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Jessica found herself shocked at the necessity to suppress anger "Yes he did"
"You don&039;t like the fact that he knows our father as our mother knew him, and knows our mother as our father knew her," Ghanima said "You don&039;t like what that implies - e ht about it that way before," Jessica said, finding her voice stiff
"It&039;s the knowledge of sensual things which usually disturbs," Ghani You find it extre but children But there&039;s nothing our parents did together, in public or in private, that ould not know"
For a brief instant Jessica found herself returning to the reaction which had come over her out there beside the qanat, but now she focused that reaction upon Ghani sensuality,&039; " Ghanima said "So these twins cannot profane? Jessica wondered, e to revulsion How dared they speak of her Leto&039;s sensuality? Of course a man and woman who loved each other would share the pleasure of their bodies! It was a private and beautiful thing, not to be paraded in casual conversation between a child and an adult
Child and adult!
Abruptly Jessica realized that neither Leto nor Ghanima had done this casually
As Jessica reize for both of us Knowing Leto, I know he didn&039;t consider apologizing Soets how different we are froht: And that is why you both do this, of course You are teaching ar? Duncan?
"Leto tries to see things as you see theh When you try the hardest, just then, you rands unsaid which yet ive us, but he loved you Don&039;t you know that?"
Jessica turned away to hide the tears glistening in her eyes
"He knew your fears," Ghaniar&039;s fears Dear Stil Our father was his &039;Doctor of Beasts&039; and Stil was no reen snail hidden in its shell" She hummed the tune from which she&039;d taken these words The ainst Jessica&039;s awareness without coreen snail shell
With its ti death,
You coods obliterate,
And cures bring pain,
That heaven is seen
Through a door of flame
O Doctor of Beasts,
I a into my shell!
Why, Muad&039;Dib? Why?"
Ghanima said: "Unfortunately, our father left many man-snails in our universe"
The assumption that humans exist within an essentially impermanent universe, taken as an operational precept, de instru the entire organis behavior And thus it is with a society treated as organism But here we encounter an old inertia Societiesof ancient, reactive impulses They demand permanence Any attempt to display the universe of ier, and despair Then hoe explain the acceptance of prescience? Siiver of prescient visions, because he speaks of an absolute (perreeted with joy by hu the most dire events -The Book of Leto, After Harq al-Ada
"It&039;s liking fighting in the dark," Alia said
She paced the Council Cha fro sun at the eastern s to the divans grouped beneath decorated wall panels at the roos, parquet wood, tiles of giant garnet and once s At last she stood over Irulan and Idaho, who sat facing each other on divans of grey whale fur
Idaho had resisted returning from Tabr, but she had sent peremptory orders The abduction of Jessica was more important than ever now, but it had to wait Idaho&039;s s are cut fro plot"
"Perhaps not," Irulan ventured, but she glanced questioningly at Idaho
Alia&039;s face lapsed into an undisguised sneer How could Irulan be that innocent? Unless Alia bent a sharp and questioning stare onto the Princess Irulan wore a simple black aba robe which o eyes Her blonde hair was tied in a tight coil at the nape of her neck, accenting a face thinned and toughened by years on Arrakis She still retained the haughtiness she&039;d learned in the court of her father, Shaddam IV, and Alia often felt that this prideful attitude could ed in the black-and-green unifornia It was an affectation which was secretly resented by uards, especially the ania of office They did not like the plain presence of the ghola-swordmaster-mentat, the more so because he was the husband of their mistress
"So the tribes want the Lady Jessica reinstated into the Regency Council," Idaho said "How can that -"
"Theyto an embossed sheet of spice-paper on the divan beside Irulan "Farad&039;n is one thing, but this this has the stink of other alignnature&039;s on that paper!" Alia said
"But if he"
"How could he deny the od?" Alia sneered
Idaho looked up at her, thinking: That&039;s awfully close to the edge with Irulan! Again he wondered why Alia had brought him back here when she knew that he was needed at Sietch Tabr if the abduction plot were to be carried off Was it possible she&039;d heard about the ht filled his breast with turnal by which Paul Atreides had always sued to leave this pointlessand return to the search for an answer to that question
"There&039;s no doubt that The Preacher has been off-planet," Alia said "The Guild wouldn&039;t dare deceive us in such a thing I will have him -"
"Careful!" Irulan said
"Indeed, have a care," Idaho said "Half the planet believe hied "- your brother" And Idaho hoped he had carried this off with a properly casual attitude How had the nal?
