Chapter 9
Paul enters the cave first, followed by Horus.
"I do not understand Horus. Why do some of your astartes succumb to chaos corruption and some don't?" He asks. Horus is silent for a long time before answering. They are going into the heart of the Fremen society, revealing their deepest secret to an off-worlder. Tensions are high and Paul wants to know more about their new ally and his potential destiny.
"It is the spice," Horus says, knowing it is an excuse. He continues anyway.
"Several Astartes had removed their helmets, exposing their bodies to the atmosphere that was completely saturated by the spice melange. This was the source the worms, known as Shai-Hulud, had used to corrupt the minds of many. The ability to traverse through the warp should have alerted your ancestors to the dangers of it. The addictions, monopolies, and schemes should have made you decide to abandon it completely. Instead, an empire was built. A heretical empire with House Corrino at its head, and House Harkonnen, Atreides, and several others as collaborators. The greed, struggle for power, and control of the spice have corrupted you to the core, except for the Fremen," he says. Paul thinks it's childish to change the subject.
"But the Fremen are fully assimilated, fully addicted, our eyes are full blue, that's the ultimate dependence," Paul says.
"Yet the Fremen are still fighting against chaos, as are you. None have shown signs of corruption. Our surgeons and tech-priests have thoroughly interrogated and analyzed Fremen warriors and have found no corruption whatsoever. I find this both encouraging and disturbing at the same time." Horus replies. Paul only nods. Time to bring the subject back.
"Perhaps it is the much slower introduction of the spice to our systems, perhaps it is more of an acceptance of the spice entering our bodies, changing us. Perhaps your astartes simply reject the spice melange too much. Or, simply your physiology can't handle it. There has to be some reason.
I agree you are not corrupted because you have fully protected yourself from the spice since you arrived, but men who only removed their helmets for a short period have succumbed, you said so yourself. I find that more disturbing. As if there is a flaw in the DNA." Paul says. Horus seems to stir a moment.
"We are made for combat, for waging war. The astartes are not without error, certainly, the gene-seed pool they are made from is not completely pure, and a lot was lost. Our Father's genes are perfect, but through the gene splicing, manipulation, and time consumed small corruption and flaws started to appear. Father tried to remove them as best He could when He made us, but the Ruinous Powers seemed to always be a step ahead of Him. Some corruption lingered when the gene-seeds were made. Then the ruinous power stole us from Holy Terra and spread us across the universe. It is true. There are flaws. Yet we resist, not accept." He says. Paul thinks there is some truth in there. To accept is the same as to resist the spice altogether. If you are strong enough for that it would mean a very powerful mind, but perhaps not a psyker mind. But it takes a strong mind to accept the spice too, as deep as Paul and his Fremen have.
"Here it is, a catchbasin. I will never do what it was intended for again. The water is collected from moisture catchers on top, windtraps." Paul says, having followed the route Stilgar told him to take to the underground cave of the biggest water reservoir they possess. It is an impressive sight.
"Yes, excellent. Impressive amount." Horus says, overlooking the crystal clear water that seems to stretch on endlessly in the poorly lit cave.
"If you drink it, you die," Paul says. "This water is laced with spice melange too, of course. Sand doesn't filter it out of the water, as the sand is riddled with it too. It is water, however, and it will kill a worm regardless." He says. Horus slowly nods.
"How do we transport it?" Horus asks.
"That will be the biggest hurdle to overcome. The ability to transport this water is limited. The Fremen carry water in waterskins, their stilsuits, and deathstills. They have no means to carry large amounts around. We were hoping you would help with that." Paul says. Horus thinks this over for a moment.
"We lost a lot of equipment in the fighting. There may be one or 2 bikes left, but there are no large vehicles to carry loads with. You say the worms can't stand even a little bit of water, do you know how little?" Horus asks.
"For them a little bit is a lot for us, considering their size. It has to be an amount large enough for the worm's body to absorb it and pass through the body without evaporating. Once it goes through the body it will disrupt its digestive system, causing its nervous system and blood cycle to become confused and the body will shortly go into shock and then arrest. This could be from an amount as little as a full human body's worth of water to an entire spice harvester's worth. It is impossible to know on a full-sized worm. There has only been experimentation with worm trouts." Paul says. Killing worm trouts should be possible then, as the Bene Gesserit have displayed in their rituals of getting water of life. But the full-sized worms are a different matter.
"I have heard about an attempt to terraform Arrakis," Horus says plainly. This surprises Paul, thinking that was kept a secret amongst Fremen only.
"Yes, Keynes suggested the idea once he was shown the catchbasins. He perfected the collection of water and prompted the Fremen to expand their water collection with windtraps. Without him, they would not have this amount of water collected. Eventually, it would have been used to turn the desolate sands of Arrakis into a paradise, with only a small region left for worms to produce spice melange. At least that was my plan before you people came." Paul says. He dreads their arrival, his visions were so clear before, so straightforward.
