Dune: The Saga is Far From Over
By Nurple
Muad'Dib walked out gates of Seige De'Bar, and climbed into the waiting Avicopter. Chani was in the passenger seat. When he came in, she headed for the hatch.
Muad'Dib: Chani, I'll be back in a few minutes. I have to pick up Irulan, stop here for some things, then head on to the palace. Okay?
Chani: I will see you when you return, Muad'Dib. Wait! Listen!
Muad'Dib: Pre-Spice Mass. Big one, too.... right outside the Cave of Ridges. I gotta get back fast before Irulan gets any crazy ideas into her head about gathering it herself.
Chani: It will blow before then. We can only hope... Hurry.
Muad'Dib: Good-bye, love.
Chani nodded at him and climbed out, and he took off. While in air he felt the rumble that meant that not only had the mass blown, but that Shai Haleurt was nearby, and coming to collect the remains of it's children. He shuddered and maxed the 'copter's speed.
When he got to the mass, his fears were confirmed, as the worm rose out of the ground, about to swallow Irulan. He whooshed in, but he was too late. The worm had Irulan. And it was about to have him, too! He veered to the left, letting the worm fall to the sand, and watched it swim away.
Inside the cave, he was surprised to note that every bit of the spice had been dried, collected, and packed neatly, measured into kilo baskets, ready to take to the Seige. He sighed and packed it into his Avicopter, filling it to the max, and flew slowly back to the Seige.
At the Seige, everyone was gathered in the courtyard, waiting for his return. He landed and exited, bringing baskets of spice with him. The crowd cheered, and he handed the baskets out for mixing, baking, and selling to the guild. For a very large sum, of course. Chani walked up to the copter after the crowd dispersed.
Chani: Where is she?
Muad'Dib paused, sighed, and turned to Chani.
Muad'Dib: She is dead. She was the one who packed up the Spice. She must have read about it somewhere. She was plotting against us, Chani. She hid the Spice in the back of the cave. I followed the trail, and there it was. She was trying to cover her footprints when the worm swallowed her. In a sick and twisted way, she deserved it.
Chani: What will we do now? Her sisters are far too young, and no one else has a daughter. Is there any way?
Muad'Dib: It will make things much more difficult, that is for sure. I will be emperor. I promise you that.
Chani: Can't you just be happy here? Being Duke Atreides of Arrakis? You could even be Baron Harkonnen. Must this go on?
Muad'Dib took Chani by her arms and led her into the copter, to talk with her in private.
Muad'Dib: Chani. The only way to change the face of Arrakis is to own Arrakis. I can't own Arrakis, because the Emperor's threats to my father still fall on my head. I must have complete power to rule Arrakis. Not just desert power. Complete power. In a way, I think my father knew all of this would happen. That would be the reason he asked for a son.
Chani: Why do you care, Muad'Dib? This isn't your homeland. Why do you care about changing the face of Arrakis?
Muad'Dib: I'm surprised at you, Chani. This is my home. My home is with you, and you make it out to be nothing that I want my home to be as beautiful as the place I come from. I could have bribed the guild long ago to take us both back to Calidan, but that would be cowardly, and arrogant.
Chani: What is so arrogant about leaving with me from this place?
Muad'Dib: There are hundreds of others, my brethren now, who cannot bribe to leave here. It would be arrogant to think only of us and not of the other people of this planet. We can't all fit on Calidan, either. I must change the face of this planet, so we don't have to leave. Chani, please.
Chani: I'm sorry. I just can't take this any more. The sacrifice we've made. And for what? I see no waters! No oceans, no rivers, no rain. Will it come, Muad'Dib? While I am still alive? While our children can enjoy it, and have a better life than their parents? Will it?
Chani turned to grab him, but stopped. He was having another vision. She sighed and sat, waiting for it to pass.
Inside Muad'Dib's mind, he saw clearly the waters of his homeland. Only it wasn't Calidan. No, it was here, on Arrakis. There was rain, and the people came out and danced in it. He was there, and so was Chani, and they were still very young. Chani held a small child in her arms. A girl of maybe three. Then he woke up.
Muad'Dib: You are pregnant. Within three years, our homeland will change, to that of my planet Calidan.
