Topri moved to the room’s one door. There was a clattering bustle as everyone stood and the chairs were folded and stacked against the wall opposite the door. At a signal from Siona, Topri tapped three times on the door panel, waited for a two-count, then tapped four times.
The door opened and a tall man in a dark brown official singlet slipped into the room. He wore no mask, his face open for all of them to see—thin and imperious with a narrow mouth, a skinny blade of a nose, dark brown eyes deeply set under bushy brows. It was a face recognized by most of the room’s occupants.
“My friends,” Topri said, “I present Iyo Kobat, Ambassador from Ix.”
“Ex-Ambassador,” Kobat said. His voice was guttural and tightly controlled. He took a position with his back to the wall facing the masked people in the room. “I have this day received orders from our God Emperor to leave Arrakis in disgrace.”
“Why?”
Siona snapped the question at him without formality.
Kobat jerked his head around, a quick movement which fixed his gaze on her masked face. “There has been an attempt on the God Emperor’s life. He traced the weapon to me.”
Siona’s companions opened a space between her and the ex-Ambassador, clearly signaling that they deferred to her.
“Then why didn’t he kill you?” she demanded.
“I think he is telling me that I am not worth killing. There is also the fact that he uses me now to carry a message to Ix.”
“What message?” Siona moved through the cleared space to stop within two paces of Kobat. She recognized the sexual alertness in him as he studied her body.
“You are Moneo’s daughter,” he said.
Soundless tension exploded across the room. Why did he reveal that he recognized her? Who else did he recognize here? Kobat did not appear the fool. Why had he done this?
“Your body, your voice and your manner are well known here in Onn,” he said. “That mask is a foolishness.”
She ripped the mask from her head and smiled at him. “I agree. Now answer my question.”
She heard Nayla move up close on her left; two more aides chosen by Nayla came up beside her.
Siona saw the moment of realization come over Kobat—his death if he failed to satisfy her demands. His voice did not lose its tight control but he spoke slower, choosing his words more carefully.
“The God Emperor has told me that he knows about an agreement between Ix and the Guild. We are attempting to make a mechanical amplifier of … those Guild navigational talents which presently rely on melange.”
“In this room we call him the Worm,” Siona said. “What would your Ixian machine do?”
“You are aware that Guild Navigators require the spice before they can
see
the safe path to traverse?”
“You would replace the navigators with a machine?”
“It may be possible.”
“What message do you carry to your people concerning this machine?”
“I am to tell my people that they may continue the project only if they send him daily reports on their progress.”
She shook her head. “He needs no such reports! That’s a stupid message.”
Kobat swallowed, no longer concealing nervousness.
“The Guild and the Sisterhood are excited by our project,” he said. “They are participating.”
Siona nodded once. “And they pay for their participation by sharing spice with Ix.”
Kobat glared at her. “It’s expensive work and we need the spice for comparative testing by Guild Navigators.”
“It is a lie and a cheat,” she said. “Your device will never work and the Worm knows it.”
“How dare you accuse us of …”
“Be still! I have just told you the real message. The Worm is telling you Ixians to continue cheating the Guild and the Bene Gesserit. It amuses him.”
“It could work!” Kobat insisted.
She merely smiled at him. “Who tried to kill the Worm?”
“Duncan Idaho.”
Nayla gasped. There were other small signs of surprise around the room, a frown, an indrawn breath.
“Is Idaho dead?” Siona asked.
“I presume so, but the … ahhh, Worm refuses to confirm it.”
“Why do you presume him dead?”
“The Tleilaxu have sent another Idaho ghola.”
“I see.”
Siona turned and signaled to Nayla, who went to the side of the room and returned with a slim package wrapped in pink Suk paper, the kind of paper shopkeepers used to enclose small purchases. Nayla handed the package to Siona.
“This is the price of our silence,” Siona said, extending the package to Kobat. “This is why Topri was permitted to bring you here tonight.”
Kobat took the package without removing his attention from her face. “Silence?” he asked.
“We undertake not to inform the Guild and Sisterhood that you are cheating them.”
“We are not cheat …”
“Don’t be a fool!”
Kobat tried to swallow in a dry throat. Her meaning had become plain to him: true or not, if the rebellion spread such a story it would be believed. It was “common sense” as Topri was fond of saying.
Siona glanced at Topri who stood just behind Kobat. No one joined this rebellion for reasons of “common sense.” Did Topri not realize that his “common sense” might betray him? She returned her attention to Kobat.
“What’s in this package?” he asked.
Something in the way he asked it told Siona he already knew.
“That is something I am sending to Ix. You will take it there for me. That is copies of two volumes we removed from the Worm’s fortress.”
Kobat stared down at the package in his hands. It was obvious that he wanted to drop the thing, that his venture into rebellion had loaded him with a burden more deadly than he had expected. He shot a scowling glance at Topri which said as though he had spoken it:
“Why didn’t you warn me?”
“What …” He brought his gaze back to Siona, cleared his throat. “What’s in these … volumes?”
“Your people may tell us that. We think they are the Worm’s own words, written in a cipher which we cannot read.”
