Hunters of Dune - Brian Herbert [32]
Sensing his distraction, Teg cut, pushed, and slid his kindjal partway through the shield before Duncan retreated, smiling with satisfaction. “Good! You are learning to control yourself.”
Teg’s expression did not change. Lack of control was not one of the Bashar’s weak points. “You seemed distracted, so I took advantage of it.”
As he looked at the young man before him, sweat dripping down his brow, Duncan saw a strangely doubled image. As an old man, the original Bashar had raised and trained the Duncan ghola child; later, after Teg’s death on Rakis, the mature Duncan Idaho ghola had raised the reborn boy. Was this to be an endless cycle? Duncan Idaho and Miles Teg as eternal companions, alternating as mentor and student, each filling the same role at separate times in their lives?
“I remember when I instructed young Paul Atreides in Swordmaster techniques. We had a training mek in Castle Caladan, and Paul learned to defeat it at any setting we chose. Even so, he did better against a live opponent.”
“I prefer an enemy that bleeds when I defeat it.”
Duncan laughed. “Paul once said something just like that, too.”
He and Teg continued to fight for the better part of an hour, but Duncan found himself preoccupied with, and reminded of, long-past training duels. If what the Tleilaxu Master said was true and they could bring back gholas of the key comrades in Duncan’s past, then these daydreams need no longer be tedious memories for him. They could become real again.
Illusion, Miles. Illusion is their way. The fashioning of false impressions to achieve real goals, that is how the Tleilaxu work.
—JANET ROXBROUGH-TEG,
mother of Miles Teg
N
ow broken by the Face Dancers and bound by fear to do exactly as they commanded, an anxious Uxtal was dispatched to Tleilax for “an important assignment.” Khrone had been expressionless as he explained to the small, frightened man, “The Honored Matres have found something in the ruins of Bandalong that interests us. We require your expertise.”
Sacred Bandalong! For a moment, the thrill eclipsed his intimidation. Uxtal had heard legends of this once-great place, the heartland of his people, but he had never been there. Few of the Lost Tleilaxu had been welcomed by the suspicious original Masters. He had always hoped to make a hajj at some point in his life, a pilgrimage. But not like this . . .
“W-what can I do?” The Lost Tleilaxu researcher shuddered to think what the turncoat Face Dancers would demand of him. Right before his eyes, they had killed Elder Burah. By now they might well have replaced every member of the Council of Elders! Every moment was a nightmare for Uxtal; he knew that each person around him could be another hidden shape-shifter. He jumped at any startling sound, any sudden movement. He could trust no one.
But at least I am alive. He clung to that. I am still alive!
“You can work with axlotl tanks, correct? You have the knowledge necessary to grow a ghola, if we wish it?”
Uxtal knew they would kill him if he gave the wrong answer. “It requires a female body, specially adapted so that her womb becomes a factory.” He swallowed hard, wondering how he could make himself appear more intelligent, more confident. A ghola? Lower-caste Tleilaxu knew nothing about the Language of God required to grow flesh, but as a member of a higher caste, Uxtal should be able to accomplish it. They would discard him otherwise. Perhaps if the Face Dancers got him just a little assistance, someone with additional knowledge . . .
Uxtal still cringed at the recollection of blood oozing from Elder Burah