Chapter 6 Chapter Six

Paul watched his father walk into the practice room as the guards took their positions and one of them closed the door.As usual, Paul had the feeling of being received, of someone visiting the place. The duke was a tall, olive-skinned man, with a thin, sharp, severe face softened by dark gray eyes.The duke wore black smock with a red eagle on his chest; around his waist was a silver shield that glistened with time. The duke said, "Training up, son?" He walked to the long table, glanced at the papers on the table, scanned the room, and returned to Paul.Weary, and more so because he could not show his tiredness, he thought: On the journey to Arrakis I must take every opportunity to rest, and there will be no time for rest.

"Not too nervous," Paul said, "everything's still..." He shrugged. "Well, we're leaving tomorrow and it'll be nice to be able to settle down in our new home and leave our worries behind." Paul nodded, suddenly recalling the words of the Holy Mother, feeling uneasy in his heart: "...As for your father, it is irreparable." "Dad," Paul said, "is Arrakis as dangerous as everyone says?" The Duke pretended to be indifferent, sat down at the table with a smile, and had a conversation mode in his mind... the way to relieve tension before the battle.But before he could speak, that approach was challenged: This is my son.

"That's dangerous," he admitted. "Hawat told me about a plan to win over the Fremen," Paul said.He secretly asked: Why didn't you tell him what the old woman said?How did she keep my mouth shut? The duke noticed his son's uneasiness and said, "As usual, Hawat always saw the main opportunity first, but that's all. I noticed the company of Chaum, and the emperor gave me Arrakis, and he had to let me get it." Chaum Corporation's board power ... a delicate victory." "The Chaum Corporation controls Decay Spices," Paul said. "Arrakis has a lot of decaying spices, which is our passport to enter the Jome Company," said the Duke. "Entering the Jome Company is not just to become one with it."

"Did Our Lady warn you?" Paul asked blankly.He clenched his fists tightly, feeling his palms become slippery from sweat.It took him a lot of effort to ask that question. "Hawat told me that her dire warnings to Arrakis terrified you," said the duke, "and don't let a woman's fear cloud your mind. No woman wants to see a loved one in danger. These warnings Behind the scenes is actually your mother's concern, see it as her love for us." "Does she know about the Fremen?" "I know, and a lot." "what?" And the duke was thinking: The truth might be worse than he imagined, but the reality of danger can be valuable if you're trained to deal with it.One place where nothing will spare my son is coping with dangerous situations.This has to be kept to a minimum because he is young.

"No product escapes the control of the Chaum Corporation;" said the duke, "timber, donkey, horse, cow, log, shark, whale skin...from the most common to the most incredible...even our poor Caradan of rice. Again, the Gilders carry everything from the art of Eckas to the machinery of Reches and Ixes, but all this is insignificant compared to getting into Chaum's Co. A handful of decaying spices can be bought To take a place on the planet of Dupriet refuge. This spice cannot be manufactured, it has to be mined from Arrakis. It is unique and does have anti-aging properties.”

"We have it under control now?" "To some extent yes. But it's important to consider the various families that depend on Chaum's profits, considering that the source of this huge profit is all dependent on one product... Declining Spices. Think, what if any reason reduces Declining The production of spices, what consequences will there be!" "Whoever hoards spice synthesis has the power of life and death," Paul said. "Others will have to starve and freeze." The Duke smiled with satisfaction, looked at his son and thought: The training is quite effective, he has keen foresight and deep insight.The Duke nodded: "The Harkonnen have been hoarding for more than twenty years."

"They want a disruption in spice production and put the blame on you." "They want to disgrace the House of Atrez," said the duke. "Look at the Federation of Landsrads, they want me to have some leadership...to be their unofficial spokesman. Think, what if Their income is reduced and I'm responsible for that how they're going to react. Self interest always comes first no matter what. Fuck the GJC! You can't let other people make you poor !” There was a vicious smile on the Duke’s face, “No matter what they do to me, they have to look at the world in a different way.”

"Even if we get nuked?" "It's not that serious, the Grand United Council won't be openly hostile, but there may be other underhanded actions...maybe backstabbing, poisoning or something." "Then why are we still in it?" "Paul!" the duke looked at his son sternly, "knowing where the trap is...that's the first step in avoiding it. That's hand-to-hand combat, son, only on a larger scale, a parry belt in a parry There is no end to the parry...there is no end to it. The key task is to clarify it. Knowing that the Harkonnen stockpiles synthetic spices, we have to ask another question: Who is still hoarding? These people are our enemies."

"Who?" "There are a few families that we know are not friendly, and others that we think are not bad. Right now, we don't need to pay attention to them, because there is a more important target: our beloved King Padisha." Paul felt his throat go dry, he swallowed dryly, and said, "You can't tell Landslard to expose . . . " "Let the opponent know that we know he has the knife in his hand? Oh, Paul... I see the knife now, who knows where it will go next? If we inform Landsrad, it will only cause Enormous chaos. The king will deny, who can argue with him? All we have is time, at the risk of chaos. Where will the next attack come from?"

"Maybe all families will start hoarding spices." "Our enemy has a target and it's starting to pounce...it's hard to turn around." "The Emperor," said Paul, "means the Legion of Sardaka." "Dressing up as a Harkonnen, of course," said the Duke, "but soldiers are fanatical and blind." "How can the Fremen help us against Sardaka?" "Did Hawat tell you to pay Salus Secundus?" "Is it the king's prison planet? No." "That's more than just a prison! Paul, there's one question you never asked about the Royal Sadoca Legion. Where did they come from?"