"But terraforming would require a lot more water than they even have now, plus it will take a decade before you start seeing changes on the surface," Paul concludes. No solution to the problem has presented itself yet. Until Horus suddenly looked up and around him. Paul is prevented from asking him what he senses when he senses it too, tremors. The ground is shaking, the epicenter far from here. No, deep. It is coming from the core. He sees ripples starting to appear in the water, slowly turning into waves.
"What is happening?" He asks. Horus seems to be able to steady himself easier than Paul does, as the ground begins to wave and tremble more heavily.
"I'm afraid the worms keep being a step ahead of us, Muad'Dib," Horus says. Paul realizes what he means. It is the worms doing this. What are they trying to do?
"This must be the next step in their plans," Paul says. Horus comes up to him and grabs him, they need to leave the cave before it might collapse. The tremors are so heavy Paul can hear nothing else, the roof is starting to make tears in cracking noises. The very fabric of the planet is being shaken to its core.
Suddenly they hear a disturbance behind them. Fortunately, Paul senses it is his wife, Chani.
"Chani, my love. Come here. Meet Horus. He is... Chani?" Paul excitedly takes steps towards his wife as he sees her figure in the shadows. Then he stops, something is wrong. He reads her differently, detached.
"The Lady..." She chants as she shuffles forward. Before she enters the light Paul can see her eyes are glowing blue, some blue liquid is dripping out as if she is crying, but the liquid is thick and smoking.
"For The Lady!" She now says louder as she comes into the light, her body is deformed, her feet are standing at an impossible angle, and her arms are contorting in strange angles. Horns are spiking out of her stilsuit on her shoulders. In both hands, she is holding a kris knife.
"My love," Paul whispers, and Horus steps in front of him.
"Careful, she has been corrupted. She is lost." He says. Paul bows his head. Impossible. How? She is Fremen, she is his wife. She is pregnant... Who could have done this?
"The Lady... The Mother..." Chani chants. His mother. Has she succumbed too? If that is true, terrible news. Lady Jessica is a very powerful psyker. If she has been corrupted she could destabilize all their efforts. With everyone in this sietch, everyone Paul holds dear.
"The others!" Paul exclaims as he points. Others are emerging from the shadows. Stilgar, Keynes, Duncan. All are corrupted and succumb to chaos. Paul trembles, tears flow from his eyes. They all have those blazing blue eyes, dripping blue liquid onto the ground.
"Kill... For The Lady!" Chani screams and charges, passing Horus and going straight for Paul.
He dodges her first strike, her second one is quite quick and bounces off his personal shield.
"Kill the heretics!" Horus yells and pulls his bolter, aims it at Duncan, and fires, blowing the top of his head clean off. Even in the tremors that are now subsiding a bit he manages to aim true.
"No!" Paul yells but is unable to reach Horus as Chani keeps attacking him. He feels it now, he feels her mind. Nothing but hatred, avarice, contempt. He feels twisted versions of her feelings towards him. He feels thoughts of wanting to kill their baby, of torturing it, herself, him.
Chani is gone. They are all gone, he feels it. He defends himself against Chani's attacks. Tears stream down his face now. Such tears, if only the Fremen would see him now how much water he is sacrificing. Will they forgive him? Has it been enough water for what he is about to do? What he must do?
"Paul!" Horus yells, knowing he is delaying. Horus has Stilgar in his power glove, Stilgar is still struggling, but not for long.
Paul makes his move. He beats one of the Kris knives out of Chani's hands. He catches it mid-air, turns swiftly,
and plants it in her neck.
She shudders, her eyes bulge. More of the blue ooze is leaking out.
"My love?" She says, before collapsing. Paul catches her before she hits the sandy ground. He holds her in his arms and weeps more. His tears are clear, still. But what is next? Will he too succumb?
No, he is stronger than this, stronger than them.
"Come, Paul, this is not finished," Horus says, the bodies of all who attacked them at his feet. Horus is right, his mother, the Reverend Mother is still deeper in the cave. She needs to be eliminated, through her the worms will only accelerate their plans. What plans? Is she causing the tremors now? Or is she holding them back? He feels conflicted about what to believe.
They move quickly through the sietch, Paul knows it, it is home. Well, not anymore.
As they come closer to the sleeping areas they now feel the Lady Jessica. They go around a corner and they see her. She is horribly mutated.
"Mother..." Paul says. No more tears though, he has been dried up. She turns to face them, he sees her beautiful face now full of pox, scratches, and bugs.
"Paul..." She whispers in a hoarse voice. She is still fighting it.
"Fight it, mother. Fight!" He exclaims. Horus walks closer, lightning claw at the ready. Paul takes a hold of his shoulder.