"But if he&039;s a courier, or a spy of the -"
"He&039;s made contact with no one from CHOAM or House Corrino," Irulan said "We can be sure of -"
"We can be sure of nothing!" Alia did not try to hide her scorn She turned her back on Irulan, faced Idaho He knehy he was here! Why didn&039;t he perform as expected? He was in Council because Irulan was here The history which had brought a Princess of House Corrino into the Atreides fold could never be forgotten Allegiance, once changed, could change again Duncan&039;sfor flaws, for subtle deviations in Irulan&039;s behavior
Idaho stirred, glanced at Irulan There were tiht-line necessities i Irulan would know it as well But this Princess-wife to Paul Muad&039;Dib had overcome the decisions which had made her less than the royal concubine, Chani There could be no doubt of Irulan&039;s devotion to the royal twins She had renounced family and Bene Gesserit in dedication to the Atreides
"My mother is part of this plot!" Alia insisted "For what other reason would the Sisterhood send her back here at a ti to help us," Idaho said
Alia whirled away from him, as he&039;d known she would It helped him that he did not have to look at that once-beloved face which was now so twisted by alien possession
"Well," Irulan said, "the Guild can&039;t be completely trusted for -"
"The Guild!" Alia sneered
"We can&039;t rule out the enmity of the Guild or the Bene Gesserit," Idaho said "But we ories as essentially passive combatants The Guild will live up to its basic rule: Never Govern They&039;re a parasitic growth, and they know it They won&039;t do anything to kill the organisanism keeps them alive may be different from ours," Irulan drawled It was the closest she ever came to a sneer, that lazy tone of voice which said: "You missed a point, mentat"
Alia appeared puzzled She had not expected Irulan to take this tack It was not the kind of viehich a conspirator would want examined
"No doubt," Idaho said "But the Guild won&039;t coainst House Atreides The Sisterhood, on the other hand, ht risk a certain kind of political break which -"
"If they do, it&039;ll be through a front: soroup they can disavow," Irulan said "The Bene Gesserit haven&039;t existed all of these centuries without knowing the value of self-efface behind the throne, not on it"
Self-effacement? Alia wondered Was that Irulan&039;s choice?
"Precisely the point I make about the Guild," Idaho said He found the necessities of argument and explanation helpful They kept his mind from other problems
Alia strode back toward the sunlit s She knew Idaho&039;s blind spot; every ht about a tendency to depend upon absolutes, to see finite limits They knew this about the Yet they continued to act beyond self-li paraht It would&039;ve been better to just turn Irulan over to Javid for questioning
Within her skull, Alia heard a ru voice: "Exactly!"
Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! she thought A dangerous nize its outlines All she could sense was the danger Idaho had to help her out of this predicament He was a mentat Mentats were necessary The human-computer replaced the mechanical devices destroyed by the Butlerian Jihad Thou shalt not ed now for a compliant machine They could not have suffered from Idaho&039;s limitations You could never distrust avoice
"A feint within a feint within a feint within a feint," Irulan said "We all know the accepted pattern of attack upon power I don&039;t blame Alia for her suspicions Of course she suspects everyone - even us Ignore that for the h What remains as the prier to the Regency?"
"CHOAM," Idaho said, his voice rim smile The Combine Honnete Ober Advancer Mercantiles! But House Atreides dominated CHOAM with fifty-one percent of its shares The Priesthood of Muad&039;Dib held another five percent, pragmatic acceptance by the Great Houses that Dune controlled the priceless e Not without reason was the spice often called "the secret coinage" Without hliners could not ation trance" by which a translight pathway could be "seen" before it was traveled Without enic systeenerated by a factor of at least four Even the vast e in ss with at least one meal a day
But Alia had heard the mentat sincerity in Idaho&039;s voice, a sound which she&039;d been awaiting with terrible expectancy
CHOAM The Combine Honnete was much more than House Atreides, e It was inkvines, whale fur, shigawire, Ixian artifacts and entertainers, trade in people and places, the Hajj, those products which cay; it was addictive drugs and medical techniques; it was transportation (the Guild) and all of the supercomplex commerce of an empire which encompassed thousands of known planets plus soes, permitted there for services rendered When Idaho said CHOAM, he spoke of a constant ferue, a play of pohere the shift of one duodecie the ownership of an entire planet
Alia returned to stand over the two seated on the divans "So specific about CHOAM bothers you?" she asked
"There&039;s always the heavy speculative stockpiling of spice by certain Houses," Irulan said
Alia slapped her hands against her own thighs, then gestured at the embossed spice-paper beside Irulan "That de as it does -"