Only in the expectation of death can you attach the right value to life and all things. Death is the mother of all beauty.
- COMMENTARY ON WALLACE STEVENS, DARWI ODRADE
"How did I cheat death?" blurted Murbella in her Mother Superior robes hastily worn over the night gown, a bandaged hand resting on her lap. Her hospital room, located next to the Labs, was a beehive of activity, with Suk doctors, Reverend Mothers, and security personnel coming and going day and night. Ixian electronics filled the room so the Reverend Mother Superior, come back from the Other Side, could get back to her mundane work. "An hour day in the tank to complete your healing," had pleaded Zoel the Tleilaxu Master during the last daily visit; Murbella had smiled, extending an arm to reach his hand while her broken ribs still screamed, and told him it was out of the question. The Bene Gesserit was an empire to run, not a hobby to cultivate. What was Teg saying?
"I was near the cages at the spaceport. I saw you engage the Honored Matre," the distracted Bashar explained from the top of a high chair next to her bed. Ensuring Murbella's safety was a logistical nightmare as hordes of people came and went, and here he was, hostage to her, describing events from a time long past. "The Futars were bewildered. All it took was a jolt from my taser to make them scream and paralyze the Matres within earshot. Which barely saved you, and nearly didn't."
"It nearly didn't," admitted Mother Superior. "That warrior's strength! And voice resistance, berserk drugs, and shigawire! Your guards should have stepped in."
"Stop one mad Matre killer, and hope that the two hundred surrounding you would not riot? The Futars were the only safe way, Murbella."
"What happened after that?"
"We rounded everybody up," the Bashar replied. "None of the Matres from the Reo order knew your opponent. We could not even confirm she belonged to that Order."
"So, she was a planted agent."
"Most likely. And the sender must be on the inside."
"She was combat trained like a Bene Gesserit. Why have you not found the culprits yet?" Mother Superior's voice shook with suppressed anger.
Teg paused as the sound of footsteps approached. Bellonda and Angelika appeared in the hallway, cheering while walking in sync, dressed in somber black robes. A casual observer would have thought they were biological sisters. Murbella greeted their entrance with a nod. At last.
"We detected traces of a slow-acting poison in your bloodstream. And on Bessah's nails. The Tleilaxu think it was designed to make you more susceptible to their influence, but we cannot be sure."
Murbella frowned. "And you haven't found the source of the poison either?"
Teg shook his head.
"Angelika, your hair is a palm longer. How long was I out?"
Bellonda shrugged. "Five weeks, Reverend Mother," she replied.
"Tell me, you two, how did you resist the temptation to bury me?"
"You wrestled with death for the first three," intervened Teg. "Shigawire wounds are hard to heal. You were bleeding profusely from your cuts. We are lucky no internal organs were damaged, … but…" he paused.
Murbella raised her right hand, where the little finger was made conspicuous by its absence.
Bellonda shrugged again. "We found it smashed into pulp ," she replied matter-of-factly. "The wire torqued like a whip, making several deep cuts when dying Bessah released it. Master Zoel could grow you a new one and attach it to your body at your convenience."
"And make me a new Frankenstein," Murbella replied, liberally dipping into Old Terra memories. The Reverend Mothers waited, not quite catching the reference.
Her hand, her beautiful hand! It rested on the bedsheet like a wounded animal, skin of a rosy red. Her mind still felt the lost finger. Attaching a new one? She sighed. "I will keep my stub as a reminder never to underestimate my enemy again. What attempts were made to replace me while I was bottled up in the tank?"
"Ashala and Angelika put up such a show that nobody dared. The uninitiated Honored Matres stayed in line," replied Bellonda.
"The students, of course, rooted for your recovery," said Teg.
"Although some of the Reverend Mothers and Matres were not as pleased," chimed in Angelika. Murbella noticed how she looked strong as ever, but also relieved. To see me alive? This was your chance, if it ever were one, thought the Reverend Mother Superior. And counter to intuition, my enemy is among the Reverend Mothers instead.
"Even the Matres I welcomed on the tarmac? Did they accept all this so meekly?"
"Their acceptance was a foregone conclusion... due to their unfortunate demise," Teg clarified.
Ah...
"Reverend Mother Superior," Angelika pleaded, "you know how our kind thinks, before-the-Spice. Nobody could see you challenged and live...", she added.
Bellonda shrugged and shook her head while Murbella played in her mind the implications of Angelika's words. Honored Matres seeing me defeated and saved by Futars. A revolt through the ranks. Blood among those and the Bene Gesserit who tried to mediate.
"...lest you were ready to face mass mutiny" Angelika concluded with not an unkind smile.
She is right, Murbella sighed. "Tell me you did not simply massacre them."
"As said before, my team interrogated them first. Then, they died swiftly and painlessly." explained Teg.
"Which brings us back to the issue at hand," replied Murbella. "Five weeks in the making. We have spies within our ranks, and you have not found them."
The others stood in silence.
"Teg, take ten of our best Truthsayers and interrogate all of our personnel. Spare nobody from the acolytes to the highest-ranking Sisters. Especially them. Find me who caused Fayela's death and planted a Reverend Mother-trained fighter in that space transport."
