Sandworms of Dune - Brian Herbert [60]
Paolo lifted his chin and recited what the Baron had told him, with considerable passion. “I’ll be the one who can see all places and all things simultaneously, the one who will lead the multitudes. I am the shortening of the way, the rescuer, the messiah, the one spoken of in countless legends.”
Words flowed from the fog. “You have a charismatic presence that I find fascinating. Humans exhibit an irresistible compulsion to follow physically attractive, charming leaders. Properly harnessed, you could be an effective and destructive tool for us.” The fog creature laughed, swirling the cold wind around him. Then his otherworldly eyes riveted on the Baron. “You will see that the boy cooperates.”
“Yes, of course. Are you Omnius?”
“I speak for the evermind.” The fogginess shifted as the mist flowed into itself and resolved into the gleaming metallic shape of a polished robot with an exaggerated but menacing smile molded onto his face. “For the sake of convenience, I call myself Erasmus.”
The walls of the chamber shifted like a kaleidoscope to reveal hundreds of angular combat robots stationed around the perimeter like strange beetles. Their metal eyes glittered in the same hostile fashion.
“Perhaps I will question you now. Or later? Indecision is a very human thing, you know. We have all the time in the world.” The smile on the robot’s platinum face had locked into place. “I so love your clichés.”
TWENTY-THREE YEARS AFTER
ESCAPE FROM CHAPTERHOUSE
Even with a Navigator’s incredible mental advancement, I cannot forget the fundamental thread that ties us to the rest of humanity: the old emotion of hope.
—NAVIGATOR EDRIK,
unacknowledged message to the Oracle of Time
The four specialized Guild craft were shaped like hornets, sleek sensor-studded ships that skimmed low over the waves of Buzzell. Scan eyes pointed down at the water, searching for movement. From the lead ship Waff peered through the spray-specked plaz windows, hoping to catch a glimpse of seaworms. The Tleilaxu’s excitement and anticipation were palpable. Worms were down there somewhere. Growing.
He had released the creatures just over a year ago, and judging from the flurry of rumors the Guild had picked up, the seaworms must have thrived. None of the Bene Gesserit witches on the rocky islands understood where the serpentine creatures had come from. Now, Waff thought with a thrill, it was time to reap the harvest he had sown. He couldn’t wait to see them, to know that he had accomplished his holy mission.
The sky was overcast, with patches of fog lying low over the sea. At regular intervals, the scanning crews dropped sonic pulsers into the water. The throbbing signals would map the movements of large underwater denizens, and theoretically attract the seaworms just as Fremen thumpers had once attracted the huge monsters on old Rakis. Near Waff in the cockpit, five silent Guildsmen monitored the equipment while separate, smaller hunting platforms circled lower, keeping pace with the hornets. Periodically the platforms went back to check the points where the pulsers had been dropped.
The leviathans of the deep from the ancient scriptures were more than just God’s judgment on powindah unbelievers. This was the return of the Prophet, God’s Messenger resurrected from the ashes of Rakis, in an adaptive new form.
The initial sightings of the beasts had occurred within six months. At first the tales told by the amphibious soostone harvesters had been met with disbelief, until the seaworms attacked in full view of island settlements. According to eyewitness accounts—and Bene Gesserits were well trained in accurate observation—the monstrous things had grown far larger than Waff had predicted. Truly, a sign from God that his work was