument for agreement but you give my people no room to nPeegrohtaiaptse!your
Mother Superior gave you no authority to negotiate!"

How tempting it was to pass it all back into Taraza's hands, just as TarazaOdwradteedg.lanced at the guardian SistersT. he two faces were masks betraying nothiWngh. at did they really knowW? ould they realize if she went against Taraza's orders?
"Do you have such authorityW?"aff persisted.
Noble purpose, Odrade thoughSt.urely, the Tyrant's Golden Path demonstrated at least one quality of such purpose.
Odrade decided on a creative tru"tIh.have such authority," she saHide. r own words made it true.
Having taken the authority, she made it impossible for Taraza to dOendyradite.
knew, though, that her
own words committed her to a course sharply divergent from the sequential steps of Taraza's design.
Independent actionT. he very thing she had desired of Albertus.
But I am on the scene and know what is needed.
Odrade glanced at the guardian Siste"rRs.emain here, please, and see that we are not disturTbeod." Waff, she said": We might as well be comfortableS.h"e indicated two chairdogs set at right angles to each other across the room.
Odrade waited until they were seated before resuming the convers"aWtioen.require a degree of candor between us that diplomacy seldom allowTso.o much hangs in the balance for us to engage in shallow evasions."
Waff looked at her strangeHlye.
said:"We know there is dissension in your highest counScuilbst.le
overtures have been made to uIss. this part of . . ."
"I am loyal to the Sisterhood," she
"sEaivde. n those who approached you had no other loyalty."

"Is this another trick of --"
"No tricks!"
"With the Bene Gesserit there are always tricks," he accused.
"What is it you fear from Nuas?me it."
"Perhaps I have learned too much from you for you to allow me to go on living."
"Could I not say the same of ysohue?"asked. "Who else knows of our secret affinTithyi?s is no powindah female talking to you here!"
She had ventured the word with some trepidation, but the effect could not have been more revealing. Waff was visibly shakenH. e was a long minute recoverinDgo. ubts remained, though, because she had
planted them in him.
"What do words prove?h"e asked."You might still take the things you have learned from me and leave my people nothingY. ou still hold the whip over us."
"I carry no weapons in my sleeves," Odrade said.
"But in your mind is knowledge that could ruinHeus!g"lanced back at the guardian Sisters.
"They are part of my arsenal," Odrade agr"eSehda.ll I send them away?"
"And in their minds everything they have heard here," he Hsaeidr.eturned his wary gaze to Odrade. "Better if you all sent your memories away!"

Odrade pitched her voice in its most reasonable t"oWnehsa. t would we gain by exposing your
missionary zeal before you are ready to moWveo?uld it serve us to blacken your reputation by revealing where you have placed your new Face DanceOrhs?, yes, we know about Ix and the Fish Speakers. Once we had studied your new ones, we went searching for them."
"You see!"His voice was dangerously edged.
"I see no other way to prove our affinity than to reveal something equally damaging about ourselves," Odrade said.
Waff was speechless.
"We would plant the worms of the Prophet on uncounted planets of the Scattering," "sWhehastaid. would the Rakian priesthood say and do if you revealed that?"
The guardian Sisters looked at her with thinly masked amuseTmheenyt. thought she was lying.
"I have no guards with me," Waff to gain that person's eternal silence."
She lifted her empty sleeves.
He looked at the guardian Sisters.
"sWaidh.en only one person knows a dangerous thing, how easy it is
"Very well," Odrade saiSd.he glanced at the Sisters and gave a subtle handsign to reassure"Wthaeimt . outside, please, Sisters."
When the door closed behind them, Waff returned to his d"oMubytsp. eople have not searched these rooms. What do I know of the things that could be hidden here to record our words?"

Odrade shifted into the language of the Islam"iTyahte. n perhaps we should speak another tongue, one known only to us."
Waff's eyes glitteredI.n the same tongue, he sa"idV:ery well!I will gamble on Ait.nd I ask you to tell me the real cause of dissension among the . . . the Bene Gesserit."
Odrade allowed herself a smiWle.ith the change of language, Waff's entire personality, his whole manner, changed.He was performing exactly as expecteNdo. ne of his doubts had been reinforced in this tongue!
She responded with an equal confiden"cFeo: ols fear that we may bring back another Kwisatz
Haderach! That is what a few of my Sisters argue."
"There is no more need of such a one," Waff"Tshaeid.one who could be many places simultaneously
has been and he has gonHee.
came only to bring the Prophet."
"God would not send such a message twice," she said.
It was the very sort of thing Waff had heard often in thisHteonngouel.onger thought it strange that a woman could utter such wordTs.he language and the familiar words were enough.
"Has Schwangyu's death restored unity among your Sistehres?"asked.
"We have a common enemy," Odrade said.
"The Honored Matres!"
"You were wise to kill them and learn from them."

Waff leaned forward, completely caught up in his familiar tongue and the flow of their conversation. "They rule with sex!" he exulte"dR.emarkable techniques of orgasmic amplificationW! e --"Belatedly, he became aware of who was sitting in front of him hearing all of this.
"We already know such techniques," Odrade reassured
"hIitmw. ill be interesting to compare, but there
are obvious reasons why we have never tried to ride to power on such a dangerous conTvheoysaence. whores are just stupid enough to make that mistake!"
"Mistake?"He was clearly puzzled.
"They are holding the reins in their own hasnhdes!"said."As the power grows, their control of it must grow. The thing will shatter of its own momentum!"
"Power, always power," Waff muttereAdn. other thought struck him".Are you saying this was how the
Prophet fell?"
"He knew what he was doing," she
"sMaidil.lennia of enforced peace followed by the Famine Times
and the ScatteringA. Bene Gesserit."
message of direct resultRs.emember! He did not destroy the Bene Tleilax or the
"For what do you hope from an alliance between our two peoWplaefsf?"asked.
"Hope is one thing, survival another," she said.
"Always pragmatism," Waff sai"dA. nd some among you fear that you may restore the Prophet on Rakis with all of his powers intact?"
"Did I not say itT?h"e language of the Islamiyat was particularly potent in this questioningItfoprmlac. ed the burden of proof on Waff.

"So they doubt God's hand in the creation of your Kwisatz Haderach," "hDeosathide.y also doubt the
Prophet?"
"Very well, let us have it all out in the open," Odrade said, and launched herself on the chosen course of. deception: "Schwangyu and those who supported her broke away from the Great BWeeliehf.arbor no
anger toward any Bene Tleilax for having killed thTehmey.
saved us the trouble."
Waff accepted this utterlGy.iven the circumstances, it was precisely what could be expeHcteedk.new
he had revealed much here that might better have been held in reserve but there were still things the Bene
Gesserit did not knowA. nd the things he had learned!
Odrade shocked him totally then by say"inWg:aff, if you think your descendants from the Scattering have returned to you unchanged, then foolishness has become your way of life."
He held himself silent.
"You have all of the pieces in your hands," she"Ysoauidr. descendants belong to the whores of the Scattering. And if you think any of them will abide by an agreement, then your stupidity goes beyond description!"
Waff's reactions told her she had hTimhe.
pieces were clicking into placSeh.e had told him truth where
it was requiredH.
is doubts were refocused where they belongaegda:inst the people of the Scattering.
And it had been done in his own tongue.
He tried to speak past a constriction in his throat and was forced to massage his throat before speech returned. "What can we do?"
"It's obviousT. he Lost Ones have their eyes on us as just one more coTnqhueyestt.hink of it as cleaning up behind themC. ommon prudence."
"But they are so many!"

"Unless we unite in a common plan to defeat them, they will chew us up the way a slig chews up its dinner."
"We cannot submit to powindah filGtho!d will not permit it!"
"Submit?Who suggests that we submit?"
"But the Bene Gesserit always use that ancient ex'cIfusyeo: u can't beat them, join them.' "
Odrade smiled grimly".God will not permit you to submDiot! you suggest He would permit it of us?"
"Then what is your plaWn?hat would you do against such numbers?"
"Exactly what you plan to cdoon: vert them.When you say the word, the Sisterhood will openly espouse the true faith."
Waff sat in stunned silencSeo. Tleilaxu would enforce it?
she knew the heart of the Tleilaxu pDlaidn. she know also how the
Odrade stared at him, openly speculatiGvera. sp the beast by the balls if you must, she thoBuugtht.
what if the projection by the Sisterhood's analysts was wrTohnigs? whole negotiation would be a joke in
that case.And there was that look in the back of Waff's eyes, that suggestion of older wisdom . . . much older than his fleshS.he spoke with more confidence than she felt:
"What you have achieved with gholas from your tanks and kept secretly for yourselves alone, others will pay a great price to achieve."
Her words were sufficiently cryptic (Were others listening?) but Waff did not doubt for an instant that

the Bene Gesserit knew even this thing.
"Will you demand a share in that as well?" he Tashkeedw. ords rasped in his dry throat.
"Everything!We will share everything."
"What will you bring to this great sharing?"
"Ask."
"All of your breeding records."
"They are yours."
"Breeding mothers of our choice."
"Name them."
Waff gaspedT. his was far more than the Mother Superior had offIetrewda. s like a blossom opening in
his awareness.She was right about the Honored Matres, naturally -- and about the Tleilaxu descendants from the ScatteringH. e had never completely trusted theNme. ver!
"You will want an unrestricted source of melange, of course," he said.
"Of course."
He stared at her, hardly believing the extent of his good fTohrteunaex.lotl tanks would offer immortality

only to those who espoused the Great BeNlieof. one would dare attack and attempt to seize a thing they
knew the Tleilaxu would destroy rather than lAosned.
now!He had gained the services of the most
powerful and enduring missionary force knowSnu.rely, the hand of God was visible hWerea.ff was first awed and then inspiredH. e spoke softly to Odrade.
"And you, Reverend Mother, how do you name our acc"oNrdo?b"le purpose," she said".You already know the Prophet's words from Sietch TaDbor. you doubt him?"
"Never!But . . . but there is one thWinhga:t do you propose with that ghola of Duncan Idaho and the girl, Sheeana?"
"We will breed them, of courAsen.d their descendants will speak for us to all of those descendants of the Prophet."
"On all of those planets where you would take them!"
"On all of those planets," she agreed.
Waff sat backI. have you, Reverend Mothehr!e thought.We will rule this alliance, not yTouh.e ghola is not yours; he is ours!
Odrade saw the shadow of his reservations in Waff's eyes but knew she had ventured as much as she dared. More would reawaken doubtsW. hatever happened, she had committed the Sisterhood to this
course. Taraza could not escape this alliance now.
Waff squared his shoulders, a curiously juvenile gesture belied by the ancient intelligence peering from his eyes. "Ahhhh, one thing more," he said, every bit the Master of Masters speaking his own language and commanding all of those who heard h"imW.ill you also help spread this . . . this Atreides Manifesto?"
"Why not?I wrote it."

Waff jerked forward".You?"
"Did you think someone of lesser abilities could have done it?"
He nodded, convinced without further argumeTnht.is was fuel for a thought that had entered his own mind, a final point in their allianTche:e powerful minds of Reverend Mothers would advise the Tleilaxu at every turn!What did it matter that they were outnumbered by those whores of the ScaWttehriong?
could match such combined wisdom and insurmountable weapons?
"The title of the Manifesto is valid, too," Odrade"Isaaidm.
a true descendant of the Atreides."
"Would you be one of our breedehrse?"ventured.
"I am almost past the age of breeding, but I am yours to command."
I remember friends from wars all but we forgot.
All of them distilled into each wound we caught.

Those wounds are all the painful places where we fought.
Battles better left behind, ones we never sought.
What is it that we spent and what was it we bought?
-Songs of the Scattering
Burzmali based his planning on the best of what he had learned from his Bashar, keeping his own counsel about multiple options and fallback positioTnhs.at was a commander's prerogativNe!ecessarily,
he learned everything he could about the terrain.
In the time of the Old Empire and even under the reign of Muad'dib, the region around the Gammu Keep had been a forest reserve, high ground rising well above the oily residue that tended to cover Harkonnen land.On this ground, the Harkonnens had grown some of the finest pilingitam, a wood of steady currency, always valued by the supremely rFicrho.m the most ancient times, the knowledgeable
had preferred to surround themselves with fine woods rather than with the mass-produced artificial materials known then as polastine, polaz, and pormabat lattteirnley,: laz, and bat)A. s far back as the
Old Empire there had been a pejorative label for the small rich and Families Minor arising from the knowledge of a rare wood's value.
"He's a three P-O," they said, meaning that such a person surrounded himself with cheap copies made from declasse substancesE. ven when the supremely rich were forced to employ one of the distressful three P-Os, they disguised it where possible behind O-P (the Only P), pilingitam.
Burzmali knew all of this and more as he set his people to searching for a strategically situated pilingitam near the no-globeT. he wood of the tree had many qualities that endeared it to master aNrteiwsalnys:
cut, it worked like a softwood; dried and aged, it endured as a harIdtwaobosodr.bed many pigments and the finish could be made to appear as though it occurred naturally within tMheorgeraimn.portant, pilingitam was anti-fungal and no known insect had ever considered it a suitableLdaisntnlye,r.it was
fire-resistant, and aged specimens of the living tree grew outward from an enlarged and empty tube at the core.

"We will do the unexpected," Burzmali told his searchers.
He had noted the distinctive lime green of pilingitam leaves during his first overflight of tTheheregion. forests of this planet had been raided and otherwise logged off during the Famine Times but venerable O-Ps were still nurtured among the evergreens and hardwoods replanted at the Sisterhood's orders.
Burzmali's searchers found one such O-P dominating a ridge above the no-gloIbtespsirteea.d its leaves over almost three hectaresO. n the afternoon of the critical day, Burzmali placed decoys at a distance from this position and opened a tunnel from a shallow swale into the pilingitam's roomThyerceo, reh.e
set up his command post and the backup necessities for escape.
"The tree is a life form," he explained to his p"eItopwlei.ll mask us from tracers."
The unexpected.
Nowhere in his planning did Burzmali assume that all of his actions would go unHde eccoteudld. spread his vulnerability.
only
When the attack came, he saw that it appeared to follow a predicted Hpeattheardn. anticipated that attackers would rely on no-ships and great numbers as they had in the assault on the GamTmhue Keep. Sisterhood's analysts assured him that the major threat was from forces out of the Scattering -- descendants of the Tleilaxu deployed by wildly brutal women calling themselves Honored MHeatres.
saw this as overconfidence and not audacAity.real audacity was in the arsenal of every student taught
by the Bashar Miles TeIgt. also helped that Teg could be relied upon to improvise within the limits of a plan.
Through his relays, Burzmali followed the scrambling escape of Duncan and LTurocoilplae.rs with
com-helmets and night lenses created a great display of activity at the decoy positions while Burzmali and his select reserves kept watch on the attackers, never betraying their poTsietgio'sn.movements were
easily followed by his violent response to the attackers.
Burzmali noted with approval that Lucilla did not pause when she heard the battle sounds intensify. Duncan, however, tried to stop and almost ruined the Lpulacnil.la saved the moment by jabbing Duncan

in a sensitive nerve and barking":You can't help him!"
Hearing her voice clearly through his helmet amplifiers, Burzmali cursed under hisObtrheeartsh.would hear her, too!No doubt they already were tracking her, though.
Burzmali issued a subvocal command through the microphone implanted in his neck and prepared to
abandon his postH.
e kept most of his attention on the approach of Lucilla and DIuf naclalnw. ent as
planned, his people would bring down the pair of them while two helmetless and suitably garbed troopers continued the flight toward the decoy positions.
In the interim, Teg was creating an admirable path of destruction through which a groundcar might escape.
An aide intruded on Burzma"lTi:wo attackers are closing in behind the Bashar!"
Burzmali waved the man asidHee.
could give little thought to Teg's chanEcevse.rything had to be
focused on saving the gholBa.urzmali's thoughts were intense as he watched:
Come on!Run! Run, damn you!
Lucilla held a similar thought as she urged Duncan forward, keeping herself close behind him to shield him from the rearE.verything about her was marshaled for ultimate resistanEcvee.rything in her breeding
and training came to the fore in these momNenetvs.er give up!To give up was to pass her consciousness into the Memory Lives of a Sister or into obliEvvioenn. Schwangyu had redeemed herself in the end by reverting to total resistance and had died admirably in the Bene Gesserit tradition, resisting to the last. Burzmali had reported it through TeLgu.cilla, assembling her uncounted lives, thougIht:can do no less!
She followed Duncan down into a shallow swale beside the bole of a giant pilingitam and, when people arose out of the darkness to drag them down, she almost responded in berserker mode but a voice speaking Chakobsa in her ear sa"idF:riends!" This delayed her response for a heartbeat while she saw
the decoys continue the flight out of the swTahlaet.
more than anything else revealed the plan and the
identity of the people holding them against the rich leafy smells of thWe heaerntht.he people slid Duncan
ahead of her into a tunnel aimed at the giant tree and (still in Chakobsa) cautioned speed, Lucilla knew she was caught in a typical Teg-style audacity.

Duncan saw it, toAo.t the stygian outlet of the tunnel, he identified her by smell and tapped out a message against her arm in the old Atreides silent battle language.
"Let them lead."
The form of the message startled her momentarily until she realized that the ghola of course would know this communication method.
Without speaking, the people around them removed Duncan's bulky antique lasgun and hustled the fugitives into the hatch of a vehicle that she did not idAentbifryie. f red light flared in the darkness.
Burzmali spoke subvocally to his peop"lTeh: ere they go!"
Twenty-eight groundcars and eleven flitter-thopters scrambled from the decoy posiAtionpsro. per diversion, Burzmali thought.
Pressure in Lucilla's ears told her a hatch had been sAegalaeidn. the red light flared and went dark.
Explosives shattered the great tree around them and their vehicle, now identifiable as an armored groundcar, surged up and out on suspensors and Ljeutcsi.lla could follow their course only by flashes of fire and the twisting patterns of stars visible through frames of ovaTlhpelaezn.closing suspensor field
made the motions eerie, sensed only by the eTyheesy.
sat cradled in plasteel seats while their car
rocketed downslope directly across Teg's holdout position, shifting and darting in violent changes of direction. None of this wild motion transmitted itself to the flesh of the occTuphaenrets.were only the dancing blurs of trees and brush, some of them burning, and then the stars.
They were hugging the tops of the forest wreckage left by Teg's lOasngluynsth! en did she dare to hope that they might win freAe.bruptly, their vehicle trembled into slow fligThht.e visible stars, framed by the tiny ovals of plaz, tipped and were obscured by a dark obstruGcrtaiovnit.y returned and there was dim light. Lucilla saw Burzmali fling open a hatch on her left.

"Out!"he snapped."Not a second to spare!"
Duncan ahead of her, Lucilla scrambled out of the hatch onto dampBuerazrmtha.li thumped her back, grabbed Duncan's arm and hustled them away from the"Qcauric. k! This way!"They crashed through
tall bushes onto a narrow paved roadwBayu.rzmali, a hand on each of them now, rushed them across
the road and pushed them flat in a dHitceh.whipped a life-shield blanket over them and lifted his head to look back in the direction from which they had come.
Lucilla peered past him and saw starlight on a snowy Sshloepefe. lt Duncan stir beside her.
Far up the slope, a speeding groundcar, its jet-pod modifications visible against the stars, lifted on a plume of red, climbing, climbing . . . climbSiundgd. enly, it darted off to the right.
"Ours?"Duncan whispered.
"Yes."
"How did it get up there without showing a . . ."
"An abandoned aqueduct tunnel," Burzmali whisper"eTdh. e car was programmed to go on automatic."
He continued to stare at the distant red pluAmberu. ptly, a gigantic burst of blue light rolled outward from the faraway red traceryT.he light was followed immediately by a dull thump.
"Ahhhhh," Burzmali breathed.
Duncan, his voice low, sa"idT:hey are supposed to think you overloaded your drive."
Burzmali shot a startled look at the young face, ghostly gray in starlight.

"Duncan Idaho was one of the finest pilots in Atreides service," LucilIlta wsaaisd.an esoteric bit of knowledge and it served its purposBeu. rzmali saw immediately that he was not just guardian of two fugitives. His charges possessed abilities that could be used if needed.
Blue and red sparks flashed across the sky where the modified groundcar had exTphleodneod-.ships were sniffing that distant globe of hot gaWsehs.at would the sniffers decideT?he blue and red sparks slipped down behind the starlit bulges of the hills.
Burzmali whirled at the sound of footsteps on the roadDwuanyc.an had a handgun out so swiftly that Lucilla gasped.She put a restraining hand on his arm but he shookDiitdno'ftf.he see that Burzmali had accepted this intrusion?
A voice called softly from the roadway above t"hFeomll:ow me.Hurry."
The speaker, a moving blot of darkness, jumped down beside them and went crashing through a gap in the bushes lining the roaDd.ark spots on the snowy slope beyond the screening bushes resolved
themselves into at least a dozen armed figuFreivse.
of this party grouped themselves around Duncan and
Lucilla and urged them silently along a snow-covered trail beside the bTuhsheesre. st of the armed party ran openly down across the snowslope into a dark line of trees.
Within a hundred paces, the five silent figures formed their party into single file, two of their number ahead, three behind, the fugitives sheltered between them with Burzmali leading and Lucilla close behind Duncan. They came presently to a cleft in dark rocks and under a ledge where they waited, listening to more modified groundcars thunder into the air behind them.
"Decoys upon decoys," Burzmali whispere"dW. e overload them with decoyTs.hey know we must flee
in panic as fast as possibNleo. w, we will wait nearby in concealmeLnatt.er, we will proceed slowly . . . on foot."
"The unexpected," Lucilla whispered.
"Teg?"It was Duncan, his voice little more than a breath.

Burzmali leaned close to Duncan's left "eIart:hink they got himB."urzmali's whisper carried a deep tone of sadness.
One of their dark companions sa"iQd:uickly now.Down here."
They were herded through the narrow cSleofmt. ething emitted a creaking sound nearbHya. nds hustled them into an enclosed passagTe.he creaking sounded from behind them.
"Get that door fixed," someone said.
Light flared around them.
Duncan and Lucilla stared around at a large, richly furnished room apparently cut inStooftroccakrp. ets
covered the floor -- dark reds and golds with a figured pattern like repetitive battlements worked in pale green. A bundle of clothing lay in a jumble on a table near Burzmali, who was in low-voiced conversation with one of their escorat: fair-haired man with high forehead and piercing green eyes.
Lucilla listened carefullyT.he words were understandable, relating how guards had been posted, but the green-eyed man's accent was one she had never before heard, a tumble of gutturals and consonants clicked off with surprising abruptness.
"Is this a no-chamber?" she asked.
"No."The answer was supplied by a man behind her speaking in that same "aTchceenatl.gae protect us."
She did not turn toward the speaker but looked up instead at the light yellow-green algae thick on the ceiling and wallsO. nly a few patches of dark rock were visible near the floors.
Burzmali broke off his conversatio"nW. e are safe hereT.he algae is grown especially for thLiisf.e scanners report only the presence of plant life and nothing else that the algae shields."

Lucilla pivoted on one heel, sorting the room's detthaaitls:Harkonnen griffin worked into a crystal table, the exotic fabrics on chairs and couchAes.weapons rack against one wall held two rows of long
field-style lasguns of a design she had never before Eseaecnh. was bell-mouthed and with a curling gold guard over the trigger.
Burzmali had returned to his conversation with the green-eyedItmwana.s an argument over how they
would be disguisedS. he listened with part of her mind while she studied the two members of their escort remaining in the roomT.he other three from the escort had filed out through a passage near the weapons cabinet, an opening covered by a thick hanging of shimmering silvery thDreuandcsa.n, she saw, was
watching her responses with care, his hand on the small lasgun in his belt.
People of the ScatteringL?ucilla wondered.What are their loyalties?
Casually, she crossed to Duncan's side and, using the finger-touch language on his arm, relayed her suspicions. Both of them looked at BurzmaTlir.eachery?
Lucilla went back to her study of the rWooemre.
they being watched by unseen eyes?
Nine glowglobes lighted the space, creating their own peculiar islands of intense illumIitnarteiaocnh. ed outward into a common concentration near where Burzmali still talked to the green-eyePdarmt aonf. the
light came directly from the drifting globes, all of them tuned into rich gold, and part of it was reflected more softly off the algaTe.he result was a lack of dark shadows, even under the furnishings.
The shimmering silver threads of the inner doorway paArtnedo. ld woman entered the rooLmu.cilla stared at herT. he woman had a seamed face as dark as old rosewHoeor df.eatures were sharply defined in a narrow frame of straggling gray hair that fell almost to her shSohueldweros.re a long black robe worked with golden threads in a pattern of mythological draTghoensw. oman stopped behind a settee and placed her deeply veined hands on the back.
Burzmali and his companion broke off their conversation.
Lucilla looked from the old woman down to her ownExrocbeep.t for the golden dragons, the garments

were similar in design, the hoods draped back onto the shouOldnelrys. in the side cut and the way it opened down the front was the design of the dragon robe different.
When the woman did not speak, Lucilla looked to Burzmali for explaBnuatrizomn.ali stared back at her with a look of intense concentratioTnh.e old woman continued to study Lucilla silently.
The intensity of attention filled Lucilla with disqDuiuent.can felt it, too, she saHwe. small lasgun.The long silence while eyes examined her amplified her unTehaseere. Bene Gesserit about the way the old woman just stood there looking.
Duncan broke the silence, demanding of Burzm"aWli:ho is she?"
kept his hand on the was something almost
"I'm the one who'll save your skins," the old womanShseaidh.ad a thin voice that crackled weakly, but that same strange accent.
Lucilla's Other Memories brought up a suggestive comparison for the old woman's gSairmielanrt: to that worn by ancient playfems.
Lucilla almost shook her heaSdu.rely this woman was too old for such a Aronlde. the shape of the
mythic dragons worked into the fabric differed from those supplied by meLmuocirlyla.
returned her
attention to the old facey: es humid with the illnesses of aAge.dry crust had settled into the creases where each eyelid touched the channels beside her nFoasre.too old for a playfem.
The old woman spoke to Burzm"aIli.think she can wear it well enougShe" began divesting herself of her dragon robeT. o Lucilla she said":This is for youW. ear it with respecWt. e killed to get it for you."
"Who did you kill?L"ucilla demanded.
"A postulant of the Honored MatreTs!h"ere was pride in the old woman's husky tone.
"Why should I wear that robLe?u"cilla demanded.

"You will trade garments with me," the old woman said.
"Not without explanation.L"ucilla refused to accept the robe being extended to her.
Burzmali took one step forwar"dY.ou can trust her."
"I am a friend of your friends," the old womanShseaidsh. ook the robe in front of Luc"ilHlae.re, take it."
Lucilla addressed Burzmal"i.I must know your plan."
"We both must know it," Duncan s"aOidn.
whose authority are we asked to trust these people?"
"Teg's," Burzmali said".And mine."He looked at the old woma"nY.ou can tell them, SirafWa. e have time."
"You will wear this robe while you accompany Burzmali into Ysai," Sirafa said.
Sirafa, Lucilla thoughTt.he name had almost the sound of a Bene Gesserit Lineal Variant.
Sirafa studied Duncan".Yes, he is small enough yHete.
will be disguised and conveyed separately."
"No!" Lucilla said".I am commanded to guard him!"
"You are being foolish," Sirafa sa"iTdh. ey will be looking for a woman of your appearance accompanied by someone of this young man's appearanTchee.y will not be looking for a playfem of the

Honored Matres with her companion of the night . . . nor for a Tleilaxu Master and his entourage."
Lucilla wet her lips with her tongSuirea.fa spoke with the confident assurance of a House Proctor.
Sirafa draped the dragon robe over the back of the Ssehteteest.ood revealed in a clinging black leotard that concealed nothing of a body still lithe and supple, even well roTuhnedebdo. dy looked much
younger than the faceA. s Lucilla looked at her, Sirafa passed her palms across her forehead and cheeks, smoothing them backwardA. ge lines grew shallow and a younger face was revealed.
A Face Dancer?
Lucilla stared hard at the womTanh.ere were none of the other Face Dancer stigmSatitlal. . . .
"Get your robe off!" Sirafa orderNedo.w her voice was younger and even more commanding.
"You must do it," Burzmali plead"eSdi.rafa will take your place as another decIto'sy.the only way we'll get through."
"Get through to what?" Duncan asked.
"To a no-ship," Burzmali said.
"And where will that take us?" Lucilla demanded.
"To safety," Burzmali sai"dW. time."
e will be loaded with shere but I cannot say Emvoerne. shere wears off in
"How will I be disguised as a Tleilaxu?" Duncan asked.

"Trust us that it will be done," Burzmali Hsaeidk.ept his attention on Lucil"laR.everend Mother?"
"You give me no choice," Lucilla sSahide.
undid the quick fasteners and dropped her rSohbe.
removed the small handgun from her bodice and tossed it onto theHsertteoew. n leotard was light gray and she saw Sirafa making note of this and of the knives in their leg sheaths.
"We sometimes wear black undergarments," Lucilla said as she slipped into the dragoTnherofbaeb.ric
looked heavy but felt lighSth. e pivoted in it, sensing the way it flared and fitted itself to her body almost
as though it had been made just for Thheerr.e was a rough spot at the neSchke. finger along it.
reached up and ran a
"That is where the dart struck her," Sirafa "sWaied. moved fast but the acid scarred the fabric sligIthtly. is not visible to the eye."
"Is the appearance correct?B"urzmali asked Sirafa.
"Very goodB. ut I will have to instruct hSehre. that!" Sirafa clapped her hands for emphasis.
must make no mistakes or they will have both of you like
Where have I seen that gesture? Lucilla asked herself.
Duncan touched the back of Lucilla's right arm, his fingers secretly quick-t"aTlkhiantg:hand clap!A
mannerism of Giedi Prime."
Other Memories confirmed this for LuciWllaa.s this woman part of an isolated community preserving archaic ways?
"The lad should go now," Sirafa sSahide. gestured to the two remaining members of the es"cToarkt.e him to the place."

"I don't like this," Lucilla said.
"We have no choice!" Burzmali barked.
Lucilla could only agreSeh. e was relying on Burzmali's oath of loyalty to the Sisterhood, sheAknndew. Duncan was not a child, she reminded hersHeilsf. prana-bindu reactions had been conditioned by the old Bashar and herselfT. here were abilities in the ghola that few people outside of the Bene Gesserit could match. She watched silently as Duncan and the two men left through the shimmering curtain.
When they were gone, Sirafa came around the settee and stood in front of Lucilla, handTsheoinr gazes met at a level.
Burzmali cleared his throat and fingered the rough pile of clothing on the table beside him.
hips.
Sirafa's face, especially the eyes, held a remarkably compelling quTahleitye.yes were light green with clear whites.No lens or other artifice masked them.
"You have the right look about you," Sirafa "sRaeidm. ember that you are a special kind of playfem and
Burzmali is your customerN. o ordinary person would interfere with that."
Lucilla heard a veiled hint in t"hBisu.t there are those who might interfere?"
"Embassies from great religions are on Gammu now," Sirafa"Ssaoimd.e you have never encountered. They are from what you call the Scattering."
"And what do you call it?"
"The Seeking."Sirafa raised a placating han"dD. o not fear!We have a common enemy."

"The Honored Matres?"
Sirafa turned her head to the left and spat on the"Lfoloookr. at me, Bene GesseriIt!was trained only to kill them!That is my only function and purpose!"
Lucilla spoke carefully":From what we know, you must be very good."
"In some things, perhaps I am better than Nyoowu. listen!You are a sexual adepDt.o you understand?"
"Why would priests interfere?"
"You call them priestsW? ell . . . yeTs.hey would not interfere for any reason you might imaSgeinxe.for pleasure, the enemy of religion, eh?"
"Accept no substitutes for holy joy," Lucilla said.
"Tantrus protect you, womanT!here are different priests from the Seeking, ones who do not mind offering immediate ecstasy instead of a promised hereafter."
Lucilla almost smiledD. id this self-styled killer of Honored Matres think she could advise a Reverend
Mother on religions?
"There are people here who go about disguised as priests," Siraf"aVseariyd.dangerous.The most
dangerous of all are those who follow Tantrus and claim that sex is the exclusive worship of their god."
"How will I know themL?u"cilla heard sincerity in Sirafa's voice and a sense of foreboding.

"That is not a concerYno. u must never act as though you recognize such distinctYioonusr. first concern is to make sure of your pYayo.u, I think, should ask fifty solari."
"You have not told me why they would interfLeurec.i"lla glanced back at BurzmaHli.e had laid out the rough clothing and was taking off his battle fatigSuhees. returned her attention to Sirafa.
"Some follow an ancient convention that grants them the right to disrupt your arrangement with Burzmali. In actuality, some will be testing you."
"Listen carefully," Burzmali sai"dT. his is important."
Sirafa said": Burzmali will be dressed as a field worNkeort.hing else could disguise his weapon's calluses. You will address him as Skar, a common name here."
"But how do I deal with a priest's interruption?"
Sirafa produced a small pouch from her bodice and passed it to Lucilla, who hefted it in"Tohnaet contains two hundred and eighty-three solaIrfi.someone identifying himself as a divineY.o.u . remember that?Divine?"
"How could I forget itL?u"cilla's voice was almost a sneer but Sirafa paid no heed.
"If such a one interferes, you will return fifty solari to Burzmali with youAr lrseog,reitns. that pouch is your playfem card in the name of PLireat. me hear you say your name."
"Pira."
"No!Accent much harder on the 'a'!"
hand.

"Pira!"
"That is passableN. ow listen to me with extreme caYreo.u and Burzmali will be on the streets Iltate. will be expected that you have had previous customTehresr.e must be evidenceT.herefore, you will . . . ahhh, entertain Burzmali before leaving heYreo. u understand?"
"Such delicacy!" Lucilla said.
Sirafa took it as a compliment and smiled, but it was a tightly controlled exHpreerssrieoanc.tions were so alien!
"One thing," Lucilla sai"dI.f I must entertain a divine, how will I find Burzmali afterward?"
"Skar!"
"Yes.How will I find Skar?"
"He will wait nearby wherever you Sgkoa.r will find you when you emerge." "Very wellI.f a divine interrupts, I return one hundred solari to Skar and --" "Fifty!"
"I think not, SirafaL."ucilla shook her head slowly from side to divine will know that fifty solari is too small a sum."
"sAidfet.er being entertained by me, the
Sirafa pursed her lips and glanced past Lucilla at Burz"mYoalui. warned me about her kind but I did not suppose that . . ."

