[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
."Some believe," she read, "that you must compromise integrity with a certainamount of dirty work before you can put genius to work.They say the compromisebegins when you come out of the sanctus intending to realize your ideals.Moneosays my solution is to stay within the sanctus, sending others to do my dirtywork."She looked up at Idaho."The God Emperor-his own words."Slowly, Idaho relaxed his fists.He knew he needed this distraction.And itinterested him that Siona had emerged from her silence."What is that book?" he asked.Briefly, she told him how she and her companions had stolen the Citadel chartsand the copies of Leto's journals."Of course you knew about that," she said."My father has made it plain thatspies betrayed our raid."He saw the tears latent in her eyes."Nine of you killed by the wolves?"She nodded."You're a lousy Commander!" he said.She bristled but before she could speak, he asked: "Who translated them foryou?""This is from Ix.They say the Guild found the Key.""We already knew our God Emperor indulged in expedience," Idaho said."Is thatall he has to say?""Read it for yourself." She rummaged in her pack beside the cot and came up withthe first volume of the translation, which she tossed across to his cot.AsIdaho returned to the cot, she demanded: "What do you mean I'm a lousyCommander'?""Wasting nine of your friends that way.""You fool!" She shook her head."You obviously never saw those wolves!"He picked up the book and found it heavy, realizing then that it had beenprinted on crystal paper."You should have armed yourselves against the wolves,"he said, opening the volume. "What arms?" Any arms we could get would've been useless!""Lasguns?" he asked, turning a page."Touch a lasgun on Arrakis and the Worm knows it!"He turned another page."Your friends got lasguns eventually.""And look what it got them!"Idaho read a line, then: "Poisons were available."She swallowed convulsively.Idaho looked at her."You did poison the wolves after all, didn't you?"Her voice was almost a whisper: "Yes.""Then why didn't you do that in advance?" he asked."We.didn't.know.we.could.""But you didn't test it," Idaho said.He turned back to the open volume."Alousy Commander.""He's so devious!" Siona said.Idaho read a passage in the volume before returning his attention to Siona."That hardly describes him.Have you read all of this?""Every word! Some of them several times."Idaho looked at the open page and read aloud: "I have created what I intended-apowerful spiritual tension throughout my Empire.Few sense the strength of it.With what energies did I create this condition? I am not that strong.The onlypowerI possess is the control of individual prosperity.That is the sum of all thethings I do.Then why do people seek my presence for other reasons? What couldlead them to certain death in the futile attempt to reach my presence? Do theywant to be saints? Do they think that thus they gain the vision of God?""He's the ultimate cynic," Siona said, tears apparent in her voice."How did he test you?" Idaho asked."He showed me a.he showed me his Golden Path.""That's convenient.""It's real enough, Duncan." She looked up at him, her eyes glistening withunshed tears."But if it was ever a reason for our God Emperor, it is not reasonfor what he has become!"Idaho inhaled deeply, then: "The Atreides come to this!" "The Worm must go!" Siona said."I wonder when he's arriving?" Idaho said."Garun's little rat friend didn't say.""We must ask," Idaho said."We have no weapons," Siona said."Nayla has a lasgun," he said."We have knives.rope.I saw rope in one ofGarun's storage rooms.""Against the Worm?" she asked."Even if we could get Nyala's lasgun, you know itwon't touch him.""But is his cart proof against it?" Idaho asked."I don't trust Nayla," Siona said."Doesn't she obey you?""Yes, but."We will proceed one step at a time," Idaho said."Ask Nayla if she would useher lasgun against the Worm's cart.""And if she refuses?""Kill her."Siona stood, tossing her book aside."How will the Worm come to Tuono?" Idaho asked."He's too big and heavy for anordinary 'thopter.""Garun will tell us," she said."But I think he will come as he usuallytravels." She looked up at the ceiling which concealed the Sareer's perimeterWall."I think he will come on peregrination with his entire crew.He will comealong the Royal Road and drop down to here on suspensors." She looked at Idaho."What of Garun?""A strange man," Idaho said."He wants most desperately to be a real Fremen.Heknows he is not anything like what they were in my day.""What were they like in your day, Duncan?" "They had a saying which describesit," Idaho said."You should never be in the company of anyone with whom youwould not want to die." "Did you say this to Garun?" she asked."Yes." "And hisresponse?" "He said I was the only such person he had ever met." "Garun may bewiser than any of us," she said.===You think power may be the most unstable of all human achievements? Then what ofthe apparent exceptions to this inherent instability? Some families endure.Verypowerful religious bureaucracies have been known to endure.Consider therelationship between faith and power.Are they mutually exclusive when each depends upon the other? The Bene Gesserit have been reasonably secure within theloyal walls of faith for thousands of years.But where has their power gone?-The Stolen JournalsMONEO SPOKE in a petulant tone: "Lord, I wish you had given me more time."He stood outside the Citadel in the short shadows of noon.Leto lay directly infront of him on the Imperial Cart, its bubble hood retracted.He had beentouring the environs with Hwi Noree, who occupied a newly installed seat withinthe bubble cover's perimeter and just beside Leto's face.Hwi appeared merelycurious about all the bustle which was beginning to increase around them.How calm she is, Moneo thought.He repressed an involuntary shudder at what hehad learned of her from Malky.The God Emperor was right.Hwi was exactly whatshe appeared to be-an ultimately sweet and sensible human being.Would shereally have mated with me? Moneo wondered.Distractions drew his attention away from her.While Leto had toured Hwi aroundthe Citadel on the suspensor-borne cart, a great troop of courtiers and FishSpeakers had been assembled here, all the courtiers in celebration finery,brilliant reds and golds dominant.The Fish Speakers wore their best dark blues,distinguished only by the different colors in the piping and hawks.A baggagecaravan on suspensor sleds had been drawn up at the rear with Fish Speakers topull it.The air was full of dust and the sounds and smells of excitement.Mostof the courtiers had reacted with dismay when told their destination.Some hadimmediately purchased their own tents and pavilions.These had been sent onahead with the other impediments piled now on the sand just outside Tuono'sview.The Fish Speakers in the entourage were not taking this in a festive mood.They had complained loudly when told they could not carry lasguns."Just a little more time, Lord," Moneo was saying."I still don't know how wewill.""There's no substitute for time in solving many problems," Leto said."However,you can place too much reliance on it.I can accept no more delays.""We will be three days just getting there," Moneo complained.Leto thought about that time-the swift walk-trot-walk of a peregrination.one hundred and eighty kilometers.Yes, three days."I'm sure you've made good arrangements for the waystops," Leto said
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]