Chani looked at him strangly, and nodded, the patted her belly. He took off in the Avicopter, and headed back for the Emperor's palace, which was preparing to move. As he walked in, one of the Emperor's Saurdikar, an outside guard, turned, and shot an arrow at him. With his skill as the Fulkuram, he grabbed Chani and ducked sideways. The poisoned arrow hit one of the exiting guild agents in the neck. Muad'Dib turned, pulled a blade from his boot, and stabbed the Saurdikar in the heart with it. The other guards backed off.
Emperor (Shaddam): What is this!?
Muad'Dib: One of your Saurdikar just tried to take my life. I ducked sideways and it hit him. Then, I stabbed the man in the heart. What's the problem?
Shaddam: You killed one of my guards. Where is my daughter?
Muad'Dib: She is dead.
Shaddam: What!!!
Chani: She gathered Spice from the mass and hid it from us. When she went out to cover her footprints, the worm swallowed her.
Muad'Dib: It was painless for her, I assure you. The sound would have driven her unconscious before she was swallowed.
Shaddam: My eldest daughter is dead! Someone will pay dearly for this! You will pay dearly for this. Guards!
Shaddam stormed into the castle, and Chani and Muad'Dib drew their blades. The guards looked at them, considered it, and then ran for their lives. Muad'Dib and Chani went into the palace, and headed into the maids quarters, which had been set up as an impromtu sick bay. There Muad'Dib found his mother and the Truth Sayer praying over the dying. Alia was sitting in the corner, talking with a little boy who had a nasty knife wound on his arm.
Alia: Don't worry about the cut. It will heal, and you'll have a scar that looks like an eye with a crecent moon behind it.
Boy: How do you know that?
Alia: I know anything I want to know.
Boy: Okay, then, what was I doing one week ago at this time?
Alia: I really don't want want to know that, but to prove my point.... You were looking through the window of the girl's wash-house to see their breasts, and you stayed their for a full ten minutes untill your father caught you, smacked you for a bit, then went back to look himself.
By now, the boy was as red as his wound, and he ran off to the other corner. Alia turned.
Alia: Hello brother. Are you sure she was unconscious when the worm swallowed her?
Muad'Dib: Don't tease me. Yes, I'm sure. No man, let alone a woman, could stay conscious with the noise, and the smell, and the sight of all those spikes and bones and flesh.
Alia: She was conscious. She didn't faint untill she was into the hole, and it was quite painful, all those spikes. How is my neice?
Muad'Dib: Oh. Well, too late now. She's doing well, seeing as she's only two weeks old. Mother, Irulan is
Jessica: Dead. I know, Alia told me. At least Chani doesn't have to suffer the same fate I did.
Chani walked up to Jessica, grabbed her hand, and kissed it.
Chani: Thankyou. Grandmother.
Jessica gasped, and Chani nodded.
Muad'Dib: A daughter, this time. And within three years, we will change the face of Arrakis, and make it like that of Calidan. I can hardly wait. But first, I must become emperor.
Jessica: To do that, you must kill the emperor.
Muad'Dib: I will not kill him. He will kill himself. Very soon, in fact. His wife is dying. He hasn't told anyone. He concealed it well. But she is dying. And he will catch the disease she has. A disease called Typhus. And he will keep it to himself. Eventually, after two years, maybe a little more, he'll give in and die. We can only hope he goes quietly into the night.
Jessica: This is rather vivid for one of your visions. Allliiiaaa...
Alia: Sorry, mother. I couldn't resist, so I whispered it into his ear while he slept.
Muad'Dib rubbed her head fondly and smiled. Jessica rolled her eyes.
Jessica: Well, I've got patients to tend to and dying to pray for, so...
Chani: We know where the door is. I will see you later, mother.
Muad'Dib: We're going back to the Seige. There's Spice work to be done.
Alia: May I go with him, mother? I haven't been allowed in the Seige for years. I'll stay out of the way, I promise!
Jessica: Only if you promise to stay near the waters in the cave. And Alia, you must not go outside the chapel there. Stay near the waters and you should be fine.
Alia: Yes, mother.
So Alia, Muad'Dib, and Chani piled into the Avicopter and headed back to the Seige. When they got there, Alia went into the chapel, and stood by the waters.
Alia: Come forth, Melidan.
As if by magick, a raft appeared. Alia climbed on, and grabbed the oars, rowing for the other side of the cave, and a mischevious smile played across her face, and she laughed.
More to come, one hopes. Please R and R.