Using only a touch of Voice, Lucilla
"sYaido:u suppose nothing unless you hear it from me!"
Sirafa scowledS. he was obviously startled by Voice, but her tone was just as arrogant when she resumed. "Do I presume that you need no explanation of sexual variations?"
"A safe assumption," Lucilla said.
"And I do not need to tell you that your robe identifies you as a fifth-stage adept in the Order of
Hormu?"
It was Lucilla's turn to sco"wWl.hat if I show abilities beyond this fifth stage?"
"Ahhhhh," Sirafa said".You will continue to heed my words, then?"
Lucilla nodded curtly.
"Very good," Sirafa sai"dM.
ay I presume you can administer vaginal pulsing?"
"I can."
"From any position?"
"I can control any muscle in my body!"
Sirafa glanced past Lucilla at Burzm"aTlir.ue?"

Burzmali spoke from close behind Luci"llOa:r she would not claim it."
Sirafa looked thoughtful, her focus on Lucilla's c"hTihni.s is a complication, I think."
"Lest you get the wrong idea," Lucilla said, "the abilities I was taught are not usually Tmheayrketed. have another purpose."
"Oh, I'm sure they do," Sirafa s"aBidu.t sexual agility is a --"
"Agility!"Lucilla allowed her tone to convey the full weight of a Reverend Mother's oNuotramgea.tter that this might be what Sirafa hoped to achieve, she had to be put in h"eArgpilliatyc,e!you say?I can
control genital temperatureI.
know and can arouse the fifty-one excitation poIin-t-s".
"Fifty-one?But there are only --"
"Fifty-one!"Lucilla snapped."And the sequencing plus the combinations number two thousand and eight. Furthermore, in combination with the two hundred and five sexual positions
"Two hundred and five?S"irafa was clearly startled".Surely, you don't mean --"
"More, actually, if you count minor variatioI nasm. hundred steps of orgasmic amplification!"
an Imprinter, which means I have mastered the three
Sirafa cleared her throat and wet her lips with her to"Ingmueu.st warn you then to restrain yourself. Keep your full abilities unexpressed or .O.n.c"e more, she looked at Burzma"lWi. hy didn't you warn me?"
"I did."

Lucilla clearly heard amusement in his voice but did not look back to confirm it.
Sirafa inhaled and expelled two hard brea"tIhfs.any questions are asked, you will say you are about to undergo testing for advancemenTt.hat may quiet suspicion."
"And if I'm asked about the test."
"Oh, that is easYy.ou smile mysteriously and remain silent."
"What if I'm asked about this Order of Hormu?"
"Threaten to report the questioner to your superTiohres. questions should stop."
"And if they don't?"
Sirafa shrugged". Make up any story you likEev.en a Truthsayer would be amused by your evasions."
Lucilla held her face in repose while she thought about her sitSuhaetiohne.ard Burzmali -- Skar! -- stirring directly behind herS.he saw no serious difficulties in carrying out this decepIttiomni.ght even provide an amusing interlude she could recount later at Chapter HSoiurasfea., she noted, was grinning at Burz -- Skar!Lucilla turned and looked at her customer.
Burzmali stood there naked, his battle garb and helmet neatly stacked beside the small mound of rough clothing.
"I can see that Skar does not object to your preparations for this venture," SiSrahfea wsaaidv.ed a hand at his stiffly upcocked pen"iIs. will leave you, then."

Lucilla heard Sirafa depart through the shimmering curFtaililnin. g Lucilla's thoughts was an angry realization:
"This should be the ghola here now!"
It is your fate, forgetfulneAssl.l of the old lessons of life, you lose and gain and lose and gain again.
-Leto II, the Voice of Dar-es-Balat
"In the name of our Order and its unbroken Sisterhood, this account has been judged reliable and worthy of entry into the Chronicles of Chapter House."
Taraza stared at the words on her display projection with an expression of Mdiosrtansinteg. light
painted a fuzz of yellow reflections in the projection, making the words there appear dimly mysterious.
With an angry motion, Taraza pushed herself back from the projection table, arose and went to a south window. The day was young yet and the shadows long in her courtyard.

Shall I go in person?
Reluctance filled her at this thougThht.ese quarters felt so . . . so secBuuret .that was foolishness and
she knew it in every fibTerh.e Bene Gesserit had been here more than fourteen hundred years and still
Chapter House Planet must be considered only temporary.
She rested her left hand on the smooth frame of the wEinadcohwo. f her windows had been positioned
to focus the attention on a splendid viTewhe.
room -- its proportions, furnishing, colors -- all reflected
architects and builders who had worked single-mindedly to create a sense of support for the occupants.
Taraza tried to immerse herself in that supportive feeling and failed.
The arguments she had just experienced left a bitterness in this room even though the words had been voiced in the mildest toneHs.er councillors had been stubborn and (she agreed without reservation) for understandable reasons.
Make ourselves into missionariesA?nd for the Tleilaxu?
She touched a control plate beside the window and openAedwiat.rm breeze perfumed by spring blossoms from the apple orchards wafted into the roTohme. Sisterhood was proud of the fruit they grew here at the power center of all their stronghoNldos.finer orchards existed at any of the Keeps and
Dependent Chapters that wove the Bene Gesserit web through most of the planets humans had occupied under the Old Imperium.
"By their fruits, ye shall know them," she thoSuogmhte.
of the old religions can still produce wisdom.
From her high vantage, Taraza could see the entire southern sprawl of Chapter House bTuhiledings. shadow of a nearby watchtower drew a long uneven line across rooftops and courtyards.
When she thought about it, she knew this was a surprisingly small establishment to contain so much power. Beyond the ring of orchards and gardens lay a careful checkerboard of private residences, each with its surrounding plantationR. etired Sisters and selected loyal families occupied these privileged

estates. Sawtoothed mountains, their tops often brilliant with snow, drew the western Tlihmeits. spacefield lay twenty kilometers eastwarAd.ll around this core of Chapter House were open plains
where grazed a peculiar breed of cattle, a cattle so susceptible to alien odors they would stampede in raucous bellowing at the slightest intrusion of people not marked by the locaTl hsemeinlln.ermost homes
with their pain-fenced plantings had been sited by an early Bashar in such a way that no one could move through the twisting ground-level channels day or night without being observed.
It all appeared so haphazard and casual, yet there was harsh ordAerndin thita.t, Taraza knew, personified the Sisterhood.
The clearing of a throat behind her reminded Taraza that one of those who had argued most vehemently in Council remained waiting patiently in the open doorway.
Waiting for my decision.
The Reverend Mother Bellonda wanted Odrade "killed out of hNanod.d"ecision had been reached. You've really done it this time, DI aerx. pected your wild independencIe.even wanted iBt. ut this! Bellonda, old, fat and florid, cold-eyed and valued for her natural viciousness, wanted Odrade
condemned as a traitor.
"The Tyrant would have crushed her immediately!" Bellonda argued.
Is that all we learned from him? Taraza wondered.
Bellonda argued that Odrade was not only an Atreides but also a CTohrerrienow. ere emperors and vice-regents and powerful administrators to a very large number in her ancestry.
With all of the power hunger this implies.

"Her ancestors survived Salusa Secundus!" Bellonda kept repea"tiHngav. e we learned nothing from our breeding experiences?"
We learned how to create Odrades, Taraza thought.
After surviving the spice agony, Odrade had been sent to Al Dhanab, an equivalent of Salusa Secundus, there to be conditioned deliberately on a planet of constant tehsitginhg:cliffs and dry gorges, hot winds
and frigid winds, little moisture and too muItchw. as judged a suitable proving ground for someone whose destiny might take her to RakTios.ugh survivors emerged from such conditioninTgh.e tall, supple, and muscular Odrade was one of the toughest.
How can I salvage this situation?
Odrade's most recent message said that any peace, even the Tyrant's millennia of suppression, radiated a false aura that could be fatal to those who trusted it tooThmaut cwh.as both the strength and flaw in Bellonda's argument.
Taraza lifted her gaze to Bellonda waiting in the doorway.
She is too faSt!he flaunts that before us!
"We can no more eliminate Odrade than we can eliminate the ghola," Taraza said.
Bellonda's voice came low and lev"eBl:oth are now too dangerous to Luos.ok how Odrade weakens you with her account of those words at Sietch Tabr!"
"Has the Tyrant's message weakened me, Bell?"
"You know what I meaTnh.e Bene Tleilax have no morals."

"Quit changing the subject, BeYllo. ur thoughts are darting around like an insect among the blossoms. What is it you really smell here?"
"The Tleilaxu!They made that ghola for their own purpoAsensd.
now Odrade wants us to --"
"You're repeating yourself, Bell."
"The Tleilaxu take shortcutTs.heir view of genetics is not our viIetwis. monsters."
"Is that what they do?"
not a human vieTwh.ey make
Bellonda came into the room, walked around the table and stood close to Taraza, blocking the Mother
Superior's view of the niche and its statuette of Chenoeh.
"Alliance with the priests of Rakis, yes, but not with the TleBilealxloun."da's robes rustled as she gestured with a clenched fist.
"Bell!The High Priest is now a mimic Face DanAclelyr. with him, you mean?"
Bellonda shook her head angri"lyB.elievers in Shai-hulud are legionY!ou find them everywhereW. hat will be their reaction to us if our part in the deception is ever exposed?"
"No you don't, BelWl! e have seen to it that only the Tleilaxu are vulnerableInthethrea.t, Odrade's right."
"Wrong!If we ally with them we are both vulneraWblee.will be forced to serve the Tleilaxu desItign. will be worse than our long subservience to the Tyrant."

Taraza saw the vicious glinting of Bellonda's eHyers. reaction was understandableN. o Reverend
Mother could contemplate the special bondage they had endured under the God Emperor without at least some chilling remembrancesW. hipped along against their will, never sure of Bene Gesserit survival from one day to the next.
"You think we assure our spice supply by such a stupid alliance?" Bellonda demanded.
It was the same old argument, Taraza
Wsawith. out melange and the agony of its transformation, there
could be no Reverend MotherTs.he whores from the Scattering surely had melange as one of their targets -- the spice and the Bene Gesserit mastery of it.
Taraza returned to her table and sank into her chairdog, leaning back while it molded itself to her
contours. It was a problemA.
peculiar Bene Gesserit problemA.lthough they searched and
experimented constantly, the Sisterhood had never found a substitute for the TshpeiceS.pacing Guild might want melange to trance-form its navigators, but they could substitute Ixian macIhxinaenryd. its subsidiaries competed in the Guild's markeTtsh.ey had alternatives.
We have none.
Bellonda crossed to the other side of Taraza's table, put both fists on the smooth surface and leaned forward to look down at the Mother Superior.
"And we still don't know what the Tleilaxu did to our ghola!"
"Odrade will find out."
"Not reason enough to forgive her treachery!"
Taraza spoke in a low voi"cWe:e waited for this moment through generation after generation and you would abort the project just like thaSth."e slapped a palm lightly against the table.

"The precious Rakian project is no longer our project," Bellonda"Itsamida.y never have been."
All of her considerable mental powers in hard focus, Taraza reexamined the implications of this familiar argument. It was a thing spoken frequently in the wrangling session they had concluded earlier.
Was the ghola scheme something set in motion by the TIyfrasnot,? what could they do about it now? What should they do about it?
During the long dispute, the Minority Report had been in all of theirScmhwinadnsg. yu might be dead but her faction survived and it looked now as though Bellonda had joinedWtahsemth.e Sisterhood
blinding itself to a fatal possibilitOy?drade's report of that hidden message on Rakis could be interpreted as an ominous warningO. drade emphasized this by reporting how she had been alerted by her inner
sense of alarmN.
o Reverend Mother could treat such an event lightly.
Bellonda straightened and folded her arms across her br"eWaset. never completely escape the teachers of our childhood nor any of the patterns that formed us, do we?"
That was an argument peculiar to Bene Gesserit dispIut teresm. susceptibility.
inded them of their own particular
We are the secret aristocrats and it is our offspring who inherit theYpeos,wwere. that and Miles Teg is a superb example.
are susceptible to
Bellonda found a straight chair and sat down, bringing her eyes level with T"Aartazthae's. height of the
Scattering," she said, "we lost some twenty percent of our failures."
"It is not failures who are coming back to us."
"But the Tyrant surely knew this would happen!"

"The Scattering was his goal, BTelhl.at was his Golden Path, humankind's survival!"
"But we know how he felt about the Tleilaxu and yet he did not exterminHate cthoeumld. did not!"
"He wanted diversity."
have and he
Bellonda pounded a fist on the ta"bHlee.
certainly got that!"
"We've been through all of these arguments over and over, Bell, and I still see no way to escape what
Odrade has done."
"Subservience!"
"Not at alWl. ere we ever totally subservient to one of the pre-Tyrant empeNrots?even to
Muad'dib!"
"We're still in the Tyrant's trap," Bellonda accu"sTeedl.l me, why have the Tleilaxu continued to produce his favorite ghola?Millennia, and still that ghola keeps coming out of their tanks like a dancing doll."
"You think the Tleilaxu still follow a secret order from the TIfyrsaon,t?then you argue for OdraSdhee. has created admirable conditions for us to examine this."
"He ordered nothing of the kinHde! merely made that particular ghola deliciously attractive to the Bene
Tleilax."
"And not to us?"

"Mother Superior, we must get ourselves out of the Tyrant's trapAndowb!y the most direct method."
"The decision is mine, BeIlls. till lean toward a cautious alliance."
"Then at the very least let us kill the gSheleaa.na can have childrenW. e could --"
"This is not now and never was purely a breeding project!"
"But it could bWe. hat if you're wrong about the power behind the Atreides prescience?"
"All of your proposals lead to alienation from Rakis and from the Tleilax"u, Bell.
"The Sisterhood could weather fifty generations on our present stockpiles of mMelaonregew. rationing."
ith
"You think fifty generations is a long time, DBoelnl?'t you see that this very attitude is why you are not sitting in my chair?"
Bellonda pushed herself back from the table, her chair scraping harshly against thTearfalzoaor.could
see that she was not convinceBde.llonda no longer could be trusteSdh.e might be the one who would
have to dieA.
nd where was the noble purpose in that?
"This gets us nowhere," Taraza sa"iLde. ave me."
When she was alone, Taraza once more considered Odrade's mesOsamgien.ous. It was easy to see why Bellonda and others reacted violentBlyu. t that showed a dangerous lack of control.
It is not yet time to write the Sisterhood's final will and testament.

In an odd way, Odrade and Bellonda shared the same fear but came to different decisions because of that fear.Odrade's interpretation of that message in the stones of Rakis conveyed an old warning:
This, too, shall pass away.
Are we to end now, crushed by ravenous hordes from the Scattering?
But the secret of the axlotl tanks was almost within the Sisterhood's grasp.
If we gain that, nothing can stop us!
Taraza swung her gaze around the details of her
TrohoemB. ene Gesserit power was still heCreh.apter
House remained concealed behind a moat of no-ships, its location unrecorded except in the minds of her own people.Invisibility.
Temporary invisibility!Accidents occurred.
Taraza squared her shoulderTs.ake precautions but don't live in their shadows, constantly fuTrthivee. Litany Against Fear served a useful purpose when avoiding shadows.
From anyone but Odrade, the warning message with its disturbing implications that the Tyrant still guided his Golden Path would have been far less fearsome.
That damnable Atreides talent!
"No more than a secret society?"

Taraza gritted her teeth in frustration.
"Memories are not enough unless they call you to noble purpose!"
And what if it was true that the Sisterhood no longer heard the music of life?
Damn him!The Tyrant could still touch them.
What is he trying to tell Huiss? Golden Path could not be in pTerhile.
Scattering had seen to that.
Humans had spread their kind outward on uncounted courses like the spines of a hedgehog.
Had he seen a vision of the Scattered Ones returCnionugl?d he possibly have anticipated this bramble patch at the foot of his Golden Path?
He knew we would suspect his powHeres. knew it!
Taraza thought about the mounting reports of the Lost Ones who were returning to thAeir roots. remarkable diversity of people and artifacts accompanied by a remarkable degree of secrecy and wide
evidence of conspiracyN.
o-ships of a peculiar design, weapons and artifacts of breathtaking
sophistication. Diverse peoples and diverse ways.
Some, astonishingly primitiveA. t least on the surface.
And they wanted much more than melanTgaer.aza recognized the peculiar form of mysticism that drove the Scattered Ones back":We want your elder secrets!"
The message of the Honored Matres was clear enough",Wtoeo:will take what we want."

Odrade has it all right in her hands, Taraza thoSuhgehth. ad SheeanaS. oon, if Burzmali succeeded, she
would have the gholaS.he had the Tleilaxu Master of MasteSrhse.
could have Rakis itself!
If only she were not an Atreides.
Taraza glanced at the projected words still dancing above her tabalectom:parison of this newest
Duncan Idaho with all of the slain oEneasc.h new ghola had been slightly different from its predecessors. That was clear enoughT.he Tleilaxu were perfecting somethinBg.ut what?Was the clue hidden in these new Face Dancers?The Tleilaxu obviously sought an undetectable Face Dancer, mimics whose mimicry reached perfection, shape-copiers who copied not only the surface memories of their victims but the deepest thoughts and identity as weIltl.was a form of immortality even more enticing than the one the Tleilaxu Masters used at presenTt.hat obviously was why they followed this course.
Her own analysis agreed with the majority of her advSisuocrhs: a mimic would become the copied person. Odrade's reports on the Face Dancer Tuek were highly suggesEtviveen. the Tleilaxu Masters might not be able to shake such a Face Dancer out of its mimic shape and behavior.
And its beliefs.
Damn Odrade!She had painted her Sisters into a corTnehre.y had no choice except to follow Odrade's lead and Odrade knew it!
How did she know Wit?as it that wild talent again?
I cannot act blindlIy.must know.
Taraza went through the well-remembered regimen to restore a sense ofShcealmda. red not make momentous decisions in a frustrated mooAd. long look at the statuette of Chenoeh helLpiefdti.ng herself from the chairdog, Taraza returned to her favorite window.
It often soothed her to stare out at this landscape, observing how the distances changed with the daily movement of sunlight and shifts in the planet's well-managed weather.

Hunger prodded her.
I will eat with the acolytes and lay Sisters today.
It helped at times to gather the young around her and remember the persistence of the eating rituals, the daily timing -- morning, noon, and eveniTngh.at formed a reliable cemenSth. e enjoyed watching her
people. They were like a tide speaking of deeper things, of unseen forces and greater powers that persisted because the Bene Gesserit had found the ways of flowing with that persistence.
These thoughts renewed Taraza's balancNea. gging questions could be placed temporarily at a distance. She could look at them without passion.
Odrade and the Tyrant were rigWhti:thout noble purpose we are nothing.
One could not escape, though, the fact that critical decisions were being made on Rakis by a person who suffered from those recurring Atreides flawOsd.rade had always displayed typical Atreides
weakness. She had been positively benevolent to erring acolyAtefsf.ections developed out of such behavior!
Dangerous and mind-clouding affections.
This weakened others, who then were required to compensate for suchMlaoxriety.competent Sisters were called upon to take erring acolytes in hand and correct the weakOnefssceosu. rse, Odrade's behavior had exposed these flaws in acolytOesn.e must admit thisP.erhaps Odrade reasoned thus.
When she thought this way, something subtle and powerful shifted in Taraza's percSephteiownsa.s
forced to put down a deep sense of lonelinItesrsa.nkled.Melancholy could be quite as mind-clouding as affection . . . or even loTvaer.aza and her watchful Memory Sisters ascribed such emotional responses
to awareness of mortalityS.he was forced to confront the fact that one day she would be no more than a set of memories in someone else's living flesh.

Memories and accidental discoveries, she saw, had made her vulneAranbdle.just when she needed every available faculty!
But I am not yet dead.
Taraza knew how to restore hersAelnf.d she knew the consequenceAs.lways after these bouts of melancholy she regained an even firmer grip on her life and its puOrpdorsaedse.'s flawed behavior was a source of her Mother Superior's strength.
Odrade knew itT. araza smiled grimly at this awareneTssh.e Mother Superior's authority over her Sisters always became stronger when she returned from melanchOotlhye. rs had observed this but only Odrade knew about the rage.
There!
Taraza realized that she had confronted the distressful seeds of her frustration.
Odrade had clearly recognized on several occasions what sat at the core of the Mother Superior's behavior. A giant howl of rage against the uses others had made of hTehrelipfeo.wer of that suppressed rage was daunting even though it could never be expressed in a way that vTehnatet draigt.e must never
be allowed to heaHl. ow it hurt!Odrade's awareness made the pain even more intense.
Such things did what they were supposed to do, of cBoeunrsee.Gesserit impositions developed certain mental muscles.They built up layers of callousness that could never be revealed to ouLtsoidveersw. as
one of the most dangerous forces in the univTerhsey.
had to protect themselves againstAit.Reverend
Mother could never become intimately personal, not even in the services of the Bene Gesserit.
Simulation:We play the necessary role that savesTuhse.
Bene Gesserit will persist!
How long would they be subservient this tiAmneo?ther thirty-five hundred yearsW? ell, damn them all! It would still be only a temporary thing.

Taraza turned her back on the window and its restorativeSvhieewd.id feel restoredN. ew strength
flowed into herT. here was strength enough to overcome that gnawing reluctance which had kept her from making the essential decision.
I will go to Rakis.
She no longer could evade the source of her own reluctance.
I may have to do what Bellonda wants.
Survival of self, of species, and of environment, these are what drive hYuomuancsa.n observe how the order of importance changes in a lifetimWeh. at are the things of immediate concern at a given age? Weather? The state of the digestionD?oes she (or he) really carAe?ll of those various hungers that flesh can sense and hope to satisfWy.hat else could possibly matter?
-Leto II to Hwi Noree, His VoDicaer:-es-Balat
Miles Teg awoke in darkness to find himself being carried on a litter sling supported by sBusypensors.

their faint energy glow, he could see the tiny suspensor bulbs in an updangling row around him.
There was a gag in his moHutihs. hands were securely tied behind his baHciks. eyes remained uncovered.
So they don't care what I see.
Who they were he could not Ttehlle.
bobbing motions of the dark shapes around him suggested they
were descending uneven terrainA.
trail?The litter sling rode smoothly on its suspensHores. could sense
the faint humming from the suspensors when his party stopped to negotiate the turn of a difficult passage.
Now and then through some intervening obstruction, he saw the flickering of a lighTtheayheaedn.tered
the lighted area presently and stoppeHde.
saw a single glowglobe about three meters off the ground,
tethered on a pole and moving gently in a cold bBreyeziet.s yellow glow he discerned a shack in the center of a muddy clearing, many tracks in trampled sHnoews.aw bushes and a few sparse trees around the clearing.Someone passed a brighter handlight across his fNacoet.hing was said but Teg saw a hand gesture toward the shackH. e had seldom seen such a dilapidated structIutrel.ooked ready to collapse
at the slightest touchH. e bet himself that the roof leaked.
Once more, his party lurched into motion, swinging him toward theHsehasctku.died his escort in the dim light -- faces muffled to the eyes in a cover that obscured mouths anHdoocdhsinsh.id their hair.
The clothing was bulky and concealed body details except for the general articulation of arms and legs.
The pole-tethered glowglobe went dark.
A door opened in the shack, sending a brilliant glare across the cHleiasriensgc.ort hustled him inside and left him thereH. e heard the door close behind them.
It was almost blindingly bright inside after the darkTnegss.blinked until his eyes adapted to the change. With an odd sense of displacement, he looked around Hheimh.ad expected the shack's interior to
match its exterior but here was a neat room almost bare of furnishings -- only three chairs, a small table and . . . he drew in a sharp braenathIx: ian Probe!Couldn't they smell the shere on his breath?

If they were that unaware, let them use the pItrowbeo.uld be agony for him but they would get nothing from his mind.
Something clicked behind him and he heard moTtihorne.e people came into his field of vision and ranged themselves around the foot of the liTttehre.y stared at him silentlTy.eg moved his attention across the three.The one on his left wore a dark singlesuit with open Mlapaelels. .He had the squarish face Teg had seen on some Gammu natives -- small, beady eyes that stared straight throuIgthwTaesg.the face
of an inquisitor, one who would not be moved by your aTghoenyH. arkonnens had imported a lot of those in their day.Single-purpose types who could create pain without the slightest change of expression.
The one directly at Teg's feet wore bulky clothing of black and gray similar to that of the escort but the hood was thrown back to reveal a bland face under closely cropped graTyhehafiarc.e gave nothing
away and the clothing revealed littNleo.
telling if this one was male or femTaelge. recorded the face:
wide forehead, square chin, large green eyes above a knife-ridged nose; a tiny mouth pursed around a moue of distaste.
The third member of this group held Teg's attention lotnaglle,sta:
tailored black singlesuit with a severe
black jacket over iPt.erfectly fitted.Expensive. No decorations or insigniaM. ale definitely.The man affected boredom and this gave Teg a tag for Nhaimrro. w, supercilious face, brown eyes, thin-lipped
mouth. Bored, bored, bored!All of this in here was an unwarranted demand on his very important time. He had vital business elsewhere and these other two, these underlings, must be made to realize that.
That one, Teg thought, is the official observer.
The bored one had been sent by the masters of this place to watch and report whWathheree swawas.
his datacase?Ahhhh, yes:There it was, propped against a wall behind
Thihmo.se cases were like a
badge for such functionariesO. n his inspection tour, Teg had seen these people walking the streets of
Ysai and other Gammu citieSsm.
all, thin casesT. he more important the functionary, the smaller the case.
This one's case would barely contain a few dataspools and a tiny coHme ewyeo.uld never be without
an 'eye to link him with his superiTohrsin.
case:This was an important functionary.
Teg found himself wondering what the observer would say if Teg"Waskheadt : will you tell them about my composure?"
The answer was already there on that bored Hfaecew. ould not even answeHr.e was not here to answer. When this one leaves, Teg thought, he will walk with long sHtriisdeast.tention will be on

distances where only he knows what powers await
Hhiem.will slap that case against his leg to remind
himself of his importance and to call the attention of these others to his badge of authority.
The bulky figure at Teg's feet spoke, a compelling voice and definitely female in those vibrant tones.
"See how he holds himself and watchesSuilse?nce will not break himI .told you that before we entered. You are wasting our time and we do not have all that much time for such nonsense."
Teg stared at heSro. mething vaguely familiar in the voicIte.had some of that compelling quality found in
a Reverend MotherW.
as that possible?
The heavy-faced Gammu type nodde"dY.ou are right, MaterlyB. ut I do not give the orders here."
Materly?Teg wondered.Name or title?
Both of them looked at the functionTarhya.t one turned and bent to his datacHasee.removed a small comeye from it and stood with the screen concealed from his companions anTdheTe'egy.e came alight with a green glow, which cast a sickly illumination over the observer's feHaitsurseesl.f-important smile vanished. He moved his lips silently, words formed only for someone on that 'eye to see.
Teg hid his ability to read lAipnsy. one trained by the Bene Gesserit could read lips from almost any angle where they were visiblTe.his man spoke a version of Old Galach.
"It is the Bashar Teg for sure," he "sIaihda.ve made identification."
The green light danced on the functionary's face while he stared into tWheho'eeyvee.r communicated with him was in agitated movement if that light meant anything.
Again, the functionary's lips moved soundless"lNy:one of us doubts that he has been conditioned against pain and I can smell shere on hHime .will . . ."

He fell silent as the green light once more danced on his face.
"I do not make excuseHs."is lips shaped the Old Galach words with c"aYroe.u know we will do our best but I recommend that we pursue with vigor all other means of intercepting the ghola."
The green light winked off.
The functionary clipped the 'eye to his waist, turned toward his companions and nodded once.
"The T-probe," the woman said.
They swung the probe over Teg's head.
She called it a T-probe, Teg thouHghet. looked up at the hood as they brought it oveTr hheirme. was no Ixian stamp on the thing.
Teg experienced an odd sense of dejaHveu.had the feeling that his own captivity here had occurred many times beforeN. o single-incident deja vu, it was a deeply familiar recognittihoen: captive and the interrogators -- these three . . . the prHobee.felt emptiedH. ow could he know this momenHt?e had
never personally employed a probe but he had studied their use thoroTuhgehlyB.ene Gesserit often used pain but relied mostly on TruthsayeErvs.en more than that, the Sisterhood believed that some equipment could put them too much under Ixian influeInt cwe.as an admission of weakness, a sign that
they could not do without such despicable deviTceesg.
had even suspected there was something in this
attitude of a hangover from the Butlerian Jihad, rebellion against machines that could copy out the essence of a human's thoughts and memories.
Deja vu!
Mentat logic demanded of hiHmo: w do I know this momenHt?e knew that he had never before been a
captive. It was such a ridiculous switch of roTlehse. But that deep sense of familiarity persisted.
great Bashar Teg a captivHe?e could almost smile.

His captors positioned the hood directly over his head and began releasing the medusa contacts one at a time, fixing them to his scaTlph.e functionary watched his companions work, producing small signs of impatience on an otherwise emotionless face.
Teg moved his attention across the three faWcehsi.ch one of these would act the part of "friend"? Ahhhh, yes:the one called MaterlyF.ascinating. Was it a form of Honored MatBreu?t neither of the
others deferred to her as one would expect from what Teg had heard of those returning Lost Ones.
These were people from the Scattering, though -- except possibly for the square-faced male in the
brown singlesuit.Teg studied the woman with catrhee:
matt of gray hair, the quiet composure in those
widely spaced green eyes, the slightly protruding chin with its sense of solidity and reSlihaebilhitayd.
been chosen well for "friendM."aterly's face was a map of respectability, someone you could Tterugst.
saw a withdrawn quality in her, thouSghe.
was one who would also observe carefully to catch the
moment when she must become involveSdu.rely, she was Bene Gesserit-trained at the very least.
Or trained by the Honored Matres.
They finished attaching the contacts to his hTehade. Gammu type swung the probe's console into
position where all three could watch the dispTlahye.
probe's screen was concealed from Teg.
The woman removed Teg's gag, confirming his judgmSehnet. would be the source of comfoHret.
moved his tongue around in his mouth, restoring sensaHtioisn.face and chest still felt a bit numb from the stunner that had brought him dowHno. w long ago had that beeBn?ut if he was to believe the silent
words of the functionary, Duncan had escaped. The Gammu type looked to the observer. "You may begin, Yar," the functionary said.
Yar?Teg wondered.Curious name.Almost had a Tleilaxu sounBd.ut Yar was not a Face Dancer . . . or a Tleilaxu MasterT.oo big for one and no stigmata of the oAthsero.ne trained by the Sisterhood, Teg felt confident of this.

Yar touched a control on the probe's console.
Teg heard himself grunt with paNino.thing had prepared him for that much pTaihne.y must have turned their devil's machine to maximum for the first thNruost.question about itT! hey knew he was a Mentat. A Mentat could remove himself from some demands of fBleusth.this was excruciatingH! e could not escape it.Agony shivered through his entire body, threatening to blank out his consciouCsonueslds.
shere shield him from this?
The pain diminished gradually and went away, leaving only quivering memories.
Again!
He thought suddenly that the spice agony must be like this for a ReverendSMureoltyh,ert.here could
be no greater painH. e fought to remain silent but heard himself grunting, moaEnvinegry.
ability he had
ever learned, Mentat and Bene Gesserit, was called into play, keeping him from forming words, from begging for surcease, from promising to tell them anything if they would only stop.
Once more the agony receded and then surged back. "Enough!"That was the womanT.eg groped for her name. Materly?
Yar spoke in a sullen voi"cHe:e's loaded with shere, enough to last him a year at Hleeasgt.e"stured at his console."Blank."
Teg breathed in shallow gaspTsh.e agony!It continued to increase despite Materly's demand.

"I said enough!" Materly snapped.
Such sincerity, Teg thoughHt.e felt the pain recede, withdrawing as though every nerve were being removed from his body, pulled out like threads of the remembered agony.
"It is wrong what we're doing," Materly
"sTaihdi.s man is --"
"He is like any other man," Yar
"sSaihda.ll I attach the special contact to his penis?"
"Not while I'm here!" Materly said.
Teg felt himself almost taken in by her sincTerhiety.last of the agony threads left his flesh and he lay there with a feeling that he had been suspended off the surface that supportTehdehsimen.se of deja vu
remained. He was here and not heHree.
had been here and he had not.
"They will not like it if we fail," Yar"Asaried.you prepared to face them with another failure?"
Materly shook her head sharpSlyh.e bent over to bring her face into Teg's line of vision through the medusa tangle of probe contact"sB. ashar, I am sorry for what we Bdeol.ieve me.This is not of my making. Please, I find all of this disgustiTngel.l us what we need to know and let me make you comfortable."
Teg formed a smile for hSehre.
was good!He shifted his gaze to the watchful function"aTrye.ll your
masters for meS. he is very good at this."
Blood darkened the functionary's facHee.
scowled."Give him the maximum, YarH."is voice was a
clipped tenor without any of the deep training apparent in Materly's voice.
"Please!" Materly saidS.he straightened but kept her attention on Teg's eyes.

Teg's Bene Gesserit teachers had taught him "thWata:tch the eyes!Observe how they change focuAs.s the focus moves outward, the awareness moves inward."
He focused deliberately on her noIste.was not an ugly facRea.ther distinctive.He wondered what the figure might be under those bulky clothes.
"Yar!"That was the functionary.
Yar adjusted something on his console and pressed a switch.
The agony that surged through Teg now told him the previous level had, indeed, beWenitlowtheer. new pain came an odd clariTtye.g found himself almost capable of removing his awareness from this intrusion. All of that pain was happening to someone Helese.had found a haven where little touched him. There was painA. gony even.He accepted reports about these sensationTsh.at was partly the shere's
doing, of courseH.
e knew that and was thankful.
Materly's voice intruded":I think we're losing himB.etter ease off."
Another voice responded but the sound faded into stillness before Teg could identify thHe ewords. realized abruptly that he had no anchor point for his awareSntiellsnse.ss! He thought he heard his heart beating rapidly in fear but he was not sAulrle.was stillness, profound quiet with nothing behind it.
Am I still alive?
He found a heartbeat then, but no certainty that it was hTishuomwpn-.thump! Thump-thump! It was a
sensation of movement and no sounHde.
could not fix the source.
What is happening to me?
Words blazoned in brilliant white against a black background played across his visual centers:

"I'm back to one-third."
"Leave it at thaSte. e if we can read him through his physical reactions."
"Can he still hear us?"
"Not consciously."
None of Teg's instructions had told him a probe could do its evil work in the presencBeuot fthsehyere. called this a T-probeC. ould bodily reactions provide a clue to suppressed thougWhtes?re there
revelations to be explored by physical means?
Again, words played against Teg's visual cent"eIrss:he still isolated?"
"Completely."
"Make sureT. ake him a little deeper."
Teg tried to lift his awareness above his fears.
I must remain in control!
What might his body reveal if he had no contact wHiteh ciot?uld imagine what they were doing and his mind registered panic but his flesh could not feel it.
Isolate the subjecGt. ive him nowhere to seat his identity.

