Commander of Dune

Chapter 18

"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."
Newton's Third Law of Motion
~ Child’s Book on Calculus

The communicator buzzed. Amasso snapped it up.

"Amasso!" A voice came through the line. "Turn on your AVU! Any channel will do!"

"Who is this?" He slurred even as he did as instructed. His head hurt.  He’d been out the night before – in fact the entertainment had come back with him.

"Savan. Just do it!" He hung up.

The AVU was already on and Amasso stood transfixed. The Sardaukar Headquarters on Kaitian was on fire!  What the hell had happened?  Even as he tried to absorb the picture for his brain refused to accept the commentary, he watched as another bomb exploded or was it an after shock.  It didn’t matter the resulting chaos was the same, he collapsed on the bed, nearly squashing the body on the bed. She rolled out of the way in time.

Over the next hour and a half Amasso and the Known Universe watched their AVUs transfixed as first the Sardaukar Headquarters on Kaitian and then the Tower of Strength on Giedi Prime were annihilated.  What the hell was going on?! 

He did a quick calculation ... that had to be at least four thousand persons guaranteed dead. That section of the Headquarters was under renovation thank Maud'Dib, but that was still a possible one million casualties. Then there was The Tower of Strength – he snorted so much for the strength of that.  It was located in the center of Giedi City for maximum view by the populace; the potential death count boggled the mind.

After scanning all the Channels he switched off the AVU and headed for his Mother’s Quarters, leaving the entertainment to find her way home.

~*~*~*~*~

Protected by the shield the worms didn’t come close but they were out there – they always were when Dax was near.

It may not have been ‘true desert’ in the Fremen sense, but it was hot, humid and dusty. Desert enough for Alexi.  They had taken turns at driving and as the vehicle bumped along Dax was lulled to sleep - until the sudden stop jarred him awake and he heard Alexi mutter the expletive.

"What happened?" He demanded.

"Traffic jam from hell." Alexi informed him, reached over and switched on the radio for an insight into what was happening.  They soon found out. Two forty-foot spice haulers had jack knifed. There was a twenty-vehicular pile up behind that and they were stuck. She switched off the engine.

With such a shudder from the crash, there was bound to be worm sign.

“Are you ok Highness?” An Officer from the entourage came running.  Dax waived him away, “Yes – yes.”

“I’ll go forward to try to expedite matters.” The Office announced.

“You do that.” Dax agreed.

"Well looks like it's you and me Highness." Alexi teased.

Silence descended, as Dax continued to try to mull over the various anomalies in his life the most potent sitting next to him.  He finally decided that he’d just let fate lead him – to a point, but he’d stop analyzing and let life unfold.

The silence was more than Alexi could bear.  She couldn't take it anymore, "Sir, excuse my forwardness but I consider myself your friend.  There are times when a friend has to know when to talk and when to shut up. I've tried keeping quiet. It did not work so now I speak up.  What's wrong?"

"Wrong?" He echoed.

"Yes… wrong.  You have not been yourself for weeks!  Talk to me maybe I can help."

Dax hadn't expected her to tackle him. After all he was Dax, Heir to the Imperial Throne, but then as she had warned him on day one that they met she was not like other women.

Before he could reply his communicator crackled to life.

"Yes?" he responded

Amasso's voice came through "Dax you ok?"

"Yes I'm fine, why?"

"You are not aware of the situation?"

“What situation?!"

Amasso informed him.  "Where ever you are I want you on the first transport back here. Got that?"

"Aye sir!" Dax replied sarcastically.  Turning to Alexi he said, “I need a worm.”

“Sorry?” she was confused.

“I need to get to the Palace and we are stuck here in this.”

“Well with the amount of vibrations around one is bound to come soon.” She replied, hiding her trepidation at the possibility of coming face to face with the legendary Giant of the Desert.

“No the shields keep them at bay.” He explained.  He adjusted his still suit. “You coming?”

“Where!” She demanded.

“I’m going to call a worm.” He explained.

“You have no thumper.” She pointed out.

“I don’t need one.” He had a hunch and was about to test it.

~*~*~*~*~

The Budislamics Minority Rights Association and the Fellowship of the ZenChriatians issued a joint message.

“We extend our heart felt sympathies to the families of the victims of this terrible attack. Nothing can justify the murder of the victims in these terrorist attacks, and nothing justifies the slaughter of innocent people in the name of retribution. We urge the Landsraad to look into its collective heart and not start a spiral of violence that can lead to genocide.”

~*~*~*~*~

Arista lay on the sofa in her office. There was no incentive to return to her private quarters; Duncan was out with the Fedaykin and the work of the Empire never ended so she just stayed in her office.

Today and the weeks and days leading up to this day had been a stressful time.  The attacks today just seemed to be the climax.

The Butleran Jihad and subsequent regimes were born in the hope that survived wars — the hope of a race moving toward justice, escaping old patterns of conflict and fear and now this -- The Dawn of a new age. What will this bring?

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