The Dune Encyclopedia

by Willis E McNelly

  It became a relatively simple mathematical calculation and computation to write the correct diffeomorphisms allowing the definition of an absolute neighborhood retract to be applied sequentially to a compact space region. This procedure finds the unique fixed point on the nearest fold sheet of the desired termination space. The Polymathematical theory was well developed and even at this early date computational devices were far enough along (though still comparatively embryonic) to allow for the necessary calculations.

  Following the Butlerian Jihad, however, spice-prescient Guild navigators replaced the proscribed computers, making the whole system dependent on the supply of melange.

  The history of the Imperium is the history of spice and spice was controlled by the Guild. The Guild was secure as long as there was spice. Thus no group in society paid more attention to the changes on Dune. Early in the tenth millennium the Guild became aware of the inevitability of an age without the wondrous spice. It is no surprise, then, that as early as 10200, discussions had begun between the Guild and the Ixians. The Guild needed to replace the Steersman without regressing to the danger level of pre-spice portation. The goal was a device which could produce the progression lines seen by the prescient Steersman.

  Years of secretive experimentation have been well documented, but they led to no significant progress toward a navigational machine. The Ixians had no compunction against using computing devices in their experimentations, but every concept took them to no better navigational model than that of pre-spice travel.

  In 14132, one of the most powerful Ixian intellects ever to exist, Kurill S. Suag (14071-14204), considered the problem. While investigating a new direction of flowmechanics in near space inflectional points, Suag put himself in a spice-trance, an expensive experiment at that time. He was able to see exactly the progression of light, space, and mass lines, and he noticed he could deflect light lines by a concentration on time location; moreover, in a Heisenberg indeterminacy, the time flow seemed to change with the observation. Here Suag made one of the most monumental intellectual leaps ever recorded. He said of this observation, "It can all be done, all explained: Time is, light, light is time, and Heisenberg's Eyes see again!"

  With this discovery Kurill S. Suag gave to man what man should have known thousands of years before. The error in all the Poly-mathematical Theory has been housed in the assumption that time is an independent variable. The old, honored Theory of Relativity, as well as Heisenberg's indeterminacy principle, was laid to rest with this one moment of clarity. The concept that velocity in curvilinear motion is a function of an independent time variable was the error. Light and time were not separable. On the contrary there was a dependency on the variations of each quantity. They are dependent jointly distributed hypervariables, to be treated with a new discrete space multidirected filternet limit. In such a model no longer does viewing alter the nature of the viewed if one allows for the dependent shift in time. Moreover, the inability to travel at overlight velocities is merely an apparent effect of the observation that time shifts cause.

  Once Suag had clarified fully the power of his discovery, he saw its applicability to the navigational problem. One need only to jointly vary hypervariables to deflect time sufficiently, consequently varying light lines to be able to view progressive lines. Using the fact that time is discrete and electromagnetically hyperelated, Suag directed the development of the Suagasian timelight deflector, interfacing it with the previously developed Ixian light progressive line detector, and produced the first usable Navigational machine.

  The development of navigation to today's state is the story of modifications of this original machine. The Suagasian navigator was immediately placed on all trans-light portal ion ships. It was just as reliable as the old Guild Steersman and could even determine black-hole spot perturbations. Since these machines have been in use, no accident has occurred in trans-light portation as a result of machine error.

  R.L.S.

  Further references: SPACING GUILD entries; HOLTZMAN entries; Th. B.L. Alenga, Introduction to Suagasian Hypervariables with Holtzman Applications (Richese: New Caledonia State UP).

  NERUS, TANIDIA

  (dates unknown). Identified by Leto II, before his accession to the throne, as the mother of Lady Jessica Atreides: "Jessica out of Tanidia Nerus by the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen." This statement, now found recorded in Leto's Journals (RRC 80-A115), apparently sparked centuries of argument and analysis among generations of Atreides' scholars, as evidenced by speculations about the existence of any Tanidia Nerus in numerous and various materials discovered in the Rakis Finds.

