Sandworms of Dune - Brian Herbert [204]
With an ominous humming and clanking, the ships extended support struts and raised themselves on thick, powerful anchors. Then numerous doors began to open, turning loose an army of metal-skinned machines: heavy lifters, ground crushers, and excavators. Moving on treads, the lumbering self-guided behemoths crawled across the dunes. Behind them marched ranks of heavyset metal robots that smashed forward like deadly warriors . . . or were they workers? Helpers?
The commandos had only small weapons. Some of the eager ones drew their projectile launchers, dropped to their knees on the soft sand, and took aim. “Wait!” Liet cried.
A hatch at the top of the largest landed ship opened and a pale form emerged, stepping out onto an observation platform. A human form. When the man called down to them, his voice echoed in an eerie chorus transmitted from thousands of speakerpatches on the lines of machine forces. “Stilgar and Liet-Kynes! Don’t be so quick to declare yourselves our enemies.”
“Who are you?” Stilgar shouted defiantly. “Come down here so that we may speak to you face to face.”
“I thought you would recognize me.”
Liet did. “It’s Duncan—Duncan Idaho!”
Flanked by an honor guard of robots and accompanied by a troop of human workers wearing outfits that Liet did not recognize, Duncan came down to stand with them on the dunes. “Liet and Stilgar, we left you here to face the onslaught of the desert. You said this was your calling.”
“It is,” Stilgar said.
“And the Jews? Are they here with you?”
“They formed a sietch of their own. They are thriving and happy.”
Duncan’s honor guard stepped forward, women in black singlesuits and similarly garbed men who walked beside the females as equals. One of the women wore insignia and carried an air of command. He introduced her as his daughter Janess. “I confronted the Enemy, the thinking machines, and ended the war.” He extended his hands, and all of the robot workers turned to face him. The awesome ships themselves seemed to be alive and aware of every move Duncan made. “I have found a way to bring us all together.”
“You surrendered to thinking machines,” Stilgar said, his tone acidic.
“Not at all. I decided to show my humanity by not annihilating them. In many solar systems, they are building great things, achieving impressive works on planets inhospitable to humans. We work for the same purpose now, and I have brought them here to assist you.”
“Assist us?” one of the commandos said. “How can they help? They’re just machines.”
“They are allies. You face an insurmountable task. With as many robot crews as you require, I can help you accomplish what you need.” Duncan’s dark eyes glittered, as he watched from a million eyes all at once. “We can build a barrier against the desert, stop the sandtrout from spreading, and keep the water on a portion of the continent. Shai-Hulud will have his domain, while the rest of Qelso remains relatively unscathed. Humans can have their lives and slowly learn to adapt to the desert, but only if they choose to.”
“Impossible,” Liet said. “How can a force of worker robots stand against the tide of the desert?”
Duncan flashed a confident smile. “Don’t underestimate them—or me. I fill the roles of both Kwisatz Haderach and Omnius. I guide all the factions of humanity and control the entire Synchronized Empire.” He shrugged, and smiled. “Saving one planet is well within the scope of my capabilities.”
Liet couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You can stop the desert and turn back the worms?”
“Qelso will be both desert and forest, as I am both human and machine.” At a gesture and a thought from Duncan, the massive excavating equipment rumbled out into the sand, heading toward the boundary where the dunes met the still-living landscape.
Liet and Stilgar followed Duncan, who walked ahead of the heavy convoy. As a planetologist, a ghola, and a human being, Liet had innumerable questions. But for now,