Who had said thaSt?omeone. The sense of deja vu returned in full force.
I am a Mentat, he reminded himsMelyf. mind and its workings are my cenHteer. possessed experiences and memories upon which a center could rely.
Pain returnedS. ounds. Loud! Much too loud!
"He's hearing again.T"hat was Yar.
"How can that be?T"he functionary's tenor.
"Perhaps you've set it too lowM.a"terly.
Teg tried to open his eyTehs.e lids would not obeHy.e remembered thenT. hey had called it a T-probe.
This was no Ixian devicTe.his was something from the ScatterinHge.
could identify where it took over
his muscles and sensesI.t was like another person sharing his flesh, preempting his own reactive patterns. He allowed himself to follow the workings of this machine's intruIstiownsa.s a hellish devicIet! could
order him to blink, fart, gasp, shit, piss -- anytIhtincgo.uld command his body as though he had no
thinking part in his own behaviHore.
was relegated to the role of observer.
Odors assailed him -- disgusting odoHrse. would not command himself to frown but he thought of frowning. That was sufficientT. hese odors had been elicited by the proItbew. as playing his senses, learning them.
"Do you have enough to read himTh?e"
functionary's tenor.
"He's still hearing usY!"ar.

"Damn all Mentats!M" aterly.
"Dit, Dat, and Dot," Teg said, naming the puppets of the Winter Show from his childhood on long-ago
Lernaeus.
"He's talking!"The functionary.
Teg felt his awareness being blocked off by the maYchairnew. as doing something at the consoSlteil.l,
Teg knew his own Mentat logic had told him somethingTvhietasle:
three were puppetsO. nly the puppet
masters were importantH.
ow the puppets moved -- that told you what the puppet masters were doing.
The probe continued to intrudDee. spite the force being applied, Teg felt his awareness matching the thing. It was learning him but he was also learning it.
He understood nowT. he whole spectrum of his senses could be copied into this T-probe and identified, tagged for Yar to call up when needAend. organic chain of responses existed within TTehge. machine
could trace those out as though it made a duplicate oTf hheims.here and his Mentat resistance shunted the searchers away from his memories but everything else could be copied.
It will not think like me, he reassured himself.
The machine would not be the same as his nerves andIt flwesohu.ld not have Teg-memories or
Teg-experiences. It had not been born of womIatn.had never traveled down a birth canal and emerged into this astonishing universe.
Part of Teg's awareness applied a memory marker, telling him that this observation revealed something about the ghola.
Duncan was decanted from an axlotl tank.
The observation came to Teg with a sudden sharp biting of acid on his tongue.

The T-probe again!
Teg allowed himself to flow through a multiple simultaneous awarHeneesfso. llowed the T-probe's
workings and continued to explore this observation about the ghola, all the while listening for Dit, Dat, and Dot.The three puppets were oddly sileYnte. s, waiting for their T-probe to complete its task.
The gholaD: uncan was an extension of cells that had been born of a woman impregnated by a man.
Machine and ghola!
Observation:The machine cannot share that birth experience except in a remotely vicarious way sure to miss important personal nuances.
Just as it was missing other things in him right now.
The T-probe was replaying smelWls.ith each induced odor, memories revealed their presence in Teg's
mind. He felt the great speed of the T-probe but his own awareness lived outside of that headlong rushing search, able to entangle him for as long as he desired in the memories being called up here.
There!
That was the hot wax he had spilled on his left hand when only fourteen and a student in the Bene Gesserit school.He recalled school and laboratory as though his only existence were there at this moment. The school is attached to Chapter HouBsey. being admitted here, Teg knew he had the blood
of Siona in his veinNs.o prescient could track him here.
He saw the lab and smelled the wax -- a compound of artificial esters and the natural product of bees kept by failed Sisters and their helpeHrse. turned his memory to a moment when he watched bees and people at their labors in the apple orchards.

The workings of the Bene Gesserit social structure appeared so complicated until you saw through to the necessities: food, clothing, warmth, communication, learning, protection from enemies (a subset of the
survival drive).Bene Gesserit survival took some adjustments before it could be undersTthoeoyd. did
not procreate for the sake of humankind in genNeroal.unmonitored racial involvementT!hey procreated to extend their own powers, to continue the Bene Gesserit, deeming that a sufficient service to humankind. Perhaps it wasP. rocreative motivation went deep and the Sisterhood was so thorough.
A new smell assailed him.
He recognized the wet wool of his clothing as he came into the command pod after the Battle of Ponciard. The smell filled his nostrils and elicited the ozone of the pod's instruments, the sweat of the other occupants.Wool! The Sisterhood had always thought it a bit odd of him, the way he preferred natural fabrics and shunned the synthetics turned out in captive factories.
No more did he care for chairdogs.
I don't like the smells of oppression in any form.
Did these puppets -- Dit, Dat, and Dot -- know how oppressed they were?
Mentat logic sneered at hiWm.ere not wool fabrics also a product of captive factories?
It was different.
Part of him argued otherwisSey.nthetics could be stored almost indefiniteLlyo.ok how long they had endured in the nullentropy bins of the Harkonnen no-globe.
"I still prefer woolens and cottons!"

So be it!
"But how did I come by such a preference?"
It is an Atreides prejudicYeo. u inherited it.
Teg shunted the smells aside and concentrated on the total movement of the intrusivHeepfroubne.d presently that he could anticipate the thiIntg.was a new musclHe.e allowed himself to flex it while he continued to examine the induced memories for valuable insights.
I sit outside my mother's door on Lernaeus.
Teg removed part of his awareness and watched the sacgeenee:leven.He is talking to a small Bene Gesserit acolyte who came as part of the escort for Somebody ImpTorhteanat.colyte is a tiny thing with red-blond hair and a doll's facUep. turned nose, green-gray eyesT. he SI is a black-robed Reverend Mother of truly ancient appearancSe.he has gone behind that nearby door with Teg's moTther.
acolyte, who is named Carlana, is trying her fledgling skills on the young son of the house.
Before Carlana utters twenty words, Miles Teg recognizes the paSthteerni.s trying to pry information out of him!This was one of the first lessons in delicate dissembling taught by his Tmhoetrheerw. ere,
after all, people who might question a young boy about a Reverend Mother's household, hoping thereby to gain salable informationT.here is always a market for data about Reverend Mothers.
His mother explained":You judge the questioner and fit your responses according to the susceptibilities." None of this would have served against a full Reverend Mother, but against an acolyte, especially this one!
For Carlana, he produces an appearance of coy reluctCanacrela.na has an inflated view of her own attractions. He allows her to overcome his reluctance after a suitable marshaling of herWfohractess.he
gets is a handful of lies, which, if she ever repeats them to the SI behind that closed door, are sure to win
Carlana a severe censuring if not something more painful.
Words from Dit, Dat, and D"oIt:think we have him now."

Teg recognized Yar's voice yanking him out of old mem"oFriitesy. our responses according to the susceptibilities." Teg heard the words in his mother's voice.
Puppets.
Puppet masters.
The functionary speaks":Ask the simulation where they have taken the ghola."
Silence and then a faint humming.
"I'm not getting anythingY."ar.
Teg hears their voices with painful sensitivHitey.forces his eyes to open against the opposing commands of the probe.
"Look!"Yar says.
Three sets of eyes stare back at
HTeogw.
slowly they moveD. it, Dat, and Dothe eyes go blink . . .
blink . . . at least a minute between blYinakrs.is reaching for something on his consHolies. fingers will take a week to reach their destination.
Teg explores the bindings on his hands and aOrmrdsin. ary rope!Taking his time, he squirms his fingers into contact with the knotTs.hey loosen, slowly at first, and then flying aHpaert.moves on to the straps holding him to the sling littTerh.ese are easier:simple slip locksY. ar's hand is not even a fourth of the way to the console.
Blink . . . blink . . . blink . . .

The three sets of eyes show faint surprise.
Teg releases himself from the medusa tangle of probe conPtoacpt-sp. op-pop! The grippers fly away
from him.He is surprised to notice a slow start of bleeding on the back of his right hand where it has brushed the probe contacts aside.
Mentat projection:I am moving with dangerous speed.
But now he is off the liFttuern.ctionary is reaching a slow-slow hand toward a bulge in a side pocket. Teg's hand crushes the functionary's throFaut.nctionary will never again touch that little lasgun he always
carries. Yar's outstretched hand is still not a third of the way to the probe Tcohnerseoleis.
definite
surprise in his eyes, thougTh.eg doubts that the man even sees the hand that breaks hisMnaetecrkly. is
moving a bit fasterH. er left foot is coming toward where Teg had been just the flick of an instant previously. Still too slow!Materly's head is thrown back, the throat exposed for Teg's down-chopping hand.
How slowly they fall to the floor!
Teg became aware of perspiration pouring from him but he could not spare time to worry about this.
I knew every move they would make before they maWdehaitt!has happened to me?
Mentat projection:The probe agony has lifted me to a new level of ability.
Intense hunger pangs made him aware of the energy Hdreainp.ushed the sensation aside, feeling himself return to a normal time beTath.ree dull soundsb: odies falling to the floor.
Teg examined the probe consoDlee.finitely not IxianS. imilar controls, thoughH. storage system, erasing it.
e shorted out the data

Room lights?
Controls beside the door from the outsHidee. extinguished the lights, took three deep breaAths. whirling blur of motion erupted into the night.
The ones who had brought him here, clad in their bulky clothing against the winter chill, barely had time to turn toward the odd sound before the whirling blur struck them down.
Teg returned to normal time-beat more quicSktlayr.light showed him a trail leading downslope through
thick brush.He slipped and slid on the snow-churned mud for a space and then found the way to balance himself, anticipating the terrainE.ach step went where he knew it mustHgeo.found himself presently in
an open space that looked out across a valley.
The lights of a city and a great black rectangle of building near thHe eceknntewr. puppet masters were there.
I am free!
this placeY: sai. The
There was a man who sat each day looking out through a narrow vertical opening where a single board

had been removed from a tall wooden fenEcaec.h day a wild ass of the desert passed outside the fence and across the narrow opening -- first the nose, then the head, the forelegs, the long brown back, the hindlegs, and lastly the taOil.ne day, the man leaped to his feet with the light of discovery in his eyes and he shouted for all who could hear h"iImt :is obvious!The nose causes the tail!"
-Stories of the Hidden Wisdom, from the Oral History of Rakis
Several times since coming to Rakis, Odrade had found herself caught in the memory of that ancient
painting which occupied such a prominent place on the wall of Taraza's Chapter House
Wquhaertners.
the memory came, she felt her hands tingle to the touch of theHebrunsho.strils swelled to the induced smells of oils and pigmentHs.er emotions assaulted the canvaEs.ach time, Odrade emerged from the memory with new doubts that Sheeana was her canvas.
Which of us paints the other?
It had happened again this morniSntgi.ll dark outside the Rakian Keep's penthouse where she quartered with Sheeana:An acolyte entered softly to waken Odrade and tell her that Taraza would arrive shortly. Odrade looked up at the softly illuminated face of the dark-haired acolyte and immediately that
memory-painting flashed into her awareness.
Which of us truly creates another?
"Let Sheeana sleep a bit longer," Odrade said before dismissing the acolyte. "Will you breakfast before the Mother Superior's arrival?" the acolyte asked. "We will wait upon Taraza's pleasure."
Arising, Odrade went through a swift toilet and donned her best blacSkherobster.ode then to the east window of the penthouse common room and looked out in the direction of the spMacaenfiyeldm.oving
lights cast a glow on the dusty sky thSehree. activated all of the room's glowglobes to soften the exterior

view. The globes became reflected golden starbursts on the thick armor-plaz of the wiTndhoewdsu. sky surface also reflected a dim outline of her own features, showing the fatigue lines clearly.
I knew she would come, Odrade thought.
Even as she thought this, the Rakian sun came over the dust-blurred horizon like a child's orange ball thrust into viewI.mmediately, there was the heat-bounce that so many observers of Rakis had
mentioned. Odrade turned away from the view and saw the hall door open.
Taraza entered with a rustle of roAbesh. and closed the door behind her, leaving the two of them alone. The Mother Superior advanced on Odrade, black hood up and the cowl framing hIetr wfase.not a reassuring sight.
Recognizing the disturbance in Odrade, Taraza played o"nWietl.l, Dar, I think we finally meet as strangers."
The effect of Taraza's words startled OdraSdhee. correctly interpreted the threat but fear left her,
spilling out as though it were water poured from aFojrugth. e first time in her life, Odrade recognized the precise moment of crossing a dividing liTnhe.is was a line whose existence she thought few of her Sisters suspected. As she crossed it, she realized that she had always known it waas tphlearcee: where she
could enter the void and float frSehee. be defeated.
no longer was vulnerablSe.he could be killed but she could not
"So it's not Dar and Tar anymore," Odrade said.
Taraza heard the clear, uninhibited tone of Odrade's voice and interpreted this as con"fPideerhnacpes. it
never was Dar and Tar," she said, her voice"Iicsye.e that you think you have been extremely clever."
The battle has been joined, Odrade thouBghutt. I do not stand in the path of her attack.
Odrade said:"The alternatives to alliance with the Tleilaxu could not be accEepstpeedc.ially when I
recognized what it was you truly sought for us."

Taraza felt suddenly wearIyt. had been a long trip despite the space-folding leaps of her nToh-sehip. flesh always knew when it had been twisted out of its familiar rhSyhthemcsh.ose a soft divan and sat down, sighing in the luxurious comfort.
Odrade recognized the Mother Superior's fatigue and felt immediate sympTahtehy. were suddenly two
Reverend Mothers with common problems.
Taraza obviously sensed thiSs.he patted the cushion beside her and waited for Odrade to be seated.
"We must preserve the Sisterhood," Taraza s"aTidh.at is the only important thing."
"Of course."
Taraza fixed her gaze searchingly on Odrade's familiar featYureess,. Odrade, too, is wear"yY. ou have
been here, intimately touching the people and the problem," Taraza"Isawida.nt . . . no, Dar, I need your views."
"The Tleilaxu give the appearance of full cooperation," Odrade said, "but there is dissemblinIg in this. have begun to ask myself some extremely disturbing questions."
"Such as?"
"What if the axlotl tanks are not . . . tanks?"
"What do you mean?"
"Waff reveals the kinds of behavior you see when a family tries to conceal a deformed child or a mad uncle. I swear to you, he is embarrassed when we begin to touch on the tanks."

"But what could they possibly . . .
"Surrogate mothers."
"But they would have to be .Ta.ra."za fell silent, shocked by the possibilities this question opened.
"Who has ever seen a Tleilaxu female?" Odrade asked.
Taraza's mind was filled with objectio"nBs:ut the precise chemical control, the need to limit variables . .
." She threw her hood back and shook her hair "fYreoeu. though . . . this is monstrous."
"He is still not telling the full truth about our ghola."
"What does he say?"
are correct:we must question everythingT.his,
"No more than what I have already repoartevda:riation on the original Duncan Idaho and meeting all of the prana-bindu requirements we specified."
"That does not explain why they killed or tried to kill our previous purchases."
"He swears the holy oath of the Great Belief that they acted out of shame because the eleven previous gholas did not live up to expectations."
"How could they knowD?oes he suggest they have spies among . . ."
"He swears noIt. taxed him with this and he said that a successful ghola would be sure to create a visible

disturbance among us."
"What visible disturbanceW? hat is he . . ."
"He will not saHy.e returns each time to the claim that they have met their contractual obligations. Where is the ghola, Tar?"
"What . . . oOhn.
Gammu."
"I hear rumors of . . ."
"Burzmali has the situation well in handT.a"raza closed her mouth tightly, hoping that was the Ttrhueth. most recent report did not fill her with confidence.
"You obviously are debating whether to have the ghola killed," Odrade said.
"Not just the ghola!"
Odrade smiled". Then it's true that Bellonda wants me permanently eliminated."
"How did you . . ."
"Friendships can be a very valuable asset at times, Tar."
"You tread on dangerous ground, Reverend Mother Odrade."
"But I am not stumbling, Mother Superior TarIazaam.
thinking long hard thoughts about the things Waff

has revealed about those Honored Matres."
"Tell me some of your thoughTtsh."ere was implacable determination in Taraza's voice.
"Let us make no mistakes about this," Odrade "sTahide.y have surpassed the sexual skills of our
Imprinters."
"Whores!"
"Yes, they employ their skills in a way ultimately fatal to themselves andThoetyherhsa.ve been blinded by their own power."
"Is that the extent of your long hard thoughts?"
"Tell me, Tar, why did they attack and obliterate our Keep on Gammu?" "Obviously they were after our Idaho ghola, to capture him or kill him." "Why would that be so important to them?"
"What are you trying to sayT?a"raza demanded.
"Could the whores have been acting upon information revealed to them by the TTlearil,axwuh?at if this
secret thing Waff's people have introduced into our ghola is something that would make the ghola a male equivalent of the Honored Matres?"
Taraza put a hand to her mouth and dropped it quickly when she saw how much the gesturIet
revealed.
was too lateN.
o matter.They were still two Reverend Mothers together.

Odrade said:"And we have ordered Lucilla to make him irresistible to most women."
"How long have the Tleilaxu been dealing with those whores?" Taraza demanded.
Odrade shrugged". A better question is thiHs:ow long have they been dealing with their own Lost Ones returned from the ScatteringT?leilaxu speak to Tleilaxu and many secrets could be revealed."
"A brilliant projection on your part," Taraza
"sWaidh.at probability value do you attach to it?"
"You know that as well as IItdwo.ould explain many things."
Taraza spoke bitterly".What do you think of your alliance with the Tleilaxu now?"
"More necessary than eveWr. e must be on the insidWe.e must be where we can influence those who contend."
"Abomination!"Taraza snapped.
"What?"
"This ghola is like a recording device in human sThhaepye. have planted him in our midIfstthe Tleilaxu get their hands on him they will know many things about us."
"That would be clumsy."
"And typical of them!"

"I agree that there are other implications in our situation," Odrad"eBusat idsu. ch arguments only tell me that we dare not kill the ghola until we have examined him ourselves."
"That might be too laDtea! mn your alliance, DarY! ou gave them a hold on us . . . and us a hold on them -- and neither of us dares let go."
"Is that not the perfect alliance?"
Taraza sighed". How soon must we give them access to our breeding records?"
"Soon.Waff is pressing the matter."
"Then, will we see their axlotl . . . tanks?"
"That is, of course, the lever I am uHsiengh.as given his reluctant agreement."
"Deeper and deeper into each other's pockets," Taraza growled.
Her tone all innocence, Odrade sa"iAd: perfect alliance, just as I said."
"Damn, damn, damn," Taraza muttere"dA.nd Teg has reawakened the ghola's original memories!"
"But has Lucilla . . ."
"I don't know!T"araza turned a grim expression on Odrade and recounted the most recent reports from Gammu: Teg and his party located, the briefest of accounts about them and nothing from Lucilla; plans made to bring them out.

Her own words produced an unsettling picture in Taraza's Wmihnadt. was this gholaT?hey had always known the Duncan Idahos were not ordinary ghoBlaust. now, with augmented nerve and muscle capabilities plus this unknown thing the Tleilaxu had introduced -- it was like holding a burnYinogu club. knew you might have to use the club for your own survival but the flames approached at a terrifying speed.
Odrade spoke in a musing to"nHe:ave you ever tried to imagine what it must be like for a ghola suddenly to awaken in renewed flesh?"
"What?What are you . . ."
"Realizing that your flesh was grown from the cells of a cadaver," Odra"dHeesareidm. embers his own death."
"The Idahos were never ordinary people," Taraza said. "The same may be said for these Tleilaxu Masters." "What are you trying to say?"
Odrade rubbed her own forehead, taking a moment to review her thoTuhgishtws.as so difficult with someone who rejected affection, with someone who thrust outward from a core oTfarraazgae.had no .
. . no simpaticoS.he could not assume the flesh and senses of another except as an exercise in logic.
"A ghola's awakening must be a shattering experience," Odrade said, lowering he"rOhnalyndt.he ones with enormous mental resilience would survive."
"We assume that the Tleilaxu Masters are more than they appear to be."

"And the Duncan Idahos?"
"Of courseW.
hy else would the Tyrant keep buying them from the Tleilaxu?"
Odrade saw that the argument was pointlSehsse. said:"The Idahos were notoriously loyal to the
Atreides and we must remember that I am Atreides." "You think loyalty will bind this one to you?" "Especially after Lucilla --"
"That may be too dangerous!"
Odrade sat back into a corner of the dTivaarnaz. a wanted certaintyA. nd the lives of the serial gholas were like melange, presenting a different taste in different surroundHinogws. could they be sure of their ghola?
"The Tleilaxu meddle with the forces that produced our Kwisatz Haderach," Taraza muttered.
"You think that's why they want our breeding records?"
"I don't knowD! amn you, Dar!Don't you see what you've done?"
"I think I had no choice," Odrade said.
Taraza produced a cold smiOled. rade's performance remained superb but she needed to be put in her place.

"You think I would have done the same?" Taraza asked.
She still does not see what has happened to me, Odrade thToaurgazhat. had expected her pliant Dar to act with independence but the extent of that independence had shaken the High CToauranzcail.refused
to see her own hand in this.
"Customary practice," Odrade said.
The words struck Taraza like a slap in theOfnalcye.the hard training of a Bene Gesserit lifetime prevented her from striking out violently at Odrade.
Customary practice!
How many times had Taraza herself revealed this as a source of irritation, a constant goad to her carefully capped rage?Odrade had heard it often.
Odrade quoted the Mother Superior no"wIm: movable custom is dangerousE.nemies can find a pattern and use it against you."
The words were forced from Tara"zTah: at is a weakness, yes."
"Our enemies thought they knew our way," Odrade "sEavide.n you, Mother Superior, thought you knew the limits within which I would perfoIrmw.as like BellondaB. efore she even spoke, you knew what Bellonda would say."
"Have we made a mistake, not elevating you above me?" Taraza Sahsekesdp.oke from her deepest allegiance.
"No, Mother SuperiorW. e walk a delicate path but both of us can see where we must go."

"Where is Waff now?" Taraza asked.
"Asleep and well guarded."
"Summon SheeanaW.
e must decide whether to abort that part of the project."
"And take our lumps?"
"As you say, Dar."
Sheeana was still sleepy and rubbing her eyes when she appeared in the common room but she obviously had taken the time to splash water on her face and dress in a clean wHhietre hraoibre.was
still damp.
Taraza and Odrade stood near an eastern window with their backs to the light.
"This is Sheeana, Mother Superior," Odrade said.
Sheeana came fully alert with an abrupt stiffening of herSbhaeckh.ad heard of this powerful woman, this Taraza, who ruled the Sisterhood from a distant citadel called Chapter SHuonulisgeh.t was bright in the window behind the two women, shining full into Sheeana's face, dazzlinItg lehfetr.the faces of the two Reverend Mothers partly obscured, the black outlines of their figures fuzzy in the brilliance.
Acolyte instructors had prepared her against this encou"nYteor:u stand at attention before the Mother
Superior and speak respectfullyR. espond only when she speaks to you."
Sheeana stood at rigid attention the way she had been told.

"I am informed that you may become one of us," Taraza said.
Both women could see the effect of this on thBe yginrlo.w, Sheeana was more fully aware of a
Reverend Mother's accomplishmentsT. he powerful beam of truth had been focused onSher.had
begun to grasp at the enormous body of knowledge the Sisterhood had accumulated over the millennia. She had been told about selective memory transmission, about the workings of Other Memories, about
the spice agonyA.
nd here before her stood the most powerful of all Reverend Mothers, one from whom
nothing was hidden.
When Sheeana did not respond, Taraza s"aHida:ve you nothing to say, child?"
"What is there to say, Mother SuperYioor?u have said it all."
Taraza sent a searching glance at Odra"dHea.ve you any other little surprises for me, Dar?"
"I told you she was superior," Odrade said.
Taraza returned her attention to Sheea"nAa.re you proud of that opinion, child?"
"It frightens me, Mother Superior."
Still holding her face as immobile as she could, Sheeana breathed moreSaeyasiolyn.ly the deepest truth you can sense, she reminded herseTlfh.ose warning words from a teacher carried more meaning now.
She kept her eyes slightly unfocused and aimed at the floor directly in front of the two women, avoiding the worst of the brilliant sunligShht.e still felt her heart beating too rapidly and knew the Reverend
Mothers would detect thisO. drade had demonstrated it many times.
"Well it should frighten you," Taraza said.

Odrade asked:"Do you understand what is being said to you, Sheeana?"
"The Mother Superior wishes to know if I am fully committed to the Sisterhood," Sheeana said.
Odrade looked at Taraza and shruggTedh.ere was no need for more discussion of this between them. That was the way of it when you were part of one family as they were in the Bene Gesserit.
Taraza continued her silent study of SheeaItnaw. as a heavy gaze, energy-draining for Sheeana, who knew she must remain silent and permit that scorching examination.
Odrade put down feelings of sympatShhye. eana was like herself as a young girl, in so many Swheays. had that globular intellect which expanded on all surfaces the way a balloon expanded when filled. Odrade recalled how her own teachers had been admiring of this, but wary, just the way Taraza was now wary.Odrade had recognized this wariness while even younger than Sheeana and held no doubts that Sheeana saw it herIen.tellect had its uses.
"Mmmmmm," Taraza said.
Odrade heard the humming sound of the Mother Superior's internal reflections as part of a simulflow. Odrade's own memory had surged backwarTdh.e Sisters who had brought Odrade her food when she studied late had always loitered to observe her in their special way, just as Sheeana was watched and monitored at all timesO. drade had known about those special ways of observing from an earlTyhaatge.
was, after all, one of the great lures of the Bene GeYssoeuritw. anted to be capable of such esoteric abilities. Sheeana certainly possessed this desirIet. was the dream of every postulant.
That such things might be possible for me!
Taraza spoke finally":What is it you think you want from us, child?"
"The same things you thought you wanted when you were my age, Mother Superior."

Odrade suppressed a smilSe.heeana's wild sense of independence had skated close to insolence there and Taraza certainly recognized this.
"You think that is a proper use for the gift of life?" Taraza asked.
"It is the only use I know, Mother Superior."
"Your candor is appreciated but I warn you to be careful in your use of it," Taraza said.
"Yes, Mother Superior."
"You already owe us much and you will owe us more," Taraz"Ra esmaiedm. ber that.Our gifts do not come cheaply."
Sheeana has not the vaguest appreciation of what she will pay for our gifts, Odrade thought.
The Sisterhood never let its initiates forget what they owed and mustYroeupadyi.d not repay with love.
Love was dangerous and Sheeana already was learning Tthhies. gift of lifeA?
through Odrade and she cleared her throat to compensate.
Am I aliveP?erhaps when they took me away from Mama Sibia II dwieads. but did I live after the Sisters removed me?
Taraza said:"You may leave us now, Sheeana."
shudder began to course
alive there in that house
Sheeana turned on one heel and left the room but not before Odrade saw the tight smile on the young face. Sheeana knew she had passed the Mother Superior's examination.
When the door closed behind Sheeana, Taraza s"aYido:u mentioned her natural ability with VoiIce.

heard it, of courseR. emarkable."
"She kept it well bridled," Odrade s"aSidh.e has learned not to try it on us."
"What do we have there, Dar?"
"Perhaps someday a Mother Superior of extraordinary abilities."
"Not too extraordinary?"
"We will have to see."
"Do you think she is capable of killing for us?"
Odrade was startled and showed"Nit.ow?"
"Yes, of course."
"The ghola?"
"Teg would not do it," Taraza s"aIide.ven have doubts about LucilTlah.eir reports make it clear that he is capable of forging powerful bonds of . . . of affinity."
"Even as I?"
"Schwangyu herself was not completely immune."

"Where is the noble purpose in such an act?" Odrade "aIsskne'td.this what the Tyrant's warning has --"
"Him?He killed many times!"
"And paid for it."
"We pay for everything we take, Dar."
"Even for a life?"
"Never forget for one instant, Dar, that a Mother Superior is capable of making any necessary decision for the Sisterhood's survival!"
"So be it," Odrade sa"idT.ake what you want and pay for it."
It was the proper reply but it reinforced the new strength Odrade felt, this freedom to respond in her own way within a new univerWse.here had such toughness originatedW? as it something out of her cruel Bene Gesserit conditioning?Was it from her Atreides ancestrSyh?e did not try to fool herself that this
came from a decision never again to follow another's moral guidance rather than hTehr isowinnn.er stability upon which she now stationed herself was not a pure moNraoltityb.ravado, eitherT. hose were never enough.
"You are very like your father," Taraza this time I think it was the father."
"sUaidsu. ally, it's the dam who provides most of the courage but
"Miles Teg is admirably courageous but I think you oversimplify," Odrade said.
"Perhaps I doB. ut I have been right about you at every turn, Dar, even back there when we were student postulants."

She knows! Odrade thought.
"We don't need to explain it," Odrade sAanidd. she thoughtI:t comes from being born who I am,
trained and shaped the way I was . . . the way we botDhawr earned:
Tar.
"It's something in the Atreides line that we have not fully analyzed," Taraza said.
"No genetic accidents?"
"I sometimes wonder if we've suffered any real accidents since the Tyrant," Taraza said.
"Did he stretch out back there in his citadel and look across the millennia to this very moment?"
"How far back would you reach for the roots?" Taraza asked.
Odrade said:"What really happens when a Mother Superior commands the Breeding Mistr'eHsasevse:
that one go breed with that one'?"
Taraza produced a cold smile.
Odrade felt herself suddenly at the crest of a wave, awareness pushing all of her over into this new realm. Taraza wants my rebellionS!he wants me as her opponent!
"Will you see Waff now?" Odrade asked.
"First, I want your assessment of him."

"He sees us as the ultimate tool to create the 'Tleilaxu AscenWdaencayr.e'
God's gift to his people."
"They have been waiting a long time for this," Taraza"Tsoaidissemble so carefully, all of them for all of those eons!"
"They have our view of time," Odrade agr"eTehda.t was the final thing to convince them we share their
Great Belief."
"But why the clumsiness?T"araza asked."They are not stupid."
"It diverted our attention from how they were really using their ghola process," Odra"Wdehosaicdo.uld believe stupid people would do such a thing?"
"And what have they created?" Taraza ask"Oedn.ly the image of evil stupidity?"
"Act stupid long enough and you become stupid," Odrade"Psaeirdfe.ct the mimicry of your Face
Dancers and . . ."
"Whatever happens, we must punish them," Taraza
"sIaidse. e that clearlyH. ave him brought up here."
After Odrade had given the order and while they waited, Taraz"aThsaeids:equencing of the ghola's education became a shambles even before they escaped from the Gammu HKeeelpe.aped ahead of his teachers to grasp things that were only implied and he did this at an alarmingly accelerWatehdo rate. knows what he has become by now?"

Historians exercise great power and some of them knoTwheyit. recreate the past, changing it to fit their own interpretations.Thus, they change the future as well.
-Leto II, His Voice, from Dar-es-Balat
Duncan followed his guide through the dawn light at a punishinTgheclimp.an might look old but he was as springy as a gazelle and seemed incapable of tiring.
Only a few minutes ago they had put aside their night gDogugnlceasn.
was glad to be rid of them.
Everything outside the reach of the glasses had been black in the dim starlight filtering through heavy branches. There had been no world ahead of him beyond the range of the Tglhaessvesie. w at both sides
jerked and flowed -- now a clump of yellow bushes, now two silver-bark trees, now a stone wall with a plasteel gate cut into it and guarded by the flickering blue of a burn-shield, then an arched bridge of native rock, all green and black underfoAotf.ter that, an arched entry of polished white stTohne. structures all
appeared very old and expensive, maintained by costly handwork.
Duncan had no idea where he wNaosn. e of this terrain recalled his memories of the long-lost Giedi
Prime days.
Dawn revealed that they were following a tree-shielded animal track up a Thihllesidclei.mb became steep. Occasional glimpses through trees on their left revealed a vaAllehya.nging mist stood guard over
the sky, hiding the distances, enclosing them as they climTbheedir. place as it lost its connection with a larger universe.
world became progressively a smaller

At one brief pause, not for rest but for listening to the forest around them, Duncan studied his
mist-capped surroundings.He felt dislodged, removed from a universe that possessed sky and the open features that linked it to other planets.
His disguise was simplTe:leilaxu cold-weather garments and cheek pads to make his face appear rounder. His curly black hair had been straightened by some chemical applied witThhheeahta.ir was then bleached to a sandy blond and hidden under a dark watAchllcaopf. his genital hair had been shaved away.He hardly recognized himself in the mirror they held up for him.
A dirty Tleilaxu!
The artisan who created this transformation was an old woman with glittering gray-gre"eYn oeuyeasr.e
now a Tleilaxu Master," she sa"idY.our name is WoseA.
guide will take you to the next pYlaoceu. will
treat him like a Face Dancer if you meet stranOgethrse.rwise, do as he commands."
They led him out of the cave complex along a twisting passage, its walls and ceiling thick with the musky green algae.In starlighted darkness, they thrust him from the passage into a chilly night and the hands of
an unseen man -- a bulky figure in padded clothing.
A voice behind Duncan whispere"dH:ere he is, AmbitormG. et him through."
The guide spoke in an accent of guttu"rFaolsl:low me."He clipped a lead cord to Duncan's belt, adjusted the night goggles and turned awDayu.ncan felt the cord tug once and they were off.
Duncan recognized the use of the cIotrdw. as not something to keep him close behHined.could see
this Ambitorm clearly enough with the night goggNleos,. the cord was to spill him quickly if they met danger. No need for a command.
For a long time during the night they crisscrossed small ice-lined watercourses on aTfhlaetllainghdt. of
Gammu's early moons penetrated the covering growth only occasionTalhleyy.
emerged finally onto a low
hill with a view of bushy wasteland all silvery with snow cover in the moDoonwlinghitn. to this they went.
The bushes, about twice the height of the guide, arched over muddy animal passages little larger than the tunnels where they had begun this journIety.was warmer here, the warmth of a compost hAelampo. st
no light penetrated to a ground spongy with rotted vegetaDtiuonnc.an inhaled the fungal odors of decomposing plant lifeT. he night goggles showed him a seemingly endless repetition of thick growth on

both sides.The cord linking him to Ambitorm was a tenuous grip on an alien world.
Ambitorm discouraged conversationH. e said "Yes," when Duncan asked confirmation of the man's name, then:"Don't talk."
The whole night was a disquieting traverse for DuHnceand.id not like being thrown back into his own thoughts. Giedi Prime memories persistedT.his place was like nothing he remembered from his pre-ghola
youth. He wondered how Ambitorm had learned the way through here and how he remembOenre animal tunnel appeared much like another.
In the steady, jogging pace there was time for Duncan's thoughts to roam.
Must I permit the Sisterhood to use Wmeh?at do I owe them?
And he thought of Teg, that last gallant stand to permit two of them to escape.
I did the same for Paul and Jessica.
It was a bond with Teg and it touched Duncan withTeggriewf.as loyal to the SisterhooDdi.d he buy my loyalty with that last brave act?
Damn the Atreides!
it.
The night's exertions increased Duncan's familiarity with his new Hfloewsh.young this body waAs!
small lurch of recollection and he could see that last pre-ghola memory; he could feel the Sardaukar blade strike his head -- a blinding explosion of pain andKlnigohwt.ledge of his certain death and then . .
. nothing until that moment with Teg in the Harkonnen no-globe.
The gift of another liWfe.as it more than a gift or something lTehsse? Atreides were demanding another payment from him.