  Many scholars rejected Leto's identification of Nerus as Jessica's mother on the grounds that it was made before Leto had begun any investigation of his ancestral memories, before he became emperor and ascended the Lion Throne, and before he had access to the Bene Gesserit breeding records. They believed his statement to be based on either whimsy or incomplete information about his grandmother's heritage. Other scholars believed the name Tanidia Nerus to be the resolution of a historical mystery and labored to uncover proof of her existence and ultimate maternity of Jessica. Certainly, in his lifetime, Leto II was never to utter another word in public which would settle the matter on either side.

  However, through the sources available today, particularly those of the Lady Ghanima, Duncan Idaho-13015 and the Journals of Leto II, the Atreides' scholars descending from both sides of the argument seem able to finally agree on the answer, that Jessica's real mother was the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, who used the name Tanidia Nerus when she presented herself as concubine to the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and that any written record of Tanidia Nerus was merely part of an attempt by the Bene Gesserit to keep Mohiam's identity secret.

  One recent scholar, Gwilit Mignail, has suggested in The Nerus-Mohiam Controversy that Leto deliberately put forth the Nerus name for two reasons: First, Leto may have wanted to keep the identity of Jessica's real mother from her, fearing that knowledge of Gaius Helen Mohiam's maternal relationship might have been too much for Jessica to face under the very difficult circumstances of the revelation of her daughter Alia as Abomination. Leto may have feared that if Jessica learned that the woman who had given her son the test of the gom jabbar, who had become the Corrino Truthsayer, who had acted in loco matris to her, and who had conspired against Paul in the name of the Sisterhood was her true mother, it might have unhinged Jessica's sanity. Second, Mignail suggests that Leto himself might not have been able to face the knowledge that he was not only part Harkonnen, but also was part Mohiam, and hence part Bene Gesserit, part "witch." Leto, after all, was barely nine years old at the time and may have lacked a certain amount of emotional maturity. Thus his very youth may have forced him to lie to himself and to his grandmother Jessica.

  Whatever the final truth in this matter — and indeed it may never be known with any certainty — the identity of both Tanidia Nerus and/or Jessica's true mother remains a fascinating subject of conjecture by many scholars.

  Further references: ATREIDES, LADY JESSICA; ATREIDES. LADY GHANIMA; MOHIAM, REVEREND MOTHER GAIUS HELEN; Gwilit Mignail, The Nerus-Mohiam Controversy (Yorba: Rose).

  NOREE, LADY HWI

  (13698-13724). The God Emperor's "bride." This woman of Ixian manufacture was bred, raised and trained to a greater degree than any other emissary to the God Emperor's court — no mean distinction, considering the representatives who had preceded her — for she was meant to be Leto's final love object, the instrument through which he could be made vulnerable and, thus, perhaps controlled. For some thirteen millennia the Ixians had been the great experimenters — no aspect of animate or inanimate existence escaped their curious, probing intellects. In Leto II, perhaps, they perceived an enigma beyond anything in their vast experience and the temptation to get to the core of the mystery motivated their creation of Hwi Noree. For surely Hwi was not meant to be anything as simple as a spy or assassin. Rather she could be seen as Ix's greatest ex
periment: the key that would unlock the secrets of the impenetrable heart of the God Emperor. Ultimately, undoubtedly, those secrets in her maker's hands could have been very useful.

  Noree was "born" in 13698, in the first known Ixian no-room. Her life was the result neither of ordinary conception nor of the more exotic, but relatively common, breeding techniques in use among the Tleilaxu prior to this time. Instead, Noree was the end product of a unique experiment, one whose success depended on the efforts of Tleilaxu and Ixians alike: she was cloned in a process similar to, but more complicated than, that employed in producing gholas.

