The Rabbi looked angry and revolted. 'It is clearly the work of evil.'
'Is it evil if it saves all of us?'
'Yes! No matter what excuses the witches give.'
'I do not agree, Rabbi. I believe it is the work of God. If we are given tools for our survival, then God must want us to survive. But the evil inclination tricks us by sowing seeds of fear and suspicion.'
As she had expected, he bridled. His nostrils flared, and he grew indignant.
'Do you suggest that I am following an evil inclination?'
Her counterblow was strong enough to knock him off his feet. 'I'm saying that I have decided to volunteer. I will become one of their womb tanks. My body will provide a necessary receptacle so the gholas can be born.' A softer voice now, kinder words. 'I trust you will look upon those children I bear and give them whatever aid and counsel they might require. Teach them if you can.'
The Rabbi was aghast. 'You—you cannot do this, daughter. I forbid it.'
'It is Passover, Rabbi. Remember the blood of the lamb on the doorpost.'
'That was allowed only during the days of the Solomonic temple in Jerusalem.
It is forbidden to do it anywhere else, at any time.'
'Nevertheless, though I am far, far from untainted, this may be enough.' She remained calm, but the Rabbi was shaking.
'It is folly and pride! The witches have lured you into their trap. You must pray with me—'
'My mind is made up, Rabbi. I've seen the wisdom of this. The Bene Gesserits will have their tanks. They will find their volunteers. Consider all the other women aboard, younger and stronger by far. They have their futures ahead of them, while I have had countless lives inside my head. That is more than enough for any person, and I am content. By offering myself, I save someone else.'
'You will be cursed!' His hoarse voice cracked before it could rise to a scream. She wondered if he would tear his sleeve and cast her out, disavowing any further connection with her. Right now, the Rabbi was too horrified by what she had told him.
'As you so often remind me, Rabbi, I have millions already within me. In all my pasts a great many of them were devout Jews. Others followed their own conscience. But make no mistake, this is a price I can willingly pay. An honorable price. Don't think about losing me—think instead of the girl I am saving.'
Grasping at straws, he said, 'You are too old. You are past child-bearing years.'
'My body only needs to provide the incubator, not the ovaries. I have already been tested. The Sisters assure me that I can adequately serve.' She rested her hand on his arm, knowing that he cared for her. 'You were a Suk doctor once. I trust the Bene Gesserit physicians, but I would feel better if I knew that you would also watch over me.'
She went to the door of the temple chamber and gave him a last smile. 'Thank you, Rabbi.' She slipped away before he could marshal his scrambled thoughts and continue arguing with her.
7
To the loving eye, even an Abomination can be a beautiful child.
For months under the stern and watchful eyes of the Honored Mattes, Uxtal worked at monitoring the axlotl tank while also attending the pain laboratories. He felt wrung out in his struggle to satisfy those who controlled him.
Khrone had come to visit him twice in the past half year (twice that he knew about, though a Face Dancer could move unnoticed whenever he liked). In his squalid quarters, the Lost Tleilaxu researcher kept his own calendar, marking off each day as a small victory, as if survival itself were a matter of keeping score.
In the meantime, he had also begun to produce enough of the orange melange alternative to make the whores believe he had value to them after all.
Unfortunately, his successes were more a result of repeated attempts than any genuine skill on his part. In spite of his uncertainties and hastily covered blunders, Uxtal had stumbled upon a serviceable manufacturing method; though inefficient, it was good enough to keep the whores from killing him, for the time being.
And meanwhile the ghola baby continued to grow.
When the male fetus reached a point where he could take samples 141 sufficient to run analyses, he compared the DNA to genetic records that Khrone had provided. He still didn't know what the Face Dancers had in mind with this child; in fact, he wasn't even convinced the shape-shifters had a plan at all, beyond their own curiosity.
Initially, Uxtal was able to isolate the general bloodline, then narrow it down to specifics, a planet of origin, an extended family… and then a definite family. Finally he backtracked the lineage to a specific historical person. The result startled him, and he nearly deleted the answer before anyone could see. But he was sure someone must be observing him, and if he was caught trying to hide information, the Honored Matres would treat him very harshly.
Instead, he faced his own dizzying questions. Why had the old Tleilaxu Masters preserved those particular cells? What possible purpose could they have imagined? And what other remarkable cells had been inside the destroyed nullentropy capsule? Too bad the Honored Matres had destroyed all the bodies, burning them or feeding them to sligs.
Khrone would return soon enough. Then maybe the Face Dancers would take their ghola baby away, and Uxtal could be free. Or maybe they would just kill him and be done with it…
After its carefully monitored gestation period, the decanting of the infant was imminent. Quite imminent. Uxtal spent most of his days now in the axlotl room, both fearful and fascinated. He bent over the bloated female tank, testing the unborn baby's heartbeat, his movements. The child frequently let loose vicious kicks, as if he hated the fleshy cell that contained him. Not surprising, but alarming nevertheless.
When the day arrived, Uxtal summoned his assistants. 'If the baby is not born healthy, I will send you to the torture wing—' He suddenly gasped, remembering other duties, and left the befuddled assistants standing by the pregnant tank as he rushed into the new adjacent laboratory wing.
There, among the screams, moans, and a tiny trickle of precursor chemicals for spice alternative, Hellica was waiting impatiently for him. For some time she had amused herself by watching the spice 'harvesting' process, but now, seeing Uxtal, she snaked toward him. He averted his eyes, stammered. 'I am s-sorry, Matre Superior. The ghola is about to be born, and I was distracted. I should have ignored all other responsibilities as soon as you arrived.' He muttered a silent, frantic prayer that she wouldn't murder him then and there. The Face Dancers would be quite upset if she killed him before he could decant the child, wouldn't they?
When Hellica's eyes flashed dangerously, he wanted to run. 'I do not believe you are sufficiently convinced of your place in this new order, little man. It is time you are bonded—before that ghola is born. I need to rely on you. You will never again lose track of your priorities.'
Uxtal became more aware of the swell of her breasts and the way she moved in the tight leotard. She seemed to project a hypnotic sexuality. Their gazes locked, but he experienced no arousal.
'Once I make you dependent on my pleasures,' she continued, massaging his face gently with her fingers, 'I will have your full dedication to my project. With the ghola baby out of the way, you will have no other excuses.'
Uxtal felt his pulse accelerate. What would she do once she found out what Khrone had done to him?
A shout came from the main laboratory, followed by the brief indignant squall of a baby. Uxtal's heart leapt into his throat. 'The child has been born! How could they do it without me?' Uxtal tried to pull away from Hellica. Terrified that his assistants had proved they could do their work independently, he didn't dare let anyone believe he might be unnecessary. 'Please, Matre Superior, let me make certain my foolish assistants did nothing wrong.'
Fortunately, Hellica seemed as interested as he was. The Tleilaxu man scuttled out of the new wing and rushed to the now deflated axlotl tank. With a shy but confused smile, one of the assistants held up the dripping,
