Page 30 (1/2)

"As long as one human remains alive to see them, the colors will not suffer a linearof colors, Lord?"

"The continuus which we do not, Lord!"

"Because you refuse!"

Moneo sank his chin to his chest "Lord, I know you have evolved beyond the rest of us That is orship you and"

"Damn you, Moneo!"

Moneo jerked his head up and stared at Leto in terror

"Civilizations collapse when their powers outrun their religions!" Leto said "Why can&039;t you see this? Hwi does"

"She is Ixian, Lord Perhaps she"

"She&039;s a Fish Speaker! She has been from birth, born to serve me No!" Leto raised one of his tiny hands as Moneo tried to speak "The Fish Speakers are disturbed because I called theer not trained in Siaynoq who knows it better than they"

"How can that be, Lord, when your Fish"

"What are you saying? Each of us co who he is and what he is supposed to do"

Moneo opened his

"Small children know," Leto said "It&039;s only after adults have confused thee even from themselves Moneo! Uncover yourself!"

"Lord, I cannot!" The words were torn frouish "I do not have your powers, your knowledge of"

"Enough!"

Moneo fell silent His body shook

Leto spoke soothingly to hiht, Moneo I asked too ue"

Slowly, Moneo&039;s tre breaths

Leto said: "There will be sos of s of s?"

Leto twisted his bulk on the cart and pointed to the intersection of two cavernous spokes on his left where the diht revealed the earliest burial niches of the Atreides on Arrakis "In her tos, Moneo, and bring theloomy distance of the crypt "Lord is it not a desecration to"

"You forget, Moneo, who lives in me" He spoke then in Chani&039;s voice: "I can do what I iththee?" Leto asked in his usual voice "But I have changed e!"

Most civilization is based on cowardice It&039;s so easy to civilize by teaching cowardice You water down the standards which would lead to bravery You restrain the will You regulate the appetites You fence in the horizons You make a law for every movement You deny the existence of chaos You teach even the children to breathe slowly You tahast at his first close glie That was the home of Fremen?

The Fish Speaker troop had taken them froe ornithopter, accoht had been slow, almost three hours They had landed at a flat, round plastone hangar ale, separated frorasses and a few scrubby bushes As they carow taller and taller, the village shrinking beneath such ienerally uncontay," Nayla had explained as the escort sealed the &039;thopters into the low hangar One of the troop already had been sent trotting off toward Tuono with the announcement of their arrival

Siona had reht, but she had studied Nayla with covert intensity

For a tihted dunes, Idaho had tried to iine that he was back in the old days Sand was visible in the plantings and, in the valleys between dunes, there was parched ground, yellow grass, the sticklike shrubs Three vultures, their gap-tipped wings spread wide, circled in the vault of sky-"the soaring search," Fremen had called it Idaho had tried to explain this to Siona walking beside hian to descend

"I have been told about vultures," she said, her voice cold

Idaho had noted the perspiration on her upper lip There was a spicy smell of sweat in the troop pressed close around the the differences between the past and this time The issue stillsuits they ere more for show than for efficient collection of the body&039;s water No true Fremen would have trusted his life to one of them, not even here, where the air smelled of nearby water And the Fish Speakers of Nayla&039;s troop did not walk in Fre theed beside him in sullen withdrawal, her attention frequently on the broada few paces ahead of the troop

What was between those to on Siona&039;s every word, obeying every whim Siona uttered except that Nayla would not deviate froe Still, Nayla deferred to Siona and called her "Co deep between those two, so which aroused awe and fear in Nayla

They cae and the wall behind it Froles just outside the shadow of the wall Froh, it had been reduced to a cluster of decaying huts made even more pitiful by attempts to decorate the place Bits of shiny ns on the building walls A tattered green banner fluttered froest structure A fitful breeze brought the se and uncovered cesspools to Idaho&039;s nostrils The central street of the village extended out across the sparsely planted sand toward the troop, ending in a ragged edge of broken paving

A robed delegation waited near the building of the green flag, standing there expectantly with the Fish Speaker ht in the delegation, all men in what appeared to be authentic Freliation-the Naib, no doubt Children waited to one side with flowers Black-hooded woround Idaho found the whole scene distressing

"Let&039;s get it over with," Siona said

Nayla nodded and led the way down the slope onto the street Siona and Idaho stayed a few paces behind her The rest of the troop straggled along after theuised curiosity

As Nayla neared the delegation, the one with the green headband stepped forward and bowed He moved like an old man but Idaho saw that he was not old, barely into his middle years, the cheeks smooth and unwrinkled, a stubby nose with no scars from breath-filter tubes, and the eyes! The eyes revealed definite pupils, not the all-blue of spice addiction They were brown eyes Brown eyes in a Fremen!