  The complications made the operation far more delicate. A ghola was grown from cells taken from an adult original and spent an average of two years in an axolotl tank, maintained by a nutrient bath until it reached full development. When removed from the tank, it was a blank slate which contained the memories of the original but it could not put them to use until shocked into recalling them; once that shock was delivered, the ghola became the person from whom it had been copied.

  Noree, on the other hand, was to be a mirror-clone, the exact opposite of the individual who had supplied the genetic material for her growth — Erlin Malky, former Ixian ambassador to the God Emperor. She was also to begin life as an infant, rather than as an adult replica. Producing her required the best efforts of the Ixian scientists, applied to a foundation of knowledge provided them by the Bene Tleilax. It is still unknown how many, if any, attempts at this mirror-cloning were made before one was successful. The Ixians were far too concerned about security to keep readily available records. The Spacing Guild became a silent partner in the enterprise because of the Ixians' fear of discovery; Guildsmen were used in testing the prescience-blocking ability of the no-room.

  Some data concerning the project has been discovered. It is known that Erlin Malky was recalled to Ix in 13698 and taken to the no-room chamber; he was later seen to emerge from the chamber carrying an infant. That child was Hwi Noree.

  Noree's childhood is as poorly documented as her birth. Information later provided to the God Emperor by Noree herself and by various spies, recorded in his Journals, indicates she was trained from her earliest years to make her overpoweringly attractive to Leto. Her intellect and intuitive sense were keenly honed by a series of the most talented instructors the Inquisitors could obtain, including a number of Bene Gesserit Sisters. The educational process was overseen by the Inquisitors and by their minions, however, and the usually pervasive influence of the Sisterhood had little effect on the child.

  In 13712, following his permanent recall from Arrakis, Noree's "Uncle" Malky began to take an active part in the girl's education. His contribution consisted chiefly of giving Noree a complete brief on Leto II and the workings of his court. Of all the members of his society, Malky was the best equipped to provide such a brief: he had spent a total of twenty-one years, longer than any other ambassador, as Ix's representative in the court. By 13723, when his "niece" was summoned before the Inquisitors to determine her fitness for his old post, Malky had taught the young woman all he knew of the Lord Leto.

  From the earliest Journal entries concerning Noree, Leto comments on her gentle, open personality; her honesty; her intelligence and wit. Malky and his Ixian masters must certainly have been delighted by the manner in which their god-trap was performing. Leto had been even more deeply impressed by their creation than they had dared hope.

  The developments which followed, however, could not have seemed so delightful. While Leto's immediate attraction to and affinity for Noree fit the Ixian scenario, her subsequent loyalty shift to him had not been anticipated. Noree, haying been trained throughout her life as a partner for the God Emperor, discovered that she fit the role far better than her masters had projected. Thus, the Ixians were confronted by an unexpected variable: an ally and planned consort of the God Emperor who would not allow herself to be controlled by the authorities of her homeworld.

  When spies relayed word of Noree's defection, the Inquisitors' initial reaction appears to have been to send Malky to the young woman in an attempt to divert her back into their plan (or failing that, one must presume, dispose of her). This plan was eventually dismissed as too risky a course to follow, and Malky was kept in hiding, protected by the cover of the no-room. The Inquisitors had no wish for Leto to discover the true nature of his intended bride.

  The Inquisitors were not alone in making plans for the young Ixian. After they were wed, Leto intended to mate Noree with his majordomo, Moneo, as he had earlier mated his sister/wife Ghanima with Harq al-Ada. Her brief affair with Leto's current Duncan Idaho caused him — for reasons not confided even to his Journals — to scuttle the plan. However, he later mentioned it to Moneo while dismissing it as being "too late."

  Noree passed serenely through these machinations, accepting Leto's commands and asking no questions. Of her own plans, it is known only that she intended to marry the God Emperor and to serve him faithfully. It was a course doomed to failure.

  En route to their wedding at Tuono Village, Leto's Royal Cart was attacked, resulting in the Fall. Hwi Noree was one of the attack's first victims; during its earliest moments, she slipped from the cart and plummeted into the river below.

