Chapter 42 chapter Five

Paul waited in the sand beside the road ahead of the giant maker.He reminded himself: I must not be impatient and restless like a smuggler, I must make myself part of the desert. The creature was now only minutes away from Paul, and the hiss of its crawl resounded across the morning desert.Its cave-like mouth opened, revealing the spread of giant teeth, like a huge blooming flower.The smell of decaying spices from its mouth filled the crisp desert air. Paul's filtration suit was easily worn on his body, and he only vaguely felt the pressure of his nasal congestion and breathing mask.The teachings of Stilgar, the hours of agony in the desert, all else was shrouded in darkness.

"How far from the Maker's torso should you stand in the desert?" Stilgar had asked him. He answered quite correctly: "The diameter of the maker's torso is one meter, and the standing distance from its torso is half a meter. For every meter in diameter of its torso, the standing distance from its torso increases by half a meter." "why?" "In order to avoid the whirlwind it produces when it moves forward quickly, but also to have enough time to run over and ride on it." "You have ridden the little maker bred for the race and the eaux-de-vie," Stilgar said, "but what has been summoned for this ordeal is a ferocious wild maker—an ancient creature of the desert. Yes You must have great respect for such a maker."

Now the beat of the drumsticks is mixed with the hiss of the marching makers.Paul inhaled deeply, and even through the filter he could smell the pungent desert minerals. The wild maker, the desert ancient creature, almost approached him.The jointed parts of its huge body arched upward, sending waves of sand over his knees. Come, you lovely devil!he thinks.Come on, I'm calling you.come on! The waves of sand lifted him up, and the dust blew across the surface of the sand, and he tried to steady himself.The curved wall like a sand cloud, the segmented body like a cliff, and the well-defined ring-shaped knot line, this is all he can see.

Paul held up the hook and looked down the end.When the maker rushed past him, he immediately leaned up and stretched out his hook towards the maker's torso.He felt the hook catch on it, and it rushed forward, dragging him forward.He jumped up, put his feet on the Maker's wall-like torso, and leaned out while holding the hook tightly with both hands.This was the real test: if he hooked the hook exactly to the edge of the scales on the upper ring of the Maker's torso, and tore off that piece of scale, it wouldn't roll sideways and crush him, or else... The Maker slows down, it crawls over the beating drumsticks and silences them.Its body rolled up, and up—up as far as it could go with those nasty barbs, keeping its soft muscles under its rings as far away from the threatening sand as possible.

Paul was overjoyed to find himself high on the sand lizard, like a king visiting his kingdom.He suppressed the sudden desire to make the sand lizard jump up and turn around, showing his urgency to control this ancient creature. He suddenly understood why Stilgar had warned him: rough young men danced and played with these fiends, stood on their backs, removed the double hooks, and reinserted them before the sand lizards were about to throw them off. It's a dangerous move on them. Paul hooked one hook in place, removed the other, and drove it under the side of the sand lizard's torso.When this hook is secure, the first hook is removed and pierced into another place on its side.The sand lizard rolled and turned around, and came to the fine sand, where the others were waiting.

Paul saw them coming, hooked the sand lizard's torso and climbed up, but tried not to touch its sensitive joint edges, until they all climbed to the top of it, and finally rode behind him in a zigzag, with a The hook stabilized the sand lizard's body. Stilger walked from the middle of the queue to the front, checked the position of Paul's hook, and glanced up at the smile on Paul's face. "You made it, huh?" Stilgar asked, raising his voice above the hiss of their advance, "That's what you thought, you made it?" He straightened up: "Now I tell you Well, that was a hasty move. Some of us twelve year olds do better than that. The sand where the drumsticks are buried to the left of where you stand, and if the sand lizard turns that way, you can't get back to the sand to the field."

The smile disappeared from Paul's face. "I saw the sand where the drumsticks were buried." "Then why don't you signal for one of us to take a vantage point to help you? That's okay, even in a test." Paul swallowed nervously, facing the oncoming wind. "You think I'm bad, and I'm telling you this now," Stilger said. "It's my duty, and I take into account your value to the team. If you waddle back into the sand where the drumsticks are buried land, the Maker will run towards you." Despite his anger, Paul knew that Stilger was telling the truth.It was a long time before he regained his composure, using the restraint he had learned from his mother. "I'm sorry," he said, "this will never happen again."

