Chapter 46 Chapter Forty-Six

"She's training him? She's training Farrakon?" Alia stared at Duncan Idaho with palpable anger and suspicion. Not long ago, the spaceship of the Guild entered the orbit of Arrakis.An hour later, the ship dropped Duncan Idaho on Arrakis and landed without any announcement.A few minutes later, the orthopter took him to the top of the palace. Alia had been there waiting for him since reports of his imminent arrival had been received.A line of guards stood behind her, and the whole meeting was cold and formal. Afterwards, they returned to her room in the north wing of the palace.He reported the whole course of events, truthfully and accurately, emphasizing every detail in Mentat's way.

"She's lost her mind," Alia said. He took her comment as a question for Mentat. "All indications are that she still maintains her mental balance. It should be said that her mental health is manifested in..." "Shut up!" Alia yelled. "What the hell is she thinking?" Idaho knew that only by performing calm Mentat calculations could he control his current emotions."From my calculations, she's considering her granddaughter's engagement," he said, careful not to show any expression to conceal the rising grief in his heart.Alia is not here.Alia is dead.At times, he would keep in his consciousness an original Aria, which he had created to serve his own needs.Mentat, however, cannot live in self-deception for long.This guy with a human mask has fallen into a demonic way, and a devil-like evil heart is driving her.He has a pair of steel eyeballs, and there are countless compound eyes in the eyeballs. He can reproduce as many original Alias ​​in his field of vision as he wants.But as soon as he combined these images into one, the old Alia disappeared.Her image has become an evil spirit, and her body is just a shell, beneath which are countless roaring lives.

"Where is Ghanima?" he asked. She dismissed the question casually. "I let her stay with Irulan at Stilgar's." Stay in that neutral place, he thought.Recently, there was another round of negotiations with the rebel tribe. Her power is shrinking, and she doesn't know what the outcome of the negotiations will be...is that so?Is there another reason?Did Stilgar join her? "Marriage." Alia said thoughtfully, "How is the situation of the Corino family?" "There are a lot of distant relatives gathered around Salusa, all of whom are serving Falakon, hoping to get some benefits after he regains power."

"She actually trained him in the way of Bee Geist..." "Isn't this kind of training inappropriate for Ghanima's husband?" Alia smiled secretly, thinking of Ghanima's vindictiveness.Let Farakon train.Jessica was training a corpse.All problems can be solved. "I've got to think about that," she said. "Why don't you talk, Duncan?" "I'm waiting for your question." "I see. I was really angry that you gave her to Falakon!" "You ordered me that the kidnapping must look real." "I was forced to announce to the public that the two of you were captured," she said.

"I am carrying out your orders." "Sometimes you're so mechanical, Duncan. You almost scare the hell out of me." "Lady Jessica will be all right," he said. "For Ghanima's sake we owe her—" "Thank you very much," she agreed. She thought to herself: I can't trust him anymore.His bloody loyalty to House Atreides!I had to find a reason to send him away...get rid of him.Of course, it had to look like an accident. She touched his cheek. Idaho forced himself to accept her intimacy, and took her hand and kissed it. "Duncan, Duncan, it's so sad," she said, "I can't keep you with me. So much has happened and so few people I can trust."

He let go of her hand and waited. "I was forced to send Ghanima to Teb Cave," she said. "The situation here is very unstable. Raiders from the semi-civilized Fremen destroyed the aqueducts of the Kaja Basin and drained all of the water. Put it in the desert. The water supply in Araken is seriously insufficient, and the sand trout in the basin are still absorbing the remaining water. We are trying to find a way to deal with it, but the progress is not going well.” He had already noticed that Aria's female guards were hardly seen in the palace.He thought: the guerrillas deep in the desert would keep trying to kill Alia.Doesn't she know?

"Tibu is still a neutral zone," she said. "Negotiations are taking place there. Javid is stationed there with church representatives, but I want you to go to Tebu and spy on them, especially Irulan." "She's Corino," he agreed. But today he saw from her eyes that she was actually trying to get rid of herself.To him, the creature in the guise of Aria became increasingly transparent. She waved. "Let's go, Duncan, I want to keep you by my side before my heart softens. I've already started to miss you..." "I miss you too," he said, letting all the pain in his heart flow out of his words.She stared at him, startled by his grief, and then she said, "For me, Duncan, let's go." Then she thought to herself: Too bad for you, Duncan.She spoke again, "Zyarenka will take you to Teb. We also need orthopters here, and we cannot give them to you."

Her favored female guard, he thought, I have to watch out for that one. "I understand," he said, taking her hand again and kissing it.He stared at the lovely flesh that had once been Alia.He dared not look at her face.When he turned to leave, a pair of unknown eyes on her face stared at his back. He climbed to the platform on the top of the palace and began to study the problems that he hadn't had time to consider just now.When meeting with Alia, he has been in an extreme Mentat state, reading various data.He waited by the orthopter, his eyes on the south.Imagination took his gaze over the shielding wall mountain and saw Teb's Den.Why is Zyarenka taking me to Teb?Flying the orthopter back is a trivial task.Why is she still not here?Is Zyarenka on some special mission?

Idaho glanced at the watchful guards and climbed into the orthopter pilot's seat.He leaned out and said, "Tell Alia I'll get Stilgar's men to bring the orthopter back as soon as possible." Before the guard could react, he closed the hatch and activated the orthopter.The guard stood there, hesitant.Who dares to hinder Alia's husband?Before she could make up her mind what to do, he had flown the orthopter into the sky. Now, alone in the orthopter, he let his grief break into fitful sobs.They are separated forever.Tears flowed from his trealax eyes. However, this is not the time to be sad, he realized it, and forced himself to calm down, calculating the current situation.The orthopter also requires his concentration.The force feedback while flying brought him some relief, and he took control of himself.

Ghanima and Stilgar are together again.And Irulan. Why did she want Zyarenka to accompany him to Teb?He brought this question into Mentat's thinking, and the result of his thinking gave him a chill.An accident on the road will kill me.