The Guild Freighter flew up through the atmosphere of Arrakis, encountered some major "turbulence" in orbit (Infrix attributed this to the obviously sadistic pilots wanting to scare those who share a dislike of flying), and finally docked with a Guild Highliner preparing to leave orbit.
Infrix sat comfortably in his small, one-person room in Guild Civilian Transport Freighter 511. The room was simple: a bed with plain white sheets, a footlocker with customizable keypad lock, a desk, and two glowglobes hovering near the ceiling. Infrix had changed into a black tunic with black pants, each lined with green. His katana, stillsuit and other equipment and clothes were all stored inside the footlocker. Looking around, though, he saw one thing that was missing.
Food.
Infrix was incredibly hungry. He wandered out of his room, down the hallways, and into the large center section of the freighter, which served as a very large lobby and cafeteria. The room was a very big circle with red carpeting. Benches, chairs, and tables were strewn about, most of them occupied with other travelers. The far wall was dominated by a long buffet area, which Infrix made for as soon as he walked in.
The line wasn't too long, and he had his food within four minutes. Now he needed a place to sit. Turning around, he looked out over the crowd to find an empty table. He saw one near a corner, and started walking there.
About halfway to his planned destination, Infrix passed by a rich old man sitting at a table with a couple young ladies. They seemed to be flirting with him as be boasted of his accomplishments and large wealth. Infrix looked away in disgust and was going to continue when a thought struck him.
No, it couldn't be.
. . . But it was. Infrix walked up to the table's last remaining seat and set his tray down. He sat down in the only empty chair, looked at the old man, and said, "I didn't expect to find you here."
The old man glanced at the women he was sitting at, gave a small, nervous chuckle, and said, "I can't say that I've ever seen you before, sir, but…."
Infrix cut him off. "Quit playing around, Karv."
The old man put on his most confused face, opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, then sighed. He sent the girls away, then, in a voice of a much younger, more reckless man, said, "Fine. You found me out. Now what the heck are you doing here?"
Infrix laughed. He had been right. The man he was sitting in front of was Karvet Nhi, a rouge Tleilaxu Face Dancer who worked as a thief. Sometimes Karv worked for the highest bidder, but usually he served himself.
"I'm going to Caladan. What are you doing here?"
Karv looked disappointed. "That's none of your business," he pouted. "Why did you have to break that one up? I was doing so well."
"Oh, c'mon, Karv. What were you going to do? Steal their money and go to bed with them? I think I just did them a favor." Infrix started to eat.
"You've been working for the Atreides too long," Karv said accusingly. "You're starting to get their sense of honor."
"I don't work for the Atreides anymore. Paul Muad'Dib paid me well last mission, and now I've been given lordship over a small mansion on Caladan. I'm going to retire, Karv." He paused between bites. "And get out of that old man skin. Your voice doesn't match it; it's starting to bug me."
Karv's face and skin rippled a bit, and then Infrix was looking at a dark-looking man in his thirties. His skin was tanned, his eyes were a dark, brooding brown. Black, ragged hair came two centimeters from hanging over his eyes. A stubble of a beard was growing on his chin.
"That's better," said Infrix between bites of mashed potatoes. "Now, what are you doing here?"
Karv shrugged and gave a mischievous smile. "Oh, nothing, you know… just…. Peacefully traversing the known universe. . . and all . . . Yeah . . ." He coughed nervously under Infrix's inquisitive stare.
"Seriously. What are you doing here?"
"What I've always done."
"Ripping people off?" Infrix asked.
"No, no. . . I'm just liberating a few, you know, loose valuables. . ." Karv coughed again.
Infrix shook his head in disapproval, but an amused smile crossed his face. "Well, at least you haven't killed anyone…"
At that point, a large explosion rocked the vessel. Glowglobes flickered, chairs were knocked over. People screamed and started to run for the exits, for cover, for anything that might protect them from the unseen attacker or allow them escape. In the confusion, Infrix lost sight of Karv.
Then he heard the sounds of combat.
Infrix took another bite of his apple pastry, then started off in the direction of the fighting. He rounded a corner in the hallways of the freighter and came to an intersection filled with bodies and the grunt and clangs of people fighting with bladed weapons. Orange-suited Security forces were being pushed back from the hallway on the right. That hallways was filled with attacking men in black suits and breather masks covering their nose and mouth. Infrix did a double take when he saw the insignia on their right sleeves.
It was a red rhombus outlined with dark gold, with a bull's head imprinted in the middle. It was the symbol of House Harkonnen.
But that house was destroyed! The Harkonnens were dead! Yet there they were, slaughtering the security forces.
One turned and saw the small hawk insignia on the shoulder of his uniform. That Harkonnen troop brandished his long sword and screamed, his voice muffled by the breather mask on his face. "Atreides scum!" With that, the man launched himself at Infrix.
Infrix drew his crysknife, but its blade was small compared to the long sword that the Harkonnen now brandished. And the worst part of all was that Infrix had left his shield in his footlocker.
The Harkonnen soldier attacked Infrix. He moved out of the way and attempted to stab the attacker, but he judged the speed and angle wrong and the blade bounced harmlessly off the personal shield. The soldier swung his sword in a huge arc in Infrix's direction, but Infrix rolled underneath it and stabbed, slower this time, into the Harkonnen's stomach. As he was withdrawing the blade, Infrix swung his leg at the enemy's, knocking him over.
The fighting was beginning to die down here, but the intercom of the ship still blared with warnings of violence and enemy movements in multiple different hallways. As the last Harkonnen fell, Infrix turned and ran in the direction of his room.
When he got there, he pulled out his shield and katana. He locked the footlocker again, and was about to open the door when it opened of it's own accord.
Karv stood in the doorway.
Infrix lifted him up by the collar and slammed him against the wall. "Did you let them in here? Thought that it would be a nice distraction for you to steal some good stuff, eh? Well, I've got a nice crysknife waiting to meet your left eye, you little…"
"No! No! I had no idea that Harkonnen troops raided here It's not my fault!" Karv whimpered.
Infrix dropped Karv. "You said that you didn't know that they raided here. That implies that you know they raided at all. How is it that Harkonnen troops still exist?"
Karv looked at him for a bit, cocked his head, then asked, "You don't know?"
Suddenly it was all clear to Infrix. His mentat awareness had been working even while he talked to Karv. Why were there Harkonnen troops? Simple. Even when you defeat an army, there are still splinters of it left. Those small groups rebel against whatever defeated them originally, in a pathetic attempt to gain power. From this, Infrix came up with two theories: Either a number of Harkonnen troops had, in their defeat, rushed and overtaken a Guild Freighter, and now use it as a pirate ship of sorts, or the Baron Harkonnen had not sent all of his offensive army to Arrakis, and had prepared a smaller raiding force to hold in reserve. After the Baron's death, that raiding party had probably started acting on their own accord, but still in the interests of the now-dead House Harkonnen. There was no other plausible way that the Harkonnen troops could have gotten on board a Highliner.
This could prove to be annoying, Infrix thought to himself in despair.
"Come on," muttered Infrix, and he half-dragged Karv along with him down the hallway. "He have Harkonnens to kill."