"In times of danger, always have a helper. In case you miss, someone will catch the maker," Stilger said. "Remember, we cooperate, we have confidence. We cooperate, huh? " He patted Paul on the shoulder. "We cooperate." Paul agrees. "Now," said Stilgar, his voice sharp, "let me see if you know how to ride the Maker. Which side are we on?" Paul glanced at the scaled link of the sand lizard at their feet, noting the character and size of the scales, the larger one on his right and the smaller one on his left.He knew that the characteristic of the sand lizard is that one side is always on top, and when it grows up, the characteristic of that side is almost unchanged.The scales at the bottom are large, thick, and smooth.The scales on the top of a large sand lizard can be judged from its size.

Paul moves the double hook to the left.He directed the person on the other side to use a hook to break off the scales on the sand lizard's left link, making the sand lizard roll in a straight line.After it turned around, he moved the two helmsmen from the line to the front. "Turn left, Azzie hi... yo!" he yelled the traditional chant.At this time, the helmsman on the left hooked off the scale armor at a link on that side. The sand lizard made a majestic turn, turning to protect its hooked link.Then it all turned around and ran south.At this time Paul shouted: "Geralt (forward)!"

The helmsman let go of the hook, and the sand lizard galloped straight ahead. Stilger said, "That's great, Paul Moady! After a lot of practice, you can become a sand lizard knight." Paul frowned and thought: Didn't I climb up by myself? There was a sudden burst of laughter behind him, and the whole team began to chant his name in unison, and the shouts wafted through the air. "Moyadi! Moyadi! Moyadi! Moyadi!" From the distant sand lizard's tail, there was the sound of the goad hitting the tail link, and the sand lizard began to speed up.Paul's robe fluttered in the wind, and the crackling sound of the sand lizard's friction with the sand surface gradually increased.

