raise and train that boy. I will do so again.'
'He became the terrible Muad'Dib. He began a jihad that slaughtered trillions, and he turned into an emperor as corrupt as any in history before him.'
'He was a good child and a good man,' Duncan insisted. 'And while he shaped the map of history, Paul was himself shaped by the events around him. Even so, in the end he refused to follow the path that he knew led to so much pain and ruin.'
'His son Leto did not have such reservations.'
'Leto II was forced into a Hobson's choice of his own. We cannot judge that decision until we know everything that was behind it. Perhaps not enough time has passed for anyone to say whether or not his choice was ultimately correct.'
A storm of anger crossed Garimi's face. 'It's been five thousand years since the Tyrant began his work, fifteen hundred years since his death.'
'One of his most prominent lessons was that humanity should learn to think on a truly long time scale.'
Uncomfortable with allowing the Bene Gesserit woman so close to so many tempting weapons, he eased her back out into the corridor and sealed the vault door. 'I was on Ix fighting the Tleilaxu for House Vernius when Paul Atreides was born in the Imperial Palace on Kaitain. I found myself embroiled in the first battles of the War of Assassins that consumed House Ecaz and Duke Leto for so many years. Lady Jessica had been summoned to Kaitain for the last months of her pregnancy because Lady Anirul suspected the potential of Paul and wanted to be present at the birth. Despite treachery and assassinations, the baby survived and was brought back to Caladan.'
Garimi stepped away from the armory, still obviously disturbed. 'According to the legends, Paul Muad'Dib was born on Caladan, not on Kaitain.'
'Legends are just that, sometimes fraught with errors, sometimes distorted intentionally. As an infant, Paul Atreides was christened on Caladan, and he considered that planet his home, until his arrival on Dune. You Bene Gesserits wrote that history.'
'And now you plan to rewrite it with what you assure us is the truth, with your precious Paul and other ghola children from the past?'
'Not rewrite it. We intend to re-create it.'
Clearly dissatisfied, but seeing that any further argument would simply carry them in circles, Garimi waited to see which direction Duncan would walk. Then she turned the opposite way and stalked off.
4
The unknown can be a terrible thing, and is often made more monstrous by human imagination. The real Enemy, however, may be far worse than any we can possibly imagine. Do not let your guard down.
The fat Reverend Mother and the feral Honored Matre stood stiffly together, as far apart as they thought they could without being too obvious. Even an observer without specialized Bene Gesserit training would have noticed their dislike for each other.
'You two will have to work together.' Murbella's voice allowed for no argument. 'I have decided that we must devote more of our efforts to the desert belt. Never forget that melange is the key. We will call in outside researchers to set up observation bases out in the deepest worm territories.
Maybe we can find a few old experts who actually visited Rakis before it was destroyed.'
'Our melange stockpiles are still significant,' Bellonda pointed out.
'And the sandtrout seem to be destroying all fertile land,' Doria added. 'The flow of spice is secure.'
'Nothing is ever secure! Complacency can be a worse threat than the rebel Honored Matres themselves—or the Outside Enemy,' Murbella said. 'To oppose either adversary, we must have the absolute cooperation of the Spacing Guild.
We need their immense ships, fully armed to transport us to and from anywhere we choose. We can use the Guild and CHOAM as carrot and stick to force planets, governments, and independent military systems to follow our lead. For that, our most effective tool is melange. With no other source, they will have to come to us for spice.'
'Or they can fly other ships from the Scattering,' Bellonda said.
Doria snorted. 'The Guild would never stoop to that.'
With a sideways glance at her rival and partner, Bellonda added, 'Because we only let the Guild obtain small amounts of spice from us, they also pay exorbitant prices for black-market melange from other stockpiles. Once we force them to exhaust their spice supplies, we will bring the Guild to its knees, and they will do whatever we ask of them.'
Bellonda nodded. 'The Guild is probably desperate already. When Administrator Gorus and the Navigator Edrik came here three years ago, they were nearly frantic. We have kept them on a tight leash since then.'
'They could well be on the verge of irrational action,' Doria warned.
'The spice must flow, but only on our terms.' Murbella turned to the women. 'I have a new assignment for you two. When we offer our generous forgiveness in exchange for Guild cooperation in the coming war, we'll need to be extravagant in our payment. Doria and Bellonda, I place you in charge of managing the arid zone, the spice extraction process, and the new sandworms.'
Bellonda looked shocked. 'Mother Commander, could I not serve you better here, as your advisor—and guardian?'
'No, you could not. As a Mentat you have shown great skill in handling details, and Doria has the edge to push where it is needed. Make sure our sandworms produce spice in the quantities we—and the Guild—will need. From now on, the deserts of Chapterhouse are your responsibility.'
AFTER THE UNLIKELY pair left for the desert, Murbella went to see the old Archives Mother Accadia, still seeking essential answers. In a large and airy wing of Chapterhouse Keep, the ancient librarian had arranged numerous tables and booths where thousands of Reverend Mothers toiled. Under normal circumstances, the Keep's archives would have been a quiet place for study and meditation, but Accadia had taken on a special mission that gave the New Sisterhood a wealth of unexpected hope.
The Bene Gesserit library world of Lampadas had been among the many planetary casualties from Honored Matre depredations. Knowing their imminent fate, the doomed women had Shared among each other, distilling the experience and knowledge of an entire population into only a few representatives. Eventually, all of those memories, and the entire library of Lampadas, had been placed in the mind of the wild Reverend Mother Rebecca, who had managed to Share again with many others, thus saving the memories of all those people.
Accadia's grand new scheme was to re-create the lost Lampadas library. She gathered Reverend Mothers who had obtained the knowledge and experiences of the Lampadas horde. The ones who were Mentats were able to remember word for word everything those previous lives had read and learned.
The archives wing was a drone of conversation and background noise, women sitting before shigawire spool recorders and dictating from memory, reading aloud page after page of rare books that their experiences recalled. Other women sat with their eyes closed, sketching on crystal sheets the diagrams and designs that were locked away in memory. Murbella watched volume after volume being re-created before her eyes. Each woman had a specific assignment, to reduce the likelihood of duplicating efforts.
Accadia seemed content as she greeted her visitor. 'Welcome, Mother Commander.
With great effort, we are managing to undo more and more losses.'
'I can only hope that the Enemy does not obliterate Chapterhouse and render your efforts in vain.'
'Preserving knowledge is never a pointless exercise, Mother Commander.'
Murbella shook her head. 'But we don't seem to have certain vital knowledge.
Key elements are missing, the simplest, most straightforward information. Who or what is our Enemy? Why