"I am Garun," the man said as Nayla stopped in front of hiive you a Freestured over her shoulder at Siona and Idaho, who had stopped just behind her "Are quarters prepared for your guests?"

"We Fremen are noted for our hospitality," Garun said "All is ready"

Idaho sniffed at the sour sh open s of the flag-topped building on his right The Atreides banner flying over that? Theopened into an auditoriu a s on the floor It had all the look of a stage setting, a place to entertain tourists

The sound of shuffling feet brought Idaho&039;s attention back to Garun Children were pressing forward around the delegation, extending clurimy hands The floilted

Garun addressed hi of Fish Speaker Command in her uniform

"Will you wish a performance of our Fremen rituals?" he asked "The music, perhaps? The dance?"

Nayla accepted a bunch of flowers from one of the children, sniffed them and sneezed

Another urchin extended flowers toward Siona, lifting a wide-eyed stare toward her She accepted the floithout looking at the child Idaho merely waved the children aside as they approached hi up at him, then scurried around him toward the rest of the troop

Garun spoke to Idaho "If you give them a few coins, they will not bother you"

Idaho shuddered Was this the training for Fremen children?

Garun returned his attention to Siona With Nayla listening, Garun began explaining the layout of his village

Idaho lances flicked toward hiaze He felt deeply offended by the surface decorations on the buildings, none of it disguising the evidence of decay He stared in an open doorway at the auditoriu behind the wilting flowers and the servile tone of Garun&039;s voice In another time and on another planet, this would have been a donkey-in-the-street village rope-belted peasants pressing forith petitions He could hear the whine of supplication in Garun&039;s voice These were not Fre to retain parts of an ancient wholeness And all the while, that lost reality slipped farther and farther frorasp What had Leto created here? These Museu except a bare existence and the roteof old words which they did not understand and which they did not even pronounce correctly!

Returning to Siona, Idaho bent to study the cut of Garun&039;s brown robe, seeing a tightness in it dictated by a need to conserve fabric The gray slick of a stillsuit could be seen underneath, exposed to sunlight which no real Fremen would ever have let touch his stillsuit that way Idaho looked at the rest of the delegation, noting an identical parsimonious treatarestures, no freedo in the way of these entire people!

Disgust propelling him, Idaho strode forward abruptly and parted Garun&039;s robe to look at the stillsuit Just as he suspected! The suit was another sha a hand to the knife hilt Idaho had exposed at the ?" Garun demanded, his voice querulous "You don&039;t touch a Fremen thus!"

"You, a Freht by their sides against Harkonnens! I died with Fremen! You? You&039;re a sham!"

Garun&039;s knuckles hite on the knife haft He addressed himself to Siona "Who is this hola?" Garun turned to look at Idaho&039;s face "We have never seen your like here before"

Idaho felt himself almost overcome with desire to cleanse this place even if it cost him his life, this diminished life which could be repeated endlessly by people who had no real concerns for him An older model, yes! But this was no Fremen

"Draw that knife or take your hand off it," Idaho said

Garun jerked his hand away from the knife "It is not a real knife," he said "Only for decoration" His voice becaer "But we have real knives, even crysknives! They are kept locked in the display cases to preserve them"

Idaho could not help hihter Siona shtful and the rest of the Fish Speaker troop drew into a close, watchful circle around thehter had an odd effect on Garun He lowered his head and clasped his hands tightly together, but not before Idaho saw the When Garun peered upward once more, it was to look at Idaho from beneath heavy brows Idaho felt abruptly sobered It was as though soo into fearful subservience There atchful waiting in the man&039;s eyes And for no reason he could explain, Idaho ree Catholic Bible He asked himself: Are these the meek ill outwait us all and inherit the universe?