Paul looked back at the line behind him and spotted Cheney among the people.While looking at her, he said to Stilgar, "I'm a sand lizard knight now, Stilger?" "Ha, Yom! You're a sand lizard rider today." "So, I can choose our destination?" "You can go wherever you like." "I am a Fremen born here today - in the sea of ​​sand in Habaya. I had no 'life' before today, I was just a child." "Not exactly a child," Stilgar said, tightening his wind-beaten hood. "However, my past world was sealed by something, and now that thing has been removed." "Now, nothing can stop you." "I want to go to the south twenty rings away, Stilgar, and I want to see with my own eyes the land we have transformed. In the past, I only heard it from others." I'll see my son and family, he thought.I need time to think about the future that is past in my head.The trouble starts, and if I don't get it right, it's going to get out of hand. Stilger looked at him with a steady gaze.Paul's attention was still drawn to Cheney, and he saw the concern for him in her face, and he noticed the excitement his words caused among the people. "All are eager to join you in attacking Harkonnen's lair," Stilgar said. "The lair is only a ring away." "The Freemans have attacked their lair with me," Paul said, "and they will do it with me again until all the Harkonnen are wiped out." Stilger looked at Paul while driving the maker.Paul realized that this man was recalling how he had become Commander of Camp Teb and a member of the Camp Leadership Council after the death of Let Keynes. Paul thought: He's got reports of riots among the young Fremen. "Do you wish to call a leadership meeting?" Stilgar asked. The eyes of the young people in the team shone with scorching light. They were restless while driving the maker, watching the development of the situation.Paul saw Cheney's restless eyes, she looked at her uncle, Stilger for a while, and at her man, Paul for a while. "You never know what I want," Paul said. He thought: I can't back down, I have to get these people under control. "Today, you are the commander-in-chief," Stilgar said, his tone was serious and serious, "how will you use this power?" We need time to relax and think about this calmly, Paul thought. "Let's go south." "Even if I say it's over today. Are we going back north?" "We're going south," Paul insisted. Stilger wrapped himself tightly in his robe, showing a dignity that cannot be ignored. "Call a meeting," he said, "and I will give notice." Paul thought: He thinks I'm going to challenge him, and he knows he can't fight me. Facing the South, Paul felt the wind blow against his bare face, and thought about the conditions necessary to lead him to his decision. They don't know what's going on! Paul knew he couldn't let any scruples affect him, and he couldn't leave the central line of the time storm he saw in the future.Perhaps the matter would be resolved, if only he could solve its chief difficulty himself. I wouldn't challenge him if I could get help in my mission, Paul thought, if there were other ways to stop a massive war of vengeance... "We'll camp at the bird's den under Habaya Ridge, and have dinner and prayers," Stirger said.Using his hook to balance himself on the Maker's swing, he pointed ahead at a low barrier of rock jutting out of the desert. Paul looked at the cliff. Layers of rocks stretched across the cliff like waves. There was no green or flowers to soften the hard flat ground.On the other side of the cliff is the road leading to the southern desert.They drove the maker towards the cliff. Twenty rings. The road led far, far beyond Harkonnen's patrol range, and he knew what it was like.The dream had indicated to him that one day, as they were gone, the color on the far horizon changed slightly--so slightly that he felt he saw it in hope--and there would be a new camp there. "Is my decision suitable for Moad'di's needs?" Stilgar asked, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.But the Fremen, sensitive to the message of every bird cry, every selago screech, recognized the sarcasm in the words.Everyone looked at Paul to see how he would react to the taunt. "When we organized the Death Squad, I swore an oath of loyalty to it," said Paul. "My fellow Death Squad knew I was sincere. Does Stilgar have any doubts about my loyalty?" There was real anguish in Paul's words.Hearing these words, Stilgar lowered his eyelids. "Youso, my partner, I will never doubt him," said Stilgar, "but you are Paul Moady, Duke of Atrez, and Lisan a Geb - Voice from the Sky , I don’t even know these people.” Paul turned and walked away, looking up at the Habaya Ridge rising over the desert.The Maker under their feet was still strong and docile, and could carry them twice as far as they had traveled.He knew it, and nothing could match the desert old man but stories to tell children.It was something new, Paul realized. A hand grabbed his shoulder. Paul followed the arm to see the face on the other end—Stilger's eyes peeking out between the filter cover and the hood of the filtration suit. "The man who led Camp Teb before me," Stilgar said, "was a friend of mine. We have been through trouble together, and he has saved me many times, and I have saved him many times." "I'm your friend, Stilgar," Paul said. "No one doubted it," Stilgar said.He took his hand away and shrugged, "But it's the usual practice." Paul knew that Stilger was too focused on Freeman's habits to consider any other possibility.Here, a leader either kills his predecessor, or after the previous leader died in the desert, kills the strongest man in the tribe to seize the ruling power of the tribe.Stilger was raised in that way to be a person who would rather die than surrender. "We should send the makers back to the depths of the desert," Paul said. "Yes," Stilgar agreed, "we can walk from here to that cave." "We've ridden it far enough and it's going to burrow itself into the sand and be pissed off all day," Paul said. "You are the commander of the sand lizards," Stilgar said, "tell me, when will we..." He stopped talking suddenly, staring at the eastern sky. Paul turned around, blue eyes stained with decaying spices making the sky look black.The regular flashes of light in the distance stand out clearly against the well-filtered azure sky. orthopter. "A small plane," Stilger said. "Probably a spy plane," Paul said. "Do you think it spotted us?" "At this distance, we're just a desert monitor lizard," Stilger said.He gestured with his left hand: "Go down and spread out on the sand." The Fremen started jumping off the side of the sand lizards, hiding under their coats and merging with the desert.Paul saw exactly where Cheney had jumped and remembered it.In the end, only he and Stilgar remained on the sand lizard. "First up, last down," Paul said. Stilger nodded, and jumped from the side using the hook, into the sand. Paul waited until the sand lizard had completely left the area where his men had spread before removing the hook.This is the most dangerous time since the sand lizard is not yet exhausted. Freed from the rod and barbed hook, the huge sand lizard began to burrow into the sand. Paul ran briskly back along its broad back, carefully timing his descent. He jumped down, ran to the ground, ran to the opposite side of the sand dune slide, and hid under the sandstorm with his robe on. wait…… Paul turned over, gently, looked out from the gap in his robe, and saw a sliver of sky. Before he saw the plane, he heard the flapping of the wings, the slight hum of the jet engines.The plane passed over his head, made a wide circle, and headed for the top of the mountain. Paul noticed that it was an unmarked plane. The plane disappeared behind Habaya Ridge. From above the desert came a bird cry, and another bird cry. Paul shook the sand off himself and climbed to the top of the dune, while the others stood up and lined up along the ridge.From among them he recognized Cheney and Stilgar. Stilgar signaled to Sand Ridge. The team gathered and began to slide forward on the sand at a broken pace that would not attract sand lizards.They walked on wind-hardened protrusions of the dunes, Stirger and Paul walking side by side. "That's a smuggler's plane," Stilger said. "It seems so," Paul said, "but, to the smugglers, they're going deep into the desert." "They also have trouble with patrols," Stilger said. "If they can go as far into the desert, then they can go farther into the desert," Paul said. "Indeed." "If they venture into the southern desert regions, they're going to see things they shouldn't be seeing. That's not good." "You don't think they're looking for the spice of decay?" "There's got to be an air force and some transports waiting for that plane somewhere," Paul said. "We have Spice of Decline, let's set a bait and catch the smugglers. They should be taught that this is our land. And our men need practice with new weapons." "So, Yuso is saying," Stilgar said, "Youso thinks of Freeman." But Yuso must abandon a decision that is consistent with a terrible purpose, Paul thought. The storm is gathering its strength.