Gholas' Games
Mentat state can be observed as a state of flow. Only a naive mind can derive the most accurate inferences. Your mind is the lenses with which the data is absorbed, classified and used as the test of the pattern. It is of primary importance to recognize that us Mentats can never be truly objective. That is an end-state that will take your entire lifetime, an asymptote you should always strive for. You have already learned how to assess that and remove the gross sources of bias in order to reach a tabula rasa state, an empty container where inferences can be created anew. Yet the peril of a subjective seed into the computation is always there. The solution to that is three-fold: seek contrast in your data sources, seek diverging assumptions, and identify radical vantage points.
- THE NEW MENTAT HANDBOOK, CVII EDITION
"I have come to terms with it. It is best for me to be here in the no-ship than on Chapterhouse right now," murmured Miles Teg.
The two Mentats were sitting one in front of the other, no table between them, in a small cubicle that provided the opportunity for more intimate conversations, not only because of its ambience but chiefly because of the lack of comeyes. Sheeana had insisted on maintaining the Bene Gesserit tradition of broadcasting for the entire crew, but ways could be found. At any rate, most observers would not have made sense of the rapid fire of words and syllables that the Mentats were exchanging. Hands on knees, palms facing up, eyes locking. Mentat linking. To Teg it was like seeing the computation in the eyes of the other. Even dialogue could be cut short to single words.
Teg said: "Our talents are most useful in already populated areas. You did not randomly sent the ship to the void."
Duncan: "Random within certain constraints. We are in a sparsely populated sector. Planet shipwrecks are a waste of time."
Teg: "Why hasn't any Reverend Mother come back from the Scattering?"
Duncan: "This is a universe where the coordinates of a habitable system are treated with utmost secrecy."
Teg: "Yet you said your map lists millions of known planets."
Duncan: "It is the list of the places of trade. They are like the local Suk market. The location of the actual villages in the countryside is secret."
Teg: "So what happened to those Sisters? They landed and..."
Duncan: "Likely could never leave. A planet cannot be conquered if it cannot be reached."
Teg: "Dark sectors. Pilots committing to memory secret coordinates."
Duncan: "Sworn to secrecy, and to kill themselves if their ship is captured. No records in a ship's systems. Maps only show the agreed upon gathering places, the bonfires shining from afar."
Teg: "So most planets are off the maps. An ultimate defense against domination. Self-government is guaranteed."
Duncan: "Where you are from? could be the least tactful question to ask in this universe."
Teg: "And yet there must be exchanges. Local markets. Trade centers."
Duncan: "Yes. Space-faring nations built on trade centers and carefully picked secret planets. And multitudes of autonomous worlds staying off the charts. You also have to count the Reverend Mothers who died of spice withdrawal. I estimate a very large number. Others have been picked and trapped right in the middle of space."
Teg: "What data?"
Duncan: "A suspicion. I had access to the Archives shortly after freeing the no-ship." A pause. "By the way, your performance on Junction was most compelling. The enemy ships you found and hit cannot be explained by the use of miniature laser-shield pairs I designed. You see the no-ships. You are prescient."
Teg: "So you are."
Duncan: "In a fashion."
Teg: "And what you see is?"
Duncan: "Technology has developed to unthinkable levels. Some may be able to locate and capture no-ships. Power concentrated in a few factions, it means that are formidable intergalactic foes at work."
Teg: "And instead of escaping..."
Duncan: "We should find a way straight into the maelstrom. But first, the sandworm."
Teg: "You found a planet with religious significance."
Duncan: "A stop there will help us gather intelligence. But we need help on the ground - a temporary home. You have the body of a child and I do not have Siona gene markers. Unlikely we can be sent on the surface. And we need.. Scytale..."
Teg: "I asked the Rabbi to join us. Sheeana agrees."
That was the way of the world, Duncan thought. If Sheeana agrees, it is done.
Duncan: "If Murbella has ordered another clone of you, Miles."
Teg shrugging. "It is possible."
Duncan: "Let me warn you about the risk of recursive computations. Do not try to compute your own actions on another planet."
Teg: "The hall of mirrors again. I will not think about me on Chapterhouse. And you think they may be cloning you?"
Duncan: "It has not happened. But they have my children." Mentat certainty in it.
They interrupted the link as the sound of approaching footsteps betrayed the entrance of the Rabbi.
He seemed aged a decade since the day he and his party were rescued on Gammu. He had spent most of his days in the ship confined to his quarters, conferring with Sheeana in multiple occasions. A dark aura seemed to follow him. This man has had a lot to absorb, Teg thought.
There was no room for a third chair, so the two Mentats stood up to welcome him.
"I am old," said the Rabbi, eyes glazing over the surface of the walls, looking for a seat. "Me and my group will happily disembark from this ship to find a place for ourselves."
"We will oblige, Rabbi," replied Teg, "Yet Sheeana would ask you a favor in the spirit of the ancient alliance with the Reverend Mothers."
"Say it."
"Surely Secret Israel has found many homes in the Scattering."
"I do not know where we are in the Scattering."
"We will show you."
"We cannot go back." said the Rabbi, implying: The imperium is not a place for us anymore; our community on Gammu is dispersed. We are on the run again.
"We cannot go back, Rabbi. But your people must have left signs across the Scattering."
"There are clues in the names of the planets sometimes; there are procedures to initiate contact, safe words designed to stand the passing of the centuries," the Rabbi cleared his throat. "And trials only the initiate can pass. Land anywhere and I can attempt a contact. Israel will honor the alliance. The Bene Gesserit name is not forgotten in the Scattering. You will be our guests, but after that me and my party will depart. We have given much."
"We thank you for your help."
"Rabbi..." inquired Duncan.
"Yes."
"Will Rebecca go with you?"
"She may just remain a perturbing presence among Israel's daughters. But the choice is hers to make." deliberated the Rabbi.
"I was inquiring, Rabbi, because she will need access to the spice."
"And there is no spice where we are going? Besides the stock on this ship?"
"There is no more spice in the universe, Rabbi."
"The accursed spice," burst out the Rabbi in an anger that was quite uncharacteristic of him, "To the hell with the spice, and its precious Bene Gesserit gifts!"
The next gift of the spice, thought Teg gloomily, is going to be a woman in an irreversible vegetative state. Our axolotl tank needs a volunteer.