Garun cleared his throat, then: "Perhaps the ghola Duncan Idaho itness our ways and our ritual and judge them?"

Idaho felt sha: "I will teach you anything Fre at him "It will help to pass the ti of the true Fremen to this land"

Siona said: "We&039;ve no need to play old cultish games! Take us to our quarters"

Nayla lowered her head in e at Siona "Co I have not ventured to tell you"

"That you must make sure we stay in this filthy place," Siona said

"Oh, no!" Nayla looked up at Siona&039;s face "Where could you go? The Wall cannot be climbed and there is only the river beyond it, anyway And in the other direction, it is the Sareer Oh, no it is so else" Nayla shook her head

"Out with it!" Siona snapped

"I am under the strictest orders, Colanced at the other members of the troop then back to Siona "You and the Duncan Idaho are to be quartered together"

"My father&039;s orders?"

"Lady Commander, they are said to be the orders of the God Emperor himself and we dare not disobey"

Siona looked full at Idaho "You will re, Duncan, when last we spoke at the Citadel?"

"My hands are mine to do with as I wish," Idaho snarled "I don&039;t think you have any doubts about my wishes!"

She turned away from him after a curt nod and looked at Garun "What does itplace? Take us to our quarters"

Idaho found Garun&039;s response fascinating-a turning of the head toward the ghola, shielding the face behind the Fremen hood, then a secret conspiratorial wink Only then did Garun lead them away down the ditty street -= What is the er to my stewardship? I will tell you It is a true visionary, a person who has stood in the presence of God with the full knowledge of where he stands Visionary ecstasy releases energies which are like the energies of sex-uncaring for anything except creation One act of creation can bedepends upon the vision

- The Stolen Journals LETO LAY without his cart on the high, sheltered balcony of his Little Citadel tower, subduing a fretfulness which he knew ca off the date of his wedding to Hwi Noree He stared toward the southwest So horizon, the Duncan, Siona and their coe

The delays are ed the place for the wedding,it necessary for poor Moneo to revise all of his preparations

And now, of course, there was the matter of Malky

None of these necessities could be explained to Moneo, who could be heard stirring about within the central cha about his absence from the command post where he directed the festive preparations Moneo was such a worrier!

Leto looked toward the setting sun It floated low to the horizon, faded a die by a recent storm Rain crouched low in the clouds to the south beyond the Sareer now In a prolonged silence, Leto had watched the rain there for a ti or end The clouds had grown out of a hard gray sky, rain walking in visible lines He had felt himself clothed in memories that came unbidden The , he muttered the remembered lines of an ancient verse

"Did you speak, Lord?" Moneo&039;s voice ca his eyes, Leto could see the faithful

Leto translated into Galach as he quoted: "The nightingale nests in the plum tree, but ill she do with the wind?"

"Is that a question, Lord?"

"An old question The answer is siale keep to her flowers"

"I don&039;t understand, Lord"

"Stopthe obvious, Moneo It disturbs ive me, Lord"

"What else can I do?" Leto studied Moneo&039;s downcast features "You and I, Moneo, whatever else we do, we provide good theater"

Moneo peered at Leto&039;s face "Lord?"

"The rites of the religious festival of Bacchus were the seeds of Greek theater, Moneo Religion often leads to theater They will have fine theater out of us" Once more, Leto turned and looked at the southwest horizon

There was a wind there now piling up the clouds Leto thought he could hear driven sand blustering along the dunes, but there was only resonant quiet in the tower aerie, a quiet with the faintest of wind hiss behind it

"The clouds," he whispered "I would take a cup of e at ray cloak aroundnearby"

"My Lord is troubled," Moneo said The coht shadows of my pasts," Leto said "They never leavesound, the bell of a country town at nightfall, and it told me only that I am the sound and soul of this place"

As he spoke, darkness enclosed the tower Autohts came on around them Leto kept his attention directed outhere a thin e planet-light revealing the satellite&039;s full circle

"Lord, why have we come out here?" Moneo asked "Why won&039;t you tell me?"

"I wanted the benefit of your surprise," Leto said "A Guild lighter will land beside us out here soon My Fish Speakers bring Malky to me"