Commander of Dune

Chapter 17

Progress is a slow process.
Destruction on the other hand...
Piter Vitres - Mentant

Repercussions had come, both the expected and unexpected.

First, House Atreides had retaliated with an embargo of its own.  While Spice production on Dune would continue, the trade in Spice would halt with immediate effect. 

That brought on the second repercussion.  The price of Melange on the open market and the stock exchange increased by one hundred fold on the day of the announcement and by two hundred fold on the black market. Spice hoards were broken open and panic threatened to engulf the Empire.

The third was the arrival of a Guild Navigator on Giedi Prime, complete with entourage.

Vlad was uncomfortable.  The Guild was known for its ability to "see" and now here was a Navigator sent to meet with him.

"Baron Harkonnen." The translator breathed.  "We repeat our concern for the repercussions of your present path.  Be warned - the spice must flow!"

Vlad chuckled nervously.  "I have no idea of what you speak of."

The Navigator would not play the game.  "ARE YOU STUPID!! The spice must flow... the spice has given Navigators accelerated evolution for twenty thousand years... it has enabled you to live four hundred years, maybe more... the spice helps make the sapho juice, which gives the red-lipped mentats the ability to be living computers... the secret side of spice... the water of life!"  The Navigator was incensed.

"We see patterns.  We see a building of a repetition.  The Atreides heir..."

"Dax?" Vlad was confused.  "What of him?"

"The Atreides Heir is the genetic reincarnation of Paul Maud'Dib.  If he is to take the water of life...  You have been warned."  With that the hulking tank that carried him and his melange saturated environment left.

Vlad hated any encounter with the Guild; they could never have a simple conversation.  He pondered the latest meeting. As usual the Guild was its usual ambiguous self.  Does the Navigator want Dax left alone or killed?  Warned about what? My plans? He shrugged and did what he always did: Ignored the Guild until they stopped speaking in riddles.  He was a busy man he didn't have time for this.

~*~*~*~*~

There was no disputing the fact that the Lady Alexi was a stunning beauty enhanced by the slow but sure change of her eyes to the blue in blue of the spice addiction.  She was no ones fool either with an intelligence tapered with a sense of humour.  Even the old curmudgeons who frequented the Court were under her spell.

Forewarned by the vision in the elevator, driven by curiosity and eventually simply caught in the trap of Alexi's persona, Dax had submitted to her charm, as had others in the Court.  Increasingly they were to found in each other's company.

It was his turn to check the shields, a simple task that required only time.  The Reverend Mother Farrah knew this and so when she proposed that Dax take the opportunity to show Alexi the sights along the way he had agreed, knowing full well what the true intension was.

As anticipated, the tour was a boring one, the check done they were on the return trip home.  The journey there had been interesting to Alex who had not ventured into this area – yet.  They had first past through the markets, seeing and smelling the exotic produce on sale with every last one laced with spice.  Then they had traversed some seedy brush and finally desert.  Not deep desert but an indication of what lay beyond.

As had the Lady Jessica before her, Alexi had fallen in love with her assignment, she hadn't planned it; it just happened. It was so easy! As such she had been thinking of him and not focusing on the road ahead. 

She relaxed as she sensed that he had fallen asleep and her thoughts rambled, Does he really think he's fooling me?  His attentions to me have changed, yet he does nothing. She snorted, In fact the whole of the Imperial Court had noticed, his change.  I must change this stalemate.

Dax in turn dreamt of Alexi as the vehicle bounded along... but not for long.  He was awakened from the dream by a jolt and a curse.

He shuddered as he recognized his dream. Yet even as he was faced with the reality of the dream unfolding before him; another revealed itself. 

"Dax?" Vlad was confused.  "What of him?"

"If he is to take the water of life...  You have been warned."  With that the hulking tank that carried him and his melange saturated environment left.

The Baron! His head hurt.  Would the clash of the Great Houses never end?  The water of life?  The thought triggered the memory of a conversation, but how could that be?  He'd never had that conversation!

A Reverend Mother was speaking with a young Paul Atreides.  Every Fremen knew what Maud'Dib looked like at any stage of his life.  She asked him, "Do you know of the Water of Life?... the Truthsayer drug?"

Paul replied, "I have heard of it."

The crone had warned, It is very dangerous... very painful. The Bene Gesserit sisterhood drink it to see within.... There is a place terrifying to us... to women. It is said a man will come... the Kwitzat Haderach... he will go where we cannot... Many men have tried..."

"Did they try and fail?" Paul asked.

The reply was chilling.  "They tried and died..."

His headache didn't get any better, now he was seeing history replay itself.  His visions were exerting themselves with increasing frequency and force.  They had him in more than one place: Past, Present and Future - and confused was a mild description of what he was feeling. 

Oh for a normal life. He prayed and retreated into himself to ponder the latest piece in the mystery.  This was how he perceived the events that had been happening to him as a puzzle to be solved.  He admitted to himself that at times he was a bit too preoccupied with the challenge hence the crashed 'Thopters.  But he'd solve the conundrum yet.

~*~*~*~*~

Having settled himself in a chamber where he was assured of privacy Piter Vitres, Ghola Mentat to every Baron Harkonnen since the year 10,049 was preparing to project the outcome of the present situation.

He chanted the mantra. 

It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed -
The lips acquire stains -
The stains become a warning -
It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.

He commenced his calculations. 

Four hours later his projections gelled.  Evidence to date pointed at a continuation of the present cycle of climatic events.  There was not enough data to conclusively state that it was as a result of Climate Change.  The data, however, did indicate unusual weather patterns, the threat of famine due to droughts, and an increase in Cancers on planets with powerful suns, such as Arakkis.

The data output flowed unabated.

Assuming that data was not flawed but was indeed correct then there was a link between The Ozone Erosion and Climate Change. With an increase Utlra Violet Rays in the equation there could be an expected increase in the mortality of the Giant Worms of Arakkis meaning an interruption if not the eventual loss of the Spice.

Piter emerged from the Calculation Trance and concluded that this was not information he was about to share too soon with the Baron.  Like all Harkonnens, Vlad did not take bad news well.  To survive to tell the tale Piter would have to time the delivery just right.

Of course he could always just keep silent and take the projections to his grave.

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