"As you wish," Teg replied, straightening up. Angelika had not flinched, she noticed.
"And why haven't you done so while I laid unconscious?"
"The Council forbade a search among the Reverend Mothers."
"Forbade?" Murbella glared at them, swallowed hard. The mice had been dancing while the cat was out. "Very well, here are my orders." The three of them looked at one another, then at her, listening.
"One. Teg becomes my second in command effective immediately, and is bestowed with deputy administrative, and military powers." Slap them in their face, with a man so close to the power. "Made it known to the Council."
"Very well," said Bellonda.
"Two. We meet the Handlers in a week. I want Teg and Zoel to propose a strategy, in private."
"You are not in the condition to go," stressed Bellonda.
"Watch your tongue! I am the only one who can. To secure the breathing room we need, a truce with the Handlers out there."
"Three. I want you to sell all the spice our tanks produce, and then some, to the largest number of third parties. I want Chapterhouse to become the one singular, most coveted spot in the universe. There must be powers other than the Handlers to act as counterweight."
"Four. Our New Reverend Mothers will replace the Tutors. No more Proctors past their prime years. We need our students to take the spice ordeal en masse."
Five, this she only thought. Talk to Zoel about Face Dancers' weaknesses. Can we create a virus against them? Instead she said: "Angelika, bring me Master Zoel. I will endeavor to thank him more personally, when I am well. And he, alongside the Bashar, is to become a permanent member of our Council."
Bellonda cleared her throat. What am I missing? Ah yes!
"Bell, I can't help but notice how Reverend Mother Ashala is not here. Was she not invited? She must be furious at the affront. Summon her at once. We will reconvene back in our building in Central. I am well enough."
The two Sisters nodded and were already on their way out. She followed their footsteps down the hallway and into nothing. Like obedient dogs, thought Murbella reclining on her bed. Of course Teg waited by her bed patiently, and alert. He knows I am not done here. The man is, after all, a Bene Gesserit throughout.
"Of course, it would not be wise for Angelika to call Ashala," he said.
"Of course. And Bashar, you won't be sidelined again, my word."
He waved away the entire business with a hand gesture. "Nobody can hear us right now, Murbella. I have acquired a little device that is proven to defy the Archives' comeyes."
Murbella was taken aback. Our Bashar and his mysterious ways, always ready when the need arises. "Right on cue. You need to know that before the end," she started, "the killer used hypno-sounds, a humming similar to what the Matres use during the Imprinting to subjugate the man. Except, it was having a hypnotic effect on me."
Teg raised an eyebrow.
"Search for applications of Imprinting techniques to combat. Find me the trainers and convince them to come over to our side; or replicate the skill among our Matres after-the-Trance."
"This requires careful study."
"Reason why I leave the matter into your hands. And discretion. Why did the Council block you?"
"Your assassination scheme was hatched right at the top." Mentat summation.
"And the suspects?"
"Too many. The Council tied my hands when I asked to involve the Sisters in the investigation. And now, don't expect much from the Truthsayers, for they can be bought, and many convenient deaths among our personnel and the Sisters have destroyed much of the evidence," he said.
"I don't need witnesses, just your assessment."
"Even Mentats cannot draw conclusions based on mere speculation," he replied, as he made his way towards the door.
"You are not dismissed."
He turned.
"Miles, my friend." The Dar within Murbella studied the boy. "If Odrade were here, she would suggest you are troubled."
"If she were? But she is here with you, Murbella. Please say hi to my daughter," was his sardonic answer.
"We both know about the everlasting resourcefulness of the Atreides," and she pointed at him.
"Resourceful? I wear a seven-year old body and mind. Do you know the pressure on them," and he yawned the yawn of a boy about to fall asleep. "I can't even stay awake more than twelve hours straight yet. How am I to lead as the crisis approaches?"
"Odrade saw you in the no-ship on Rakis. You were," she recalled, her memories playing like a vivid holo-film before her eyes, "...sitting with your eyes closed, but when she entered, you opened them and appeared ancient to her. She described you as 'a man who had the universe carved into his eyes'. You have always avoided answering this question, Teg, so I must ask now: are you prescient? Now that the comeyes aren't listening. And remember, I too have some Truthsense."
"I do not possess Muad'Dib nor Leto's talents," he answered truthfully.
"Then enlighten me on what abilities you possess that your ancestors didn't," Murbella asked, staring directly at him with a probing gaze.
Teg's posture stiffened. "I am the Bene Gesserit's Bashar, and you are its Mother Superior. Your obedient dog, Murbella... and Odrade. However, to play the role you gave me I require freedom and obfuscation."
"Like you are shielding us from the comeyes right now?" Murbella considered. The fight out at the spaceport... the Futars... the anti-comeye device. Making a leap for Miles Teg was the least she could do. "In the spirit of your unwavering loyalty to Taraza, Odrade, me…" she concluded, "I will trust your judgment. I won't ask again. Too many spies and enemies within and without. Better not to know. The Sisterhood's survival may rest in your hands again in the future."
"Or your hands. We rendez-vous with the enemy in a week. Let's plan it well." And he strode out.
But your genes, Miles Teg, are ours. And all I want to do now, she thought, is find Lorain and fall asleep in his embrace.