BOOK TWO - CHAPTER ONE
 

The Bene Gesserit witches indulge in word-games and passive manipulation. The methods they choose to maintain the self-delusion of being able to exert what little influence they might have had once have driven them into a trap they built themselves: millennia of puppeteering rather than actively influencing people and cleansing their environment of unwanted elements have engrained into their policies a propensity for assuming the position of the weakest, the inept. Their inability to react to an outside force of unexpected size and power will be the instrument of their undoing.
-Great Honoured Matre Dama-
 

Murbella looked out the window of her study, over the rooftops of the Sisterhood's central complex on Chapter House, towards the orchards. Other Memory showed her what the view from this window had been like a century ago: long rows of large, strong trees bearing flawless fruit, supplying food for all of Central and many parts of the surrounding areas. The contrast with the current situation was saddening, in a way. The activities of the sandtrout that facilitated the growth of the desert had removed most of the moisture on the planet from places accessible to the roots of the vast majority of plants and trees. The few moderately healthy trees that remained in the orchard were stocky, and bore small, ill-tasting fruit. Still, Murbella continued to insist these last few reminders of the fact Chapter House had once been a very fertile planet would not be removed.

There is something strangely compelling about watching the degeneration of life at the hands of another species, she thought. Let my sisters think I'm morbid. The resilience of these trees - still succeeding in staying alive under these conditions - actually teaches us an important lesson: death will come eventually, but that does not give us an excuse to stop living.

She was both Bene Gesserit Mother Superior and Great Honoured Matre, thus combining both factions into a single sisterhood. The alliance was still fragile, Bene Gesserit and Honoured Matres continually strugling to find a balance between hate, fear, admiration and common sense. The plan constructed and executed by Alma Mavis Taraza and Darwi Odrade had worked - just barely.

Murbella had ruled the alliance for almost a decade now, and still members of both factions clashed regularly - the recent influx of new Honoured Matres from farther away in the realms of the Scattering had only made matters worse. These new arrivals had not lived through the events that had brought the two forces together - they had only heard about them, and they appeared not to understand the necessity of the alliance.

Murbella sat back in her chairdog. The education of the Honoured Matres is progressing, but the first acolyte from their ranks has yet to survive the Spice Agony - the three that have tried so far did not make it. They were impetuous, not ready at all to endure the extreme pain that accompanies the unlocking of Other Memory - but how do you explain the necessity of many years of intense training to people who alread think themselves to be superior?

She turned towards her desk, and saw the map on the wall Odrade's aide Streggi had started so many years ago, detailing the growth of the desert. And then there's the Spice, she thought.

The desert covered a large part of the planet, leaving only the regions far to the north and south able to sustain any plant life of significance. The vast majority of the crops that fed the inhabitants of Chapter House were grown in enormous greenhouses, or underground caverns lit by sunlight filtering down through prisms for the plant species less tolerant of extreme heat. Water conserving policies reminiscent of those practiced by the ancient Fremen of Dune were already being implemented in some instances: special clothing was required for anyone staying outdoors for long amounts of time, and buildings were being installed with airlocks, keeping the precious moisture inside.

These measures were not strictly necessary yet, but Murbella had thought it wise the sisters on Chapter House would start getting used to a tight water discipline. Being a Reverend Mother, I can't do anything but plan for the long term, she thought.

Everything was being sacrificed for Taraza's vision. Murbella understood that vision involved the best possible future for the Sisterhood, but still she couldn't help wondering if all the sacrifices were worth it. Even though Odrade was present in her Other memory, and with her Taraza, she still had trouble understanding the finer points of the plan that was supposed to turn the vision into reality.

The presence of the worms on Chapter House will give the Sisterhood its own source of the Spice, as well as the control over any religion surrounding either Shai-Hulud or The Tyrant. The former part of the plan has already worked, albeit on a very small scale, but Sheeana and Duncan are gone - even the most potent tools of the Missionaria Protectiva have so far proven unable to compensate for that particular loss. The persona of neither Taraza nor Odrade had felt compelled to help Murbella solve this problem in all these years, and at this moment they again refused to offer their advice.

The worms on Rakis needed to be destroyed to free the universe from the constraints of Leto's vision, but what if his hold still hasn't been broken? Here on Chapter House the worms are multiplying again, and hundreds of Reverend Mothers disappeared into the Second Scattering, carrying sandtrout with them to possibly start a similar transformation on another planet. Who knows how many worms were stolen from Rakis and taken elsewhere, and Arrakis before the Tyrant's reign? We know the Spacing Guild tried several times - do we know for a fact they did not succeed? Silence remained.

Murbella glanced at her desk, and saw the stacks of files there, still waiting to be read, begging to be approved or otherwise processed by the Mother Superior. Bellonda kept bringing them in, regardless of how much had yet to be done from the previous batch. She let out a long sigh, a telling gesture she would never allow herself to make in front of an acolyte. Of course the watchdogs spying on her right now would speculate about this lack of discipline on her part, perhaps even spreading rumours about how tired the Mother Superior was and how this weakened her authority, but Murbella had realised very early on that showing herself to be human on carefully chosen moments could actually strengthen her leadership. Perhaps this is the influence of Odrade ..., she wondered.

Murbella knew the work was important, and she assured herself she would eventually catch up with the recently increased workload, but at that moment a different priority emerged: the need to eat. It was supper time, and even though Murbella, being a Reverend Mother, had the ability to modify her body chemistry to compensate for a temporary lack of nourishment, she realised the act of eating itself would envigorate her in many ways.