"From the prison planet?" "They must have come from somewhere." "But the cost of funding is paid by the king from..." "That's what makes us think: the king trains these young super-soldiers at a levied fee. You occasionally hear of the king's training cadres, but the balance of our civilization hasn't changed: on one side the Grand Union of Landsrad The army of the Council, and on the other side the Legion of Sadoka and its foreign reinforcements. Sadoka remains Sadoka, Paul." "But all the reports say Sarrus Secundus is hell." "No doubt about it. But if you were going to make soldiers strong, fierce and enduring, what environment would you choose for them?" "How do you win the loyalty of these people?" "There have been many effective methods: giving them a certain sense of superiority; the mystery of taking on a secret mission; a collective spirit of solidarity. This can be done, and it has been achieved in various places and many times." Paul points. He turned his head and focused his attention on his father's face, feeling that something important was about to be involved. "Look at Arrakis," said the duke. "When you step outside the towns and fortresses, the surroundings are as bad as Sarrus Secundus." Paul's eyes widened: "Fremen!" "We have potential legions there, as valiant and invincible as the Legions of Sardaka. It will take patience, questing and gathering in secret, and equipping them with wealth in due time. There are Fremen there... and there are Declining spices, great wealth. Now you know why we went to Arrakis, knowing that there are tigers in the mountains, and we prefer to go to the mountains of tigers." "Don't the Harkonnen understand the Fremen?" "The Harkonnen despised the Fremen, hunted them down for fun, and never took them seriously. We know the Harkonnen's policy on aliens... cut expenses as much as possible to keep them alive Just do it." "Do you understand?" The metal ornament on the Duke's eagle chest shone with the movement of his body. "We're negotiating with the Fremen at this time," Paul said. "I have sent a mission, led by Duncan Idaho," said the duke. "Duncan was a proud, cruel man, but a man of truth. I think the Fremen will respect him. With luck, they will pass Duncan Know us, Duncan is who we are." "Duncan, the embodiment of morality," Paul said, "Gurney, the embodiment of bravery." "Very well said," replied the duke. Paul thought: Gurney belongs to the kind of person mentioned by the Virgin Mary, the pillar of the world... "...the cream of the brave." "Gurney told me you did well with your weapon today," said the duke. "That's not what he told me." The Duke laughed. "I think Gurney was stingy with his praise. He said you have a keen sense and know the difference between the tip of a knife and the blade." "Gurney said killing with the point of a knife is unartistic and should be done with the edge." "Gurney is romantic," the duke muttered.Discussing murder with his own son suddenly made him uneasy. "I'd rather you never kill...but if you have to, it doesn't matter the tip or the blade." He looked up at the sky, where the rain was getting heavier. Paul noticed his father's gaze, and thought that it was raining all over the sky outside, which would never happen in Arrakis anyway, and thought of the distant space. "Are the Gildian spaceships really big?" Paul asked. The Duke looked at him. "This will be your first interstellar trip," he said, "yes, it's huge. We'll be in a large H-class ship, because it's a long voyage. The H-class ship is so big that one corner of it is Can accommodate all of our escorts and transports ... we are a very small fraction of us on spaceships." "Shouldn't we be able to drop our escort ship?" "It's part of the price to pay for Gilder's security. There may be Harkonnen ships with us, but we have nothing to worry about. The Harkonnen are well aware that their spaceflight cannot priority." "I'm going to search the screen monitor and try to meet a Gilder." "Don't do it. Gildern employees can't see them either. The Gilders value their privacy as much as they do their monopoly. Don't do anything that would interfere with our spaceflight priorities, Paul." "Do you think they're hiding because they're mutated and don't look like...human?" "Who knows?" The Duke shrugged. "It's a mystery we can't explain. We have more pressing problems among them...you." "I?" "Your mother wants me to tell you, son. You see, you may have Mentat gifts." Paul stared at his father, speechless for a moment. "A Mentat? Me? But I..." "Hawat agrees too. Son, it's true." "But I think Mentat's training starts with the baby, and the topic can't be said, because it affects the early..." He stopped, all the past scenes gathered together. "I see," he said. "One day," said the duke, "a potential Mentat has to understand what is being done, maybe it's no longer relevant to him. A Mentat has to be able to share the choice: to continue training or to give up training. There are Some can continue, some cannot, and only potential Mentats can make the right choice." Paul stroked his chin, flashing through his mind the special training Hawat and his mother had given him: mnemonics, concentration, muscle control, heightened sensory sensitivity, language learning, nuances in sounds.All this gave him a whole new understanding and awareness. "Son, one day you will be a Duke," his father said. "A Duke of Mentat will be unimaginable and daunting. Can you decide now? Or will it take more time?" Paul replied without hesitation: "I will continue to train." "Extraordinary indeed," said the Duke softly.Paul saw a proud smile on his father's face, which surprised Paul: the Duke's narrow face was like a skull.Paul closed his eyes, feeling the terrible purpose within him revive.He thought: Maybe being a Mentat is a terrible purpose. But even as he focused on the mind, his new awareness denied it all.