  Given what is known of her character, one of the results of her death would have distressed Noree: Duncan Idaho, outraged at her having been killed, seized the lasgun of Nayla, who had carried out the attack, and destroyed her with it.

  The second result would undoubtedly have pleased her. Leto, deprived of his sandtrout skin, survived briefly after he reached the riverbank. As he exchanged his last words with Idaho and Siona, he said that his association with Noree had strengthened him, an accolade the Ixian woman would have treasured.

  C.W.

  Further references: ATREIDES, LETO II; IDAHO, DUNCAN; MALKY, ERLIN.

  NYCALLISTE, NAYLA

  (13689-13724). Referred to by the Church of the Divided God as "Nayla the Betrayer," this Fish Speaker long occupied the Judas position in the histories of the Lord Leto. With the discovery of the Rakis Hoard — most particularly with the translation of certain volumes of Leto's Journals — it becomes obvious that Nayla's true role in the downfall of her God differed vastly from that popularly supposed.

  She was born on Grumman to a Fish Speaker officer, Calliste of that garrison, and her consort Pavel Merris. Her mother, like many of the women in the royal military, was a strong, broad-shouldered type with a muscular body; Nayla inherited these characteristics in as amplified version and was known from her earliest days in the Grumman Fish Speaker's school for her unusual strength.

  Unlike Calliste, however, Nayla was unattractive in the extreme. Even as a child, she possessed a flat, square-jawed face, undistinguished blonde hair and nearly invisible eyebrows. Her eyes were her only compelling feature, but not for their beauty: they were piercing, overbright; they made those subjected to their gaze uncomfortable. (They were also a vivid green, but this was a detail few noticed immediately.)

  Nayla began her training at the age of three, as was usual for a Fish Speaker's child, and impressed her teachers from the beginning with her interest in religion. In other academic subjects she performed only marginally, and physical training came so easily to her that she seldom had to apply herself. It was the studies concerning the God Emperor and his works in which the homely child most willingly immersed herself, a willingness which marked her among the faculty as either a devout little girl or, occasionally, as an incipient fanatic. The appellation chosen generally depended upon the individual teacher's own beliefs; but Fish Speakers being the loyal servants of the God Emperor that they were, only a small number of them saw anything remarkable in the strength of Nayla's dedication.

  In 13705, when Nayla's class of Fish Speakers graduated, she had already spent five years as a junior member of the Imperial Constabulary, the subdivision which dealt with domestic problems in Leto's far-flung empire. Nayla had been dispatched on several occasions to trouble spots on
Grumman, and had received commendations from three of her commanding officers for her zeal and expertise in subduing rioting locals.

  Graduation from the Grumman school raised Nayla from junior to full membership in the Constabulary. It also brought her to the attention of the God Emperor, who received files on each Fish Speaker as she completed her training. Intrigued by the reports of Nayla's superiors, Leto ordered her transferred to her first off-world duty assignment — the Wallach IX garrison — and arranged for annual reports of her progress to be sent to Arrakis. Unbeknownst to the Fish Speaker Command, Leto assigned an intelligence aide to make her own reports to him. The God Emperor always had need of Fish Speakers whom he could trust to obey him without question. Nayla, with her known religious obsession and record of competence, seemed a good potential recruit.

  Her testing lasted for fifteen years. The Wallach IX assignment, in which she proved herself completely invulnerable to the Bene Gesserit's most persuasive attacks on her faith, ended with her promotion to lieutenant's rank and transfer to Seprek (fourth planet of Eridani C) in 13709. During her stay in the Seprek garrison the Daelk Rebellion broke out, destroying the Seprekian capital for which the revolt was named and threatening to engulf the remainder of the planet. If successful, the rebels would have managed to wrest Seprek from the God Emperor's control, necessitating its invasion and recapture by a large force of Fish Speakers and setting a most disagreeable precedent.