She went down to the common mess hall and sat down at a table of acolytes, just like Odrade had done many times while she was Mother Superior. Murbella was upholding a tradition, one she rather enjoyed because it gave her access to sources of information about the atmosphere in Central other than her personal advisors, and allowed her to maintain a connection with her lower-ranked sisters.

After a short while an acolyte presented her with a variety of small plates and bowls of food, without any doubt carefully tuned to what she needed at that moment. The enchanting aromas of a spicy soup, rice and a mixture of meat and various vegetables greeted her - she almost couldn't prevent her mouth from watering. The speed with which her meal had been prepared demonstrated the skill and dedication of the cooking staff, but it also pointed out a potential flaw in her behaviour.

Have I slipped into predictable patterns?, Murbella thought. What food I prefer might be a relatively unimportant aspect of my life, but what if this means I'm creating both easily recognizable behavioural patterns and unconscious dependency structures on much more fundamental levels?

A discussion at the far end of Murbella's table caught her attention. Usually, acolytes would eat in silence whenever Mother Superior was present, occasionally whispering something to someone close by, but this was different: these two acolytes were speaking loudly, and Murbella could detect a hint of animosity in their voices.

Aaah, Bene Gesserit versus Honoured Matre, she thought, noting the small embroidered dragon on the white acolyte robe of one, where the robe of the other had no markings. The rift still exists.

"It takes many years of training to prepare for the Agony. The Water Of Life unleashes your deepest fears," the Bene Gesserit acolyte explained. She was a beautiful, graceful young girl with curly red hair cascading down her back and bright blue eyes set in a delicate, light-skinned face - a rare combination indeed.

She is called Natalia, Murbella remembered. Very young, but she has definite potential.

"I don't fear," the Honoured Matre said.

This one is a recent arrival, Murbella noted.

"Everyone fears. It's a fundamental aspect of what it means to be human," Natalia paraphrased the Bene Gesserit lesson she had once learnt.

The Honoured Matre snorted. "I have heard your Litany Against Fear. Face the fear, let it pass through you, only you remain - was that it? A children's verse, a trick, that is all. It's a sign of weakness that you would need such a thing."

It was clear Natalia was insulted. "The intent is not to ignore or destroy the fear, but to learn from it and avoid being dominated by it."

She should learn to better control her facial expressions, Murbella thought.

"Fear is a warning mechanism - trust the wisdom of your own body," the Honoured Matre said.

"Fear is not meant to incapacitate - if it does, that points out a deficit in your intuition, a blunting by false security. It is meant to increase physical power as well as your awareness of your surroundings."

"Of course!", the Honoured Matre said in the most derisive way she could manage. "There is hope for you yet, witch."

Murbella could see the Bene Gesserit acolytes straining to repress a gasp. Some of the Honoured Matre acolytes showed the same reaction, but a small number appeared to enjoy what had happened. Natalia briefly glanced towards the Mother Superior, but otherwise retained her composure admirably.

She continued, as if she hadn't heard the insult. "Sadly, fear also forces you to make a decision which more often than not leans towards the side of impetuousity and animal instinct. The real achievement lies in restraining that unconscious drive and conditioning it to let only the important information filter through to the consciousness, while relapsing into safe behavioural patterns in the short span of time the consciousness requires to catch up."

"Honoured Matres wouldn't know how to do that," a Bene Gesserit acolyte blurted out, and immediately covered her mouth with her hands when she realised what she had said.

A real Bene Gesserit acolyte would never have said that, Murbella thought, no matter how inexperienced she was. She looked closer. That isn't one of ours ..., and immediately Murbella realised how what she had thought revealed where her real allegiances lay, no matter how much she tried to be a leader to both factions.

The Honoured Matre laughed. Tiny flecks of orange appeared in her eyes, signaling that she was getting angry. "Ah yes. You refer to the theory that you witches constructed about us. We have a large unconsciousness, don't we?"

This was news to many at the table, and Murbella was suprised that an Honoured Matre knew about it. Records from before the merger detailing Bene Gesserit knowledge of and speculations about Honoured Matres had intentionally been kept secret.

"Ah, no ...," Natalia began.

The Honoured Matres at the table rose, their eyes blazing orange. The leader, the one who had spoken, prepared to attack Natalia, but another Honoured Matre in her party stopped her, their movements almost too fast to follow.

Immediately guards from all sides intervened, and started clearing the mess hall, Bene Gesserit acolytes and Honoured Matres leaving through different exits.

Murbella briefly looked at the Bene Gesserit acolyte who had made the careless remark while she was being ushered away to a safe place by Reverend Mother guards. It's very subtle, but she has minute traces of surgery around the eyes. They wanted to mask the typical orange flecks that would appear in Honoured Matre eyes when provoked and give her the blue eyes of longtime Melange addiction, but they also wanted someone to notice these alterations had been made.

Despite the recent increase in intelligence reports about a possible Honoured Matre uprising - a few sceptics amongst the Bene Gesserit watchdogs had been producing a steady stream of such reports since the start of the alliance - Murbella was genuinely surprised. This entire incident was planned - a show for my benefit! Poor Natalia ... unwittingly a pawn in this game. And whoever was behind it has somehow managed to access confidential Bene Gesserit files ...

While Murbella was being led to her study, she realised what had just happened. I have been given an open declaration of war.

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