Mentats of Dune

“Our task will be easier, and far less dangerous, once the Butlerian hysteria quiets down,” Valya mused.

“Without Manford Torondo, the movement will fracture and fade away,” Fielle said. “I’m surprised he hasn’t been assassinated yet — by Josef Venport or someone else.”

Valya’s voice was completely even. “Are you volunteering for the assignment?”

“No, Mother Superior! I didn’t mean to suggest the Sisterhood would condone anything like that.”

Valya arched her eyebrows. “You should make a Mentat projection on the possibilities and probabilities. We might be better off if the Butlerian leader were out of the way.”

“Or worse off, if someone even more dangerous took his place.”

Two black-robed Sisters emerged from the crematorium, each carrying an urn. The ashes would still be warm, reminding Valya of how a body’s warmth lingered even after the heart had stopped beating. In time, the memory of the traitor Dorotea would grow as cold as her ashes that were soon to be spread on the ground. Valya would make sure that Dorotea was not revered, her actions not emulated. Perhaps even her name would be forgotten.

Raquella, though, was a different matter. There would be statues erected in her honor, and her memory would endure as long as the Sisterhood. And Valya Harko

Valya knew she was also much more than that.…

Chapter 76 (The tangible expression of the human)

The tangible expression of the human soul lies in the record of our thoughts and actions, and how we influence future generations.

— GILBERTUS ALBANS, last letter to Erasmus, found and decoded by Mentat Zendur (never delivered)

By night, the tangled sangrove forest was eerie and threatening, but A

The gelsphere glowed through the material with varying degrees of brightness, providing faint illumination to light her way. Sometimes the orb went entirely dark when the robot’s spy-eyes sensed that Butlerians might be nearby. Once, he whispered to her to stop moving, and she froze, in total darkness, listening while someone moved through the forest nearby. When it was safe, she continued to make her way from the besieged Mentat School.

A

Now, as she slipped through the forest murk, balancing on the upthrust roots and taking care not to slip into the water, A

The most important, and clearest, advisory voice belonged to Erasmus. “I can guide you with my spy-eyes while we are near the school. Did you memorize the new path the Mentats made?”

“I know the path, and I know my own shortcuts.”

“You’re a clever girl,” Erasmus said. “I am proud of you.” His comment made her feel good, and he added, “We need to maintain a swift pace, to get as far as we can from the Butlerian camp before sunrise.”

She felt distraught and wanted him to understand her urgency. “They’re going to execute Headmaster Albans. Shouldn’t we try to rescue him?”

At the thought of execution, A

She didn’t want Headmaster Albans to face such a terrible fate, but felt helpless to save him. She wanted him to find some way to escape and flee into obscurity as Toure Bomoko had, while the rest of the CET members were executed in his stead. She wondered if the same thing would happen here. Gilbertus was a very smart man.

“If Headmaster Albans were to escape,” she asked, “wouldn’t Manford still want someone to die instead?”

“All of the other students, I expect,” Erasmus said.

“I don’t want them all to die, and I don’t want the Headmaster to die either.”

“All humans die. The only variable is timing. Come — we must hurry.”

“Where will we go afterward?” A

“I have not calculated that yet.”

A

“The water is not deep,” he said. “It will be faster if you wade through the cha

“The fish would eat me,” A

The robot core said, “I can fix that.” A pulse of blue light crackled through the water, a power discharge that lit the marshy streams with cold fire. Like bubbles rising in a cauldron, hundreds of silvery fish bobbed belly-up, dead.

“Gilbertus placed many defenses around the school, but I considered them insufficient, so I added more. The cha

Trusting him entirely, A

As she sloshed along, a buzzing sound came close — a cloud of stinging night-gnats. A

After several more minutes, Erasmus said, “I suggest you climb up on the roots now. I am recharging the pulse-batteries through the waterways, but more razorjaws may come soon.”

A

“You’re the girl Manford wants, the Emperor’s sister.” The man sprang toward her with a careful grace, bounding from one sangrove elbow to another. “Come with me, and you’ll be in time to watch the Headmaster’s execution.”

Holding on to a branch, A

The Butlerian man was swift and nimble as he chased her. He might have been an experienced hunter, accustomed to being outdoors, and he was intent on catching her. He grabbed A