The Winds of Dune (37 page)

When sunset faded into darkness, multicolored lights played across the sands and the windows of the palace annex. Duncan stood at a viewing scope on one wall, and Alia joined him so that they could observe the crowd. While the couple watched from behind the walls of Alia’s high bedroom, her amazon guards marched out onto the sands and took their stations to guard the participants and guests. Enhancing the magnification, she spotted a black-robed Sayyadina, along with a Qizara priest in a yellow robe, standing in a pool of light at the crest of the dune. Everyone was waiting for her and Duncan to arrive.

She squeezed his hand and led him to the blackplaz cubicle at the back of the room. “Shall we make our appearance?”

The two of them stepped inside the booth. The cubicle door shut, and the golden lights of scanners and imagers bathed them. Abruptly, out in the desert, Alia seemed to be standing on the dunetop with Duncan, but they were merely solido holoprojections, unbeknownst to onlookers. Alia and her husband-to-be seemed to emerge out of nowhere, like a miracle . . . or a stage trick. No one in the audience would believe the two were not actually present. Even if an assassination attempt occurred now, neither of them was at risk.

Alia had studied the details of the ceremony so many times that she barely noticed as the Qizara spoke in Chakobsa, following traditions as old as the Zensunni wanderers who were the forebears of the Fremen, while the Sayyadina spoke afterward in flowery ancient Galach, using words that had once been uttered by Priests of Dur in royal wedding ceremonies, before their recent fall from grace.

The perfect projected images of Alia and Duncan uttered the responses they had memorized, received the blessings of the two officials, and kissed to a roar of approval from the population of Arrakeen. Then the two newlyweds glided off onto the sands. Miraculously leaving no footprints, they vanished into dune shadows, bound for their secret honeymoon destination.

When it was over and the two of them stepped out of the projection booth and found themselves back in the suite, Duncan produced actual wedding rings from a pocket of his jacket. Blushing almost shyly, they slid the bands on each other’s fingers. Duncan was such a traditionalist.

Smiling at him, feeling the warmth of genuine though unfamiliar emotions, Alia said, “It all happened so fast. I turned my head and we were married.”

“You turned my head some time ago,” he said and folded her into his embrace.

Wellington Yueh, the Suk doctor of House Atreides, is the most notorious traitor in the long and checkered history of the Imperium. Bronso of Ix, on the other hand, is more than a mere turncoat—he is a defiler of Muad’Dib’s memory. He does not simply betray, but rather hopes to destroy everything Muad’Dib created.

If a million deaths were not enough to punish Yueh, as the refrain goes, how many deaths would be sufficient for Bronso?

—
The Legacy of Muad’Dib
by the
PRINCESS IRULAN

I
n the continuing search for Bronso of Ix, Duncan Idaho’s network of disguised Mentats patrolled the streets or worked menial spaceport jobs. They observed and processed millions of faces, then ignored them. They paid no attention to other criminals, fugitives from the Jihad, or rebels who had fought against Muad’Dib but were never caught. They sought only Bronso.
That
was Alia’s priority.

Gurney tried unsuccessfully to trace the treatises to their origins, and reading some of the outrageous claims made his blood boil. The Ixian had once been Paul’s friend, and now he had become a particularly malicious gadfly.

Still, Gurney had sworn to honor Jessica’s request, no matter how odd he found it, no matter how infuriating the Ixian fugitive was. And so, to throw Duncan off the scent, he chose carefully where to focus his efforts. He “misplaced” a few particularly promising leads, while expending manpower on dubious sightings. Through the weeks of hunting, Gurney surrounded himself with a flurry of activity, conducting dozens of interrogations personally. He dispatched spies and searchers and made a great show of his determination.

All the while, he did his best
not
to find Bronso.

Thus, when the fugitive was actually apprehended at the Arrakeen
Spaceport, Gurney could not have been more astonished. “Gods below, they caught him? They have him in custody?”

The high-spirited messenger who pushed his way into their headquarters office could barely contain himself as he delivered his fresh news.

Duncan didn’t seem surprised at all. “It was only a matter of time, effort, and manpower. Bronso Vernius is a worthy adversary, but he could never match the resources we brought to bear against him. And now we’ve stopped him. We have done what honor demanded.”

Honor
.

“That’s . . . good, Duncan,” Gurney managed, but a weight remained on his shoulders. He had failed Lady Jessica. She had seemed so earnest, and he had done what he could. Despite Gurney’s efforts to stall and divert attention, Duncan’s men had caught Bronso.

After Bronso’s earlier escape from a death cell, security was bound to be tighter than ever before. Gurney struggled to think of something he could do to honor his promise to Jessica. His stomach was in knots. Should he try to free the notorious prisoner? To what lengths did Jessica want him to go? If Gurney’s efforts became obvious, then questions would be asked, and Jessica’s involvement could be exposed. “Let me interrogate him in the prison. I’ll learn what we need to know.”

