Herbert Brian Dune House Atre

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

him back to the spaceport for his trip to the next Imperial planet, where he
would deliver his report again.
"Well, uh . . . that was good news," Rhombur said sourly. His face was pale but
hard. He stood quietly in the doorway, absorbing the information. "If it
hadn't been for the Emperor's petty jealousy and intervention, my family could
have recovered from the crisis on Ix. The Landsraad would have sent help."
"Elrood didn't want us to recover," Kailea said, glancing up from her accounting
records. "I'm just sorry my mother couldn't have lived to hear those tidings."
Leto's lips turned upward in a smile of guarded optimism. "Wait, this gives us
an unexpected opportunity. Think about it. Elrood alone bore personal
animosity against House Vernius. He and your mother had their painful past,
which we know to be the true reason behind his refusal to erase the blood price
on your family. It was personal."
Standing under the bull's-head, Hawat looked closely at Leto. He listened in
silence, waiting to see what his new Duke would suggest.
"I've tried speaking to the Landsraad Council," Leto said, "but they're useless,
noncommittal. They won't do anything to help us. But my distaff cousin Shaddam
. . ." He passed his tongue over the inside of his lower lip. "I've only met
him three times, but my maternal grandmother was also a child of Elrood's. I
can claim blood ties. When Shaddam becomes the new Emperor, I will petition him
to offer you amnesty as a gesture of forgiveness. When I swear the eternal
loyalty of House Atreides, I will ask him to remember the great history of House
Vernius."
"Why would he assent to that?" Kailea wanted to know. "What's the advantage
for him?"
"It would be the right thing to do," Rhombur said. "The fair thing." His
sister looked at him as if he had lost his mind.
"He'll do it to establish the tenor of his reign," Leto said. "Any new Emperor
wants to create an identity, show how he's different from his predecessor, not
locked into old ways and old decisions. Shaddam just might be in a forgiving
mood. Word has it that he was not on the best of terms with his father anyway,
and he'll certainly want to show his own colors after more than a century under
Elrood."
Kailea threw herself into Leto's arms, and he hugged her awkwardly. "It would
be so wonderful to have our freedom back, Leto -- and our family holdings!
Maybe there's something we can salvage from Ix after all."
"Let's all keep our hopes up, Kailea," Rhombur said with cautious optimism.
"Try to envision it, and it just might happen."
"We must not be afraid to ask," Leto said.
"All right," Rhombur said. "If anyone can accomplish this, it's you, my
friend."
Fiery with determination and optimism, Leto began to develop plans for his
formal procession to Kaitain. "We'll do something they won't expect," he said.
"Rhombur and I will show up for the coronation, together."
He met the Mentat advisor's alarmed gaze. "It is dangerous to bring the son of
Vernius, m'Lord."
"And precisely what they will not expect."
What senses do we lack that we cannot see or hear another world all around us?
-The Orange Catholic Bible
Some considered the rocky wilderness of Forest Guard Station to be beautiful, a
pristine and natural wonderland. But Baron Vladimir Harkonnen disliked being so
far from enclosed buildings, sharp angles, metal, and plaz. The cold air
smelled harsh and unpleasant without the familiar fumes of industry, lubricants,
and machinery. Too raw, too hostile.
The Baron knew the importance of their destination, though, and entertained
himself by watching the even greater discomfort exhibited by his twisted Mentat.
With a dirty robe and mussed hair, Piter de Vries struggled to keep up. Though
his mind operated like a powerful machine, his body was pampered, scrawny, and
weak.
"Everything is so primitive out here, my Baron, so filthy and cold," de Vries
said, his eyes feral. "Are you certain we have to go this far? Have we no
alternative, other than jaunting out into the forest?"
"Some people pay dearly to visit places like this," the Baron said. "They call
them resorts."
"Piter, shut your mouth and keep up with us," Rabban said. They trudged up a
steep hillside toward an ice-glazed and cave-pocked wall of sandstone.
Scowling, the Mentat returned the jab with his own barbed words. "Isn't this
the place where that little boy bested you and all your hunting team, Rabban?"
The Baron's nephew turned back, his thick-lidded eyes staring at de Vries, and
growled, "I'll hunt you next time if you don't watch your tongue."
"Your uncle's priceless Mentat?" de Vries said in a carefree tone. "But how
would he possibly replace me?"
"He has a point," the Baron agreed, with a chuckle.
Rabban muttered something to himself.
Earlier, the Baron's guards and hunting experts had combed the isolated hunting
preserve, a security check so that the three men could walk alone, without their
usual entourage. Carrying a maula pistol on his hip and a heat-scattering rifle
slung over his shoulder, Rabban insisted that he could take care of any gaze
hounds or other predators that might attack. The Baron didn't share such
complete confidence in his nephew, considering the fact that a small boy had
indeed outwitted him -- but at least out here they could stay away from prying
eyes.
At the top of a bluff the three of them rested on a ledge, then ascended another
slope. Rabban led the way, clawing aside thick scrub brush until they reached
more exposed sandstone. There, a low crack yielded a black space between
crumbling stone and the ground.
"It's down here," Rabban said. "Come on."
The Baron knelt and shined a ring-light into the opening of a cave. "Follow me,
Piter."
"I'm not a spelunker," the Mentat replied. "Besides, I'm tired."
"You're just not physically fit enough," the Baron countered as he took a deep
breath to feel his own muscles. "You need more exercise. Keep yourself in
shape."
"But this isn't what you purchased me for, my Baron."
"I purchased you to do anything I tell you to do." He bent and crawled through
the opening; the tiny but powerful beam of light on his finger probed the
darkness ahead.
Though the Baron tried to maintain his physique in a perfect condition, he had
been plagued with body aches and unexpected weakness over the past year. No one
had noticed -- or perhaps no one had dared mention -- the fact that he'd also
begun to gain weight, through no change in his diet. His skin had a thicker,
pastier appearance. He had considered discussing his problem with medical
experts, maybe even a Suk doctor, no matter the incredible expense of consulting
one. Life, it seemed, was an endless string of problems.
"It smells like bear piss in here," de Vries complained as he squirmed through
the hole.
"How would you know what bear piss smells like?" Rabban said, pushing the
Mentat deeper inside to make room for himself.
"I've smelled you. A wild animal can't be any more rank than that."
The three men stood up inside, and the Baron illuminated a small glowglobe,
which floated up to shine against the near wall in the back of the low cave.
The place was rough and moss-covered, smudged with dust, showing no sign of
human habitation. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Odnośniki