For a time just before dawn, Ambitorm led him at a sloshing run along a narrow stream whose icy chill penetrated the waterproof insulated boots of Duncan's Tleilaxu garmTenhtes. watercourse reflected
bush-shadowed silver from the light of the planet's pre-dawn moon setting ahead of them.
Daylight saw them come out into the larger, tree-shielded animal track and up the sTteheisp phailsls.age emerged onto a narrow rocky ledge below a ridgetop of sawtoothed bouAlmdebrist.orm led him behind a screen of dead brown bushes, their tops dirty with wind-blown Hsneowre.leased the cord from
Duncan's belt.Directly in front of them was a shallow declivity in the rocks, not quite a cave, but Duncan saw that it would offer some protection unless they got a hard wind over the bushes behTinhderethem.
was no snow on the floor of the place.
Ambitorm went to the back of the declivity and carefully removed a layer of icy dirt and several flat
rocks, which concealed a small pHite.
lifted a round black object from the pit and busied himself over it.
Duncan squatted under the overhang and studied his gAuimdeb.itorm had a dished-in face with skin like
dark brown leatherY.
es, those could be the features of a Face DaDnceeerp.
creases cut into the skin at
the edges of the man's brown eyCerse. ases radiated from the sides of the thin mouth and lined the wide brow. They spread out beside the flat nose and deepened the cleft of a narroCwreacsheins . of time all
over his face.
Appetizing odors began to arise from the black object in front of Ambitorm.
"We will eat here and wait a bit before we continue," Ambitorm said.
He spoke Old Galach but with that guttural accent which Duncan had never heard before, an odd stress
on adjacent vowelsW.
as Ambitorm from the Scattering or a Gammu natTivhee?re obviously had been
many linguistic drifts since the Dune days of MuadF'doirb.that matter, Duncan recognized that all of the people in the Gammu Keep, including Teg and Lucilla, spoke a Galach that had shifted from the one he had learned as a pre-ghola child.
"Ambitorm," Duncan said".Is that a Gammu name?"
"You will call me Tormsa," the guide said.

"Is that a nickname?"
"It is what you will call me."
"Why did those people back there call you Ambitorm."
"That was the name I gave them."
"But why would you . . ."
"You lived under the Harkonnens and you did not learn how to change your identity?"
Duncan fell silenWt. as that it?Another disguise.Ambi . . . Tormsa had not changed his appearance. Tormsa. Was it a Tleilaxu name?
The guide extended a steaming cup toward Dun"cAan.drink to restore you, WosDer.ink it fastI.t will keep you warm."
Duncan closed both hands around the cWupo.se. Wose and TormsaT. leilaxu Master and his Face
Dancer companion.
Duncan lifted the cup toward Tormsa in the ancient gesture of Atreides battle comrades, then put it to his
lips. Hot! But it warmed him as it went doTwhne.
drink had a faintly sweet flavor over some vegetable
tang. He blew on it and drank it down as he saw Tormsa was doing.
Odd that I should not suspect poison or some drug, Duncan thBouutghtht.is Tormsa and the others last
night had something of the Bashar about thTemhe.
gesture to a battle comrade had come naturally.

"Why are you risking your life this way?" Duncan asked.
"You know the Bashar and you have to ask?"
Duncan fell silent, abashed.
Tormsa leaned forward and recovered Duncan's cSuopo.n, all evidence of their breakfast lay hidden under the concealing rocks and dirt.
That food spoke of careful planning, Duncan thouHgeht.turned and squatted on the cold grouTnhde.
mist was still out there beyond the screening busLheeasf.less limbs cut the view into odd bits and pieces.
As he watched, the mist began to lift, revealing the blurred outlines of a city at the far edge of the valley.
Tormsa squatted beside him"V. ery old city," he sai"dH. arkonnen place.Look." He passed a small monoscope to Duncan". That is where we go tonight."
Duncan put the monoscope to his left eye and tried to focus the Tohiel lceonnst.rols felt unfamiliar, not at all like those he had learned as a pre-ghola youth or had been taught at Hthee rKemeeopv.ed it from his eye and examined it.
"Ixian?"he asked.
"No.We made it."Tormsa reached over and pointed out two tiny buttons raised above the black tube. "Slow, fast.Push left to cycle out, right to cycle back."
Again, Duncan lifted the scope to his eye.
Who were the we who had made this thing?

A touch of the fast button and the view leaped into hiTsingyazdeo. ts moved in the ciPtye.ople! He increased the amplificationT. he people became small dollWs. ith them to give him scale, Duncan realized
that the city at the valley's edge was immense . . . and farther away than he haAd rectangular structure stood in the center of the city, its top lost in theGcigloaundtisc..
sthinogulgeht.
Duncan knew this place noTwh.e surroundings had changed but that central structure lay fixed in his memory.
How many of us vanished into that black hellhole and never returned?
"Nine hundred and fifty stories," Tormsa said, seeing where Duncan's gaze was d"iFreocrtyd-f.ive kilometers long, thirty kilometers widPel.asteel and armor-plaz, all of it."
"I know."Duncan lowered the scope and returned it to Torm"Itsaw. as called Barony."
"Ysai," Tormsa said.
"That's what they call it now," Duncan
"sIaidh.ave some different names for it."
Duncan took a deep breath to put down the old haTthreodsse. people were all deaOd.nly the building
remained. And the memoriesH.
e scanned the city around that enormous structTurhee.
place was a
sprawling mass of warrensG. reen spaces lay scattered throughout, each of them behind high walls.
Single residences with private parks, Teg had sTaihde. tops.
monoscope had revealed guards walking the wall
Tormsa spat on the ground in front of "hHimar.konnen place."
"They built to make people feel small," Duncan said.

Tormsa nodded". Small, no power in you."
The guide had become almost loquacious, Duncan thought.
Occasionally during the night, Duncan had defied the order for silence and tried to make conversation.
"What animals made these passages?"
It had seemed a logical question for people trotting along an obvious animal track, even the musty smell of beasts in it.
"Do not talk!" Tormsa snapped.
Later, Duncan asked why they could not get a vehicle of some sort and escapEevein
tahagt.roundcar
would be preferable to this painful march across country where one route felt much like another.
Tormsa stopped them in a patch of moonlight and looked at Duncan as though he suspected his charge had suddenly become bereft of sense.
"Vehicles can follow!"
"No one can follow us when we're on foot?"
"Followers also must be on foHoet.re, they will be killeTd.hey know."
What a weird placWe! hat a primitive place.

In the shelter of the Bene Gesserit Keep, Duncan had not realized the nature of the planet around him.
Later, in the no-globe, he had been removed from contact with the oHuetsihdaed.
pre-ghola and ghola
memories, but how inadequate those werWe!hen he thought about it now, he realized there had been clues. It was obvious that Gammu possessed rudimentary weather conAtrnodl. Teg had said that the orbiting monitors that guarded the planet from attack were of the best.
Everything for protection, damned little for comfIotrtw! as like Arrakis in that respect.
Rakis, he corrected himself.
Teg.Did the old man surviveA?
captive?What did it mean to be captured here in thisItaghea?d meant
brutal slavery in the old Harkonnen daByus.rzmali and Lucilla ... He glanced at Tormsa.
"Will we find Burzmali and Lucilla in the city?"
"If they get through."
Duncan glanced down at his clothiWnga.s it a sufficient disguiseA? Tleilaxu Master and companion? People would think the companion a Face Dancer, of coFuarcse Dancers were dangerous.
The baggy trousers were of some material Duncan had never beforeIt sfeeeltn.like wool to the hand,
but he sensed that it was artificWialh. en he spat on it, spittle did not adhere and the smell was not of wool. His fingers detected a uniformity of texture that no natural material could pTrheesenlot.ng soft
boots and watchcap were of the same fabTrihce.
garments were loose and puffy except at the ankles.
Not quilted, thoughI.nsulated by some trick of manufacture that trapped dead air between the layers. The color was a mottled green and gray -- excellent camouflage here.
Tormsa was dressed in similar garments.
"How long do we wait herDe?u"ncan asked.

Tormsa shook his head for silenTche.e guide was seated now, knees up, arms wrapped around his legs, head cradled against his knees, eyes looking outward over the valley.
During the night's trip, Duncan had found the clothing remarkably comfoErtxacbelep.t for that once in
the water, his feet stayed warm but not too wTahrmer.e was plenty of room in trousers, shirt, and jacket for his body to move easiNlyo. thing abraded his flesh.
"Who makes clothing such as thiDs?u"ncan asked.
"We made it," Tormsa growle"dB.e silent."
This was no different than the pre-awakening days at the Sisterhood's Keep, Duncan Tthoorumgshat. was saying:"No need for you to know."
Presently, Tormsa stretched out his legs and straighteHne .appeared to relaxH. e glanced at Duncan. "Friends in the city signal that there are searchers overhead."
" 'Thopters?"
"Yes."
"Then what do we do?"
"You must do what I do and nothing else."
"You're just sitting there."
"For nowW.
e will go down into the valley soon."

"But how --"
"When you traverse such country as this you become one of the animals that Llivoeokhearte.the tracks and see how they walk and how they lie down for a rest."
"But can't the searchers tell the difference between . . ."
"If the animals browse, you make the motions of browIfsinsega.rchers come, you continue to do what it was you were doing, what any animal wouldSedaor.chers will be high in the Taihr.at is lucky for us.
They cannot tell animal from human unless they come down."
"But won't they --"
"They trust their machines and the motions theyThseeey. are lazyT. hey fly highT. hat way, the search
goes faster.They trust their own intelligence to read their instruments and tell which is animal and which is human."
"So they'll just go by us if they think we're wild animals."
"If they doubt, they will scan us a second Wtime em. ust not change the pattern of movements after being scanned."
It was a long speech for the usually taciturn ToHrme ssat.udied Duncan carefully now"Y. ou understand?"
"How will I know when we're being scanned?"
"Your gut will tinglYe.ou will feel in your stomach the fizz of a drink that no man should swallow."

Duncan nodded". Ixian scanners."
"Let it not alarm you," Tormsa s"aAidn.imals here are accustomed to Siot.metimes, they may pause, but only for an instant and then they go on as if nothing has haWppheicnhe,d.for them, is truIet. is only for us that something evil may happen."
Presently, Tormsa stood".We will go down into the valley nFoowll.ow closely.Do exactly what I do and nothing else."
Duncan fell into step behind his guSidoeo.n, they were under the covering treSeosm.
etime during the
night's passage, Duncan realized, he had begun to accept his place in the schemes oAf ontehwers. patience was taking over his awareneAssn. d there was excitement goaded by curiosity.
What kind of a universe had come out of the Atreides Gtiammems?u. What a strange place Giedi Prime had become.
Slowly but distinctly, things were being revealed and each new thing opened a view to more that could be learned.He could feel patterns taking shapOen. e day, he thought, there would be a single pattern and then he would know why they had brought him back from the dead.
Yes, it was a matter of opening doors, he thoYuoguht.opened one door and that let you into a place where there were other doorYs.ou chose a door in this new place and examined what that revealed to
you. There might be times when you were forced to try all of the doors but the more doors you opened, the more certain you became of which door to openFnineaxltl.y, a door would open into a place you recognized. Then you could say":Ahhhh, this explains everything."
"Searchers come," Tormsa sai"dW. and tore down a small limb.
Duncan did the same.
e are browsing animals nowH."e reached up to a screening bush

"I must rule with eye and claw -- as the hawk among lesser birds."
-Atreides assertion (RefB: G Archives)
At daybreak, Teg emerged from the concealing windbreaks beside a mainThreoardo.ad was a wide, flat thoroughfare -- beam-hardened and kept bare of plantTleinfe.lanes, Teg estimated, suitable for both vehicle and foot traffiTc.here was mostly foot traffic on it at this hour.
He had brushed most of the dust off his clothing and made sure there were no signs ofHirsank on it. gray hair was not as neat as he usually preferred but he had only his fingers for a comb.
Traffic on the road was headed toward the city of Ysai many kilometers across thTehevamlloeyrn.ing was cloudless with a light breeze in his face moving toward the sea somewhere far behind him.
During the night he had come to a delicate balance with his new awTahreinngesssf.lickered in his
second vision:knowledge of things around him before those things occurred, awareness of where he
must put his foot in the next sBteeph.ind this lay the reactive trigger that he knew could snap him into the blurring responses that flesh should not be able to accommoRdeaates.on could not explain the thinHge.
felt that he walked precariously along the cutting edge of a knife.

Try as he might, he could not resolve what had happened to him under theWTa-sproitbea.kin to what
a Reverend Mother experienced in the spice agoBnyu?t he sensed no accumulation of Other Memories out of his pasHt. e did not think the Sisters could do what heThdeidd. oubled vision that told him what to anticipate from every movement within the range of his senses seemed a new kind of truth.
Teg's Mentat teachers had always assured him there was a form of living-truth not susceptible to proof by the marshaling of ordinary facItts.was carried sometimes in fables and poetry and often went
contrary to desires, so he had been told.
"The most difficult experience for a Mentat to accept," they said.
Teg had always reserved judgment on this pronouncement but now he was forced to Tachceept it. T-probe had thrust him over a threshold into a new reality.
He did not know why he chose this particular moment to emerge from hiding, except that it fitted him into an acceptable flow of human movement.
Most of that movement on the road was composed of market gardeners towing panniers of vegetables and fruit.The panniers were supported behind them on cheap suspensAowrsa.reness of that food sent
sharp hunger pains through him but he forced himself to ignoreWthiethm.experience of more primitive
planets in his long service to the Bene Gesserit, he saw this human activity as little different from that of farmers leading loaded animalsT.he foot traffic struck him as an odd mixture of ancient and modern -- farmers afoot, their produce floating behind them on perfectly ordinary technological deEvxiceps.t for
the suspensors this scene was very like a similar day in humankind's most ancieAntdpraafstt.animal was a draft animal, even if it came off an assembly line in an Ixian factory.
Using his new second vision, Teg chose one of the farmers, a squat, dark-skinned man with heavy features and thickly calloused handTs.he man walked with a defiant sense of independeHncee.towed
eight large panniers piled with rough-skinned meloTnhs.e smell of them was a mouth-watering agony to Teg as he matched his stride to that of the faTrmegers.trode for a few minutes in silence, then ventured: "Is this the best road to Ysai?"
"It is a long way," the man
Hsaeid.had a guttural voice, something cautious in it.

Teg glanced back at the loaded panniers.
The farmer looked sidelong at T"eWg.e go to a market centOert.hers take our produce from there to
Ysai."
As they talked, Teg realized the farmer had guided (almost herded) him close to the edge of the road.
The man glanced back and jerked his head slightly, nodding forTwharrede.
more farmers came up
beside them and closed in around Teg and his companion until tall panniers concealed them from the rest of the traffic.
Teg tensedW.
hat were they planningH? e sensed no menace, thougHh.is doubled vision detected
nothing violent in his immediate vicinity.
A heavy vehicle sped past them and on ahTeeagd.knew of its passage only by the smell of burned fuel, the wind that shook the panniers, the thrumming of a powerful engine and sudden tension in his companions. The high panniers completely hid the passing vehicle.
"We have been looking for you to protect you, Bashar," the farmer beside h"iTmhesreaida.re many who hunt you but none of them with us along here."
Teg shot a startled glance at the man.
"We served with you at Renditai," the farmer said.
Teg swallowedR. enditai? He was a moment recalling it -- only a minor skirmish in his long history of conflicts and negotiations.
"I am sorry but I do not know your name," Teg said.
"Be glad that you do not know our naImt eiss. better that way."

"But I'm grateful."
"This is a small repayment, which we are glad to make, Bashar."
"I must get to Ysai," Teg said.
"It is dangerous there."
"It is dangerous everywhere."
"We guessed you would go to YSsoami. eone will come soon and you will ride in concealmAehnhth.h,
here he comesW.
e have not seen you here, BashYaor.u have not been here."
One of the other farmers took over the towing of his companion's load, pulling two strings of panniers while the farmer Teg had chosen hustled Teg under a tow rope and into a darkTevgehgilcimle.psed
shiny plasteel and plaz as the vehicle slowed only briefly for the pTihcekudpo. or closed sharply behind him and he found himself on a soft upholstered seat, alone in the back of a gTrohuendccaarr.picked up
speed and soon was beyond the marching farmTehrse.
windows around Teg had been darkened, giving
him a dusky view of the passing sceTnhee.
driver was a shaded silhouette.
This first chance to relax in warm comfort since his capture almost lured Teg inHtoe sleenespe.d no
threats. His body still ached from the demands he had made on it and from the agonies of the T-probe.
He told himself, though, that he must stay awake and alert.
The driver leaned sideways and spoke over his shoulder without tu"rTnhinegy: have been hunting for you for two days, BashaSr.ome think you already off-planet."
Two days?

The stunner and whatever else they had done to him had left him unconscious for a Tlohnisg otnimlye. added to his hungerH. e tried to make the flesh-embedded chrono play against his vision centers and it only flickered as it had done each time he consulted it since the TH-pisrotbime.e sense and all
references to it were changed.
So some thought he had left Gammu.
Teg did not ask who hunted hTimlei.laxu and people from the Scattering had been in that attack and the subsequent torture.
Teg glanced around his conveyancIte.was one of those beautiful old pre-Scattering groundcars, the marks of the finest Ixian manufacture onHeit. had never before ridden in one but he knew about them. Restorers picked them up to renew, rebuild -- whatever they did that brought back the ancient sense of quality. Teg had been told that such vehicles often were found abandoned in strange places -- in old broken-down buildings, in culverts, locked away in machinery warehouses, in farm fields.
Again, his driver leaned slightly sideways and spoke over one sho"uDldoery:ou have an address where you wish to be taken in Ysai, Bashar?"
Teg called up his memory of the contact points he had identified on his first tour of Gammu and gave one of these to the ma"nD. o you know that place?"
"It is mostly a meeting and drinking establishment, BaIshhaera. r they serve good food, too, but anyone can enter if he has the price."
Not knowing why he had made that particular choice, Teg"Wsaeidw: ill chance it.H" e did not think it necessary to tell the driver that there were private dining rooms at the address.
The mention of food brought back sharp hunger craTmepgs's.
arms began to tremble and he was
several minutes restoring calmnessL.ast night's activities had almost drained him, he realiHze .sent a searching gaze around the car's interior, wondering if there might be food or drink conceaTlehde here. car's restoration had been accomplished with loving care but he saw no hidden compartments.

Such cars were not all that rare in some quarters, he knew, but all of them spokeWohf owoewaltnhe.d this one?Not the driver, certainlyT.hat one had all the signs of a hired professiBountal.if a message had been sent to bring this car then others knew of Teg's location.
"Will we be stopped and searched?" Teg asked.
"Not this car, BashaTr.he Planetary Bank of Gammu owns it."
Teg absorbed this silentlTy.hat bank had been one of his contact poHinets.had studied key branches carefully on his inspection touTr.his memory drew him back into his responsibilities as guardian of the ghola.
"My companions," Teg venture"dA. re they . . ." "Others have that in hand, BashIarc.annot say." "Can word be taken to . . ."
"When it is safe, Bashar."
"Of course."
Teg sank back into the cushions and studied his surrounTdihnegsse.
groundcars had been built with
much plaz and almost indestructible plasteIetl.was other things that went sour with age -- upholstery, headliners, the electronics, the suspensor installations, the ablative liners of the turbofanAdnudcttsh.e adhesives deteriorated no matter what you did to preserve tThheme .restorers had made this one look
as though it had just been cranked out of the factory -- all subdued glowing in the metals, upholstery that molded itself to him with a faint sound of crinkAlinndg.the smellt:hat indefinable aroma of newness, a
mixture of polish and fine fabrics with just a hint of ozone bite underneath from the smoothly working electronics. Nowhere in it, though, was there the smell of food.

"How long to Ysai?" Teg asked.
"Another half hour, BashaIrs. there a problem that requires more speIedd?on't want to attract . . ."
"I am very hungry."
The driver glanced left and rigThht.ere were no more farmers around them hTerhee.
roadway was
almost empty except for two heavy transport pods with their tractors holding to the right verge and a large lorry hauling a towering automatic fruit picker.
"It is dangerous to delay for long," the driver"Bsauitd.I know a place where I think I can at least get you a quick bowl of soup."
"Anything would be welcomIe.have not eaten for two days and there has been much activity."
They came to a crossroads and the driver turned left onto a narrow track through tall, evenly spaced
conifers. Presently, he turned onto a one-lane drive through the
Ttrehe .low building at the end of this
track was built of dark stones and had a blackplazTrhoeofw. indows were narrow and glistened with protective burner nozzles.
The driver said":Just a minute, sir.'"He got out and Teg had his first look at the man'esxtfraecme:ely
thin with a long nose and tiny moTuthhe.
visible tracery of surgical reconstruction laced his cheTehkes.
eyes glowed silver, obviously artificiaHl.e turned away and went into the hoWuseh.en he returned, he opened Teg's door". Please be quick, sirT.he one inside is heating soup for yIohua. ve said you are a banker. No need to pay."
The ground was icy crisp underfoToetg.
had to stoop slightly for the doorwHaey. entered a dark
hallway, wood-paneled and with a well-lighted room at theTehned.smell of food there drew him like a magnet. His arms were trembling once moAre. small table had been set beside a window with a view of an enclosed and covered gardeBn.ushes heavy with red flowers almost concealed the stone wall that defined the gardenY. ellow hotplaz gleamed over the space, bathing it in a summery artificiaTl elgight.
sank gratefully into the single chair at the taWblhei.te linen, he saw, with an embossed edAges.ingle

soup spoon.
A door creaked at his right and a squat figure entered carrying a bowl from which steTahme maraonse. hesitated when he saw Teg, then brought the bowl to the table and placed it in froAntleortfedTebgy.
that hesitation, Teg forced himself to ignore the tempting aroma drifting to his nostrils and concentrated instead on his companion.
"It is good soup, sIirm.
ade it myself."
An artificial voiceT.eg saw the scars at the sides of the Tjhaewr.e was the look of an ancient
mechanical about this man -- an almost neckless head attached to thick shoulders, arms that seemed oddly jointed at both shoulders and elbows, legs that appeared to swing only from Hthee shtioposd.
motionless now but he had entered here with a slightly jerking sway that said he was mostly replacement artificials. The look of suffering in his eyes could not be avoided.
"I know I'm not pretty, sir," the man ra"sIpewd.as ruined in the Alajory explosion."
Teg had no idea what the Alajory explosion might have been but it obviously was presumed he knew. "Ruined," however, was an interesting accusation against Fate.
"I was wondering if I knew you," Teg said.
"No one here knows anyone else," the man "sEaaidt .your soup."He pointed upward at the coiled tip of quiescent snooper, the glow of its lights revealing that it read its surroundings and found n"oThpeoison. food is safe here."
Teg looked at the dark brown liquid in his Lbuomwlp.s of solid meat were visible inHeit. reached for
the spoon.His trembling hand made two attempts before grasping the spoon and even then he sloshed most of the liquid out of the spoon before he could lift it a millimeter.
A steadying hand gripped Teg's wrist and the artificial voice spoke softly in T"eIg'dsoeanro:t know what they did to you, Bashar, but no one will harm you here without crossing my dead body."

"You know me?"
"Many would die for you, BashMary.
son lives because of you."
Teg allowed himself to be helpIetdw.
as all he could do to swallow the first spoTonhfeull.iquid was
rich, hot and soothingH. is hand steadied presently and he nodded to the man to release the wrist.
"More, sir?"
Teg realized then that he had emptied the bItowwla. s tempting to say "yes" but the driver had said to make haste.
"Thank you, but I must go."
"You have not been here," the man said.
When they were once more back on the main road, Teg sat back against the groundcar's cushions and reflected on the curious echoing quality of what the ruined man haTdhseaisda.me words the farmer had
used: "You have not been hereI.t" had the feeling of a common response and it said something about changes in Gammu since Teg had surveyed the place.
They entered the outskirts of Ysai presently and Teg wondered if he should attempt aTdhiesguise. ruined man had recognized him quickly.
"Where do the Honored Matres hunt for me nToweg?"asked.
"Everywhere, BasharW.
e cannot guarantee your safety but steps are being taIkwenil.l make it known
where I have delivered you."

"Do they say why they hunt me?"
"They never explain, Bashar."
"How long have they been on Gammu?"
"Too long, sirS.ince I was a child and I was a baltern at Renditai."
A hundred years at least, Teg thouTghimt.e to gather many forces into their hands . . . if Taraza's fears were to be credited.
Teg credited them.
"Trust no one those whores can influence," Taraza had said.
Teg sensed no threat to him in his present position, thHoeugcho.uld only absorb the secrecy that obviously enclosed him nowH. e did not press for more details.
They were well into Ysai and he glimpsed the black bulk of the ancient Harkonnen seat of Barony through occasional gaps between the walls that enclosed the great private residTehnecesc.ar turned
onto a street of small commercial establishmencthse:ap buildings constructed for the most part of
salvaged materials that displayed their origins in poor fits and unmatched
Gcoaluodrsy.
signs advised that
the wares inside were the finest, the repair services better than those elsewhere.
It was not that Ysai had deteriorated or even gone to seed, Teg Gthroouwgthht. here had been diverted into something worse than uglSyo. meone had chosen to make this place repellTenhta.t was the key to most of what he saw in the city.
Time had not stopped here, it had retreaTthedis. was no modern city full of bright transport pods and

insulated usiform buildingsT. his was random jumbles, ancient structures joined to ancient structures, some built to individual tastes and some obviously designed with some long-gone necessity in mind. Everything about Ysai was joined in a proximity whose disarray just managed to avoidWchhaat os.
saved it, Teg knew, was the old pattern of thoroughfares along which this hodgepodge had been assembled. Chaos was held at bay, although what pattern there was in the streets conformed to no
master plan.Streets met and crossed at odd angles, seldom squaSreedn.
from the air, the place was a
crazy quilt with only the giant black rectangle of ancient Barony to speak of an organizTinhge of it was architectural rebellion.
prelastn.
Teg saw suddenly that this place was a lie plastered over with other lies, based on previous lies, and such a mad mixup that they might never dig through to a usablAe lltruotfh.Gammu was that waWy.here
could such insanity have had its beginninWgs?as it the Harkonnens' doing?
"We are here, sir."
The driver drew up to the curb in front of a windowless building face, all flat black plasteel and with a single ground-level doorN. o salvaged material in this constructioTne.g recognized the placet:he bolt
hole he had chosenU. nidentified things flickered in Teg's second vision but he sensed no immediate menace. The driver opened Teg's door and stood to one side.
"Not much activity here at this hour,I swiro. uld get inside quickly."
Without a backward glance, Teg darted across the narrow walk and into the building -- a small brightly lighted foyer of polished white plaz and only banks of comeyes to greHete hdimuc.ked into a lift tube
and punched the remembered coordinateTs.his tube, he knew, angled upward through the building to the fifty-seventh floor rear where there were some windoHwes.remembered a private dining room of dark
reds and heavy brown furnishings, a hard-eyed female with the obvious signs of Bene Gesserit training, but no Reverend Mother.
The tube disgorged him into the remembered room but there was no one to recTeievge ghliamnc. ed around at the solid brown furnishingFso.ur windows along the far wall were concealed behind thick maroon draperies.
Teg knew he had been seHene. waited patiently, using his newly learned doubling-vision to anticipate
trouble. There was no indication of attacHke. glanced around him once more.
took up a position to one side of the tube outlet and

Teg had a theory about the relationship between rooms and their windows -- the number of windows, their placement, their size, height from the floor, relationship of room size to window size, the elevation of the room, windows curtained or draped, and all of this Mentat-interpreted against knowledge of the uses to which a room was pRuto. oms could be fitted to a kind of pecking order defined with extreme sophistication. Emergency uses might throw such distinctions out the window but they otherwise were
quite reliable.
Lack of windows in an aboveground room conveyed a particular meIsfsahguem. ans occupied such a room, it did not necessarily mean secrecy was the mainHgeoahl.ad seen unmistakable signs in
scholastic settings that windowless schoolrooms were both a retreat from the exterior world and a strong statement of dislike for children.
This room, however, presented something differecnotn: ditional secrecy plus the need to keep occasional watch on that exterior worlPd.rotective secrecy when requiredH. is opinion was reinforced when he crossed the room and twitched one of the draperies aTshidee.windows were tripled armor-plaSz.o!
Keeping watch on that world outside might draw attTahckat. the room protected this way.
was the opinion of whoever had ordered
Once more, Teg twitched the drapery asHidee.glanced at the corner glazinPgr.ismatic reflectors there amplified the view along the adjacent wall to both sides and from roof to ground.
Well!
His previous visit had not given him time for this closer examination but now he made a more positive assessment. A very interesting roomT.eg dropped the drapery and turned just in time to see a tall man enter from the tube slot.
Teg's doubled vision provided a firm prediction on the straTnhgiesr.man brought concealed danger.
The newcomer was plainly military -- the way he carried himself, the quick eye for details that only a trained and experienced officer would observAen. d there was something else in his manner that made
Teg stiffen.This was a betrayerA!
mercenary available to the highest bidder.
"Damned nasty the way they treated you," the man greetedThTeegv.oice was a deep baritone with an unconscious assumption of personal power inTiht.e accent was one Teg had never before heTahrids.
was someone from the ScatteringA!
Bashar or equivalent, Teg estimated.

Still, there was no indication of immediate attack.
When Teg did not answer, the man s"aOidh:, sorry:I'm Muzzafar.Jafa Muzzafar, regional commander for the forces of Dur."
Teg had never heard of the forces of Dur.
Questions crowded Teg's mind but he kept them to himAnseyltfh.ing he said here might betray weakness.
Where were the people who had met him here beWfohrye? did I choose this placTe?he decision had been made with such inner assurance.
"Please be comfortable," Muzzafar said, indicating a small divan with a low serving table in "fIront of it. assure you that none of what has happened to you was of myTrdioeidngt.o put a stop to it when I
heard but you'd already . . . left the scene."
Teg heard the other thing in this Muzzafar's voicecnauotwio:n bordering on fearS.o this man had either heard about or seen the shack and the clearing.
"Damned clever of you," Muzzafar sa"iHd.aving your attack force wait until your captors were concentrating on trying to get information out of Dyoidu.they learn anything?"
Teg shook his head silently from side to Hsiedef.elt on the edge of being ignited in a blurred response to attack, yet he sensed no immediate violence hWerhea.t were these Lost Ones doinBg?ut Muzzafar
and his people had made a wrong assessment of what had happened in the room of theThTa-tprobe. was clear.
"Please, be seated," Muzzafar said.

Teg took the proffered seat on the divan.
Muzzafar sat in a deep chair facing Teg at a slight angle on the other side of the seTrhvienrge wtabasle. a crouching sense of alertness in MuzzaHfaer. was prepared for violence.
Teg studied the man with interMestu.zzafar had revealed no real rank -- only commanTdaellr. fellow with a wide, ruddy face and a big nTohse. eyes were gray-green and had the trick of focusing just behind Teg's right shoulder when either of them spToekge. had known a spy once who did that.
"Well, well," Muzzafar sai"dI.'ve read and heard a great deal about you since coming here."
Teg continued to study him silenMtlyu. zzafar's hair had been cropped close and there was a purple scar about three millimeters long across the scalp line above the lefHt eeywe.ore an open bush jacket of light green and matching trousers -- not quite a uniform but there was a neatness about him that spoke of customary spit and polishT.he shoes attested to thiTs.eg thought he probably could see his own
reflection in their light brown surfaces if he bent close.
"Never expected to meet you personally, of course," Muzzafar"Csaoinds.ider it a great honor."
"I know very little about you except that you command a force from the Scattering," Teg said.
"Mmmmmph!Not much to know, really."
Once more, hunger pangs gripped THegis.
gaze went to the button beside the tube slot, which, he
remembered, would summon a waiteTr.his was a place where humans did the work usually assigned to automata, an excuse for keeping a large force assembled at the ready.
Misinterpreting Teg's interest in the tube slot, Muzzafar "sPalieda:se don't think of leavinHg.aving my
own medic come in to take a look at Syhoouu.ldn't be but a momenAt.ppreciate it if you'd wait quietly until he arrives."

"I was merely thinking of placing an order for some food," Teg said.
"Advise you to wait until the doctor's had his looSk-tusenen.ers leave some nasty aftereffects."
"So you know about that."
"Know about the whole damned fiasYcoo.u and your man Burzmali are a force to be reckoned with."
Before Teg could respond, the tube slot disgorged a tall man in a jacketed red singlesuit, a man so bone-skinny that his clothing gaped and flapped about Thihme. diamond tattoo of a Suk doctor had
been burned into his high forehead but the mark was orange and not the customarTyhebladcokc.tor's eyes were concealed by a glistening orange cover that hid their true color.
An addict of some kinTd?eg wondered.There was no smell of the familiar narcotics around him, not even melange.There was a tart smell, though, almost like some fruit.
"There you are, SolitzM!"uzzafar said.He gestured at Teg".Give him a good scaSnt.unner hit him day before yesterday."
Solitz produced a recognizable Suk scanner, compact and fitting into oneItshapnrdo.be field produced a low hum.
"So you're a Suk doctor," Teg said, looking pointedly at the orange brand on the forehead.
"Yes, BasharM.
y training and conditioning are the finest in our ancient tradition."
"I've never seen the identifying mark in that color," Teg said.

