Chapter 9 Chapter nine

Paul lay on the bed, pretending to be asleep.It's easy to hide Dr. Yue's sleeping pills and pretend to swallow them.Paul suppressed a laugh.Even his mother believed he was asleep. He was about to jump out of bed and ask his mother to let him go exploring, but realized she wouldn't let him.Everything here is too chaotic, no.So be it! It wouldn't be a foul if I slipped out without my permission.I will stay in a safe place inside the house. He heard his mother and Dr. Yue talking in the other room, but he couldn't make out what was said...it seemed to be about decaying spices...and Harkonnen.The voice of the conversation rose and fell.

Paul noticed that the bed's carved headboard attached to the wall was actually fake, hiding the mechanisms that controlled the room's functions.There is a flying fish carved on the board, with waves below.Paul knew that if he clicked the fisheye it would turn on the ceiling chandelier; that one of the sprays, with a twist, would regulate the ventilation; another would regulate the temperature. Paul sat up gently. There was a tall bookshelf against the wall on the left. The bookshelf could be pushed open to reveal a closet with drawers.The handle on the door to the living room was shaped like the pushrod on an orthopter.

The room seemed designed to seduce Paul. This is true of this room and this planet. He thought of the movie book Yue had shown him... "Arakis: The Emperor's Experimental Station for Desert Plant Research".It was an old movie book before the discovery of decaying spices. Various nouns in the book flashed in Paul’s mind, and each noun was accompanied by a picture: date palm, sand verbena, late cherry blossom, sand eagle, kangaroo , pit fox... name, photo; name, photo.They are all portrayals of the human living environment in the past... Many things no longer exist on other planets, only Arrakis has them.

So many new things to learn...and decaying spices. And sand lizards. The door of the other room closed, and Paul heard his mother's footsteps.He knew that Dr. Yue would find some book to read, and he would still stay in that room. Now is a great time to go out and explore. Paul slid out of bed and headed for the bookshelf leading to the closet.With a click behind him, Paul stopped, turned around, and the carved folding board at the head of the bed fell to where he had just slept.Paul remained motionless, which saved his life. A miniature hunting dart protrudes from behind the carved panel, less than 5 centimeters long.Paul instantly recognized it...a common assassination weapon that every descendant of the royal family learned to wield at an early age.It was a silver weapon, manipulative at close quarters, that could strike a man's moving flesh, destroying vital organs along the nerves.

The dart raised its head, glanced left and right, looking for the target. Relevant knowledge flashed across Paul's consciousness, the weakness of the hunting dart: its compressed hanging sight distorts the image of the sensor, it can only reflect the target by the dark light in the room, and the operator can only rely on the moving things judge.Shielding can slow down the dart operator, giving time to destroy the hunting dart.But Paul put the shield on the bed.Laser guns can kill it, but laser guns are too expensive, prone to failure, and difficult to repair.If the laser beam collides transversely with the hyperthermia shield, a huge pyrotechnic explosion occurs.Atrez can overcome it with physical shielding and intelligence.

Now, Paul is extremely tense and his body is still, knowing that only wisdom can cope with the current crisis. The hunting dart was raised another half a meter, using the light from the curtains to search the house bit by bit. I have to hold on to it, Paul thought, the suspension will lubricate the underside, I have to hold on to it. The dart went a little lower, searched to the left, drew a circle backwards, and aimed at the bed.Can hear it humming. Who is manipulating it?The man must be nearby, Paul thought.I can bark, but he'll be shot when he opens the door. The hall door creaked behind Paul, and there was a knock.The door opened.

The hunting dart passed over Paul's head and aimed at the place where the noise came from. Paul grabbed it with his right hand, pressed down, and firmly controlled the thing. The dart twisted in his hand and made a buzzing sound, but Paul had already held it firmly, desperately refusing to let go.He suddenly flipped violently and sent it forward. With a bang, the dart tube was slammed against the doorknob, the aiming eye shattered, and the hunting dart was paralyzed in his hand. Paul still clutches it...just in case. He looked up and saw the wide blue eyes of Shadout Mapes. "Your father sent me to call you," she said, "you are guarded in the hall."

Paul nodded, his eyes and attention fixed on the strange woman.She was wearing a tan and yellow linen hired hand.She was staring at the broken weapon in Paul's hand. "I've heard about this thing," she said. "It probably killed me, right?" Paul swallowed and said, "I...was its target." "But it was aimed at me," she said. "Because you're moving." Paul thought: Who is this guy? "So you saved my life?" "I saved both of our lives." "Looks like you could let that thing kill me and you could get away with it," she said.

"Who are you?" he asked. "Shadout Mapes, butler." "How do you know I'm here?" "Your mother told me. I met her by the stairs leading to the prophecy room," she pointed to the right, "your father's men are waiting for you." Those are the people of Hawat.He thought: We've got to find out who's running this thing. "Go tell my father's men," said Paul, "that I captured a hunting dart in the house, and let them scatter the search and find the manipulator. Tell them to cordon off the house and surrounding area, and execute it immediately. They'll know what to do." How to do it. The manipulator must be a stranger."

Paul thought: Could it be her?But he knew it was impossible.When she came in, the hunting dart was still moving. "Little master, before carrying out your order, I must tell you clearly," Mapes said, "You made me owe a water debt, and I don't know how to repay it. But we Fremans have Debts must be paid...whether black or white. We all know that there is a traitor among your people, but we don't know who. But we are sure that he exists. Maybe it is the black hand who operated the flesh stabbing device." Paul listened in silence: a traitor.Before he could speak, the strange woman suddenly turned around and ran out the door.

He wanted to call her back, but the way she walked told Paul she would be unhappy.She had said all she knew, and was now carrying out his orders.Within a minute, there would be Hawat's people all over the house. Paul's mind began to pay attention to another strange statement: the prophecy room.He looked in the direction Mapes pointed just now.We Fremen.Then she is a Freeman.Paul blinked, using mnemonics to store her form: Shadout Mapes, wrinkled black coat, blue eyes without a hint of white. Paul took the hunting dart, returned to his room, picked up the shielding belt with his left hand, buckled it around his waist, then turned around and ran out the door, and rushed to the left of the hall. She said the mother was in there somewhere...the stairs...the prophecy room.