Hunters of Dune - Brian Herbert [65]
The Bene Gesserit library world of Lampadas had been among the many planetary casualties from Honored Matre depredations. Knowing their imminent fate, the doomed women had Shared among each other, distilling the experience and knowledge of an entire population into only a few representatives. Eventually, all of those memories, and the entire library of Lampadas, had been placed in the mind of the wild Reverend Mother Rebecca, who had managed to Share again with many others, thus saving the memories of all those people.
Accadia’s grand new scheme was to re-create the lost Lampadas library. She gathered Reverend Mothers who had obtained the knowledge and experiences of the Lampadas horde. The ones who were Mentats were able to remember word for word everything those previous lives had read and learned.
The archives wing was a drone of conversation and background noise, women sitting before shigawire spool recorders and dictating from memory, reading aloud page after page of rare books that their experiences recalled. Other women sat with their eyes closed, sketching on crystal sheets the diagrams and designs that were locked away in memory. Murbella watched volume after volume being re-created before her eyes. Each woman had a specific assignment, to reduce the likelihood of duplicating efforts.
Accadia seemed content as she greeted her visitor. “Welcome, Mother Commander. With great effort, we are managing to undo more and more losses.”
“I can only hope that the Enemy does not obliterate Chapterhouse and render your efforts in vain.”
“Preserving knowledge is never a pointless exercise, Mother Commander.”
Murbella shook her head. “But we don’t seem to have certain vital knowledge. Key elements are missing, the simplest, most straightforward information. Who or what is our Enemy? Why would they cause such appalling destruction? For that matter, who are the Honored Matres? Where did they come from, and how did they provoke such wrath?”
“You yourself were an Honored Matre. Do your Other Memories give you no clues?”
Murbella gritted her teeth. She had tried and tried, with no success. “I can study the course of the Bene Gesserit lines I have acquired, but not the Honored Matres. Their past is a black wall before my eyes. Each time I delve into it, I reach an impassable barrier. Either the Honored Matres do not know their own origins, or it is such a terrible secret that they have managed to block it completely.”
“I’ve heard that is true for all of our Honored Matres who have passed through the Spice Agony.”
“Every one.” Murbella had received the same answer again and again. The origins of the Honored Matres, and of the Enemy, were no more than dim myths in their past. Honored Matres had never been reflective, pondering consequences or tracing events back to first principals. Now, it seemed they would all suffer for it.
“You will have to find the information some other way, Mother Commander. If we discover any clues while reproducing the Lampadas library, I will inform you.”
Murbella thanked her, yet sensed that the information she needed did not lie here.
SHORTLY BEFORE JANESS decided to undergo the Spice Agony—three years after her twin sister had failed—the Mother Commander went to her room in the acolytes’ barracks.
“I deceived myself about Rinya’s chances in the ordeal.” The words did not come easily to Murbella. “I never dreamed that a daughter of mine and Duncan’s could possibly fail. My old Honored Matre hubris showed itself.”
“This daughter won’t fail, Mother Commander,” Janess said, sitting straight. “I have trained hard, and I am as ready as anyone can be. I am frightened, yes, but only enough to maintain my edge.”
“Honored Matres believe there is no place for fear,” Murbella mused. “They do not consider that one can be strengthened by admitting weakness, instead of trying to hide it or bulldoze your way over it.”
“ ‘If you