The doctor passed his scanner around Teg's h"eTahde.
color of the tattoo makes no difference, Bashar.
What is behind it is all that matteHrse." lowered the scanner to Teg's shoulders, then down across the body.
Teg waited for the humming to stop.
The doctor stood back and addressed Muzza"fHare:
is quite fit, Field MarshRale.markably fit,
considering his age, but he desperately needs sustenance."
"Yes . . . well, that's fine then, SToaliktze. care of thaTt.he Bashar is our guest."
"I will order a meal suited to his needs," Solitz"Esaatidi.t slowly, Bashar.S"olitz did a smart about-face that set his jacket and trousers flappiTngh.e tube slot swallowed him.
"Field Marshal?" Teg asked.
"A revival of ancient titles in the Dur," Muzzafar said.
"The Dur?" Teg ventured.
"Stupid of me!M" uzzafar produced a small case from a side pocket of his jacket and extracted a thin folder. Teg recognized a holostat similar to one he had carried himself during his long service -- pictures of home and familyM. uzzafar placed the holostat on the table between them and tapped the control button.
The full-color image of a bushy green expanse of jungle came alive in miniature above the tabletop.
"Home," Muzzafar said".Frame bush in the center thereA." finger indicated a place in the projection. "First one that ever obeyed mPee.ople laughed at me for choosing the first one that way and sticking with it."

Teg stared at the projection, aware of a deep sadness in Muzzafar'sThveoicined. icated bush was a spindly grouping of thin limbs with bright blue bulbs dangling from the tips.
Frame bush?
"Rather thin thing, I know," Muzzafar said, removing his pointing finger from the pr"oNjeoctiosne.cure at all.Had to defend myself a few times in the first months wGirtehwit.rather fond of it, thougThh.ey
respond to that, you knowIt.'s the best home in all the deep valleys now, by the Eternal Rock of Dur!"
Muzzafar stared at Teg's puzzled expressi"oDn.amn! You don't have frame bushes, of courYseo.u must forgive my crashing ignorancWe. e've a great deal to teach each other, I think."
"You called that home," Teg said.
"Oh, yesW.
ith proper direction, once they learn to obey, of course, a frame bush will grow itself into a
magnificent residence.It only takes four or five standards."
Standards, Teg thoughSt.o the Lost Ones still used the Standard Year.
The tube slot hissed and a young woman in a blue serving gown backed into the room towing a suspensor-buoyed hotpod, which she positioned near the table in front oHf eTregc.lothing was of the
type Teg had seen during his original inspection but the pleasantly round face she turned to him was
unfamiliar. Her scalp had been depilated, leaving an expanse of prominent
Hveeirnse. yes were watery
blue and there was something cowed in her posStuhre . opened the hotpod and the spicy odors of the food wafted across Teg's nostrils.
Teg was alerted but he sensed no immediate thHre tc.ould see himself eating the food without ill effect.
The young woman put a row of dishes on to the table in front of him and arranged the eating implements

neatly at one side.
"I've no snooper, but I'll taste the foods if you wish," Muzzafar said.
"Not necessary," Teg saiHd.e knew this would raise questions but felt they would suspect him of being a Truthsayer.Teg's gaze locked onto the fooWd.ithout any conscious decision, he leaned forward and
began eating.Familiar with Mentat-hunger, he was surprised at his own reactUiosninsg.
the brain in
Mentat mode consumed calories at an alarming rate, but this was a new necessity drivHineg fhelitmh. is
own survival controlling his actionTs.his hunger went beyond anything of previous experienTchee.
soup
he had eaten with some caution at the house of the ruined man had not aroused such a demanding reaction.
The Suk doctor chose correctly, Teg thouTghi.s food had been selected directly out of the scanner's summation.
The young woman kept bringing more dishes from hotpods ordered via the tube slot.
Teg had to get up in the middle of the meal and relieve himself in an adjoining washroom, conscious there of the hidden comeyes that were keeping him under surveilHlaencke.new by his physical reactions
that his digestive system had speeded up to a new level of bodily neWcehsesintyh. e returned to the table, he felt just as hungry as though he had not eaten.
The serving woman began to show signs of surprise and thenSatillalr,ms.he kept bringing more food at his demand.Muzzafar watched with growing amazement but said nothing.
Teg felt the supportive replacement of the food, the precise caloric adjustment that the Suk doctor had
ordered. They obviously had not thought about quantity, thouTghhe. of walking shock.
girl obeyed his demands in a kind
Muzzafar spoke finally".Must say I've never before seen anyone eat that much at one Csiattnin'tgs. ee how you do iNt. or why."
Teg sat back, satisfied at last, knowing he had aroused questions that could not be answered truthfully.

"A Mentat thing," Teg lie"dI'.ve been through a very strenuous time."
"Amazing," Muzzafar saidH. e arose.
When Teg started to stand, Muzzafar gestured for him to re"mNoainn.eed.We've prepared quarters for you right next dooSr.afer not to move you yet."
The young woman departed with the empty hotpods.
Teg studied MuzzafarS.omething had changed during the meMal.uzzafar watched him with a coldly measuring stare.
"You've an implanted communicator," Teg sa"iYd.ou have received new orders."
"It would not be advisable for your friends to attack this place," Muzzafar said.
"You think that's my plan?" "What is your plan, Bashar?" Teg smiled.
"Very well."Muzzafar's gaze went out of focus as he listened to his communWicahteonr. he once more concentrated on Teg, his gaze had the look of a preTdaetgorf.elt himself buffeted by that gaze, recognizing that someone else was coming to this roTohme. Field Marshal thought of this new
development as something extremely dangerous to his dinner guest but Teg saw nothing that could defeat his new abilities.

"You think I am your prisoner," Teg said.
"By the Eternal Rock, BashaYr!ou are not what I expected!"
"The Honored Matre who is coming, what does she expTeecgt?"asked.
"Bashar, I warn yoDu:o not take that tone with hYeor.u have not the slightest concept of what is about to happen to you."
"An Honored Matre is about to happen to me," Teg said.
"And I wish you well of her!"
Muzzafar pivoted and left via the tube slot.
Teg stared after himH.e could see the flickering of second vision like a light blinking around the tube slot. The Honored Matre was near but not yet ready to enter thisFrirosot,ms.he would consult with Muzzafar. The Field Marshal would not be able to tell this dangerous female anything really important.

Memory never recaptures realitMy. emory reconstructs.All reconstructions change the original, becoming external frames of reference that inevitably fall short.
-Mentat Handbook
Lucilla and Burzmali entered Ysai from the south into a lowerclass quarter with widely spaced streetlights. It lacked only an hour of midnight and yet people thronged the streets in thisSoqmuaerter. walked quietly, some chatted with drug-enhanced vigor, some only watched expectTanhtely. wadded
up at the corners and held Lucilla's fascinated attention as she passed.
Burzmali urged her to walk faster, an eager customer anxious to get heLruacliollnae.kept her covert attention on the people.
What did they do herTe?hose men waiting in the doorwaFyo:r what did they waiWt? orkers in heavy aprons emerged from a wide passage as Lucilla and Burzmali paTshserde. was a thick smell of rank sewage and perspiration about themT.he workers, almost equally divided between male and female,
were tall, heavy-bodied and with thick armLus.cilla could not imagine what their occupation might be but they were of a single type and they made her realize how little she knew of Gammu.
The workers hawked and spat into the gutter as they emerged into thReidndiignhgt. themselves of some contaminant?
Burzmali put his mouth close to Lucilla's ear and whisp"Terheods:e workers are the Bordanos."
She risked a glance back at them where they walked toward a sidBe osrtdreaento.s? Ahhh, yes:people trained and bred to work the compression machinery that harnessed sewer Tghaeseys.had been bred to remove the sense of smell and the musculature of shoulders and arms had been inBcurerzamseadl.i
guided her around a corner and out of sight of the Bordanos.

Five children emerged from a dark doorway beside them and wheeled into line following Lucilla and
Burzmali. Lucilla noted their hands clutching small objeTcths.ey followed with a strange intensity. Abruptly, Burzmali stopped and turneTd.he children also stopped and stared at hIitmw. as clear to Lucilla that the children were prepared for some violence.
Burzmali clasped both hands in front of him and bowed to the cHhieldsreanid.:"Guldur!" When Burzmali resumed guiding her down the street, the children no longer followed. "They would have stoned us," he said.
"Why?"
"They are children of a sect that follows Guldur -- the local name for the Tyrant."
Lucilla looked back but the children were no longer inTshiegyht.had set off in search of another victim.
Burzmali guided her around another cornNeor.w, they were in a street crowded with small merchants selling their wares from wheeled stands -- food, clothing, small tools, and Aknisviensg.song of shouts
filled the air as the merchants tried to attract buTyheersir.
voices had that end of the workday lift -- a
false brilliance composed of the hope that old dreams would be fulfilled, yet colored by the knowledge
that life would not change for theImt
.occurred to Lucilla that the people of these streets pursued a
fleeting dream, that the fulfillment they sought was not the thing itself but a myth they had been conditioned to seek the way racing animals were trained to chase after the whirling bait on the endless oval of the racetrack.
In the street directly ahead of them a burly figure in a thickly padded coat was engaged in loud-voiced argument with a merchant who offered a string bag filled with the dark red bulbs of a sweetly acid fruit. The fruit smell was thick all around thTemhe. merchant complained": You would steal the food from the
mouths of my children!"
The bulky figure spoke in a piping voice, the accent chillingly familiar to"IL, utcoioll,a:have children!"

Lucilla controlled herself with an effort.
When they were clear of the market street, she whispered to Bu"rTzmhaatli:man in the heavy coat back there -- a Tleilaxu Master!"
"Couldn't be," Burzmali proteste"dT. oo tall."
"Two of them, one on the shoulders of the other."
"You're sure?"
"I'm sure."
"I've seen others like that since we arrived, but I didn't suspect."
"Many searchers are in these streets," she said.
Lucilla found that she did not much care for the everyday life of the gutter inhabitants on this gutter planet. She no longer trusted the explanation for bringing the gholaOhferael.l those planets on which the precious ghola could have been raised, why had the Sisterhood chosen thiOs ronwea?s the ghola truly precious? Could it be that he was merely bait?
Almost blocking the narrow mouth of an alley beside them was a man plying a tall device of whirling lights.
"Live!" he shouted".Live!"

Lucilla slowed her pace to watch a passerby step into the alleyway and pass a coin to the proprietor,
then lean into a concave basin made brilliant by the
Tlighhetsp. roprietor stared back at LucilSlah.e saw
a man with a narrow dark face, the face of a Caladanian primitive on a body only slightly taller than that of a Tleilaxu MasterT.here had been a look of contempt on his brooding face as he took the customer's money.
The customer lifted his face from the basin with a shudder and then left the alley, staggering slightly, his eyes glazed.
Lucilla recognized the devicUe.sers called it a hypnobong and it was outlawed on all of the more civilized worlds.
Burzmali hurried her out of the view of the brooding hypnobong proprietor.
They came to a wider side street with a corner doorway set into the building across fFroomot them. traffic all around; not a vehicle in siAghtt.all man sat on the first step in the corner doorway, his knees drawn up close to his chHini.s long arms were wrapped around his knees, the thin-fingered hands
clasped tightly togetherH. e wore a wide-brimmed black hat that shaded his face from the streetlights, but twin gleams from the shadows under that brim told Lucilla that this was no kind of human she had ever before encountered.This was something about which the Bene Gesserit had only speculated.
Burzmali waited until they were well away from the seated figure before satisfying her curiosity.
"Futar," he whispered".That's what they call themselveTs.hey've only recently been seen here on
Gammu."
"A Tleilaxu experiment," Lucilla guesseAdn. d she thoughta: Scattering. "What are they doing here?" she asked.
"Trading colony, so the natives here tell us."
mistake that has returned from the
"Don't you believe
Tit.hose are hunting animals that have been crossed with humans."

"Ahhh, here we are," Burzmali said.
He guided Lucilla through a narrow doorway into a dimly lighted eating establiTshhmisenwt.as part of
their disguise, Lucilla knewD: o what others in this quarter did, but she did not relish eating in this place, not with what she could interpret from the smells.
The place had been crowded but it was emptying as they entered.
"This commerciel was recommended highly," Burzmali said as they seated themselves in a mechaslot and waited for the menu to be projected.
Lucilla watched the departing customeNrsi.ght workers from nearby factories and offices, she guessed.
They appeared anxious in their hurry, perhaps fearful of what might be done to them if they were tardy.
How insulated she had been at the Keep, she thoSuhgehtd. id not like what she was learning of
Gammu. What a scruffy place this commerciel wTahs!e stools at the counter to her right had been
scarred and chippedT. he tabletop in front of her had been scored and rubbed with gritty cleaners until it no longer could be kept clean by the vacusweep whose nozzle she could see near her leTfhteerelbow.
was no sign of even the cheapest sonic to maintain cleanlFinoeosds. and other evidence of deterioration had accumulated in the table's scratcheLsu.cilla shuddered.She could not avoid the feeling that it had been a mistake to separate from the ghola.
The menu had been projected, she saw, and Burzmali already was scanning it.
"I will order for you," he said.
Burzmali's way of saying he did not want her to make a mistake by ordering something a woman of the
Hormu might avoid.
It galled her to feel dependeSnhte.
was a Reverend MotheSr!he was trained to take command in any
situation, mistress of her own destinHyo. w tiring all of this wSash.e gestured at the dirty window on her

left where people could be seen passing on the narrow street.
"I am losing business while we dally, Skar."
There!That was in character.
Burzmali almost sighedA. t last! he thoughSt.he had begun to function once more as a Reverend
Mother. He could not understand her abstracted attitude, the way she looked at the city and its people.
Two milky drinks slid from the slot onto the Btaubrlzem. ali drank his in one swalloLwu.cilla tested her drink on the tip of her tongue, sorting the conAtentsi.mitation caffiate diluted with a nut-flavored juice.
Burzmali gestured upward with his chin for her to drink it qSuhicekloyb. eyed, concealing a grimace at the chemical flavorsB. urzmali's attention was on something over her right shoulder but she dared not turn. That would be out of character.
"Come."He placed a coin on the table and hurried her out into theHestrsemeti.led the smile of an eager customer but there was wariness in his eyes.
The tempo of the streets had changTehde.re were fewer peopleT. he shadowy doors conveyed a
deeper sense of menaceL. ucilla reminded herself that she was supposed to represent a powerful guild whose members were immune to the common violence of the gTuhteterf.ew people on the street did make way for her, eyeing the dragons of her robe with every appearance of awe.
Burzmali stopped at a doorway.
It was like the others along this street, set back slightly from the walkway, so tall that it appeared narrower than it actually waAs.n old-fashioned security beam guarded the entranNceo.ne of the newer systems had penetrated to the slum, apparenTtlyh.e streets themselves were testimony to thdaets:igned
for groundcars.She doubted that there was a roofpad in the entireNaoreasi.gn of flitters or ,'thopters could be heard or seeTn.here was music, though -- a faint susurration reminiscent of seSmoumtae.thing new in semuta addictionT?his would certainly be an area where addicts would go to ground.

Lucilla looked up at the face of the building as Burzmali moved ahead of her and made their presence known by breaking the doorway beam.
There were no windows in the building's fOancely.
the faint glitterings of surface 'eyes here and there in
the dull sheen of ancient plasteTelh.ey were old-fashioned comeyes, she noted, much bigger than modern ones.
A door deep in the shadows swung inward on silent hinges.
"This way."Burzmali reached back and urged her forward with a hand on her elbow.
They entered a dimly lighted hallway that smelled of exotic foods and bitter eSshse cweass.
a moment
identifying some of the things that assailed her nosMtrielsla. nge. She caught the unmistakable cinnamon ripeness. And yes, semutaS. he identified burned rice, higet salStso.meone was masking another kind of cooking. There were explosives being made heSreh.e thought of warning Burzmali but reconsiderIetd.
was not necessary for him to know and there might be ears in this confined space to hear whatever she said.
Burzmali led the way up a shadowy flight of stairs with a dim glowstrip along the slanting Abtaseboard. the top he found a hidden switch concealed behind a patch in the patched and repatcThehderewawlla.s
no sound when he pushed the switch but Lucilla felt a change in the movement all aroSunildencthee. mIt. was a new kind of silence in her experience, a crouching preparation for flight or violence.
It was cold in the stairwell and she shivered, but not from tFheooctshtiellp.s sounded beyond the doorway beside the patch-masked switch.
A gray-haired hag in a yellow smock opened the door and peered up at them past her straggling eyebrows.
"It's you," she said, her voice waverSinhge.
stood aside for them to enter.

Lucilla glanced swiftly around the room as she heard the door close behinIdt wthaesm.a room the unobservant might think shabby, but that was superficUianld. erneath, it was qualityT.he shabbiness was another mask, partly a matter of this place having been fitted to a particularly demandingThpiserson:
goes here and nowhere elsTe!hat goes over there and it stays thTerhee!
furnishings and bric-a-brac
looked a little worn but someone here did not object toThteharto. om felt better this waIyt .was that kind of room.
Who possessed this roomT?he old woman?She was making her painful way toward a door on their left.
"We are not to be disturbed until dawn," Burzmali said.
The old woman stopped and turned.
Lucilla studied herW. as this another who shammed advanced agNeo?. The age was reaEl.very motion
was diffused by unsteadiness -- a trembling of the neck, a failure of the body that betrayed her in ways she could not prevent.
"Even if it's somebody importanth"e old woman asked in her wavering voice.
The eyes twitched when she spoHkee.r mouth moved only minimally to emit the necessary sounds, spacing out her words as though she drew them from somewhere deep Hweitrhisnh.oulders, curved
from years of bending at some fixed work, would not straighten enough for her to look Burzmali in the eyes. She peered upward past her brows instead, an oddly furtive posture.
"What important person are you expecting?" Burzmali asked.
The old woman shuddered and appeared to take a long time understanding.
"Impor-r-rtant people come here," she said.

Lucilla recognized the body signals and blurted it because Burzmali must know:
"She's from Rakis!"
The old woman's curious upward gaze locked on LuTchilela.ancient voice said":I was a priestess, Hormu Lady."
"Of course she's from Rakis," Burzmali sHaiids. tone warned her not to question.
"I would not harm you," the hag whined.
"Do you still serve the Divided God?"
Again, there was that long delay for the old woman to respond.
"Many serve the Great Guldur," she said.
Lucilla pursed her lips and once more scanned the
Trohoemo. ld woman had been reduced greatly in
importance. "I am glad I do not have to kill you," Lucilla said.
The old woman's jaw drooped open in a parody of surprise while spittle dripped from her lips.
This was a descendant of FremeLnu?cilla let her revulsion come out in a long shuTdhdiesr.mendicant
bit of flotsam had been shaped from a people who walked tall and proud, a people who died bravely. This one would die whining.
"Please trust me," the hag whined and fled the room.

"Why did you do thatB?"urzmali demanded."These are the ones who will get us to Rakis!"
She merely looked at him, recognizing the fear in his quIetstwioans.
fear for her.
But I did not imprint him back there, she thought.
With a sense of shock she realized that Burzmali had recognized hateI ihnatheert.hem!she thought.I
hate the people of this planet!
That was a dangerous emotion for a Reverend MoStthilelr.it burned in heTr.his planet had changed her
in a way she did not waSnhte.
did not want the realization that such things coulIdnteblele.ctual
understanding was one thing; experience was another.
Damn them!
But they already were damned.
Her chest pained heFr.rustration! There was no escaping this new awareneWssh. at had happened to these people?
People?
The shells were here but they no longer could be called fullDy aanlgiveero. us, though.Supremely dangerous.
"We must rest while we can," Burzmali said.
"I do not have to earn my money?" she demanded.

Burzmali paled". What we did was necessaryW! e were lucky and were not stopped but it could have happened!"
"And this place is safe?"
"As safe as I can makeEvite.ryone here has been screened by me or by my people."
Lucilla found a long couch that smelled of old perfumes and composed herself there to scour her emotions of the dangerous hatWe. here hate entered, love might folloSwh!e heard Burzmali stretching
out to rest on cushions against a nearby wSoaolln. , he was breathing deeply, but sleep evaded Lucilla. She kept sensing crowds of memories, things thrust forward by the Others who shared her inner storerooms of thinkingA. bruptly, inner vision gave her a glimpse of a street and faces, people moving in
bright sunlight.It took a moment for her to realize that she saw all of this from a peculiar angle -- that she was being cradled in someone's armSsh.e knew then that this was one of her own personal memories.
She could place the one who held her, feel the warm heartbeat next to a warm cheek.
Lucilla tasted the salt of her own tears.
She realized then that Gammu had touched her more deeply than any experience since her first days in the Bene Gesserit schools.

Concealed behind strong barriers the heart becomes ice.
-Darwi Odrade, Argument in Council
It was a group filled with fierce tensiToanrsa:za (wearing secret mail under her robe and mindful of the other precautions she had taken), Odrade (certain that there could be violence and consequently wary), Sheeana (thoroughly briefed on the probabilities here and shielded behind three Security Mothers who moved with her like fleshly armor), Waff (worried that his reason might have been clouded by some mysterious Bene Gesserit artifice), the false Tuek (giving every evidence that he was about to erupt in rage), and nine of Tuek's Rakian counselors (each angrily engaged in seeking ascendancy for self or family).
In addition, five guardian acolytes, bred and trained by the Sisterhood for physical violence, stayed close to Taraza.Waff moved with an equal number of new Face Dancers.
They had convened in the penthouse atop the Dar-es-Balat MuIsteuwma.s a long room with a wall of plaz facing west across a roof garden of lacy greeTnehrey.interior was furnished with soft divans and was decorated with artful displays from the Tyrant's no-room.
Odrade had argued against including Sheeana but Taraza remained adaTmhaentg. irl's effect on Waff and some of the priesthood represented an overwhelming advantage for the Bene Gesserit.
There were dolban screens over the long wall of windows to keep out the worst glare of a westering sun. That the room faced west said something to OdrTahde. windows looked into the land of gloaming where Shai-hulud took his reposIet. was a room focused on the past, on death.
She admired the dolbans in front of Thheery.
were flat black slats ten molecules wide and rotating in a
transparent liquid mediumS. et automatically, the best Ixian dolbans admitted a predetermined level of light without much diminishing the vieAwr.tists and antique dealers preferred them to polarizing systems, Odrade knew, because they admitted a full spectrum of available Tlhigehirt. installation spoke of the uses to which this room was put -- a display case for the best of the God EmperoYr'essh-o-artdh.ere was
a gown that had been worn by his intended bride.

The priestly counselors were arguing fiercely among themselves at one end of the room, ignoring the false Tuek.Taraza stood nearby listeningH. er expression said she thought the priests fools.
Waff stood with his Face Dancer entourage near the wide entranceHidsooatrt.ention shifted from
Sheeana to Odrade to Taraza and only occasionally to the arguing pErvieesrtys. movement Waff made
betrayed his uncertaintiesW.
ould the Bene Gesserit really support hiCmo?uld they together override
Rakian opposition by peaceful means?
Sheeana and her shielding escort came to stand beside OdTrhaedeg. irl still showed stringy muscles, Odrade observed, but she was filling out and the muscles had taken on a recognizable Bene Gesserit definition. The high planes of her cheekbones had grown softer under that olive skin, the brown eyes more liquid, but there were still red sunstreaks in her brownThheaiar.ttention she spared for the arguing priests said she was assessing what had been revealed to her in the briefing.
"Will they really fight?sh"e whispered.
"Listen to them," Odrade said.
"What will the Mother Superior do?"
"Watch her carefully."
Both of them looked at Taraza standing in her group of muscular aTcoarlyazteas.now looked amused as she continued to observe the priests.
The Rakian group had started their argument out in the roof gTahredyenh. ad brought it inside as the shadows lengthened.They breathed angrily, muttering sometimes and then raising their voDicides.they not see how the mimic Tuek watched them?
Odrade returned her attention to the horizon visible beyond the roof gnaortdeanother sign of life out

there in the deserAt. ny direction you looked outward from Dar-es-Balat showed empty
Psaenodp.le
born and raised here had a different view of life and their planet than most of those priestly counselors. This was not the Rakis of green belts and watered oases, which abounded in the higher latitudes like flowered fingers pointing into the long desert traOckust. from Dar-es-Balat was the meridian desert that stretched like a cummerbund around the entire planet.
"I have heard enough of this nonsentshee!" false Tuek explodedH. e pushed one of the counselors roughly aside and strode into the middle of the arguing group, pivoting to stare into e"aAchre fyaoceu. all mad?"
One of the priests (It was old Albertus, by the gods!) looked across the room at Waff and called out: "Ser Waff!Will you please control your Face Dancer?"
Waff hesitated and then moved toward the disputants, his entourage close behind.
The false Tuek whirled and pointed a finger at "WYaofuf!: Stay where you areI! will brook no Tleilaxu interference! Your conspiracy is quite clear to me!"
Odrade had been watching Waff as the mimic Tuek sSpuorkper.ise! The Bene Tleilax Master had never before been addressed thus by one of his minWiohnas.t a shock!Rage convulsed his features.
Humming sounds like the noises of angry insects came from his mouth, a modulated thing that clearly was some kind of languageT.he Face Dancers of his entourage froze but the false Tuek merely returned
attention to his counselors.
Waff stopped hummingC. onsternation! His Face Dancer Tuek would not come to hHeel!lurched into motion toward the priestsT.he false Tuek saw it and once more leveled a hand at him, the finger quivering.
"I told you to stay out of Ythoisu! might be able to do away with me but you'll not saddle me with your
Tleilaxu filth!"
That did iWt. aff stopped.Realization came over himH. e shot a glance at Taraza, seeing her amused recognition of his predicamenNt. ow, he had a new target for his rage.

"You knew!"
"I suspected."
"You . . . you . . ."
"You fashioned too well," Taraza sa"iIdt'.s your own doing."
The priests were oblivious to this exchanTghee.y shouted at the false Tuek, ordering him to shut up and remove himself, calling him a "damned Face Dancer!"
Odrade studied the object of this attack with Hcaorwe. deep did the print gHo?ad he really convinced himself that he was Tuek?
In a sudden lull, the mimic drew himself up with dignity and sent a scornful glance at h"isYoauccusers. all know me," he sai"dY. ou all know my years of service to the Divided God Who is OInewGillodg.o
to Him now if your conspiracy extends to that but remembeHr ethkisn:ows what is in your hearts!"
The priests looked as one man to WNaofnf.e of them had seen a Face Dancer replace their High Priest. There had been no body to sEeve.ery bit of evidence was the evidence of human voices saying things
that might be liesB. elatedly, several looked at OdradeH. er voice was one of those that had convinced them.
Waff, too, was looking at Odrade.
She smiled and addressed herself to the Tleilaxu M"aIsttesr.uits our purposes that the High Priesthood not pass into other hands at this time," she said.
Waff immediately saw the advantage to himsTehlfi.s was a wedge between priests and Bene Gesserit. This removed one of the most dangerous holds the Sisterhood had on the Tleilaxu.

"It suits my purposes, too," he said.
As the priests once more lifted their voices in anger, Taraza came in righ"tWohnicchueo:f you will break our accord?" she demanded.
Tuek thrust two of his counselors aside and strode across the room to the Mother HSeupsetroioprp.ed only a pace from her.
"What game is this?" he asked.
"We support you against those who would replace you," she"TshaeidB. ene Tleilax join us in thItisi.s our way of demonstrating that we, too, have a vote in selecting the High Priest."
Several priestly voices were raised in unis"oIsn:he or is he not a Face Dancer?"
Taraza looked benignly at the man in front o"fAhreer:you a Face Dancer?"
"Of course not!"
Taraza looked at Odrade, who sa"iTdh: ere seems to have been a mistake."
Odrade singled out Albertus among the priests and locked eyes wit"hShheimea.na," Odrade said, "what should the Church of the Divided God do now?"
As she had been briefed to do, Sheeana stepped out of her guardian enclosure and spoke with all of the hauteur she had been taugh"tT: hey shall continue to serve God!"

"The business of this meeting appears to have been concluded," Taraz"aIfsayiodu.
need protection,
High Priest Tuek, a squad of our guardians awaits in thTe hheayll.are yours to command."
They could see acceptance and understanding in Hhiem.had become a creature of the Bene Gesserit. He remembered nothing of his Face Dancer origins.
When the priests and Tuek had gone, Waff sent a single word at Taraza, speaking in the language of the
Islamiyat: "Explain!"
Taraza stepped away from her guards, appearing, to make herself vulneItrawblaes.
a calculated move
they had debated in front of SheeaInna.the same language, Taraza sa"idW: e release our grip on the
Bene Tleilax."
They waited while he weighed her wordTsa.raza reminded herself that the Tleilaxu name for themselves could be translated as "the un-nameableT.h"at was a label often reserved for gods.
This god obviously had not extended the discovery in here to what might be happening with his mimics among Ixians and Fish SpeakerWs. aff had more shocks cominHg.e appeared quite puzzled, though.
Waff confronted many unanswered questionHse.
was not satisfied with his reports from GamImt wu.as
a dangerous double game he played noDwid.
the Sisterhood play a similar gamBeu?t the Tleilaxu Lost
Ones could not be shunted aside without inviting attack by the Honored MTaartarzeas. herself had
warned of thisD.
id the old Bashar on Gammu still represent a force worthy of consideration?
He voiced this question.
Taraza countered with her own questi"oHn:ow did you change our gholWa?hat did you hope to gain?" She felt certain she already kneBwu. t the pose of ignorance was necessary.
Waff wanted to sa"yT: he death of all Bene GesseriTt!h"ey were too dangerousY. et their value was incalculable. He sank into a sulking silence, looking at the Reverend Mothers with a brooding expression that made his elfin features even more childlike.

A petulant child, Taraza thougShht.e warned herself then that it was dangerous to underestimate Waff. You broke the Tleilaxu egg only to find another egg inside -- ad infEinvietruymth!ing circled back to Odrade's suspicions about the contentions that might still lead them to bloody violence in thisHarodom. the Tleilaxu really revealed what they had learned from the whores and the other LoWst aOs ntehse?
ghola only a potential Tleilaxu weapon?
Taraza decided to prod him once more, using the approach of her Council's "AnalysiSstilNl iinne.t"he language of the Islamiyat, she sa"idW: ould you dishonor yourself in the land of the PropYhoeut? have not shared openly as you said you would."
"We told you the sexual --"
"You do not share all!" she interrup"tIetd's.
because of the ghola and we know this."
She could see his reactionHse.
was a cornered animaSl.uch animals were dangerous in the extreme.
She had once seen a mongrel hound, a feral and tail-tucked survivor of ancient pets from Dan, cornered by a pack of youthTs.he animal turned on its pursuers, slashing its way to freedom in totally unexpected savagery. Two youths crippled for life and only one without injuWriaefsf! was like that animal right now.
She could see his hands longing for a weapon, but Tleilaxu and Bene Gesserit had searched one another with exquisite care before coming heSreh.e felt sure he had no weapSotni.ll . . .
Waff spoke, baited suspense in his man"nYero.u think me unaware of how you hope to rule us!" "And there is the rot that the people of the Scattering took with them," "sRhoet saatidt.he core." Waff's manner changedI.t did not do to ignore the deeper implications of Bene Gesserit thBouutght.
was she sowing discord?
"The Prophet set a locator ticking in the minds of every human, Scattered or not," Ta"rHazea hsaasid. brought them back to us with all of the rot intact."

Waff ground his teetWh. hat was she doingH? e entertained the mad thought that the Sisterhood had clogged his mind with some secret drug in theThaeiyr. knew things denied to otheHrs!e stared from
Taraza to Odrade and back to TaraHzae. knew he was old with serial ghola resurrections but not old in the way of the Bene GesserTith.ese people were oldT! hey seldom looked old but they were old, old beyond anything he dared imagine.
Taraza was having similar thoughStsh.e had seen the flash of deeper awareness in Waff's eyes. Necessity opened new doors of reasoHno. w deep did the Tleilaxu gHo?is eyes were so oldS!he had
the feeling that whatever had been a brain in these Tleilaxu Masters was now something else -- a holorecording from which all weakening emotions had been eraSsheed. shared the distrust of emotions that she suspected in himW. as that a bond to unite them?
The tropism of common thoughts.
"You say you release your grip on us," Waff growled, "but I feel your fingers around my throat."
"Then here is a grip on our throat," she"Ssaoimd.e of your Lost Ones have returned to Nyoeuv.er has a Reverend Mother come back to us from the Scattering."
"But you said you knew all of the --"
"We have other ways of gaining knowledWgeh.at do you suppose happened to the Reverend Mothers we sent out into the Scattering?"
"A common disaster?H" e shook his headT.his was absolutely new informatioNn.one of the returned
Tleilaxu had said anything at all about tThhise.
discrepancy fed his suspicionWs. hom was he to believe?
"They were subverted," Taraza said.
Odrade, hearing the general suspicion voiced for the first time by the Mother Superior, sensed the enormous power implicit in Taraza's simple statemeOndt.rade was cowed by iSt.he knew the
resources, the contingency plans, the improvised ways a Reverend Mother might use to surmount

barriers. Something Out There could stop that?
When Waff did not respond, Taraza s"aYido:u come to us with dirty hands."
"You dare say this?W" aff asked."You who continue to deplete our resources in the ways taught you by the Bashar's mother?"
"We knew you could afford the losses if you had resources from the Scattering," Taraza said.
Waff inhaled a trembling breaStho.
the Bene Gesserit knew even thHise. saw in part how they had
learned it.Well, a way would have to be found to bring the false Tuek back underRcaoknistrowl.as the prize the Scattered Ones really sought and it might yet be demanded of the Tleilaxu.
Taraza moved even closer to Waff, alone and vulnerSahbele.saw her guards grow tensSeh.eeana took a small step toward the Mother Superior and was pulled back by Odrade.
Odrade kept her attention on the Mother Superior and not on potential atWtacekrersth. e Tleilaxu
truly convinced that the Bene Gesserit would serve thTemara?za had tested the limits of it, no doubt of that. And in the language of the IslamiyBaut.t she looked very alone out there away from her guards and so near Waff and his peopWle.here would Waff's obvious suspicions lead him now?
Taraza shivered.
Odrade saw itT. araza had been abnormally thin as a child and had never put on an excess ounce of fat. This made her exquisitely sensitive to temperature changes, intolerant of cold, but Odrade sensed no such change in the roomT.araza had made a dangerous decision then, so dangerous that her body betrayed
her. Not dangerous to herself, of course, but dangerous to the SisterThoheorde. was the most awful
Bene Gesserit crimed: isloyalty to their own order.
"We will serve you in all ways except one," Taraza"Wsaeidw. ill never become receptacles for gholas!"

