BOOK TWO - CHAPTER FIVE
 

What do your memories teach you about your current state of mind? It's impossible to avoid a regression into an infinity of intended (but never achieved) levels of objectivity, but the unknowable might be felt by the way it eludes your understanding.
-The Apocrypha Of Muad'Dib-
 

Murbella led the group through a veritable maze of rock formations. After Odrade-within had briefed her completely, she was one of a very select group of people who knew the access route to the sietch - the passageways used in constructing it had been blocked by controlled explosions after construction was finished.

Many hundreds of advanced acolytes had worked on it in complete secrecy, their specific training having conditioned them to intense loyalty and the sense of duty needed to keep the secret. A pyramid of deaths - many of them voluntary because of that same training - with Odrade at the summit ensured that very few still alive knew it even existed.

The tunnel that had taken them far away from central had been destroyed as well, an explosion causing many tons of rock to seal the escape route behind Murbella and her allies. The tunnel had brought them several kilometres into the desert, where even now it was dangerous to travel alone, or untrained: although most of the worms were not large enough to swallow an entire person, as they had been on Rakis, carelessness and a lack of respect for the desert dwellers could result in the loss of a leg.

The crossing of the open bled that seperated the relative safety of the rock formations along the route to the sietch was therefore a dangerous undertaking. All Bene Gesserit carried the Mark Of Siona, and were therefore in some way related to the Atreides, which meant that they all had Fremen amongst their ancestry - the real Fremen of Muad'Dib's days. Even though none of the Bene Gesserit had Other Memory that could access the thoughts and dreams of the Kwisatz Haderach or his daughter, most had at least some measure of genetically imprinted instinct that enabled them to cross the open stretches of sand in a way similar to how the Fremen would have done it, thus minimising the chances of attracting the violent worms.

This had become a real problem, as the Tyrant had promised: the aggressive nature of the new worms. Collecting the small amounts of Spice the worms had already started to produce was extremely dangerous, because unlike the way the worms of Dune had behaved, the worms on Chapter House defended the Spice fields as their territory, and did not hesitate to kill anyone who dared come where they were not wanted. Sturdy mining equipment - smaller versions of the gigantic sandcrawlers that had mined Spice on Rakis - would generally be sufficient to protect any prospectors from the fury of the Old Man Of The Desert, but the miners feared the future, when the worms would grow considerably larger and stronger, and possibly even more ferocious.

The group had now reached the entrance to the sietch. Helped by Odrade, Murbella entered the complex code that would unlock the main moisture seal: a reinforced plasteel door rather than the plastic membranes that used to seal off the traditional sietches. When they entered, those amongst them sufficiently familiar with Fremen culture immediately noted how sterile everything smelled: not at all like the overwhelming stench of sweat, Melange and food aromas that permeated any true Fremen dwelling place.

There are three large windtraps and seven smaller ones installed all throughout the area, capable of supplying enough water for five thousand people, Odrade-within explained, if they were to adopt Fremen efficiency. They have been functional for some time now, so there should be enough water in the basins to last you through a transitional period, especially considering the small size of the group.

On this level you will find hunting equipment and a stillsuit manufacturing plant - one hundred suits in varying sizes have already been made -, as well as an armory and a deathstill. The middle level contains private quarters and supply rooms. On the lowest level you will find the water basins and the main hall.

Our sietch, Murbella thought, looking around while wandering through the various sections of the complex. What did a sietch mean to the Fremen of Paul Atreides' days? She knew the etymology: "sietch" meant "place of assembly in time of danger", and that was exactly the function this place now had for them.

**********

All members of the group had gathered in one of the larger rooms - the main hall was far too big to hold a meeting. Everyone had been assigned their own quarters, and had started familiarising themselves with the layout of the sietch and the workings of the equipment in it.

Bellonda had asked them all to be present, wanting to discuss the current situation, and what their course of action for the near future would have to be. Murbella watched the full-figured Reverend Mother rising from her seat and walking to the front of the crowd, observing how she intentionally moved slowly, attempting to create a situation in which she was the one dictating the course of the meeting, instead of submitting to the whims of her audience.

Fondalar was part of their group as well, Murbella noticed. The way the face Dancer that had accompanied her had managed to impersonate Sekil so well still troubled Murbella. Discussing these feelings with Bellonda earlier, they had agreed that there was nothing to suggest that Fondalar was a Face Dancer too - during subsequent debriefings she had supplied much valuable information on the Prometheans, and had passed all tests some of the more suspicious Proctors had deemed necessary to subject her to -, but still Murbella had thought it wise to keep an eye on her, moreso even than on the Honoured Matres of their group.

"Welcome all," Bellonda began. "I realise this new situation might present us with several problems - new patterns always manage to generate their own limitations. However, the essence of a Bene Gesserit is adaptability - this has allowed our Sisterhood to survive for many millennia. We will prevail."

A soft murmur rose from the crowd, but Bellonda gestured for silence. Her first words demonstrated subtlety and consideration of feelings was not what she had in mind this time.

"The Honoured Matres obviously failed to grasp the gravity of our collective predicament", she continued, drawing angered stares from Murbella and the handful of Honoured Matres that sympathised with the Bene Gesserit cause, and had come along to the sietch. "Not only do they not realise that the civil war they've instigated might mean the end of both factions - even if one were to emerge victorious, the resulting force would in all probability be unable to do anything against the Prometheans, who will most likely arrive within the next decade. Quite possibly sooner than that."

Murbella's reaction to Bellonda's borderline inflammatory words was confused. On the one hand her Bene Gesserit training told her Bellonda was correct, if perhaps lacking in diplomacy. Her Honoured Matre ego however, pure rage and arrogance having been forged into her personality by years of training, indoctrination and the ingestion of an aggression-stimulating Melange-substitute, made her want to kill the witch right then and there.

An Honoured Matre in the audience had apparently experienced similar emotions. She had risen from her seat, and was screaming at Bellonda: "You are a bigot, witch! I should kill you for what you said."

Bellonda did not seem to be impressed, and reacted calmly. "It is exactly this kind of behaviour that is causing so much trouble right now."

This did not appease the Honoured Matre, and it took a very angry glare from Murbella to make Bellonda apologise. In a way, seeing Bellonda swallowing her pride was amusing to her, despite the guilt this made her feel.

"I apologise. I was out of line," Bellonda managed to mumble.

The meeting continued, but Murbella's thoughts drifted elsewhere. Whatever diplomacy might dictate, there is no getting around the fact the problems we have to face are legion, she realised. The Bene Gesserit/Honoured Matre alliance cannot be allowed to dissolve, but whether or not that can actually be prevented might not depend on us so much as on dumb luck - our group is certainly skilled and a powerful force in and of itself, but also very small. Apart from that, the worms cannot be controlled: Sheeana and the secrets of Siaynoq are gone, and so is the one that was to control her. I imprinted him ... Would he have stayed if Lucilla's scheme to bind him to her had succeeded? Was I the weak link?

>>>