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"I am" Another flat statement filled with self-assurance

"And Ghanima as well?"

"No"

The Preacher broke his silence then, turning his blind sockets toward Halleck but pointing at Leto "You think you can test hi of the proble at the h," The Preacher said "I was tested once by an old wo She didn&039;t know, as it turned out"

Halleck looked at him then "You&039;re another Truthsayer?"

"Anyone can be a Truthsayer, even you," The Preacher said "It&039;s a s It requires that you have an inner agreenition"

"Why do you interfere?" Halleck asked, putting hand to crysknife Who was this Preacher?

"I&039;m responsive to these events," The Preacher said "My mother could put her own blood upon the altar, but I have other motives And I do see your problem"

"Oh?" Halleck was actually curious now

"The Lady Jessica ordered you to differentiate between the wolf and the dog, between ze&039;eb and ke&039;leb By her definition a wolf is someone with pohothere is a dawn period when you cannot distinguish between the how more and more people of the sietch had entered the common room to listen "How do you know this?"

"Because I know this planet You don&039;t understand? Think how it is Beneath the surface there are rocks, dirt, sediment, sand That&039;s the planet&039;s memory, the picture of its history It&039;s the sa reme, and outward froht out to the surface"

"Very interesting," Halleck said "How does that help me carry out my orders?"

"Review the picture of your history which is within you Communicate as animals would co directness about this Preacher, a quality which he&039;d recognized many times in the Atreides, and there wasthe powers of Voice Halleck felt his heart begin to hammer Was it possible?

"Jessica wanted an ultirandson exposed itself," The Preacher said "But the fabric&039;s always there, open to your gaze"

Halleck turned to stare at Leto The movement came of itself, compelled by irresistible forces

The Preacher continued as though lecturing an obstinate pupil "This young person confuses you because he&039;s not a singular being He&039;s a community As with any community under stress, any member of that community n, and we get our stories of Aboh, Gurney Halleck Can&039;t you see that the transformation already has taken place? This youth has achieved an inner cooperation which is enormously powerful, that cannot be subverted Without eyes I see this Once I opposed hi He is the Healer"

"Who are you?" Halleck demanded

"I&039;m no more than what you see Don&039;t look at me, look at this person you were ordered to teach and test He has been formed by crisis He survived a lethal environment He is here"

"Who are you?" Halleck insisted

"I tell you only to look at this Atreides youth! He is the ultimate feedback upon which our species depends He&039;ll reinsert into the system the results of its past performance No other human could know that past perfor such a one!"

"I was ordered to test him and I&039;ve not -"

"But you have!"

"Is he Aboh shook The Preacher "You persist in Bene Gesserit nonsense How they create the myths by which men sleep!"

"Are you Paul Atreides?" Halleck asked

"Paul Atreides is no more He tried to stand as a supreme moral symbol while he renounced all od, every word a blasphemy How can you think -"

"Because you speak with his voice"

"Would you test me, noare, Gurney Halleck"

Halleck sed, forced his attention back to the impassive Leto who still stood cal tested?" The Preacher asked "Is it, perhaps, that the Lady Jessica tests you, Gurney Halleck?"

Halleck found this thought deeply disturbing, wondering why he let this Preacher&039;s wordsin Atreides servants to obey that autocraticthis, had ing within hies had only been touched by the Bene Gesserit training Jessica had pressed upon hie!

"Which of you plays God and to what end?" The Preacher asked "You cannot rely on reason alone to answer that question"

Slowly, deliberately, Halleck raised his attention fro he should achieve the balance of kairits - "thou shalt-thou shalt not" She called it a discipline without words and phrases, no rules or argue of his own internal truth, all-engrossing So in the blind nited a fury which burned itself into blinding calmness within Halleck

"Answer my question," The Preacher said

Halleck felt the words deepen his concentration upon this place, this one moment and its demands His position in the universe was defined only by his concentration No doubt remained in him This was Paul Atreides, not dead, but returned And this non-child, Leto Halleck looked once ns of stress around the eyes, the sense of balance in the stance, the passivesense of huh at the focus of a blinding light He had achieved har it

"Tell me, Paul," Halleck said "Does your hed "To the Sisterhood, all achieved har it"

"Tell me, Paul," Halleck said "Does your hed "To the Sisterhood, all of it, I a at him, Halleck asked: "But why does she -"

"She does what sheshe rules od"

"But you&039;re alive," Halleck whispered, overco at last to stare at this ed by the desert that he appeared to carry twice Halleck&039;s years

"What is that?" Paul de Freht between doubt and awe

"My mother never had to learn od can ulti There&039;d be reason enough for the invention of free will! A god ht wish to escape into sleep and be alive only in the unconscious projections of his dream-creatures"

"But you&039;re alive!" Halleck spoke louder now

Paul ignored the excitement in his old companion&039;s voice, asked: "Would you really have pitted this lad against his sister in the test-Mashhad? What deadly nonsense! Each would have said: &039;No! Kill me! Let the other live!&039; Where would such a test lead? What is it then to be alive, Gurney?"

"That was not the test," Halleck protested He did not like the way the Fre Leto

But Leto intruded now "Look at the fabric, father"

"Yes yes "Paul held his head high as though sniffing the air "It&039;s Farad&039;n, then!"

"How easy it is to follow our thoughts instead of our senses," Leto said

Halleck had been unable to follow this thought and, about to ask, was interrupted by Leto&039;s hand upon his ar that I&039;m Abomination No! Let it happen, Gurney If you try to force it, you&039;ll only destroy yourself"

But Halleck felt himself overcouiling, these pre-born They have tricks you&039;ve never even dreamed" Halleck shook his head slowly And Paul! Gods below! Paul alive and in league with this question mark he&039;d fathered!

The Freer be held back They pressed between Halleck and Paul, between Leto and Paul, shoving the two to the background The air was showered with hoarse questions "Are you Muad&039;Dib? Are you truly Muad&039;Dib? Is it true, what he says? Tell us!"

"You ainst theain I&039; what ical ansas about to act when Leto moved ahead of him It was there Halleck first saw an eleht in Leto A bull voice roared, "Stand aside!" - and Letothe knives fro the blades

In less than a ainst the walls in silent consternation Leto stood beside his father "When Shai-Hulud speaks, you obey," Leto said

And when a few of the Freue, Leto had torn a corner of rock froe wall beside the roo all the while

"I will tear your sietch down around your faces," he said

"The Desert Dereed "I will rip them apart We have not been here, do you hear me?"

Heads shook from side to side in terrified submission

"No one here has seen us," Leto said "One whisper from you and I will return to drive you into the desert without water"

Halleck saw hands being raised in the warding gesture, the sign of the woro now, my father and I, accompanied by our old friend," Leto said "Make our &039;thopter ready"

And Leto had guided the enroute that they must move swiftly because "Farad&039;n will be here on Arrakis very soon And, as my father has said, then you&039;ll see the real test, Gurney"

Looking down from the Shuloch butte, Halleck asked himself once more, as he asked every day: "What test? What does he er in Shuloch, and Paul refused to answer