The breathless messenger shook his head, but the motion did not dislodge his smile. “No interrogations are necessary. Regent Alia has sent out a summons, and already the crowds are gathering. Bronso’s guilt has been plain for years, and she will not risk another escape. We learned our lesson that first time. The Regent says there is no need for a drawn-out trial. He is to be executed swiftly, so that we can all move on to other pressing matters.”

Gurney could not conceal a scowl. “No matter how apparent his guilt may be, the law is the law. You know as well as I that Duke Leto would never have allowed conviction and execution without due process. That’s a Harkonnen way of dealing with problems . . . not the Atreides way.”

“Ways change,” the ghola said, his facial expression unreadable. “Those things take time, and Alia believes she has no time to spare. She’s in a hurry to be done with the man.”

The messenger seemed much too happy. “The people already know the justice of Muad’Dib, and they are eager to have it carried out.”

Crowds had already gathered in the central square near the sun-washed tower of Alia’s Fane. Angry bodies pressed against one another with a roar of vengeful cheers and shouts, a mounting thunderstorm of humanity. The Qizarate did not have to work hard to whip up fervor against Bronso.

Dressed in an extraordinary black and gold outfit that made her look like a goddess, Alia sat on a shaded platform high above the masses. Beside her sat a stony-faced Jessica, whose mood Gurney could not decipher. When he and Duncan presented themselves on the high observation platform, Jessica showed no reaction, but Gurney felt sick inside. He had never failed her before. No excuses would matter now.

Alia looked at them with a bright smile. “Ah, Duncan and Gurney—thanks to your efforts, the vile Bronso has been snared, and he’s confessed his crimes, even without coercion! He actually seems proud of what he’s done.” She steepled her fingers and looked out at the masses. “I see no reason to make this a prolonged affair. We know what the people want, and what the Imperium needs.” Alia looked at her mother as if hoping for approval, then back at Gurney and Duncan. “In the execution after the Great Surrender ceremony, the crowds tore Whitmore Bludd limb from limb. I wish you all could have seen it.” No one else seemed to share her enthusiasm.

She sat back in her elaborate chair. “But I’ve decided to be more Fremen about the execution today. Stilgar will use his crysknife. Do you see him down there?” Gurney could make out the Naib standing alone on a platform; he wore a full stillsuit and desert robes, without any badges of office.

Bronso’s outrageous writings were so treasonous that any government would have seen the need to cauterize the wound and proceed with the healing. But since Jessica had told Gurney
not
to let Bronso be captured, something else must be at stake here.

Gurney searched her face for any signal, trying to guess what she
wanted him to do. Should he suggest that Bronso might serve as a more effective tool of state if he repented and retracted his claims against Muad’Dib? He doubted Bronso would do that without protracted turmoil and torture, but at least it would cause a delay. . . .

The crowd’s roar increased to vocal thunder as the captive was brought forward. Despite their distance from the platform, Gurney could tell by the man’s manner, the exposed facial features, and the shock of copper hair that the prisoner truly was Bronso of Ix, the son of Rhombur Vernius.

Three Qizaras spoke in odd unison, bellowing through voice amplifiers in Galach, listing Bronso’s crimes, condemning his acts, and sentencing him to death. Gurney felt swept along by it all. He could discern no expression on the captive’s face, neither terror nor contrition; Bronso stood straight, firm in his convictions and facing his fate.

Stilgar did not draw out the suspense, adding only a traditional Fremen curse. “May your face be forever black.” He raised the crysknife high, displayed its milky-white blade, and let the crowd cheer for a few moments.

Then he drove it home into Bronso’s chest.

When the blade struck, the victim spasmed as if jolted by lightning, and then fell to his knees. Stilgar withdrew the dagger, satisfied that it was an efficient killing, and Bronso fell backward to lie still at the Naib’s feet.

The crowd let out a collective gasp, after which a resounding silence fell, as if all their heartbeats had stopped, not just the prisoner’s. Stilgar stood like a man encased in stiff body armor.

Suddenly he recoiled, as if from a serpent. Gasping members of the audience withdrew from around the dais. Someone screamed.

Alia shot to her feet, unable to believe her eyes.

Bronso’s features blurred and then seemed to be erased, leaving a blank, expressionless visage, a smooth face with the requisite eyes, mouth, and nostrils . . . nothing else.

Jessica bolted upright from her shaded seat, astonished and vaguely pleased, as far as Gurney could tell. “It’s a Face Dancer! Not Bronso at all—a Tleilaxu Face Dancer!”

To his knowledge, Gurney had never seen one of the shape-shifters
before, and certainly not in its natural state. Even viewed from a distance, the thing had a bizarre inhumanness.