“What makes you think we …”
“You Ixians are clever at such things.”
“And if we fail?”
She shrugged. “We will not blame you for that. However, should you use those volumes for any other purpose or fail to report a success fully …”
“How can anyone be sure we …”
“We will not depend only on you. Others will get copies. I think the Sisterhood and the Guild will not hesitate to try deciphering those volumes.”
Kobat slipped the package under his arm and pressed it against his body.
“What makes you think the … the Worm doesn’t know about your intentions … even about this meeting?”
“I think he knows many such things, that he may even know who took those volumes. My father believes he is truly prescient.”
“Your father believes the Oral History!”
“Everyone in this room believes it. The Oral History does not disagree with the Formal History on important matters.”
“Then why doesn’t the Worm act against you?”
She pointed to the package under Kobat’s arm. “Perhaps the answer is in there.”
“Or you and these cryptic volumes are no real threat to him!” Kobat was not concealing his anger. He did not like being forced into decisions.
“Perhaps. Tell me why you mentioned the Oral History.”
Once more, Kobat heard the menace.
“It says the Worm is incapable of human emotions.”
“That is not the reason,” she said. “You will get one more chance to tell me the reason.”
Nayla moved two steps closer to Kobat.
“I … I was told to review the Oral History before coming here, that your people …” He shrugged.
“That we chant it?”
“Yes.”
“Who told you this?”
Kobat swallowed, cast a fearful glance at Topri, then back to Siona.
“Topri?” Siona asked.
“I thought it would help him to understand us,” Topri said.
“And you told him the name of your leader,” Siona said.
“He already knew!” Topri’s voice had found its squeak.
“What particular parts of the Oral History were you told to review?” Siona asked.
“The … uhhh, the Atreides line.”
“And now you think you know why people join me in rebellion.”
“The Oral History tells exactly how he treats everyone in the Atreides line!” Kobat said.
“He gives us a little rope and then he hauls us in?” Siona asked. Her voice was deceptively flat.
“That’s what he did with your own father,” Kobat said.
“And now he’s letting
me
play at rebellion?”
“I’m just a messenger,” Kobat said. “If you kill me, who will carry your message?”
“Or the message of the Worm,” Siona said.
Kobat remained silent.
“I do not think you understand the Oral History,” Siona said. “I think also you do not know the Worm very well, nor do you understand his messages.”
Kobat’s face flushed with anger. “What’s to prevent you from becoming like all the rest of the Atreides, a nice obedient part of …” Kobat broke off, aware suddenly of what anger had made him say.
“Just another recruit for the Worm’s inner circle,” Siona said. “Just like the Duncan Idahos?”
She turned and looked at Nayla. The two aides, Anouk and Taw, became suddenly alert, but Nayla remained impassive.
Siona nodded once to Nayla.
As they were sworn to do, Anouk and Taw moved to positions blocking the door. Nayla went around to stand at Topri’s shoulder.
“What’s … what’s happening?” Topri asked.
“We wish to know everything of importance that the ex-Ambassador can share with us,” Siona said. “We want the entire message.”
Topri began to tremble. Perspiration started from Kobat’s forehead. He glanced once at Topri, then returned his attention to Siona. That one glance was like a veil pulled aside for Siona to peer into the relationship between these two.
She smiled. This merely confirmed what she had already learned.
Kobat became very still.
“You may begin,” Siona said.
“I … what do you …”
“The Worm gave you a private message for your masters. I will hear it.”
“He … he wants an extension for his cart.”
“Then he expects to grow longer. What else?”
“We are to send him a large supply of ridulian crystal paper.”
“For what purpose?”
“He never explains his demands.”
“This smacks of things he forbids to others,” she said.
Kobat spoke bitterly. “He never forbids himself anything!”
“Have you made forbidden toys for him?”
“I do not know.”
He’s lying
, she thought, but she chose not to pursue this. It was enough to know the existence of another chink in the Worm’s armor.
“Who will replace you?” Siona asked.
“They are sending a niece of Malky,” Kobat said. “You may remember that he …”
“We remember Malky,” she said. “Why does a niece of Malky become the new Ambassador?”
“I don’t know. But it was ordered even before the Go … the Worm dismissed me.”
“Her name?”
“Hwi Noree.”
“We will cultivate Hwi Noree,” Siona said. “You were not worth cultivating. This Hwi Noree may be something else. When do you return to Ix?”
“Immediately after the Festival, the first Guild ship.”
“What will you tell your masters?”
“About what?”
“My message!”
“They will do as you ask.”
“I know. You may go, ex-Ambassador Kobat.”
Kobat almost collided with the door guards in his haste to leave. Topri made to follow him, but Nayla caught Topri’s arm and held him. Topri swept a fearful glance across Nayla’s muscular body, then looked at Siona, who waited for the door to shut behind Kobat before speaking.
“The message was not merely to the Ixians, but to us as well,” she said. “The Worm challenges us and tells us the rules of the combat.”
Topri tried to wrest his arm from Nayla’s grip. “What do you …”
“Topri!” Siona said. “I, too, can send a message. Tell my father to inform the Worm that we accept.”