Chapter 56 Chapter fifty-six

This is Tek's Burrow within the Wall of Forth.Halleck stood in the shadow of the rock wall in front of the cavern, which blocked the entrance to the cavern's upper reaches.He was waiting, waiting for the people inside to decide whether to take him in or not.He stared out at the desert to the north, then up at the gray-blue sky of the morning.The smugglers here were amazed to learn that, as a man from another planet, he had captured a sandworm and rode it here.Halleck was equally astonished at their reaction.After all, for an agile person, the skill of riding a sandworm is relatively easy to learn after several observations.

Halleck turned his attention back to the desert again.The shimmering desert is dotted with glistening rocks, and patches of gray-green scars reveal the presence of water in the past.All this made him realize how fragile the balance of energy is. Once there is a major change, everything in the world will be threatened. He knew why he had the thought—from the rowdy activity in the desert ahead.Containers of dead sandtrout are dragged into the burrow where they will be broken down and their water recycled.There were thousands of sandtrout, and they turned into babbling water.It was the running water that made Halleck's mind race.

Halleck looked down over the plantation in the cavern, at the aqueduct that surrounded the cavern.There is no longer precious running water in the canal.He saw the hole in the stone bank of the aqueduct along which the water flowed into the desert.What caused these holes?Along the most vulnerable part of the aqueduct, some holes have a diameter of more than 20 meters, and the fine sand at the mouth of the holes has absorbed water, forming pits.These pits are crowded with sandtrout, and the children of the burrow are hunting them. The repair team is rushing to repair the collapsed embankment of the aqueduct.Others carried small jugs to water desperately needed plants.The waterway to the great cistern beneath the wind catcher had been cut off from the stored water into the ruined canal.The solar pump was also turned off.The water used for irrigation comes from the residual water at the bottom of the aqueduct, and part of the water is obtained with difficulty from the reservoir in the cave.

The weather is getting warmer.The metal plate on the vapor seal behind Halleck clicked.His eyes seemed to jump at the sound, and he found himself staring at the furthest bend of the aqueduct, where the leak was worst.The planners of the Cave Plantation planted a willow tree there, which is now doomed unless the flow of water in the aqueduct is restored soon.Halleck looked at the willow tree: its branches hung stupidly, the wind and sand eating away at its body.To him, the tree was the most fitting symbol of his latest situation with Arrakis. Both me and it are imported products. They were lingering too long in the cave to make a decision.They desperately needed good fighters, and the smugglers always needed good fighters, but Halleck himself had no illusions about them.The smugglers of today were not the same gang that had taken him when he escaped from the duke's occupied estates all those years ago.They are a group of new breeds, and for them, interests are above all else.

Halleck returned his attention to the stupid willow tree again.It occurred to him that the sudden turn of events might hit the smugglers and their friends hard.It would also threaten to destroy Stilgar's tenuous neutrality, which along with a large number of tribes who remained loyal to Arya, changed his position. Arya has always done a good job: brutally punishing her opponents, rewarding her supporters, and wielding the power of the Empire to keep her opponents elusive.And those spies!She has no idea how many spies she has! If the Fremen stayed asleep and didn't rise up to fight, she would win, he thought.

The seal behind him clicked again.Then, the seal was opened.A servant named Meredith came out.He was a short man with a body like a gourd, the lower end of which retracted into two spindle-shaped legs.The distillate suit he was wearing made his physique even uglier. "You've been accepted," Meredith said. Halleck heard the other party's wishful thinking from his tone.Halleck understands that this place can only be his temporary refuge. All it takes is to steal one of their orthopters, he thought. "Please express my thanks to the Council of Elders," he said.He thought of Isma Tek, after whom the cave was named.Isma died a long time ago due to someone's betrayal.But if he had lived, he would have killed this Meredith mercilessly at the first sight.