Waff paled.
Taraza continued": None of us is now nor will ever becomesh. e. p."aused ". . . an axlotl tank."
Waff raised his right hand in the start of a gesture every Reverend Mothethreksniegwna:l for his Face
Dancers to attack.
Taraza pointed at his upraised ha"nIdf. you complete that gesture, the Tleilaxu will lose everytThhineg. messenger of God --" Taraza nodded over a shoulder toward Sheeana "-- will turn her back upon you and the words of the Prophet will be dust in your mouths."
In the language of the Islamiyat, such words were too much foHr eWlaofwf.ered his hand but he continued to glower at Taraza.
"My ambassador said we would share everything we know," Taraza"Ysoaiud.said you, too, would share. The messenger of God listens with the ears of the ProWphheatt! pours forth from the Abdl of the Tleilaxu?"
Waff's shoulders sagged.
Taraza turned her back on hIimt
.was an artful move but both she and the other Reverend Mothers
present knew she did it now in perfect saLfeotyo.king across the room at Odrade, Taraza allowed
herself a smile that she knew Odrade would interpret correTcitmlye. punishment!
for a bit of Bene Gesserit
"The Tleilaxu desire an Atreides for breeding," Taraza "sIaigdi.ve you Darwi OdradMe.ore will be supplied."
Waff came to a decisio"nY.ou may know much about the Honored Matres," he said, "but you --"
"Whores!"Taraza whirled on him.

"As you wilBl.ut there is a thing from them that your words reveal you do noIt skenaol wo.ur bargain
by telling you thisT.hey can magnify the sensations of the orgasmic platform, transmitting this throughout a male bodyT. hey elicit the total sensual involvement of the mMaulel.tiple orgasmic waves are created
and may be continued by the . . . the female for an extended period."
"Total involvement?"Taraza did not try to hide her astonishment.
Odrade, too, listened with a sense of shock that she saw was shared by her Sisters present, even the acolytes. Only Sheeana seemed not to understand.
"I tell you, Mother Superior Taraza," Waff said, a gloating smile on his face, "that we have duplicated this with our own peoplMe.yself even!In my anger, I caused the Face Dancer who played the . . . female part to destroy itselNf.o one . . . I say, no one! may have such a hold on me!"
"What hold?"
"If it had been one of these . . . these whores, as you call them, I would have obeyed her without question in anything."He shuddered."I barely had the will to . . . to destroHy e. s.h.o"ok his head in bewilderment at the memory".Anger saved me."
Taraza tried to swallow in a dry th"roHaot.w . . ."
"How is it doneV?ery well!But before I share this knowledge I warn Iyfouo:ne of you ever tries to use this power over one of us, bloody slaughter will foWlloew!have prepared our Domel and all of our
people to respond by killing all Reverend Mothers they can find at the slightest sign that you seek this power over us!"
"None of us would do that, but not because of your Wthereart.e restrained by the knowledge that this
would destroy usY.
our bloody slaughter would not be necessary."

"Oh?Then why does it not destroy these . . . these whores?"
"It does!And it destroys everyone they touch!"
"It has not destroyed me!"
"God protects you, my Abdl," Taraza s"aAids. He protects all of the faithful."
Convinced, Waff glanced around the room and back to T"aLraezta.all know that I fulfill my bond in the
land of the PropheTt.his is the way of it, then
"We will demonstrate."
H. e. .w" aved a hand to two of his Face Dancer guards.
Much later, alone in the penthouse room, Odrade wondered if it had been wise to let Sheeana see the whole performance.Well, why not?Sheeana already was committed to the SisterhoAodn.d it would
have aroused Waff's suspicions to send Sheeana away.
There had been obvious sensual arousal in Sheeana as she watched the Face Dancer perfoTrhmeance. Training Proctors would have to call in their male assistants earlier than usual for SWheheaat nwa.ould Sheeana do then?Would she try this new knowledge on the mInehni?bitions must be raised in Sheeana
to prevent that!She must be taught the dangers to herself.
The Sisters and acolytes present had controlled themselves well, storing what they learned firmly in memory. Sheeana's education must be built on that observatOiotnh.ers mastered such internal forces.
The Face Dancer observers had remained inscrutable, but there had been things to see Hine
Wsaiadff.
he would destroy the two demonstrators but what would he doWfiorustl?d he succumb to temptation? What thoughts went through his mind as he watched the Face Dancer male squirm in mind-blanking ecstasy?
In a way, the demonstration reminded Odrade of the Rakian dance she had seen in the Great Square of
Keen. In the short term, the dance had been deliberately unrhythmic but the progression created a long-term rhythm that repeated itself in some two hundred . . .Thsteepdsa. ncers had stretched out their rhythm to a remarkable degree.

As had the Face Dancer demonstrators.
Siaynoq become a sexual grip on uncounted billions in the Scattering!
Odrade thought about the dance, the long rhythm followed by chaotic viSoilaeynnceo.q's glorious focusing of religious energies had devolved into a different kind of excShahnegeth. ought about
Sheeana's excited response to her glimpses of that dance in the Great SOqduraardee. asking Sheeana:"What did they share down there?"
"The dancers, silly!"
remembered
That response had not been permissib"lIe'v. e warned you about that tone, SheeaDnao. you wish to learn immediately what a Reverend Mother can do to punish you?"
The words played themselves like ghost messages in Odrade's mind as she looked at the gathering
darkness outside the Dar-es-Balat penthousAe. great loneliness welled up in hAelrl. from this room.
Only the punished one remains!
the others had gone
How bright-eyed Sheeana had been in that room above the Great Square, her mind so full of questions. "Why do you always talk about hurting and punishment?"
"You must learn disciplinHe.ow can you control others when you cannot control yourself?"
"I don't like that lesson."
"None of us does very much . . . until later when we've learned the value of it by experience."

As intended, that response had festered long in Sheeana's awareInetshse. she knew about the dance.
end, she had revealed all
"Some of the dancers escapOet.hers go directly to ShaitaTn.he priests say they go to Shai-hulud."
"What of the ones who survive?"
"When they recover, they must join a great dance in the Idf eSsehrati.tan comes there, they dIife. Shaitan does not come, they are rewarded."
Odrade had seen the patterSnh.eeana's explanatory words had not been necessary beyond that point,
even though the recital had been allowed to contiHnuoew.
bitter Sheeana's voice had been!
"They get money, space in a bazaar, that kind of reTwheardp.riests say they have proved that they are human."
"Are the ones who fail not human?"
Sheeana had remained silent for a long time in deep thTohueghttr.ack was clear to Odrade, thoutghhe: Sisterhood's test of humanityH! er own passage into the acceptable humanity of the Sisterhood had already been duplicated by SheeanHa.ow soft that passage seemed in comparison to the other pains!
In the dim light of the museum penthouse, Odrade held up her right hand, looking at it, remembering the agony box, and the gom jabbar poised at her neck ready to kill her if she flinched or cried out.
Sheeana had not cried out, eithBeur.t she had known the answer to Odrade's question even before the agony box.

"They are human but different."
Odrade spoke aloud in the empty room with its displays from the Tyrant's no-chamber hoard.
"What did you do to us, LeAtore? you only Shaitan talking to now?"
Was the fossil dance to become fossil sex?
"Who are you talking to, Mother?"
Wus?hat would you force us to share
It was Sheeana's voice from the open doorway across the Hroeormg.ray postulant's robe was only a faint shape there, growing larger as she approached.
"Mother Superior sent me for you," Sheeana said as she came to a stop near Odrade.
"I was talking to myself," Odrade sSahide. looked at the strangely quiet girl, remembering the
gut-wrenching excitement of that moment when the Fulcrum Question had been asked of Sheeana.
"Do you wish to be a Reverend Mother?"
"Why are you talking to yourself, MotheTrh?e"re was a load of concern in Sheeana's voTihce. Teaching Proctors would have their hands full removing those emotions.
"I was remembering when I asked you if you wished to be a Reverend Mother," Od"rIatde said. prompted other thoughts."
"You said I must give myself to your direction in all things, holding back nothing, disobeying you in nothing."

"And you said'I:s that all?' "
"I didn't know very much, didI sI?till don't know very much."
"None of us does, chiEldx.cept that we're all in the dance togetAhenrd. the least of us fails."
Shaitan will certainly come if
When strangers meet, great allowance should be made for differences of custom and training.
-The Lady Jessica, from "Wisdom of Arrakis"
The last greenish line of light fell out of the horizon before Burzmali gave the signal for theImt
to move.
was dark by the time they reached the far side of Ysai and the perimeter road that was to lead them to
Duncan. Clouds covered the sky, reflecting the city's lights downward onto the shapes of the urban hovels through which their guides directed them.

These guides bothered LucillTa.hey appeared out of side streets and from suddenly opened doorways to whisper new directions.
Too many people knew about the fugitive pair and their intended rendezvous!
She had come to grips with her hatred but the residue was a profound distrust of every person they saw. Hiding this behind the mechanical attitudes of a playfem with her customer had become increasingly
difficult.
There was slush on the pedestrian way beside the road, most of it scattered there by the passage of groundcars. Lucilla's feet were cold before they had gone half a kilometer and she was forced to expend energy compensating for the added bloodflow in her extremities.
Burzmali walked silently, his head down, apparently lost in his own wLourcrilelsa. was not fooledH. e heard every sound around them, saw every approaching vehHicele.hustled them off the pathway each time a groundcar approached.The cars went swishing past on their suspensors, the dirty slush flying from under their fanskirts and peppering the bushes along the Bruorazdm. ali held her down beside him in the snow until he was sure the cars were out of sight andNsootunthda.t anyone riding in them could
hear much except their own whirling passage.
They had been walking for two hours before Burzmali stopped and took stock of the wTahyeiarhead. destination was a perimeter community that had been described to them as "completelyLuscailflea."
knew better.No place on Gammu was completely safe.
Yellow lights cast an undershot glow on the clouds ahead of them, marking the location of the community. Their slushy progress took them through a tunnel under the perimeter road and up a low hill planted to some sort of orcharTdh.e limbs were stark in the dim light.
Lucilla glanced upwardT.he clouds were thinningG. ammu had many small moons -- fortress no-ships. Some of them had been placed by Teg but she glimpsed lines of new ones sharing the guardian role. They appeared to be about four times the size of the brightest stars and they often traveled together, which made their reflected light useful but erratic because they moved fast -- up across the sky and below the horizon in only a few hoSuhrse. glimpsed a string of six such moons through a break in the clouds, wondering if they were part of Teg's defense system.

Momentarily, she reflected on the inherent weakness of the siege mentality that such defenses represented. Teg had been right about theMm.obility was the key to military success but she doubted that he had meant mobility on foot.
There were no easy hiding places on the snow-whitened slope and Lucilla felt Burzmali's nervousness. What could they do here if someone camAe?snow-covered depression led down from their position to
the left, angling toward the communiItty.was not a road but she thought it might be a path.
"Down this way," Burzmali said, leading them into the depression.
The snow came up to their calves.
"I hope these people are trustworthy," she said.
"They hate the Honored Matres," he s"aTidh.at's enough for me."
"The ghola had better be therSeh!"e held back an even more angry response but could not keep herself from adding:"Their hatred isn't enough for me."
It was better to expect the worst, she thought.
She had come to a reassuring thought about Burzmali, thHoueghw.as like TegN. either of them pursued a course that would lead them into a dead end -- not if they couldShheelspusipt.ected there were support forces concealed in the bushes around them even now.
The snow-covered trail ended in a paved pathway, gently curved inward from the edges and kept free of snow by a melt systeTmh.ere was a trickle of dampness in the ceLntuecri.lla was several steps onto
this path before she recognized what it must be -- a magIct hwutaes.
an ancient magnetic transport base
that once had carried goods or raw materials to a pre-Scattering factory.
"It gets steeper here," Burzmali warned "hTehr.ey've carved steps in it but watchThite.y're not very

deep."
They came presently to the end of the magcIhtusteto. pped at a decrepit wall -- local brick atop a
plasteel foundation.The faint light of stars in a clearing sky revealed crude workmanship in the bricks -- typical Famine-Times constructionT. he wall was a mass of vines and mottled fuTnghues.growth did
little to conceal the cracked courses of the bricks and the crude efforts to fill chinks wiAth sminogrltear.
row of narrow windows looked down onto the place where the magchute debouched into a mass of bushes and weedsT. hree of the windows glowed electric blue with some inner activity that was accompanied by faint crackling sounds.
"This was a factory in the old days," Burzmali said.
"I have eyes and a memory," Lucilla snapDpeidd. this grunting male think her completely devoid of intelligence?
Something creaked dismally off to their Aleftp. atch of sod and weeds lifted atop a cellar door accompanied by an upward glow of brilliant yellow light.
"Quick!"Burzmali led her at a swift run across thick vegetation and down a flight of steps exposed by the lifting doorT. he door creaked closed behind them in a grumbling of machinery.
Lucilla found herself in a large space with a low cLeiglihntg.came from long lines of modern glowglobes strung along massive plasteel girders overheaTdh.e floor was swept clean but showed scratches and indentations of activity, the locations no doubt of bygone machiSnheery.glimpsed movement far off
across the open spaceA.
young woman in a version of Lucilla's dragon robe trotted toward them.
Lucilla sniffedT. here was a stink of acid in the room and undertones of something foul.
"This was a Harkonnen factory," Burzmali s"aIidw. onder what they made here?"
The young woman stopped in front of LucSihllea. had a willowy figure, elegant in shape and motion
under the clinging robeA.
subcutaneous glow came from her faIcte.spoke of exercise and good health.
The green eyes, though, were hard and chilling in the way they measured everything they saw.

"So they sent more than one of us to watch this place," she said.
Lucilla put out a restraining hand as Burzmali started to reTsphoisndw. oman was not what she seemed.
No more than I amL!ucilla chose her words carefull"yW.
e always know each other, it seems."
The young woman smile"dI.
watched your approachI. could not believe my eyeSs.h"e swept a
sneering glance across Burzmal"i.This was supposed to be a customer?"
"And guide," Lucilla saiSdh. e noted the puzzlement on Burzmali's face and prayed he would not ask the wrong question.This young woman was danger!
"Weren't we expected?" Burzmali asked.
"Ahhhh, it speaks," the young woman said, laughHinegr . laugh was as cold as her eyes.
"I prefer that you do not refer to me as 'it,' " Burzmali said.
"I call Gammu scum anything I wish," the young woman"Dsoanid't.
speak to me of your preferences!"
"What did you call meB?"urzmali was tired and his anger came boiling up at this unexpected attack.
"I call you anything I choose, scum!"
Burzmali had suffered enougBh.efore Lucilla could stop him, he uttered a low growl and aimed a heavy slap at the young woman.

The blow did not land.
Lucilla watched in fascination as the woman dropped under the attack, caught Burzmali's sleeve as one might catch a bit of fabric blowing in the wind and, in a blindingly fast pirouette whose speed almost hid
its delicacy, sent Burzmali skidding across the flToohre. the other prepared to kick.
"I shall kill him now," she said.
woman dropped to a half crouch on one foot,
Lucilla, not knowing what might happen next, folded her body sideways, barely avoiding the woman's suddenly outthrust foot, and countered with a standard Bene Gesserit sabard that dumped the young woman on her back doubled up where the blow had caught her in the abdomen.
"A suggestion that you kill my guide is uncalled for, whatever your name is," Lucilla said.
The young woman gasped for breath, then, panting between w"oI radms:
called Murbella, Great
Honored Matre.You shame me by defeating me with such a slow aWttahcyk. do you do that?"
"You needed a lesson," Lucilla said.
"I am only newly robed, Great Honored MPalterea.se forgive meI.
thank you for the splendid lesson
and will thank you every time I employ your response, which I now commit to mSehme obroy.w" ed her head, then leaped lightly to her feet, an impish grin on her face.
In her coldest voice, Lucilla ask"eDd:o you know who I amO?"ut of the corners of her eyes, she saw Burzmali regain his feet with painful slowneHsse. remained at one side, watching the women, but anger burned his face.
"From your ability to teach me that lesson, I see that you are who you are, Great HonoAremd IMatre.
forgiven?" The impish grin had vanished from Murbella's fSachee.
stood with head bowed.

"You are forgivenI.s there a no-ship coming?"
"So they say herWe. e are prepared for itM." urbella glanced at Burzmali.
"He is still useful to me and it is required that he accompany me," Lucilla said. "Very good, Great Honored MatDreo. es your forgiveness include your name?" "No!"
Murbella sighed". We have captured the ghola," she sa"iHd.e came as a Tleilaxu from the soIutwh.as just about to bed him when you arrived."
Burzmali hobbled toward themL.ucilla saw that he had recognized the danTgehris. place had been infested by enemieBsu! t the enemies still knew very little.
"The ghola was not injured?" Burzmali asked.
"It still speaks," Murbella sa"idH.ow odd."
"You will not bed the ghola," Lucilla "sTaihda.t one is my special charge!"
"completely safe"
"Fair game, Great Honored MatAren. d I marked him firsHt.e is already partly subdued."
She laughed once more, with a callous abandonment that shocked L"uTchililsa.way.There is a place where you can watch."

May you die on Caladan!
-Ancient Drinking Toast
Duncan tried to remember where he wHaes. knew Tormsa was deaBd.lood had spurted from
Tormsa's eyes.Yes, he remembered that clearlTy.hey had entered a dark building and light had flared abruptly all around themD. uncan felt an ache in the back of his hAeabdl.ow?He tried to move and his muscles refused to obey.
He remembered sitting at the edge of a wide Tlahwerne.
was some kind of bowling game in progress --
eccentric balls that bounced and darted with no apparent deTsihgen.players were young men in a common costume of . . . Giedi Prime!
"They are practicing to be old men," he Hsaeidr.emembered saying that.
His companion, a young woman, looked at him blankly.
"Only old men should play these outdoor games," he said.

"Oh?"
It was an unanswerable questioSnh.e put him down with only the simplest of verbal gestures.
And betrayed me the next instant to the Harkonnens!
So that was a pre-ghola memory.
Ghola!
He remembered the Bene Gesserit Keep on GamTmheu. library:holophotos and triphotos of the
Atreides Duke, Leto IT. eg's resemblance was not an accideant:bit taller but otherwise it was all there
-- that long, thin face with its high-bridged nose, the renowned Atreides charisma . . .
Teg!
He remembered the old Bashar's last gallant stand in the Gammu night.
Where am I?
Tormsa had brought him heTreh.ey had been moving along an overgrown track on the outskirts of Ysai. Barony. It started to snow before they were two hundred meters up theWtreatcksn. ow that clung to
them. Cold, miserable snow that set their teeth chattering within a mTinhuetye. paused to bring up their hoods and close the insulated jackeTtsh.at was betterB. ut it would be night sooMn.uch colder.
"There is a shelter of sorts up ahead," Tormsa"Wsaeid.will wait there for the night."

When Duncan did not speak, Tormsa s"aIitd:won't be warm but it will be dry."
Duncan saw the gray outline of the place in about three hundredIt psatcoeosd.
out against the dirty
snow some two stories taHll.e recognized it immediatelya: Harkonnen counting outposOt. bservers here had counted (and sometimes killed) the people who pasIstewd.as built of native dirt turned into one giant brick by the simple expedient of preforming it in mud bricks and then superheating it with a wide-bore burner, the kind the Harkonnens had used to control mobs.
As they came up to it, Duncan saw the remains of a full-field defensive screen with fire-lance gaps aimed
at the approachesS. omeone had smashed the system a long time Tag
ois. ted holes in the field net were
partly overgrown with bushesB. ut the fire-lance gaps remained opeOnh. , yes -- to allow people inside a view of the approaches.
Tormsa paused and listened, studying their surroundings with care.
Duncan looked at the counting statiHone. remembered them welWl. hat confronted him was a thing that had sprouted like a deformed growth from an original tubular Tsheeds. urface had been baked to a glassine finish. Warts and protrusions betrayed where it had been superheTahteed.erosion of eons had left fine scratches in it but the original shape remaHineedl.ooked upward and identified part of the old suspensor lift systemS. omeone had jury-rigged a block and tackle to the outbar.
So the opening through the full-field screen was of recent making.
Tormsa disappeared into this opening.
As though a switch had been thrown, Duncan's memory vision chHanegewd.as in the no-globe's library with Teg.The projector was producing a series of views through modern TYhseaii.dea of modern took on an odd overtone for hiBma.rony had been a modern city, if you thought of modern as meaning
technologically usiform up to the norms of its tIitmhea. d relied exclusively on suspensor guide-beams for transport of people and material -- all of them higNhoupg.round-level openingsH. e was explaining this
to Teg.
The plan translated physically into a city that used every possible square meter of vertical and horizontal space for things other than movement of goods and humTahnes.guide-beam openings required only
enough head room and elbow room for the universal transport pods.

Teg spoke:"The ideal shape would be tubular with a flat top for the 'thopters."
"The Harkonnens preferred squares and rectangles."
That was true.
Duncan remembered Barony with a clearness that made him sShuivsepre.nsor tracks shot through it like worm holes -- straight, curved, flipping off at oblique angles . . . up, down, sEidxecwepatysf.or the rectangular absolute imposed by Harkonnen whim, Barony was built to a particular population-design criterion: maximum stuffing with minimum expenditure of materials.
"The flat top was the only human-oriented space in the damned Htheinrge!m" embered telling that to
Teg and Lucilla both.
Up there on top were penthouses, guard stations at all the edges, at the 'thopter pads, at all the entries from below, around all of the parPkeso. ple living on the top could forget about the mass of flesh
squirming in close proximity just below theNmo. smell or noise from that jumble was allowed on top. Servants were forced to bathe and change into sanitary clothing before emerging.
Teg had a questio"nW:
hy did that massed humanity permit itself to live in such a crush?"
The answer was obvious and he explaineTdhiet. outside was a dangerous placTeh.e city's managers made it appear even more dangerous than it actually Bweassid. es, few in there knew anything about a better life OutsideT. he only better life they knew about was onAtnodp. the only way up there was through an absolutely abasing servility.
"It will happen and there's nothing you can do about it!"
That was another voice echoing in Duncan's sHkuell.heard it clearly.

Paul!
How odd it was, Duncan thougThht.ere was an arrogance in the prescient like the arrogance of the
Mentat seated in his most brittle logic.
I never before thought of Paul as arrogant.
Duncan stared at his own face in a mHirreorr.ealized with part of his mind that this was a pre-ghola memory. Abruptly, it was another mirror, his own face but diffeTrhenat. darkly rounded face had begun to shape into the harsher lines it could have if it maHtuereldo.oked into his own eyeYse. s, those were
his eyes.He had heard someone describe his eyes once as "cave siTttehresy." were deeply inset under
the brows and riding atop high cheeHkse. had been told it was difficult to determine if his eyes were dark blue or dark green unless the light were just right.
A woman said thaHt.e could not remember the woman.
He tried to reach up and touch his hair but his hands would nHoet orebmeye.mbered then that his hair
had been bleachedW.
ho did that?An old womanH. is hair was no longer a cap of dark ringlets.
There was the Duke Leto staring at him in the doorway to the dining room on Caladan.
"We will eat now," the Duke sIatidw. as a royal command saved from arrogance by a faint grin that said: "Somebody had to say it."
What is happening to my mind?
He remembered following Tormsa to the place where Tormsa said the no-ship would meet them.
It was a large building bulking in the nTihgehrte.
were several smaller outbuildings below the larger

structure. They appeared to be occupieVd.oices and machine sounds could be heard in thNeom.faces
showed at the narrow windowNs.o door openedD.
uncan smelled cooking as they passed the larger of
the outbuildings.This reminded him that they had only eaten dry strips of leathery stuff that Tormsa called
"travel food" that day.
They entered the dark building.
Light flared.
Tormsa's eyes exploded in blood.
Darkness.
Duncan looked at a woman's faHcee. had seen a face like this one befaorsei:ngle tride taken from a
longer holo sequenceW.
here was that?Where had he seen thaItt? was an almost oval face with just a
small widening at the brow to mar its curved perfection.
She spoke:"My name is MurbellaY. ou will not remember that but I share it now as I maIrkhayvoeu. selected you."
I do remember you, Murbella.
Green eyes set wide under arched brows gave her features a focal region that left chin and small mouth for later examinationT. he mouth was full-lipped and he knew it could become pouting in repose.
The green eyes stared into his eHyeosw.
cold that lookT. he power in it.
Something touched his cheek.

He opened his eyeTs.his was no memoryT!his was happening to himIt. was happening now!
Murbella!She had been here and she had left
Nhiomw.
she was backH. e remembered awakening
naked on a soft surface . . . a sleepingHpisadh.ands recognized iMt. urbella unclothed just above him, green eyes staring at him with a terrible intenSshitey. touched him simultaneously in many placAes.soft humming issued from between her lips.
He felt the swift erection, painful in its rigidity.
No power of resistance remained in hHimer. hands moved over his bodHye. r tongue.The humming!
All around him, her mouth touching hTimh.e nipples of her breasts grazed his cheeks, his cWhehset.n he saw her eyes, he saw conscious design.
Murbella had returned and she was doing it once more!
Over her right shoulder, he glimpsed a wide plaz window -- Lucilla and Burzmali behind thAat barrier. dream? Burzmali pressed his palms against the plLauz.cilla stood with folded arms, a look of mingled
rage and curiosity on her face.
Murbella murmured in his right e"aMr:y hands are fire."
Her body hid the faces behind the pHlaez.felt the fire wherever she touched him.
Abruptly, the flame engulfed his miHndid. den places within him came alivHee.
saw red capsules like a
string of gleaming sausages passing before his eHyees.felt feverishH. e was an engorged capsule, excitement flaring throughout his awarenesTs.hose capsules!He knew them!They were himself . . . they were . . .
All of the Duncan Idahos, original and the serial gholas flowed into hTishemyinwd.ere like bursting seedpods denying all other existence except themselvHese. saw himself crushed beneath a great worm with a human face.

"Damn you, Leto!"
Crushed and crushed and crushed . . . time and again.
"Damn you!Damn you!Damn you! . . ."
He died under a Sardaukar swoPrdai.n exploded into a bright glare swallowed by darkness.
He died in a 'thopter craHshe. died under the knife of a Fish Speaker assaHsseind. ied and died and died.
And he lived.
The memories flooded him until he wondered how he could hold thTehme aslwl.eetness of a newborn daughter held in his armTs.he musky odors of a passionate maTthe.e cascade of flavors from a fine Danian wine.The panting exertions of the practice floor.
The axlotl tanks!
He remembered emerging time after timbrei:ght lights and padded mechanical handTsh.e hands rotated
him and, in the unfocused blurs of the newborn, he saw a great mound of female flesh -- monstrous in her almost immobile grossness . . . a maze of dark tubes linked her body to giant metal containers.
Axlotl tank?
He gasped in the grip of the serial memories that cascaded inAtoll hoimf .those livesA! ll of those lives!
Now, he remembered what the Tleilaxu had planted in him, the submerged awareness that awaited only this moment of seduction by a Bene Gesserit Imprinter.

But this was Murbella and she was not Bene Gesserit.
She was here, though, ready at hand and the Tleilaxu pattern took over his reactions.
Duncan hummed softly and touched her, moving with an agility that shocked MHuerbeslhlao.uld not be this responsive!Not this way!His right hand fluttered against the lips of her vagina while his left hand
caressed the base of her spinAet.
the same time, his mouth moved gently over her nose, down to her
lips, down to the crease of her left armpit.
And all the time he hummed softly in a rhythm that pulsed through her body, lulling . . . weakening . . .
She tried to push away from him as he increased the pace of her responses.
How did he know to touch me there at just that iAnsntdanthere!And there!Oh, Holy Rock of Dur, how does he know this?
Duncan marked the swelling of her breasts and saw the congestion in hHere nsoaswe. the way her nipples stood out stiffly, the areolae darkening around thSehme . moaned and spread her legs wide.
Great Matre, help me!
But the only Great Matre she could think of was locked securely away from this room, restrained by a bolted door and a plaz barrier.
Desperate energy flowed into MurbelSlah.e responded in the only way she knteowuc: hing, caressing -- using all of the techniques she had learned so carefully in the long years of her apprenticeship.
To each thing she did, Duncan produced a wildly stimulating countermove.

Murbella found that she no longer could control all of her own resSphoenswesa.s reacting automatically from some well of knowledge deeper than her trainSihneg. felt her vaginal muscles tighteSnh.e felt the swift release of lubricant fluiWd. hen Duncan entered her she heard herself groHaenr. arms, her hands,
her legs, her entire body moved with both of the response systems -- well-trained automation and the deeper, deeper plunging awareness of other demands.
How did he do this to me?
Waves of ecstatic contractions began in the smooth muscles of her Spheelvsise.nsed his simultaneous response and felt the hard slap of his ejaculaTtiohnis. heightened her own responsEe.cstatic pulsations drove outward from the contractions in her vagina . . . outward . . . Tohuetweacrsdt.asy engulfed her
entire sensorium.She saw a spreading blaze of whiteness against her eyEelvidesry. an ecstasy she had not imagined possible for herself.
Again, the waves spread outward.
Again and again . . .
She lost count of the repetitions.
muscle quivered with
When Duncan moaned, she moaned and the waves swept outward once more.
And again . . .
There was no sensation of time or surroundings, only this immersion in a continuing ecstasy.
She wanted it to go on forever and she wanted it tTohisstosph.ould not be happening to a femAalne! Honored Matre must not experience thTish.ese were the sensations by which men were governed.

Duncan emerged from the response pattern that had been implanted iTnhehriem.was something else he was supposed to doH. e could not remember what it was.
Lucilla?
He imagined her dead in front of Bhiumt .this woman was not Lucilla; this was . . . this was Murbella.
There was very little strength in hHime .lifted himself off Murbella and managed to sink back onto his knees. Her hands were fluttering in an agitation he could not understand.
Murbella tried to push Duncan away from her and he was noHt etrheerey.es snapped open.
Duncan knelt above heSr.he had no idea how much time had pasSsheed. tried to find the energy to sit up and failedS. lowly, reason returned.
She stared into Duncan's eyes, knowing now who this man mMusat nb?eH. e was only a youtBh.ut he had done things . . . things . . . All of the Honored Matres had beeThweraernweda.s a ghola armed with forbidden knowledge by the TleilaxTuh.at ghola must be killed!
A small burst of energy surged into her musSchle .raised herself on her elbowGsa. sping for breath, she tried to roll away from him and fell back to the soft surface.
By the Holy Rock of DTuhr!is male could not be permitted to lHive! was a ghola and he could do things permitted only to Honored MatreSsh.e wanted to strike out at him and, at the same time, she
wanted to pull him back onto her boTdhye.
ecstasy!She knew that whatever he asked of her at this
moment she would doS.he would do it for him.
No!I must kill him!
Once more, she raised herself onto her elbows and, from there, managed tHo esritwuepa.kened gaze

crossed the window where she had confined the Great Honored Matre and theThgeuyidest.ill stood
there looking at herT.he man's face was flusheTd.he face of the Great Honored Matre was as unmoving as the Rock of Dur itself.
How can she just stand there after what she has seenThheereG?reat Honored Matre must kill this ghola!
Murbella beckoned to the woman behind the plaz and rolled toward the locked door beside the sleeping pad. She barely managed to unbolt and open the door before fallingHbearcke.yes looked up at the
kneeling youth.Sweat glistened on his bodHy.is lovely body . . .
No!
Desperation drove her off onto the flSoohre. was on her knees there and then, mostly by will power, she stood.Energy was returning but her legs trembled as she staggered around the foot of the sleeping pad.
I will do it myself without thinkIinmg.ust do it.
Her body swayed from side to sSidhee. tried to steady herself and aimed a blow at hisSnhe kk.new
this blow from long hours of practiIctew.
ould crush the larynTx.he victim would die of asphyxiation.
Duncan dodged the blow easily, but he was slow . . . slow.
Murbella almost fell beside him but the hands of the Great Honored Matre saved her.
"Kill him," Murbella gaspe"dH. e's the one we were warned aboHuet.'s the one!"
Murbella felt hands on her neck, the fingers pressing fiercely at the nerve bundles beneath the ears.

The last thing Murbella heard before unconsciousness was the Great Honored Matre "sWayeinwg:ill kill no oneT. his ghola goes to Rakis."
The worst potential competition for any organism can come from its owTnhekinsdp.ecies consumes necessities. Growth is limited by that necessity which is present in the least aTmhoeunlet.ast favorable condition controls the rate of grow(tLh.aw of the Minimum)
-From "Lessons of Arrakis"
The building stood back from a wide avenue behind a screen of trees and carefully tended flowering hedges. The hedges had been staggered in a maze pattern with man-high white posts to define the planted areas.No vehicle entering or leaving could do so at any speed above a slowTecgr'sawml.ilitary awareness took all of this in as the armored groundcar carried him up to tFhieeld oMora. rshal
Muzzafar, the only other occupant in the rear of the car, recognized Teg's assessment and said:
"We're protected from above by a beam enfilading systAems.o"ldier in camouflage uniform with a long lasgun on a sling over one shoulder opened the door and snapped to attention as Muzzafar emerged.
Teg followedH. e recognized this placeI.t was one of the "safe" addresses Bene Gesserit Security had provided for himO. bviously, the Sisterhood's information was out of dRateec.ently out of date, though,

because Muzzafar gave no indication that Teg might know this place.
As they crossed to the door, Teg noted that another protective system he had seen on his first tour of
Ysai remained intactI.t was a barely noticeable difference in the posts along the trees-and-hedges barriers. Those posts were scanlyzers operated from a room somewhere in the buTilhdeinirg.
diamond-shaped connectors "read" the area between them and the builAditngth. e gentle push of a
button in the watchers' room, the scanlyzers would make small chunks of meat out of any living flesh crossing their fields.
At the door, Muzzafar paused and looked at "Thge. Honored Matre you are about to meet is the most powerful of all who have come hSehree. does not tolerate anything but complete obedience."
"I take it that you are warning me."
"I thought you would understanCda.ll her Honored MatreN. othing else.In we goI.'ve taken the liberty of having a new uniform made for you."
The room where Muzzafar ushered him was one Teg had not seen on his previSomusallviasnitd. crammed with ticking black-paneled boxes, it left little room for the two oAf tshienmgl.e yellow
glowglobe at the ceiling illuminated the plaMceu.zzafar crowded himself into a corner while Teg got out of the grimed and wrinkled singlesuit he had worn since the no-globe.
"Sorry I can't offer you a bath as well," Muzzafar"Bsuatidw. e must not delaSyh. e gets impatient."
A different personality came over Teg with the unifIot rwma. s a familiar black garment, even to the starbursts at the collarS.o he was to appear before this Honored Matre as the Sisterhood's Bashar. Interesting. He was once more completely the Bashar, not that this powerful sense of identity had ever left him. The uniform completed it and announced it, thoIunghth. is garment there was no need to emphasize in any other way precisely who he was.
"That's better," Muzzafar said as he led Teg out into the entry hallway and through a door Teg remembered. Yes, this was where he had met the "safe" conHtaectsh.ad recognized the room's function then and nothing appeared to have changedRoitw. s of microscopic comeyes lined the intersection of ceiling and walls, disguised as silver guide strips for the hovering glowglobes.

