Dune_ House Atreides - Brian Herbert [94]
She stopped one of the workers guiding a precariously loaded suspensor platform. “Where’s Renno? Tell him Janess Milam is here and I want to see him right away.” She glanced down at Duncan, who stood up straight and tried to look presentable. “Tell him I brought the package I promised.”
Touching a communicator on his lapel, the man mumbled something into it. Then, without acknowledging Janess, he pushed his load up into the squat cargo hauler.
Duncan waited, analyzing the activity around him, while Janess frowned and fidgeted. Before long, a grubby-looking man emerged, his skin smeared with colored lubricants, grime, and oily sweat.
“Renno!” Janess waved to him. “It’s about damn time!”
He gave her a tight embrace, followed by a long and wet kiss. Janess broke away as quickly as she could and pointed to Duncan. “There he is. Take him to Caladan.” She smiled. “I can’t think of a better revenge than to deliver this boy right where they least want him to be—and where they’re least likely to find him.”
“You play dangerous games, Janess,” Renno said.
“I enjoy games.” She balled her fist and playfully punched him in the shoulder. “Don’t tell anyone.”
Renno raised his eyebrows. “What’s the point of coming back to this scummy port if you’re not here waiting for me? Who’d keep me company in a dark and lonely bunk? Nah, it wouldn’t be worth my while to turn you in. But you still owe me.”
Before going, Janess knelt and fixed her eyes on young Duncan Idaho. She seemed to be trying for some semblance of compassion. “Look, kid. Here’s what I want you to do. When you get to Caladan, step off that ship and insist on seeing Duke Paulus Atreides himself. Duke Atreides. Tell him you’ve come from the Harkonnens, and demand to be taken into service in his household.”
Renno’s eyebrows shot high on his forehead, and he muttered something unintelligible.
Janess kept her face firm and intent, thinking to play a last cruel joke on the boy she had betrayed. She realized there would be no chance whatsoever that a dirty, nameless street urchin could possibly set foot in the Grand Hall of Castle Caladan—but that wouldn’t stop him from trying . . . maybe for years.
She’d already had her victory by stealing the boy from Rabban’s hunting party. She had known they were taking Duncan to the Forest Guard Station and so she made a particular effort to find him, to snatch him away and turn him over to the Harkonnens’ greatest enemies. Whatever else happened to the boy was now irrelevant to her, but Janess amused herself by imagining all the tribulations Duncan Idaho would undergo before finally giving up.
“Come on,” Renno said gruffly, pulling Duncan’s arm. “I’ll find you a place in the cargo hold, where you can sleep and hide.”
Duncan didn’t look back at Janess. He wondered if she expected him to say goodbye or thank her for what she’d done, but he refused to do that. She hadn’t helped him because she cared, or even out of remorse. No, he wouldn’t demean himself, and he could never forgive Janess for her part in destroying his family. Strange woman.
He walked up the ramp, looking straight ahead, not knowing where he was going. Lost and parentless, without any idea of what he would do next, Duncan Idaho headed off. . . .
Renno gave him no comfort and little nourishment, but at least he left the boy in peace. What Duncan Idaho needed most in the entire universe was time to recover, a few days to sort out his memories and learn to live with the ones he could not forget.
He slept alone like a rat in the cargo hold of the battered transport, surrounded by scrap metal and recyclables. None of it was soft, but he still slept well enough on the rust-smelling floor, with his back against a cold bulkhead. It was the most peaceful time he’d had in recent memory.
Finally, when the ship descended toward Caladan to deliver its load and dump him alone and friendless on a strange world, Duncan was ready for anything. He had his drive and his energy; nothing would sway him from his