"No! Stop, she can resist. She resists like me!" He says but Horus doesn't listen. He aims his bolter and fires, but Jessica dodges it in a surreal manner. Horus fires more but she appears to be like a mist.
"She is halfway into the warp, halfway here," Horus says, having seen that before. She will now either be fully sucked in or hold onto the link until a rift appears if she is powerful enough.
"She is no longer human, no longer of this plane. She is a vessel, nothing more. If she has the strength she can survive long enough for her body to be sucked into the warp. Let's hope for her she doesn't. The other option is just as gruesome, however. All we can worry about is her not opening a rift. That will let daemons in, by the hundreds." Horus says, keeping his distance for now. They are both shielding their minds, for Lady Jessica is growing in psyker powers. Her eyes are leaking blue ooze as well.
"I will do it," Paul says, walking forward. Her attention is fully focused on him anyway.
As Paul approaches his mother, he notices that her psychic aura is powerful, but it's also disturbed and erratic. She repeatedly calls out his name, and it's clear to him that she's lost and has become a source of chaos. Something sinister and beyond their understanding has pushed her over the edge. Paul senses that this force has been trying to reach out to him for some time, trying to make contact. It's as if this entity has been crawling behind his eyes, inside his head. Despite this, he is determined to resist it. The spice is tempting him, but he refuses to give in, not when he knows the danger it poses. He is determined to purify it and avoid the same fate as his mother.
"I won't succumb!" He yells. His psychic aura reaches out, penetrating, scratching at that of his mother. She recoils. He focuses on cleansing, on purity, on Him.
It is working, he feels strengthened somehow, aided. It is not Horus. Can't be the Emperor. What is it then? Righteousness? The truth? Sheer determination? Paul does not know, but he uses it, he uses the new and welcome help he is getting. He pushes on through the defenses of this chaos spawn. It is already crumbling. His mother is already dead, just like his wife, Stilgar. They are just vessels being used.
Paul says, 'Be at peace, Mother,' as he pushes the evil out, back into the warp. His mother's body turns to dust. He falls on his knees, sweating and panting. He watches as many drops of water touch the sand and disappear in vapor and absorption. It feels wrong, yet right at the same time. He feels hate, rage, and contempt towards the Chaos gods who killed everything he loves, and now all he has are memories and a clear vision of the future.
Horus comes closer to him.
"That was impressive, Paul Atreides." He says. Paul holds up his hand.
"It is no longer Atreides. I am now only Muad'Dib. No more houses, no Kwisatz Haderach. No more Fremen. It is only me now. And I serve The Emperor." He says as he stands up. Horus taps him on the shoulder, his personal shield activating. He deactivates it and stretches out his hand to shake the arm of his brother.
"Thank you." He says. Another tremor comes, this time the cave is making sounds that terrify both men, it is collapsing for sure now. The source is not his mother, it is the worms. "We must leave." Horus nods as they make a run for it.
"I'm thinking this is the final step," Horus says as they hurry out of the cave. It appears the worms are trying to tear the planet apart Paul fears. Makes sense, they will kill every last soul on it, including him and the Primarchs. The resulting echo into the Warp will cause great tears in spacetime. An opportunity for the worms to ascend. They reach the surface, he feels helpless now. The worms are dug in deep, no way to get to them from here.
"We must hurry." Horus then says. Paul is confused. Does he have a plan still?
"The plan remains," Horus says as if reading his mind, which Paul chills to the bone. "We must get the water to the worms, their plan to crack the planet as their very own exterminatus might help us get it to them. The water might fall into the new cracks they are creating, sending it down and down." Horus says.
"But at the core, the water will just evaporate, they are too deep," Paul says. Horus nods.
"It is, that is why we must lure them back up," Horus says. Paul follows him as they sprint over the sands back to the nearest sietch and then the city.
"How will we lure them back to the surface?" Paul asks.
"Psyker power." Horus simply says. "I am feeling the arrival of several of my brothers on the surface. Together we can use our Psyker powers to lure the worms back up. Magnus the Red especially. He is Primarch of the Thousand Sons legion of astartes currently fighting on the planet. He is a powerful psychic, rivaling that of the Emperor Himself.
The worms will be too tempted to feast on the energy, or are afraid we are closing the warp rifts that are now on the surface, which we can. We need to get their attention as fast as possible. We don't even have to lure the mall the way to the surface, just up enough for them to stumble across the water, which we can direct. The question is how to lure them into certain locations that contain water." He continues whilst they race across the dunes, Paul impressed by the Primarch's stamina.
As they run across the sands they don't have to travel out of rhythm to prevent luring sandworms anymore, making the trip much quicker. In fact, they hope to lure them, perhaps with their rhythmic walking, on a large scale. Patterns, Paul realizes.
"I think I have a way to help with luring the worms to where we want them," Paul says as the city comes into sight.