The one who is watched does not see, Teg thoAungdht.the Watchers have a billion eyes.
His doubled vision told him there was danger here but nothing immediately violent.
This room, about five meters long and four wide, was a place for doing very high-levelThbeusiness. merchandise would never be an actual exposure of moPneeoyp. le here would see only portable
equivalents of whatever passed for currency -- melange, perhaps, or milky soostones about the size of an eyeball, perfectly round, at once glossy and soft in appearance but radiant with rainbow changes directed by whatever light fell on them or whatever flesh they touTchhiesd.was a place where a danikin of
melange or a small fold-pouch of soostones would be accepted as a natural occuTrhre
cperi.ce of a
planet could be exchanged here with only a nod, an eyeblink or a low-voiced mNourmwuarll.ets of
currency would ever be produced heTreh.e closest thing might be a thin case of translux out of whose poison-guarded interior would come thinner sheets of ridulian crystal with very large numbers inscribed on them by unforgeable dataprint.
"This is a bank," Teg said.
"What?"Muzzafar had been staring at the closed door in the opposite"Owha,lly. es.She'll be along presently."
"She is watching us now, of course."
Muzzafar did not answer but he looked gloomy.
Teg glanced around himH.ad anything been changed since his previous viHsiet?saw no significant alterations. He wondered if shrines such as this one had undergone much change at all over the eons. There was a dewcarpet on the floor as soft as brantdown and as white as the underbelly of aIt fur whale. shimmered with a false sense of wetness that only the eye deAtectbeadr.e foot (not that this place had
ever seen a bare foot) would feel caressing dryness.
There was a narrow table about two meters long almost in the center of tThheerotopm.was at least twenty millimeters thickT. eg guessed it was Danian jacarandTah.e deep brown surface had been polished to a sheen that drank the vision and revealed far underneath veins like river Tchuerrentws.ere

only four admiral's chairs around the table, chairs crafted by a master artisan from the same wood as the table, cushioned on seat and back with lyrleather of the exact tone of the polished wood.
Only four chairsM. ore would have been an overstatemeHnte.
had not tried one of the chairs before
and he did not seat himself now, but he knew what his flesh would find there -- comfort almost up to the level of a despised chairdoNg.ot quite at that degree of softness and conformity to bodily shape, of
course. Too much comfort could lure the sitter into relaxaTtihoins. room and its furnishings sa"idB:e comfortable here but remain alert."
You not only had to have your wits about you in this place but also a great power of violence behind you, Teg thoughtH. e had summed it up that way before and his opinion had not changed.
There were no windows but the ones he had seen from the outside had danced with lines of light-energy barriers to repel intruders and prevent escaSpuec. h barriers brought their own dangers, Teg knew, but
the implications were importanJt.ust keeping the energy flow in them would feed a large city for the lifetime of its longest-lived inhabitant.
There was nothing casual about this display of wealth.
The door that Muzzafar watched opened with a gentle click.
Danger!
A woman in a shimmering golden robe swept into the Lrionoems .of red-orange danced in the fabric.
She is old!
Teg had not expected her to be this ancHi ert.face was a wrinkled masTkh.e eyes were deeply set
green ice.Her nose was an elongated beak whose shadow touched thin lips and repeated the sharp angle
of the chinA.
black skullcap almost covered her gray hair.

Muzzafar bowed.
"Leave us," she said.
He left without a word, going out through the door by which she hadWehnetenretdh.e door closed behind him, Teg said, "Honored Matre."
"So you recognize this as a banHke.r" voice carried only a slight trembling.
"Of course."
"There are always means of transferring large sums or selling power," sh"Ie dsaoidn. ot speak of the power that runs factories but of the power that runs people."
"And that usually passes under the strange names of government or society or civilization," Teg said.
"I suspected you would be very intelligent," she Sshaeid.pulled out a chair and sat but did not indicate that Teg should seat himsel"fI. think of myself as a bankTehr.at saves a lot of muddy and distressful circumlocutions."
Teg did not responTd.here seemed no needH. e continued to study her.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she demanded.
"I did not expect you to be this old," he said.
"Heh, heh, hehW. e have many surprises for you, BashLaart.er, a younger Honored Matre may murmur her name to mark yoPu.raise Dur if that happens."

He nodded, not understanding much of what she said.
"This is also a very old building," she "sIaiwd.atched you when you came Dino.es that surprise you, too?"
"No."
"This building has remained essentially unchanged for several thousand Iyteaisrs.built of materials that will last much longer still."
He glanced at the table.
"Oh, not the wooBd.ut underneath, it's polastine, polaz, and pormabTaht.e three P-Os are never sneered at where necessity calls for them."
Teg remained silent.
"Necessity," she said".Do you object to any of the necessary things that have been done to you?"
"My objections don't matter," he saWidh. at was she getting aSt?tudying him, of courseA. s he studied her.
"Do you think others have ever objected to what you did to them?"
"Undoubtedly."
"You're a natural commander, BashIart.hink you'll be very valuable to us."

"I've always thought I was most valuable to myself."
"Bashar!Look at my eyes!"
He obeyed, seeing little flecks of orange drifting in across the Twhheitesse.nse of peril was acute.
"If you ever see my eyes fully orange, bewsahre!"said."You will have offended me beyond my ability to tolerate."
He nodded.
"I like it that you can command but you cannot commanYdoumec!ommand the muck and that is the only function we have for such as you."
"The muck?"
She waved a hand, a negligent mot"ioOnu.t there.You know themT. heir curiosity is narrow gaugNe.o great issues ever enter their awareness."
"I thought that was what you meant."
"We work to keep it that way," she "sEavide.rything goes to them through a tight filter, which excludes all but that which has immediate survival value."
"No great issues," he said.

"You are offended but it doesn't matter," she "sTaoid.those out there, a great issue'Wisi:ll I eat today?'
'Do I have shelter tonight that will not be invaded by attackers or vLeurmxuirny??' Luxury is the
possession of a drug or a member of the opposite sex who can, for a time, keep the beast at bay."
And you are the beast, he thought.
"I am taking some time with you, Bashar, because I see that you could be more valuable to us even than
Muzzafar. And he is extremely valuable indeeEdv.en now, we are repaying him for bringing you to us in a receptive condition."
When Teg still remained silent, she chuck"lYedo.u do not think you are receptive?"
Teg held himself quieHt.ad they given him some drug in his foHoed?saw the flickering of doubled
vision but the movements of violence had receded as the orange flecks left the Honored Matre's eyes. Her feet were to be avoided, thouTghey were deadly weapons.
"It's just that you think of the muck in the wrong way," s"hLeucskaildy., they are most self-limiting.
They know this somewhere in the damps of their deepest consciousness but cannot spare the time to deal with that or anything else except the immediate scramble for survival."
"They cannot be improved?h"e asked.
"They must not be improveOdh! , we see to it that self-improvement remains a great fad among them. Nothing real about it, of course."
"Another luxury they must be denied," he said.
"Not a luxuryN! onexistent! It must be occluded at all times behind a barrier that we like to call protective ignorance."
"What you don't know cannot hurt you."

"I don't like your tone, Bashar."
Again, the orange flecks danced in her eTyhees. sense of violence diminished, however, as she once more chuckled."The thing you beware of is the opposite of what-you-don't-kWnoew.teach that new knowledge can be dangerousY. ou see the obvious extensioAn:ll new knowledge is non-survival!"
The door behind the Honored Matre opened and Muzzafar retuItrnweda.s a changed Muzzafar, his face flushed, his eyes brighHt.e stopped behind the Honored Matre's chair.
"One day, I will be able to permit you behind me this way,"
"sIhte issaiind. my power to do this."
What had they done to MuzzafTare?g wondered.The man looked almost drugged.
"You do see that I have power?" she asked.
He cleared his throa"tT. hat's obvious."
"I am a banker, remembeWr?e have just made a deposit with our loyal MuzzDaofary. ou thank us, Muzzafar?"
"I do, Honored MatreH."is voice was hoarse.
"I'm sure you understand this kind of power generally, Bashar," sh"eThsaeidB. ene Gesserit trained you well. They are quite talented but not, I fear, as talented as we are."
"And I am told you are quite numerous," he said.

"Our numbers are not the key, BasPhoarw. er such as ours has a way of becoming channeled so that it can be controlled by small numbers."
She was like a Reverend Mother, he thought, in the way she could appear to answer without revealing much.
"In essence," she said, "power such as ours is allowed to become the substance of survival for many people. Then, the threat of withdrawal is all that's required for us toShreuleg."lanced over her shoulder. "Would you wish us to withdraw our favor from you Muzzafar?"
"No, Honored Matre.H" e was actually trembling!
"You have found a new drug," Teg said.
Her laughter was spontaneous and loud, almost rauc"oNuos., Bashar!We have an old one."
"And you would make an addict of me?"
"Like all the others we control, Bashar, you have a cdheoaitche:or obedience."
"That is a rather old choice," he agrWeehda.t was her immediate threaHt?e could sense no violence.
Quite the contraryH.
is doubled vision showed him broken glimpses of extremely sensuous overtones.
Did they think they could imprint him?
She smiled at him, a knowing expression with something frigid under it.
"Will he serve us well, Muzzafar?"

"I believe so, Honored Matre."
Teg frowned in thoughTt.here was something deeply evil about this pTahire.y went against every
morality by which he modeled his behavIiot rw. strange thing that had speeded his reactions.
as well to remember that neither of them knew this
They seemed to be enjoying his puzzled discomfiture.
Teg took some reassurance from the realization that neither of these two really enjoHye coliufeld.
see that in them clearly with eyes the Sisterhood had eduTcahtedH. onored Matre and Muzzafar had forgotten or, most likely, abandoned everything that supported the survival of joyous hHume atnhso.ught they probably no longer were capable of finding a real wellspring of joy in their oTwhneirfsleswho. uld
have to be mostly a voyeur's existence, the eternal observer, always remembering what it had been like before they had taken the turning into whatever it was they had bEecvoemn ew. hen they wallowed in the performance of something that once had meant gratification, they would have to reach for new extremes each time just to touch the edges of their own memories.
The Honored Matre's grin widened, showing a line of gleaming white"Ltoeeotkh.at him, MuzzafarH. e has not the slightest conception of what we can do."
Teg heard this but he also saw with eyes trained by the Bene GNeostsearimt. illigram of naivete remained in either of these twNoo. thing was expected to surprise theNmo. thing could be truly new for them. Still, they plotted and devised, hoping that this extreme would produce the remembereTdhtehyrill.
knew it would not, of course, and they expected to carry away from the experience only more burning rage out of which to fashion another attempt at the unreachTahbalte.was how their thinking went.
Teg designed a smile for them, using all of the skills he had learned at Bene GessIetriwt ahsanads. smile full of compassion, of understanding and real pleasure in his own exiHsteenkcne.ew it for the most deadly insult he could hurl at them and he saw Mituhzzita.far glowered at himT.he Honored Matre went from orange-eyed rage to an abrupt surprise and then, quite slowly, to dawning pSlehaesuhrea.d not expected this!It was something new!
"Muzzafar," she said, the orange receding from her eyes, "bring the Honored Matre who has been chosen to mark our Bashar."

Teg, his doubled vision showing the immediate peril, understood aHt elacsot.uld feel awareness of his own future spreading outward like waves as the power grew inThheimw.ild change in him was
continuing! He felt the energy expanWd. ith it came understanding and choicHese.
saw himself as the
whirlwind rampaging through this building -- bodies scattered behind him (Muzzafar and the Honored
Matre among them) and the whole complex looking like an abattoir when he departed.
Must I do that? he wondered.
For each one he killed, more would have to be Hkiellesda.w the necessity of it, though, as he saw at
last the Tyrant's designT.he pain he could see for himself almost made him cry out but he held it back.
"Yes, bring this Honored Matre to me," he said, knowing that this would be one less for him to seek out and destroy elsewhere in the buildinTgh.e room of the scanlyzer controls must be taken out first.
O you who know what we suffer here, do not forget us in your prayers.
-Sign over Arrakeen Landing Field (Historical RecoDrdasr:-es-Balat)
Taraza watched a snow-flutter of falling blossoms against the silvery sky of a Rakian Tmhoerrneinwg.as

an opalescent sheen to the sky that, despite all of her preparatory briefings, she had not anticipated. Rakis held many surprisesT.he smell of mock orange was powerful here at the edge of the Dar-es-Balat roof garden, overriding all other odors.
Never believe that you have plumbed the depths of any .p.laocre o.f any human, she reminded herself.
Conversation was ended out here but not the echoes of the spoken thoughts they had exchanged only minutes ago.All agreed, though, that it was time for acStioonn. , Sheeana would "dance a worm" for
them and once more demonstrate her mastery.
Waff and a new priestly representative would share this "holy event" but Taraza was sure neither of them knew the real nature of what they were about to wiWtneasffs. bore watching, of coursHe.e still carried
that air of irritated disbelief in everything he saw or hIteawrda.s a strange mixture with his underlying awe at being on RakiTs.he catalyst was obviously his rage over the fact that fools ruled here.
Odrade returned from the meeting room and stopped beside Taraza.
"I am extremely disquieted by the reports from Gammu," Taraza"Dsoaidy.ou bring something new?"
"No.Things are obviously still chaotic there."
"Tell me, Dar, what do you think we should do?"
"I keep remembering the Tyrant's words to Chen'oTehhe: Bene Gesserit are so close to what they should be, yet so far.' "
Taraza pointed at the open desert beyond the museum city's "qHaen'ast.still out there, DaIr'm. it." Taraza turned to face Odrad"eA. nd Sheeana speaks to him."
"He told so many lies," Odrade said.
sure of

"But he didn't lie about his own incarnaRtioemn.ember what he said'E. very descendant part of me will
carry some of my awareness locked away within it, lost and helpless-pearls of me moving blindly in the sand, caught in an endless dream.' "
"You bank a great deal on your belief in the power of that dream," Odrade said.
"We must recover the Tyrant's desigAnll! of it!"
Odrade sighed but did not speak.
"Never underestimate the power of an idea," Taraza "sTahide. Atreides were ever philosophers in their governance. Philosophy is always dangerous because it promotes the creation of new ideas."
Still, Odrade did not respond.
"The worm carries it all within him, ADlalr!of the forces he set in motion are still in him."
"Are you trying to convince me or yourself, Tar?"
"I am punishing you, DJaur.st as the Tyrant is still punishing us."
"For not being what we should Abeh?h, here come Sheeana and the others."
"The worm's language, DaTr.hat is the important thing."
"If you say so, Mother Superior."

Taraza sent an angry stare at Odrade, who moved forward to greet the newTchoemreersw. as a disturbing gloom in Odrade.
The presence of Sheeana, though, restored Taraza's sense of purApnosea.lert little thing, Sheeana.
Very good materialS. heeana had demonstrated her dance the previous night, performing in the great museum room against a tapestry background, an exotic dance against an exotic spice-fiber hanging with its image of desert and wormSsh.e appeared to be almost a part of the hanging, a figure projected forward from the stylized dunes and their elaborately detailed coursing wToarmrasz.a recalled how
Sheeana's brown hair had been thrown outward by the whirling movements of the dance, swinging in a
fuzzy arc.Sidelighting accented the reddish glints in her hHaeirr.
eyes had been closed but it was not a
face in reposeE. xcitement betrayed itself in the passionate set of her wide mouth, the flaring of her nostrils, the forward thrust of her chHine.r motions had conveyed an inner sophistication that belied her youth.
The dance is her language, Taraza thouOghdtr.ade is correctS. eeing it, we will learn it.
Waff had something of a withdrawn look this morIntinwga. s difficult to determine if his eyes were looking outward or inward.
With Waff was Tulushan, a darkly handsome Rakian, the priesthood's chosen representative at today's "holy event."Taraza, meeting him at the demonstration dance, had found it extraordinary how Tulushan never needed to say "but," and yet the word was always there in everything heAutpterefedc.t
bureaucrat. He rightly expected to go far but those expectations would soon encounter their ultimate surprise. She felt no pity for him at this knowleTdugleu.shan was a soft-faced youth of too few standards for such a position of truTsth.ere was more to him than met the eye, of coAunrdse.less.
Waff moved to one side in the garden, leaving Odrade and Sheeana with Tulushan.
The young priest was expendable, naturaTllyh.at explained much about why he had been chosen for this venture. It told her that she had achieved the proper level of potential viTolaernaczea. did not think,
though, that any of the priestly factions would dare harm Sheeana.
We will stay close to Sheeana.

They had spent a busy week since the demonstration of the whores' sexual accomplisAhmveenryts. disturbing week, when it came to thOadt.rade had been kept busy with SheeaTnar.aza would have preferred Lucilla for this educational chore but you made do with what was available and Odrade obviously was the best available on Rakis for such teaching.
Taraza looked back toward the desTerht.ey were waiting for the 'thopters from Keen with their cargoes of Very Important ObserversT. he VIOs were not yet late but crowding it as such people always did.
Sheeana seemed to be taking the sexual education well, although Taraza's estimation of the Sisterhood's available teaching males on Rakis was not hHigehr. first night here, Taraza had called in one of the
servant males.Afterward, she had judged it too much trouble for the little joy and forgetfulness it provided. Besides, what was there to forgeTt?o forget was to allow a weakness.
Never forget!
That's what the whores did, thouTghey traded in forgetfulnessA. nd they had not the least awareness of the Tyrant's continuing viselike hold on human destiny nor of the need to break that hold.
Taraza had listened secretly to the previous day's session between Sheeana and Odrade.
What was I listening for?
Young girl and teacher had been out here in the roof garden, facing each other on two benches, a portable Ixian damper hiding their words from anyone who did not have the coded trTanhselator. suspensor-buoyed damper hovered over the two like a strange umbrella, a black disc projecting distortions that hid the precise movements of lips and the sounds of voices.
To Taraza, standing within the long meeting room, the tiny translator in her left ear, the lesson had occurred like an equally distorted memory.
When I was taught these things, we had not seen what the whores of the Scattering could do.

"Why do we say it's the complexity of sSehxe?e"ana asked."The man you sent last night kept saying that."
"Many believe they understand it, SheeaPnear.haps no one has ever understood it, because such words require more of the mind than they do of the flesh."
"Why must I not use any of the things we saw the Face Dancers do?"
"Sheeana, complexity hides within complexiGtyr.eat deeds and foul ones have been done at the goading
of sexual forcesW.
e speak of 'sexual strength' and 'sexual energies' and such things as 'the overmounting
urge of desire.I'
don't deny that such things are observaBbluet. what we are looking at here is a force so
powerful that it can destroy you and everything you hold worthwhile."
"That's what I'm trying to understaWndh. at is it the whores are doing wrong?"
"They ignore the species at its work, SheeIanthai.nk you can already sense thTihs.e Tyrant certainly
knew about itW. endlessly?"
hat was his Golden Path but a vision of sexual forces at work recreating humankind
"And the whores don't create?"
"They mostly try to control their worlds with this force."
"They seem to be doing that."
"Ahhh, but what counterforces do they call forth?"
"I don't understand."

"You know about Voice and how it can control some people?"
"But not control everybody."
"Exactly.A civilization subjected to Voice over a long period develops ways of adapting to this force, preventing manipulation by those who use Voice."
"So there are people who know how to resist the whores?"
"We see unmistakable signs ofAint.d that is one of the reasons we are here on Rakis."
"Will the whores come here?"
"I'm afraid soT. hey want to control the core of the Old Empire because they see us as an easy conquest."
"Aren't you afraid they'll win?"
"They won't win, SheeanDa.epend on itB. ut they are good for us."
"How is that?"
Sheeana's tone echoed Taraza's own shock at hearing such words from OHdorwadem. uch did
Odrade suspect?In the next instant, Taraza understood and she wondered if the lesson was equally understandable to the young girl.
"The core is static, SheeanWa.e have been almost at a standstill for thousands of
Lyeifaersa. nd

movement are 'out there' with the people of the Scattering who resist the must make that resistance even stronger."
Wwhhoarteesv.er we do, we
The sound of approaching 'thopters broke Taraza from her reverie of rememTbrhaencVe.IOs were arriving from KeenS. till at some distance, but the sound carried far in the clear air.
Odrade's teaching method was a good one, Taraza had to admit as she scanned the sky for a first glimpse of the 'thoptersA. pparently they were coming in low and from the other side of the bTuhiladting.
was the wrong direction but perhaps they had taken the VIOs on a short excursion over the remains of
the Tyrant's wallM.
any people were curious about the place where Odrade had found the spice hoard.
Sheeana, Odrade, Waff, and Tulushan went back into the long meetingTrhoeoymh. ad heard the
'thopters, too.Sheeana was anxious to show her power over the woTramrasz. a hesitated.There was a laboring sound in the approaching 'thopteWrs.ere they overloaded?How many observers had they brought?
The first 'thopter lifted over the penthouse roof and Taraza saw the armored Schoeckrpeict.ognized
treachery even before the first beam arced out of the machine, slicing through her legs below the knees. She fell heavily against a potted tree, her legs completely sevAenreodth. er beam slashed out at her,
slicing at an angle across her hTiph.e 'thopter swept over her in an abrupt roar of booster jets and banked away to the left.
Taraza clung to the tree, shunting the agony aSshidee.managed to cut off most of the bloodflow from her wounds but the pain was greNaot.t as great as the spice agony, though, she reminded heTrhsaetlf.
helped but she knew she was doomSehde. the museum now.
I have wonT!araza thought.
heard shouts and the multiple sounds of violence all around
Odrade darted from the penthouse and bent over TaTrahzeay.
said nothing but Odrade showed that
she understood by putting her forehead to Taraza's temItplwe.as the ages-old cue of the Bene Gesserit. Taraza began pouring her life into Odrade -- Other Memories, hopes, fears . . . everything.
One of them might yet escape.

Sheeana watched from the penthouse, staying where she had been ordered tSohewakint.ew what was happening out there in the roof gardTenh.is was the ultimate mystery of the Bene Gesserit and every postulant was aware of it.
Waff and Tulushan, already out of the room when the attack came, did not return.
Sheeana shuddered with apprehension.
Abruptly, Odrade stood and ran back into the penthTouhseer.e was a wild look in her eyes but she moved with purposeL. eaping up, she gathered glowglobes, grabbing them in bundles by their toggle cords. She thrust several bundles into Sheeana's hands and Sheeana felt her body grow lighter with the lift of the globes' suspensor fieldTsr.ailing more clusters of the globes beyond their field range, Odrade hurried across to the narrow end of the room where a grill in the wall indicated what sWheithsought.
Sheeana's help, she lifted the grill out of its slots, revealing a deep glowglobes showed rough walls inside.
Taihrsehalifgt.ht of the clustered
"Hold the globes close to get the maximum field effect," Odrad"ePussahid.them away to lower yourself. In you go."
Sheeana clutched the toggle cords in a sweaty hand and hopped over Sthe lseitll.herself fall, then fearfully clutched the globes closLe.ight from above told her Odrade was following.
At the bottom, they emerged into a pump room, the susurrations of many fans a background for the sounds of violence from outside.
"We must get to the no-room and then to the desert," Odrad"eAlslaoidf. these machinery systems are interconnected. There will be a passage."
"Is she dead?S"heeana whispered.
"Yes."

"Poor Mother Superior."
"I am the Mother Superior now, SheeaAnta.least temporarily."She pointed upward". Those were the
whores attacking usW.
e must hurry."
The world is for the liviWngh. o are they?
We dared the dark to reach the white and warm. She was the wind when the wind was in my way. Alive at noon, I perished in her form.
Who rise from the flesh to spirit know the fall:
The word outleaps the world and light is all.

-Theodore Roethke (Historical QuotationDs:ar-es-Balat)
It required little conscious volition for Teg to become the whirHlweinhda.d recognized at last the nature of the threat from the Honored MatrRees.cognition fitted itself into the blurred requirements made upon him by the new Mentat awareness that went with his magnified speed.
Monstrous threat required monstrous countermeasureBsl.ood spattered him as he drove himself through the headquarters building, slaughtering everyone he met.
As he had learned from his Bene Gesserit teachers, the great problem of the human universe lay in how
you managed procreationH. the building.
e could hear the voice of his first teacher as he carried destruction through
"You may think of this only as sexuality but we prefer the more bapsircoctreeramti:on. It has many facets and offshoots and it has apparently unlimited eneTrhgey. emotion called 'love' is only one small aspect. "
Teg crushed the throat of a man standing rigidly in his path and, at last, found the control room for the building's defenses.Only one man was seated in it, his right hand almost touching a red key on the
console in front of him.
With a slashing left hand, Teg almost decapitated theTmheanb. ody tipped backward in slow motion, blood welling from the gaping neck.
The Sisterhood is right to call them whores!
You could drag humankind almost anywhere by manipulating the enormous energies of procYreoaution. could goad humans into actions they would never have believed posOsinbele.of his teachers had said it directly:

"This energy must have an outBleot.ttle it up and it becomes monstrously dangeroRuesd.irect it and it will sweep over anything in its paTthis is an ultimate secret of all religions."
Teg was conscious of leaving more than fifty bodies behind him as he left theTbhueildlaisntg.fatality was a soldier in camouflage uniform standing in the open doorway, apparently about to enter.
As he ran past apparently unmoving people and vehicles, Teg's revved-up mind had time to reflect on what he had left behind hiWm.as there any consolation, he wondered, in the fact that the old Honored Matre's last living expression was one of real surprCisoeu?ld he congratulate himself that Muzzafar
would never again see his frame bush home?
The necessity for what he had accomplished in a few heartbeats was very clear, though, to one trained by the Bene GesseriTt.eg knew his historyT.here were many paradise planets in the Old Empire,
probably many more among the people of the ScatteHrinugm. ans always seemed capable of trying that foolish experiment.People in such places mostly lazed aloAng.quick-smart analysis said this was because of the easy climates on such planHetes.knew this for stupiditIyt. was because sexual energy was easily released in such placeLse.t the Missionaries of the Divided God or some denominational construct enter one of these paradises and you got outrageous violence.
"We of the Sisterhood know," one of Teg's teachers had"Wsaeidh. ave put a flame to that fuse more than once with our Missionaria Protectiva."
Teg did not stop running until he was in an alley at least five kilometers from the abattoir that had been the headquarters for the old Honored MaHtree. knew that very little time had passed but there was something much more important upon which he had to fHoceush.ad not killed every occupant of that
building. There were eyes back there belonging to people who knew now what he coTuhledy dhoa.d seen him kill Honored MatreTs.hey had seen Muzzafar topple dead at his haTnhdes. evidence of the bodies left behind and the slowed replay of recordings would tell it all.
Teg leaned against a waSlkl.in was torn from his left paHlme. let himself return to normal time as he watched blood oozing from the wounTdh.e blood was almost black.
More oxygen in my blood?

He was panting but not as much as these exertions would seem to require.
What has happened to me?
It was something from his Atreides ancestry, he kCnreiwsi.s had tipped him over into another dimension
of human possibilitiesW.
hatever the transformation, it was profounHde.
could see outward now into
many necessities.And the people he had passed on his run to this alley had seemed like statues.
Will I ever think of them as muck?
It could only happen if he let it happen, he Bkuntewth.e temptation was there and he allowed himself a brief commiseration for the Honored MatreGsr.eat Temptation had toppled them into their own muck.
What to do now?
The main line lay open to hTimhe.re was a man here in Ysai, one man who would be sure to know everyone Teg requiredT. eg looked around the alleYy.es, that man was near.
The fragrance of flowers and herbs wafted to Teg from somewhere down thHise amlleoyv.ed toward
this fragrance, aware that it led him where he needed to go and that no violent attack awaited him here. This was, temporarily, a quiet backwater.
He came to the fragrant source quicIktlyw. as an inset doorway marked by a blue awning with two words on it in modern Galac"hP:ersonal Service."
Teg entered and saw immediately what he had foTuhnedy.
were to be seen at many places in the Old
Empire: eating establishments harking back to ancient times, eschewing automata from kitchen to table. Most of them were "in" establishmenYtso. u told friends about your latest "discovery" with an admonition to them not to spread the word.

"Don't want to spoil it with crowding."
This idea had always amused TYego.u spread the word about such places but you did it under the guise of keeping a secret.
Mouth-watering odors of cooking emerged from the kitchen at theA rewaar.iter passed bearing a tray from which steam lifted, carrying the promise of good things.
A young woman in a short black dress with a white apron came up"Tthoishwima.y, sirW. table open in the corner."
e have a
She held a chair for him to be seated with his back to
"thSeomweaolnl.e will be with you in a moment,
sir." She passed him a stiff sheet of cheap double-thickness p"aOpeurr. menu is printedI. hope you won't mind."
He watched her leavTe.he waiter he had seen passed going the other way toward the kTithcehetnra. y was empty.
Teg's feet had led him here as though he had been running on a fixAenddtrtahcekr.e was the man he required, dining nearby.
The waiter had stopped to talk to the man Teg knew held the answer to the next moves required here. The two were laughing togetheTr.eg scanned the rest of the rooomnl:y three other tables occupieAd.n
older woman sat at a table in the far corner nibbling at some frosty conSfheectiwona.s dressed in what Teg thought must be the peak of current fashion, a clinging short red gown cut low atHtehre snheoceks. matched. A young couple sat at a table off to his Trihgehyt. saw no one except each othAenr. older
man in a tightly fitted old-fashioned brown tunic ate sparingly of a green vegetable dish nearHtehe door. had eyes only for his food.
The man talking to the waiter laughed loudly.
Teg stared at the back of the waiter's hTeuafdts.
of blond hair sprang from the nape of the waiter's neck
like broken bunches of dead graTssh.e man's collar was frayed beneath the tufted Thaeigr. lowered his

gaze. The waiter's shoes were run over at the hTeehles. hem of his black jacket had been darWneads. it
thrift in this placeT?hrift or some other form of economic pressuTrhee?
odors from the kitchen did not
suggest any stinting thereT.he tableware was shining and cleaNno.
cracked dishesB. ut the striped red
and white cloth on the table had been darned in several places, care taken to match the original fabric.
Once more, Teg studied the other customTehrse.y looked substantialN. one of the starving poor in this place. Teg had it registered theNno. t only was this an "in" place, somebody had designed it for just that effect. There was a clever mind behind such an establishmTehnits. was the kind of restaurant that rising young executives revealed to make points with prospective customers or to please a sTuphe ifooro. d
would be superb and the portions generoTuesg.
realized that his instincts had led him here correHcetly.
bent his attention to the menu then, allowing hunger to enter his consciousnessThate lhaustn. ger was at least as fierce as that which had astonished the late Field Marshal Muzzafar.
The waiter appeared beside him with a tray on which were placed a small open box and a jar from which wafted the pungent odor of newskin ointment.
"I see you have injured your hand, Bashar," the manHesaipdl.aced the tray on the tab"lAe.llow me to dress the injury before you order."
Teg lifted the injured hand and watched the swift competence of the treatment.
"You know me?T" eg asked.
"Yes, sirA. nd after what I've been hearing, it seems strange to see you in full finished the dressing.
"What have you been hearingT?e"g spoke in a low voice.
"That the Honored Matres hunt you."
"I've just killed some of them and many of theWirha. t. s.hould we call them?"
Tunhiefroer.m" H. e

The man paled but he spoke firm"Slyla. ves would be a good word, sir."
"You were at Renditai, weren't you," Teg said.
"Yes, sirM.
any of us settled here afterward."
"I need food but I cannot pay you," Teg said.
"No one from Renditai has need of your money, BDasohatrh. ey know you came this way?"
"I don't believe they do."
"The people here now are regulaNrso.ne of them would betray yoIuw. dangerous comes.What did you wish to eat?"
ill try to warn you if someone
"A great deal of fooId.will leave the choice to yAoub.out twice as much carbohydrate as proteNino. stimulants."
"What do you mean by a great deal, sir?"
"Keep bringing it until I tell you to stop . . . or until you feel I have overstepped your generosity."
"In spite of appearances, sir, this is not a poor establishTmhenet.xtras here have made me a rich man."
Score one for his assessment, Teg thouTghe.
thrift here was a calculated pose.

The waiter left and again spoke to the man at the centraTl etgabslteu.died the man openly after the waiter went on into the kitcheYne. s, that was the maTn.he diner concentrated on a plate heaped with some green-garnished pasta.
There was very little sign in this man of a woman's care, Teg Hthiosucgohltl.ar had been closed awry,
the clingstraps tangledS. pots of the greenish sauce soiled his left
Hcueff.was naturally righthanded but
ate while his left hand remained in the path of spFillraagyee.d cuffs on his trouserOs.ne trouser hem, partly released from its threaded bondage, dragged at the Shteoeclk. ings mismatched -- one blue and
one pale yellowN.
one of this appeared to bother hNimo. mother or other woman had ever dragged this
one back from a doorway with orders to make himself presenHtaibsleb.asic attitude was announced in his whole appearance:
"What you see is as presentable as it gets."
The man looked up suddenly, a jerking motion as though he had been Hgeoosseendt. a brown-eyed gaze around the room, pausing at each face in turn as though he looked for a particulTahr isvisdaognee., he returned his attention to his plate.
The waiter returned with a clear soup in which shreds of egg and some green vegetables could be seen.
"While the rest of your meal is being prepared, sir," he said.
"Did you come here directly after Renditai?" Teg asked.
"Yes, sirB. ut I served with you also at Acline."
"The sixty-seventh Gammu," Teg said.
"Yes, sir!"
"We saved a good many lives that time," Teg"Tsahiedi.rs and ours."

When Teg still did not begin eating, the waiter spoke in a rather cold voice, "Would you require a snooper, sir?"
"Not while you're serving me," Teg sHaied.meant what he said but he felt a bit of a fraud because doubled vision told him the food was safe.
The waiter started to turn away, pleased.
"One moment," Teg said.
"Sir?"
"The man at that central tabHle is one of your regulars?"
"Professor Delnay?Oh, yes, sir."
"Delnay.Yes, I thought so."
"Professor of martial arts, sAirn. d the history of same."
"I knowW.
hen it comes time to serve my dessert, please ask Professor Delnay if he would join me."
"Shall I tell him who you are, sir?"
"Don't you think he already knows?"

"That would seem likely, sir, but still . . ."
"Caution where caution belongs," Teg sa"iBdr.ing on the food."
Delnay's interest was fully aroused long before the waiter relayed Teg's invTithaetiopnr.ofessor's first words as he seated himself across from Teg w"eTrhea: t was the most remarkable gastronomic performance I have ever seeAn.re you sure you can eat a dessert?"
"Two or three of them at least," Teg said.
"Astonishing!"
Teg sampled a spoonful of a honey-sweetened confecHtioen.swallowed it, then":This place is a jewel."
"I have kept it a careful secret," Delnay "sEaxidc.ept for a few close friends, of couTrsoe.what do I
owe the honor of your invitation?"
"Have you ever been . . . ah, marked by an Honored Matre?"
"Lords of perdition, noI'!m not important enough for that."
"I was hoping to ask you to risk your life, Delnay."
"In what way?N" o hesitation.That was reassuring.
"There is a place in Ysai where my old soldiersI mweaent.t to go there and see as many of them as possible."

"Through the streets in full regalia the way you are now?"
"In any way you can arrange it."
Delnay put a finger to his lower lip and leaned back to stare"YatouT'reeg.not an easy figure to
disguise, you knowH.
owever, there may be a wayH."e nodded thoughtfully". Yes." He smiled."You
won't like it, I'm afraid."
"What do you have in mind?"
"Some padding and other alterationWs.e will pass you off as a Bordano oversYeoeur.'ll smell of the
sewer, of courseA.
nd you'll have to carry it off that you don't notice."
"Why do you think that will succeeTde?g"
asked.
"Oh, there's going to be a storm tonRigehgtu. lar thing this time of yeLara.ying down the moisture for next year's open cropsA. nd filling the reservoirs for the heated fields, you know."
"I don't understand your reasoning, but when I've finished another of these confections, we'll go," Teg said.
"You'll like the place where we take refuge from the storm," Delna"yI'msaimd.ad, you know, to do this. But the proprietor here said I was to help you or never come here again."
It was an hour after dark when Delnay led him to the rendezvouTsegp,oidnrte. ssed in leathers and affecting a limp, was forced to use much of his mental power to ignore his owDnelnoadyo'srs.friends
had plastered Teg with sewage and then hosed himThoeff.forced-air drying brought back most of the effluent aromas.

A remote-reading weather station at the door of the meeting place told Teg it had dropped fifteen degrees outside in the preceding houDre. lnay preceded him and hurried away into a crowded room where there was much noise and the sound of clinking glassTweagrep. aused to study the doorside
station. The wind was gusting to thirty klicks, he Bsaawro. metric pressure downH. above the station:
"A service to our customers."
e looked at the sign
Presumably, a service to the bar as wDeelpl.arting customers might well take one look at these readings and return to the warmth and camaraderie behind them.
In a large fireplace with inglenook at the far end of the bar there was a real fiArerobmuarntiicngw. ood.
Delnay returned, wrinkled his nose at Teg's smell and led him around the edge of the crowd into a back room, then through this into a private bathroTomeg.'s uniform -- cleaned and pressed -- was laid out
over a chair there.
"I'll be in the inglenook when you come out," Delnay said.
"In full regalia, eh?T"eg asked.
"It's only dangerous out in the streets," Delnay Hsaeidw. ent back the way they had come.
Teg emerged presently and found his way to the inglenook through groups that turned suddenly silent as
people recognized himM.
urmurous comments swept through the roo"mT.he old Bashar himself.""Oh,
yes, it's TegS. erved with him, I diKd.now that face and figure anywhere."
Customers had crowded into the atavistic warmth of the firTeshiedree. was a rich smell of wet clothing and drink-fogged breaths there.

So the storm had driven this crowd into theTebgar?looked at the battle-hardened military faces all around him, thinking that this was not a usual gathering, no matter what DelnTahyesapiedo. ple here knew one another, though, and had expected to meet one another here at this time.
Delnay was sitting on one of the benches in the inglenook, a glass containing an amber drink in his hand.
"You put out the word to meet us here," Teg said.
"Isn't that what you wanted, Bashar?"
"Who are you, Delnay?"
"I own a winter farm a few klicks south of here and I have some banker friends who will occasionally loan me a groundcarI.f you want me to be more specific, I'm like the rest of the people in this room -- someone who wants the Honored Matres off our necks."
A man behind Teg aske"dIs:
it true that you killed a hundred of them today, Bashar?"
Teg spoke dryly without turnin"gT.he number is greatly exaggerateCd.ould I have a drink, please?"
From his greater height, Teg scanned the room while someone was getting himWahegnlasist. was thrust into his hand, it was, as he expected, the deep blue of Danian MTahreinseteo.ld soldiers knew his preferences.
The drinking activity in the room continued but at a more subdueTdhepyacew.ere waiting for him to state his purpose.
Gregarious human nature got a natural boost on such a stormy night, Teg Bthaonudghtot.gether behind the fire in the mouth of the cave, fellow tribesNmoetnh!ing dangerous will get past us, especially when
the beasts see our fireH. ow many other similar gatherings were there around Gammu on such a night?
he wondered, sipping his drinBk.ad weather could mask movements that the gathered companions did

not want observedT. he weather might also keep certain people inside who were otherwise not supposed to remain inside.
He recognized a few faces from his past-officers and ordinary soldiers -- a miFxeodr sboamg.e of them, he had good memorierse:liable people.Some of them would die tonight.
The noise level began to increase as people relaxed in his prNesoenocen.e pressed him for an explanation. They knew that about him, toToe.g set his own timetable.
The sounds of conversation and laughter were of a kind he knew must have accompanied such gatherings since the dawn times when humans clustered for mutual proteCctlinnk.ing of glassware, sudden bursts of laughter, a few quiet chuckTlehso.se would be the ones more conscious of their
personal power.Quiet chuckles said you could be amused but you did not have to make a guffawing fool of yourself.Delnay was a quiet chuckler.
Teg glanced up and saw that the beamed ceiling had been built conventionaIltlymlaodwe. the enclosed space seem at once more extended and yet more intimCarteful attention to human psychology heIrte. was a thing he had observed many places on this pIltanweat.s a care to keep a damper on unwanted awareness. Make them feel comfortable and secuTreh.ey were not, of course, but don't let that get through to them.
For a few moments longer, Teg watched the drinks being distributed by the skilled waitdinargk staff:
local beers and some expensive imporStsc.attered along the bar and on the softly illuminated tables were bowls containing crisp-fried local vegetables, heavily saltSeudc. h an obvious move to heighten thirst apparently offended no oneI.t was merely expected in this traTdhe.e beers would be heavily salted, too,
of course.They always wereB. rewers knew how to kick off the thirst response.
Some of the groups were getting louTdehre.
drinks had begun to work their ancient maBgaicc. hus
was here!Teg knew that if this gathering were allowed to run its natural course, the room would reach a crescendo later in the night and then gradually, very gradually, the noise level would Ssoumbseidoen.e
would go look at the doorside weather statDioenp.ending on what that one saw, the place might wind down immediately or continue at the more subdued pace for someHteimrealized then that somewhere behind the bar there would be a way to distort the weather station's reTahdiosubtsa.r would not
overlook such a way of extending its trade.
Get 'em inside and keep 'em here by any means they don't find objectionable.

The people behind this institution would fall in with the Honored Matres and not blink an eye.
Teg put his drink aside and called "oMuat:y I have your attention, please?"
Silence.
Even the waiting staff stopped in what they were doing.
"Some of you guard the doors," Teg doors, too, if you please."
"saNido. one goes in or out until I give the
Torhdoesre.
back
When this had been sorted out, he stared carefully around the room, picking the ones his doubled vision and old military experience told him could be most truWstehda.t he had to do now had become quite
plain to himB. urzmali, Lucilla, and Duncan were out there at the edge of his new vision, their needs easily seen.
"I presume you can get your hands on weapons rather quickly," he said.
"We came prepared, Bashar!" Someone out in the room shoTuetgedh. eard the drink in that voice but also the old adrenaline pumping that would be so dear to these people.
"We are going to capture a no-ship," Teg said.
That grabbed themN. o other artifact of civilization was as closely guarTdhedes. e ships came to the landing fields and other places and they Tlehfte.ir armored surfaces bristled with weaponCsr.ews were on constant alert in vulnerable locationTsr.ickery might succeed; open assault stood little chanBcuet.
here in this room Teg had reached a new awareness, driven by necessity and the wild genes in his
Atreides ancestry.The positions of the no-ships on and around Gammu were visible tBorihgihmt .dots
occupied his inner vision and, like threads leading from one bauble to another, his doubled vision saw the way through this maze.

Oh, but I do not want to go, he thought.
The thing driving him would not be denied.
"Specifically, we are going to capture a no-ship from the Scattering," h"Te hseayidh. ave some of the
best. You, you and you and youH."e pointed, singling out individual"sY. ou will stay here and see that no one leaves or communicates with anyone outside of this establishmI ethnitn. k you will be attackeHdo. ld
out as long as you caTnh.e rest of you, get your weapons and let's go."
Justice?Who asks for justiceW. e make our own justicWe. e make it here on Arrakis -- win orLedtie. us not rail about justice as long as we have arms and the freedom to use them.
-Leto I:Bene Gesserit Archives
The no-ship came in low over the Rakian sIatnsdps.assage stirred up dusty whirlwinds that drifted around it as it settled in a crunching disturbance of the Tduhneesilvered yellow sun was sinking into a horizon disturbed by the heat devils of a long hotThdeayn. o-ship sat there creaking, a glistening steely ball whose presence could be detected by the eyes and ears but not by any prescient or long-range instrument. Teg's doubled vision made him confident that no unwanted eyes saw his arrival.

"I want the armored 'thopters and cars out there in no more than ten minutes," he said.
People stirred into action behind him.
"Are you certain they're here, BashaTr?h"e voice was that of a drinking companion from the Gammu
bar, a trusted officer from Renditai whose mood no longer was that of someone recapturing the thrills of his youth.This one had seen old friends die in the battle on GaAmsmwui.th most of the others who
survived to come here, he had left a family whose fate he did noTt hkenreoww. as a touch of bitterness
in his voice, as though he were trying to convince himself that he had been tricked into this venture.
"They will be here soon," Teg s"aTidh.ey will arrive riding on the back of a worm."
"How do you know that?"
"It was all arranged."
Teg closed his eyeHs.e did not need eyes to see the activity all aroundThhiismw. as like so many
command posts he had occupieadn:
waiting to obey.
oval room of instruments and people who operated them, officers
"What is this place?someone asked.
"Those rocks to the north of us," Teg "sSaeide. them?They were a high cliff oncIte.was called Wind
Trap. There was a Fremen sietch there, little more than a caveAnofeww.
Rakian pioneers live in it."
"Fremen," someone whispered".Gods! I want to see that worm comiIngn.ever thought I'd ever see such a thing."

"Another one of your unexpected arrangements, eh?" asked the officer of the growing bitterness.
What would he say if I revealed my new abilities? Teg wonHdeermedi.ght think I concealed purposes that would not bear close examinatioAnn. d he would be righTt.hat man is on the edge of a revelation. Would he remain loyal if his eyes were openTeedg? shook his headT.he officer would have little choice. None of them had much choice except to fight and die.
It was true, Teg thought then, that the process of arranging conflicts involved the hoodwinking of large masses. How easy it was to fall into the attitude of the Honored Matres.
Muck!
The hoodwinking was not as difficult as some suppMosoedst.
people wanted to be leTdh.at officer
back there had wanted iTt.here were deep tribal instincts (powerful unconscious motivations) to account for this.The natural reaction when you began to recognize how easily you were led was to look for scapegoats. That officer back there wanted a scapegoat now.
"Burzmali wants to see you," someone off to Teg's left said.
"Not now," Teg said.
Burzmali could waiHt. e would have his day of command soon enoMugeha.nwhile, he was a distraction. There would be time later for him to skirt dangerously near the role of scapegoat.
How easy it was to produce scapegoats and how readily they were acTchepistewd!as especially true when the alternative was to find yourself either guilty or stupid oTr ebgotwh.anted to say for all of those around him:
"Look to the hoodwinkingT!hen you'll know our true intentions!"
The communications officer on Teg's left s"aTidh:at Reverend Mother is with Burzmali noSwhe.
insists

they be allowed in to see you."
"Tell Burzmali I want him to go back and stay with Duncan," T"eAgndsaihda.ve him look in on
Murbella, make sure she's secureLd.ucilla can come in."
It had to be, Teg thought.
Lucilla was increasingly suspicious about the changes in Thriumst. difference.
a Reverend Mother to see the
Lucilla swept in, her robes swishing to accent her vehemSehnecew. as angry but concealing it well.
"I demand an explanation, Miles!"
That was a good opening line, he thou"gOhft. what?" he said.
"Why didn't we just go in at the --"
"Because the Honored Matres and their Tleilaxu companions from the Scattering hold most of the
Rakian centers."
"How . . . how do you . . ."
"They've killed Taraza, you know," he said.
That stopped her, but not for lo"nMgi.les, I insist that you tell me --"

"We don't have much time," he s"aTidh.e next satellite passage will show us on the surface here."
"But the defenses of Rakis --"
"Are as vulnerable as any other defenses when they become static," h"Te hseaifda.milies of the defenders are down hereT. ake the families and you have effective control of the defenders."
"But why are we out here in --"
"To pick up Odrade and that girl withOhhe,r.and their worm, too."
"What will we do with a --"
"Odrade will know what to do with the wSohrem's.
your Mother Superior now, you know."
"So you're going to whisk us off into --"
"You'll whisk yourselvesM! y people and I will remain to create a diversion."
That brought a shocked silence throughout the command station.
Diversion, Teg thoughWt. hat an inadequate word.
The resistance he had in mind would create hysteria among the Honored Matres, especially when they were made to believe the ghola was hNeroet. only would they counterattack, they eventually would
resort to sterilization proceduresM. ost of Rakis would become a charred rTuihne.re was little likelihood that any humans, worms, or sandtrout would survive.

"The Honored Matres have been trying to locate and capture a worm without success,""Ihreeaslalyid. don't understand how they could be so blind in their concept of how you transplant one of them."
"Transplant?"Lucilla was flounderingT. eg had seldom seen a Reverend Mother at such aShloessw. as
trying to assemble the things he had sTaihde.
Sisterhood had some of the Mentats' capabilities, he had
observed. A Mentat could come to a qualified conviction without sufficientHdeattah.ought that he
would be long out of her reach (or the reach of any other Reverend Mother) before she assembled this data. Then there would be a scrambling for his offsprTinhge!y would pick up Dimela for their Breeding
Mistresses, of courseA.
nd Odrade.She would not escape.
They had the key to the Tleilaxu axlotl tanksI,t twooo.uld be only a matter of time now until the Bene
Gesserit overcame its scruples and mastered that source of the Aspihceu.man body produced it!
"We're in danger here, then," Lucilla said.
"Some danger, yesT. he trouble with the Honored Matres is that they're too weTalhtehy. make the mistakes of the wealthy."
"Depraved whores!"she said.
"I suggest you get to the entry port," he"Osadidra.de will be here soon."
She left him without another word.
"Armor is all out and deployed," the communications officer said.
"Alert Burzmali to be ready for command here," Teg"Tsahied.rest of us will be going out soon."
"You expect all of us to join yTouh?a"t was the one who looked for a scapegoat.

"I am going out," Teg sa"iId.will go alone if necessaOryn. ly those who wish need join me."
After that, all of them would come, he thoPuegehrt. pressure was little understood by anyone except those trained by the Bene Gesserit.
It grew silent in the command station except for the faint hummings and clicks of insTtreugmfeenllts.to thinking about the "depraved whores."
It was not correct to call them depraved, he thoSuogmhet.times, the supremely rich did become depraved. That came from believing that money (power) could buy anything and everyAthnidngw. hy shouldn't they believe thisT?hey saw it happening every daIyt .was easy to believe in absolutes.
Hope springs eternal and all of that gornaw!
It was like another faiMth.oney would buy the impossible.
Then came depravity.
It was not the same for the Honored MaTthreesy.
were, somehow, beyond depravitTy.hey had come
through it; he could see thBatu. t now they were into something else so far beyond depravity that Teg wondered if he really wanted to know about it.
The knowledge was there, though, inescapable in his new awareNnoetsso. ne of those people would hesitate an instant before consigning an entire planet to torture if that meant personOarl gifaitnh.e payoff were some imagined pleasureO. r if the torture produced even a few more days or hours of living.
What pleased themW? hat gratified?They were like semuta addictWs. hatever simulated pleasure for them, they required more of it every time.

And they know this!
How they must rage insidCea!ught in such a trapT!hey had seen it all and none of it was enough -- not good enough nor evil enougTh.hey had entirely lost the knack of moderation.
They were dangerous, thougAh.nd perhaps he was wrong about one thPinegr:haps they no longer remembered what it had been like before the awful transformation of that strange tart-smelling stimulant that painted orange in their eyeMs.emories of memories could become distorteEdv.ery Mentat was
sensitized to this flaw in himself.
"There's the worm!"
It was the communications officer.
Teg swiveled in his chair and looked at the projection, a miniature holo of the exterior to the southwest. The worm with its two tiny dots of human passengers was a distant sliver of wriggling movement.
"Bring Odrade in here alone when they arrive," he"Ssahiede.ana -- that's the young girl -- will remain behind to help herd that worm into the hItolwd.ill obey herB. e sure Burzmali is standing ready nearby. We won't have much time for the transfer of command."
When Odrade entered the command station she was still breathing hard and exuding the smells of the desert, a compound of melange, flint, and human perspiraTtieogn. sat in his chair apparently restiHngis.
eyes remained closed.
Odrade thought she had caught the Bashar in an uncharacteristic attitude of repose, almostHpeensive. opened his eyes then and she saw the change about which Lucilla had only been able to blurt a small warning -- along with a few hasty words about the ghola's transformWathioant .was it that had
happened to Teg?He was almost posing for her, daring her to see it iTnhehimch.in was firm and held
slightly upthrust in his normal attitude of observatTiohne.
narrow face with its webwork of age lines had
lost none of its alertnesTs.he long, thin nose so characteristic of the Corrinos and Atreides in his ancestry had grown a bit longer with advancing yeBarust. the gray hair remained thick and that small peak at the forehead centered the observing gaze . . .

On his eyes!
"How did you know to meet us heOred?r"ade demanded."We had no idea where the worm was taking us."
"There are very few inhabited places here in the meridian desert," h"Ge asmaibdl.er's choice.This seemed likely."
Gambler's choice?She knew the Mentat phrase but had never understood it.
Teg lifted himself from his ch"aTira. ke this ship and go to the place you know best," he said.
Chapter House?She almost said it but thought of the others around her, these military strangers Teg had assembled. Who were they?Lucilla's brief explanation did not satisfy.
"We change Taraza's design somewhat," Teg s"aTidh.e ghola does not staHy.e must go with you."
She understoodT. hey would need Duncan Idaho's new talents to counter the whHoerews.as no longer merely bait for the destruction of Rakis.
"He will not be able to leave the no-ship's concealment, of course," Teg said.
She noddedD.
uncan was not shielded from prescient searchers . . . such as the Guild navigators.
"Bashar!"It was the communications office"rW.
e've been bleeped by a satellite!"
"All right, you ground hogsT!e"g shouted."Everybody outside!Get Burzmali in here."

A hatch at the rear of the station flew Boupreznm. ali lunged through". Bashar, what are we --"
"No time!Take over!"Teg lifted himself from his command chair and waved for Burzmali to take it. "Odrade here will tell you where to gOon." an impulse that he knew was partly vindictive, Teg grasped Odrade's left arm, leaned close, and kissed her ch"eDeko. what you must, daughter," he whispered.
"That worm in the hold may soon be the only one in the universe."
Odrade saw it theTn:eg knew Taraza's complete design and intended to carry out his Mother Superior's orders to the very end.
"Do what you mustT."hat said it all.
We are not looking at a new state of matter but at a newly recognized relationship between consciousness and matter, which provides a more penetrating insight into the workings of preTschience. oracle shapes a projected inner universe to produce new external probabilities out of forces that are not understood. There is no need to understand these forces before using them to shape the physical
universe. Ancient metal workers had no need to understand the molecular and submolecular complexities of their steel, bronze, copper, gold, and Ttihne.y invented mystical powers to describe the unknown
while they continued to operate their forges and wield their hammers.
-Mother Superior Taraza, Argument in Council

The ancient structure in which the Sisterhood secreted its Chapter House, its Archives, and the offices of its most sacrosanct leadership did not just make sounds in the Tnhieghnt.oises were more like signals.
Odrade had learned to read those signals over her many yearsThaetrep. articular sound there, that strained creaking was a wooden beam in the floor not replaced in some eight hundreItd years. contracted in the night to produce those sounds.
She had Taraza's memories to expand on such sigTnhaels.memories were not fully integrated; there had been very little timeH. ere at night in Taraza's old working room, Odrade used a few available moments to continue the integration.
Dar and Tar, one at last.
That was a quite identifiable Taraza comment.
To haunt the Other Memories was to exist on several planes simultaneously, some of them very deep, but Taraza remained near the surfacOed. rade allowed herself to sink farther into the multiple existences. Presently, she recognized a self who was currently breathing but remote while others demanded that she plunge into the all-enfolding visions, everything complete with smells, touches, emotions -- all of the originals held intact within her own awareness.
It is unsettling to dream another's dreams.
Taraza again.
Taraza who had played such a dangerous game with the future of the entire Sisterhood hanging in the balance! How carefully she had timed the leaking of word to the whores that the Tleilaxu had built dangerous abilities into the gholAa.nd the attack on the Gammu Keep confirmed that the information had reached its sourceT. he brutal nature of that attack, though, had warned Taraza that she had little time.
The whores would be sure to assemble forces for the total destruction of Gammu -- just to kill that one ghola.

So much had depended on Teg.
She saw the Bashar there in her own assemblage of Other Memthoerifeast:her she had never really known.
I didn't know him at the end, either.
It could be weakening to dig into those memories, but she could not escape the demands of that luring reservoir.
Odrade thought of the Tyrant's wor"dTsh: e terrible field of my paAstn! swers leap up like a frightened flock blackening the sky of my inescapable memories."
Odrade held herself like a swimmer balanced just below the water's surface.
I most likely will be replaced, Odrade thouIgmht.ay even be revileBd.ellonda certainly was not giving easy agreement to the new state of commaNnod. matter.Survival of the Sisterhood was all that should concern any of them.
Odrade floated up out of the Other Memories and lifted her gaze to look across the room into the shadowy niche where the bust of a woman could be discerned in the low light of the room's glowglobes. The bust remained a vague shape in its shadows but Odrade knew that faCcehewnoeellh: , guardian
symbol of Chapter House.
"There but for the grace of God . . ."
Every sister who came through the spice agony (as Chenoeh had not) said or thought that same thing, but what did it really meaCn?areful breeding and careful training produced the successful ones in
sufficient numbers.Where was the hand of God in thGaot?d certainly was not the worm they had
brought from RakisW.
as the presence of God felt only in the successes of the Sisterhood?

I fall prey to the pretensions of my own Missionaria Protectiva!
She knew that these were similar to thoughts and questions that had been heard in this room on countless occasions.Bootless! Still, she could not bring herself to remove that guardian bust from the niche where it had reposed for so long.
I am not superstitious, she told hersIelafm. things have a value well known to us.
not a compulsive persoTnh.is is a matter of traditioSnu.ch
Certainly, no bust of me will ever be so honored.
She thought of Waff and his Face Dancers dead with Miles Teg in the terrible destructionItof Rakis. did not do to dwell on the bloody attrition being suffered in the Old BEemttepriret.o think about the
muscles of retribution being created by the blundering violence of the Honored Matres.
Teg knew!
The recently concluded Council session had subsided in fatigue without firm conclOusdiroandse.
counted herself lucky to have diverted attention into a few immediate concerns dear to them all.
The punishmentsT: hose had occupied them for a timHeis.torical precedents fleshed out the Archival analyses to a satisfying formT.hose assemblages of humans who allied themselves with the Honored Matres were in for some shocks.
Ix would certainly overextend itseTlfh.ey had not the slightest appreciation of how competition from the
Scattering would crush them.
The Guild would be shunted aside and made to pay dearly for its melange and its mGaucilhdinaenryd. Ix, thrown together, would fall together.

The Fish Speakers could be mostly ignoSreadte. llites of Ix, they were already fading into a past that humans would abandon.
And the Bene TleilaAx.h, yes, the TleilaxuW. aff had succumbed to the Honored MattHese. had never admitted it but the truth was pla"iJnu.st once and with one of my own Face Dancers."
Odrade smiled grimly, remembering her father's bitter kiss.
I will have another niche made, she thouIgwhti.ll commission another busMt:iles Teg, the Great
Heretic!
Lucilla's suspicions about Teg were disquieting, thouHgahd.
he been prescient at last and able to see the
no-ships? Well, the Breeding Mistresses could explore those suspicions.
"We have laagered upB!"ellonda accused.
They all knew the meaning of that wthoerdy: had retreated into a fortress position for the long night of the whores.
Odrade realized she did not much care for Bellonda, the way she laughed occasionally to expose those wide, blunt teeth.
They had discussed the cell samples from Sheeana for a longThteim"ep.roof of Siona" was theSreh.e had the ancestry that shielded her from prescience and could leave the no-ship.
Duncan was an unknown.
Odrade turned her thoughts to the ghola out there in the grounded nLoif-tsihngip.herself from the chair, she crossed to the dark window and looked in the direction of the distant landing field.

Did they dare risk releasing Duncan from the shielding of thaTt hsehipc?ell studies said he was a mixture of many Idaho gholas -- some descendant of SBiounta.what of the taint from the original?
No.He must remain confined.
And what of Murbella? -- pregnant MurbeAllan? Honored Matre dishonored.
"The Tleilaxu intended for me to kill the Imprinter," Duncan said.
"Will you try to kill the whoTreh?a"t was Lucilla's question.
"She is not an Imprinter," Duncan said.
The Council had discussed at length the possible nature of the bonding between Duncan and Murbella. Lucilla maintained there was no bonding at all, that the two remained wary opponents.
"Best not to risk putting them together."
The sexual prowess of the whores would have to be studied at length,Ptehrohuagphs. a meeting between Duncan and Murbella in the no-ship could be riWskeitdh. careful protective measures, of course.
Lastly, she thought about the worm in the no-ship's hold -- a worm nearing the moment of its metamorphosis. A small earth-dammed basin filled with melange awaited that wWorhme.n the moment came, it would be lured out by Sheeana into the bath of melange andThwe artesru. lting sandtrout could then begin their long transformation.
You were right, fatheIrt. was so simple when you looked at it clearly.

No need to seek a desert planet for the wTorhme ss.andtrout would create their own habitat for Shai-hulud. It was not pleasant to think of Chapter House Planet transformed into vast areas of wasteland but it had to be done.
The "Last Will and Testament of Miles Teg," which he had planted in the no-ship's submolecular storage systems, could not be discrediteEd.ven Bellonda agreed to that.
Chapter House required a complete revision of all its historical reAcorndesw.
look had been
demanded of them by what Teg had seen of the Lost Ones -- the whores from the Scattering.
"You seldom learn the names of the truly wealthy and powYeorufuls.ee only their spokesmeTn.he political arena makes a few exceptions to this but does not reveal the full power structure."
The Mentat philosopher had chewed deep into everything they accepted and what he disgorged did not agree with Archival dependence upon "our inviolate summations."
We knew it, Miles, we just never faced upWtoe'riet. all going to be digging in our Other Memories for the next few generations.
Fixed data, storage systems could not be trusted.
"If you destroy most copies, time will take care of the rest."
How Archives had raged at that telling pronouncement by the Bashar!
"The writing of history is largely a process of diveMrsioosnt . historical accounts divert attention from the secret influences around the recorded events."
That was the one that had brought down BelloSnhdea.had taken it up on her own, admit"tiTnhge:
histories that escape this restrictive process vanish into obscurity through obvious processes."
few

Teg had listed some of the proces"sDese:struction of as many copies as possible, burying the too
revealing accounts in ridicule, ignoring them in the centers of education, insuring that they are not quoted elsewhere and, in some cases, elimination of the authors."
Not to mention the scapegoat process that brought death to more than one messenger bearing unwelcome news, Odrade thoughSt.he recalled an ancient ruler who kept a pikestaff handy with which to kill messengers who brought bad news.
"We have a, good base of information upon which to build a better understanding of our past," Odrade had argued."We've always known that what was at stake in conflicts was the determination of who
would control the wealth or its equivalent."
Maybe it was not a real "noble purpose" but it would do for the time being.
I am avoiding the central issue, she thought.
Something would have to be done about Duncan Idaho and they all knew it.
With a sigh, Odrade summoned a 'thopter and prepared herself for the short trip to the no-ship.
Duncan's prison was at least comfortable, Odrade thought when she enteTrheids iht.ad been the ship commander's quarters lately occupied by Miles TTegh.ere were still signs of his presence here -- a small holostat projector revealing a scene of his home on Lernaeus; the stately old house, the long lawn, the river. Teg had left a sewing kit behind on a bedside table.
The ghola sat in a sling chair staring at the projHecetiolno.oked up listlessly when Odrade entered.
"You just left him back there to die, didn't you?" Duncan asked.

"We do what we must," she s"aAidn.d I obeyed his orders."
"I know why you're here," Duncan s"aAidn.d you're not going to change my mIi'nmd. not a damned stud for the witchesY. ou understand me?"
Odrade smoothed her robe and sat on the edge of the bed facing record my father left for us?" she asked.
"Your father?"
"DHuanvceany.ou examined the
"Miles Teg was my fathIerc. ommend his last words to yHoue. was our eyes there at the eHned. had to see the death on RakTish.e 'mind at its beginning' understood dependencies and key logs."
When Duncan looked puzzled, she explain"eWd:e were trapped too long in the Tyrant's oracular maze."
She saw how he sat up more alertly, the feline movements that spoke of muscles well conditioned to attack.
"There is no way you can escape alive from this ship," sh"Ye osuaidk.now why."
"Siona."
"You are a danger to us but we would prefer that you lived a useful life."
"I'm still not going to breed for you, especially not with that little twit from Rakis."
Odrade smiled, wondering how Sheeana would respond to that description.

"You think it's funny?D"uncan demanded.
"Not reallyB. ut we'll still have Murbella's child, of couIrsgeu. ess that will have to satisfy us."
"I've been talking to Murbella on the com," Duncan"Ssahied.thinks she's going to be a Reverend
Mother, that you're going to accept her into the Bene Gesserit."
"Why not?Her cells pass the proof of SioInat.hink she will make a superb Sister."
"Has she really taken you in?"
"You mean, have we failed to observe that she thinks she will go along with us until she learns our secrets and then she will escapOe?h, we know that, Duncan."
"You don't think she can get away from you?"
"Once we get them, Duncan, we never really lose them."
"You don't think you lost the Lady Jessica?"
"She came back to us in the end."
"Why did you really come out here to see me?"
"I thought you deserved an explanation of the Mother Superior's dIet swigans.
aimed at the destruction
of Rakis, you seeW. hat she really wanted was the elimination of almost all of the worms."

"Great Gods belowW! hy?"
"They were an oracular force holding us in bonTdahgoes.e pearls of the Tyrant's awareness magnified that hold.He didn't predict events, he created them."
Duncan pointed toward the rear of the s"hBiupt.
what about . . ."
"That one?It's just one nowB. y the time it reaches sufficient numbers to be an influence once more, humankind will have gone its own way beyond Whime'l.l be too numerous by then, doing too many different things on our owNn.o single force will rule all of our futures completely, never again."
She stood.
When he did not respond, she s"aWid:ithin the imposed limits, which I know you appreciate, please think about the kind of life you want to Ilepardo.mise to help you in any way I can."
"Why would you do that?"
"Because my ancestors loved yoBue.cause my father loved you."
"Love?You witches can't feel love!"
She stared down at him for almost a miTnhuete.bleached hair was growing out dark at the roots and curling once more into ringlets, especially at his neck, she saw.
"I feel what I feel," she s"aAidn.d your water is ours, Duncan Idaho."

She saw the Fremen admonition have its effect on him and then turned away and was passed out of the room by the guards.
Before leaving the ship, she went back to the hold and stared down at the quiescent worm on its bed of
Rakian sand.Her viewport looked down from some two hundred meters onto the caApstivseh.e looked, she shared a silent laugh with the increasingly integrated Taraza.
We were right and Schwangyu and her people were wWroengk.new he wanted ouHt.e had to want that after what he did.
She spoke aloud in a soft whisper, as much for herself as for the nearby observers stationed there to watch for the moment when metamorphosis began in that worm.
"We have your language now," she said.
There were no words in the language, only a moving, dancing adaptation to a moving, dancing universe. You could only speak the language, not translatTeoitk. now the meaning you had to go through the experience and even then the meaning changed before your "eNyeosb.le purpose" was, after all, an untranslatable experience.But when she looked down at the rough, heat-immune hide of that worm from the Rakian desert, Odrade knew what she stahwe : visible evidence of noble purpose.
Softly, she called down to h"imH:ey! Old worm!Was this your design?"
There was no answer but then she had not really expected an answer.

Frank Herbert was born in Tacoma, Washington, and educated at the University of Washington, Seattle. He worked a wide variety of jobs -- including TV cameraman, radio commentator, oyster diver, jungle survival instructor, lay analyst, creative writing teacher, reporter and editor of several West Coast newspapers -- before becoming a full-time writer.
In 1952, Herbert began publishing science fiction with "Looking for Something?" in StartlingBSuttories.
his true emergence as a writer of major stature did not occur until 1965, with the publication of Dune. Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and ChapteDrhuonuese:
followed, completing the saga that the Chicago Tribune would call "one of the monuments of modern science fiction."Herbert is also the author of some twenty other books, including The Jesus Incident, The Dosadi Experiment, and DestinationV: oid. He died in 1986.