The twenty spectators gazed around, some nervous, some ashamed, some looking completely out of place, as if they didn’t know why they had been drawn into the mob in the first place.
One large man still searched for a way to release his pent-up emotions. Dorothy did not flinch, even when confronted by his bulk. “Why won’t you let the spice crews come home? What about all the melange you’re hiding in the deep desert?”
“Outright lies and destructive rumors.” Dorothy waved an arm expansively, sure now that they would believe her. “Just like this.”
Tuek’s men stood uncertainly in the hall, weapons ready, but the fury had died from this first group of observers. The guards led them outside, while Dorothy remained in the room to await others.
Jesse came to her side. “That was foolish, and dangerous.”
“But effective. Would you rather our house guards slaughtered them all?” She gave him a small, hard smile. “Esmar will hate guiding more people in here, won’t he? But I keep my word, as you do yourself.”
He frowned, but kept his thoughts private. Even Tuek hadn’t known about the conservatory—so how had the rumor started in the first place? Of course, he realized: the Hoskanners knew. But they didn’t—or shouldn’t—know about the deep-desert operations. Niles Rew and his unruly escapees had been held in isolated custody, yet still someone had leaked the information. Two damaging secrets had gotten out, at the same time.
Tuek couldn’t possibly be right about her. But Jesse found it difficult to dispute the facts. Throughout their tenure here, saboteurs had known about the movement of equipment, the stations of security troops, the orders of new harvesters and carryalls, which were inexplicably delayed … .
“What is it, Jesse?” She looked at him, her brow furrowed. Did he see a hint of guilt etched on her face? Could she possibly be hiding something? From him? Now, suddenly, he couldn’t be sure.
Dorothy continued to look at him, waiting for an answer. Finally, he turned away. “Nothing.”
24
In the Known Universe some of the most inhospitable worlds hold the most value.
—REPORT OF THE IMPERIAL RESOURCE BOARD
After the crowd had dissipated—for now—Jesse and Tuek strode through the corridors of the mansion. The brooding security chief seemed even more introspective than usual.
Sunlight passed through leaded plaz windows with an intensity that suggested the level of afternoon heat outside. Members of the household staff were picking up debris and dust in the halls and rooms from such a large influx of people.
With a glance at Tuek, Jesse said, “We’ve proved something to them at least. Valdemar Hoskanner would never have allowed them such access.”
“He would have killed everyone in the mob.” The veteran did not sound judgmental. “As I was prepared to do.”
“It could have been much worse if not for Dor’s quick thinking.”
Scowling, the other man rubbed his red-stained lips. “Her foolish bravado, you mean. She put us all in danger.” After a long moment, he added, “In my experience, Jesse, rumors begin far from the light of day—but they all start somewhere, an ember of truth that is fanned into flames by an instigator.”
He knew the old veteran meant Dorothy. Jesse didn’t understand why Tuek had never liked or trusted her. Was it because she had so much influence over the nobleman, while she was only a commoner? “When we came here, Esmar, we fired much of the old domestic staff that worked for the Hoskanners. Some of them could have known about the conservatory. They must have talked.”
“But why now, My Lord? At the same time as the rumor about the spice stockpiles in the deep desert? I do not like coincidences.” He motioned for Jesse to follow him into a nearby chamber. After they closed the door, the security chief removed a messagestat cylinder from an inside jacket pocket. The ornate cylinder bore an unmistakable Imperial crest.
“I found this on my desk an hour ago,” Tuek said. “Counselor Bauers has also heard the rumors of our secret hoard, and he believes them.”
“He certainly gets up early.”
Tapping the cylinder, Tuek said, “Based on the amount of bluster, I’m confident he doesn’t have proof yet. But someone informed him, even before today’s mob started spreading rumors. In fact, I have it on good authority that he has already dispatched search teams into the desert.”
Jesse felt a chill. “Has Gurney’s latest camp been moved?”
He nodded. “I sent an immediate order, and Bauers will only find a few tracks in the sand. We should be able to stay one step ahead of him.”
“Then why aren’t you smiling, old friend?”
“There’s more.” The veteran’s face darkened. “The Emperor himself is coming here on his private yacht, along with an Imperial military force, to formally confiscate all melange … supposedly to preserve peace. The Emperor plans to strip you of your title … and monopoly … here.”
Jesse had the cylinder open now, scanning the details. Looking up, he said, “In a contest with no rules, keeping our production levels secret should not have been a problem, but I’m afraid they never had any intention of letting me win the challenge. The Emperor and Valdemar had a deal in place before any of this began.” He hurled the cylinder against a stone wall. The cylinder bounced and then rolled on the floor, making a clatter that seemed to mock him.
“We only have three days to get ready,” Tuek said. “Then we will have to face Grand Emperor Wuda. I hope you’re not willing to concede defeat, My Lord.”
“Absolutely not, Esmar. But we need to buy ourselves some time.”
THAT NIGHT JESSE lay beside Dorothy in bed. Though she slept peacefully, he remained awake and alert, full of thoughts and doubts that he didn’t want to share with her, or with anyone. Not yet. First he needed to sort them out himself.
With his proclamation, Bauers had effectively hamstrung the Linkam hopes. If Jesse revealed the spice he’d been holding in reserve while exporting only minimal amounts, then the Grand Emperor would simply take it. No rules. Apparently no justice or fair play, either.
He and Tuek had decided to keep the Emperor’s imminent arrival a secret for now, including from Dorothy.
In three days I must face the Emperor. Will I lose my title without so much as a chance to answer his questions? Jesse suspected, though, that in this devious trap no answer would ever be acceptable.
He had plenty of questions of his own. Why was the Imperial leader so desperate for spice? Exports were much less than the Hoskanner quotas, but enough melange had still gone directly to Renaissance to more than meet the Emperor’s personal needs. Were other noble families agitating for shares of the Duneworld prize? Melange was in wide demand, judging from the Hoskanner production and export records he had seen. But still, wasn’t it just a drug—a luxury?
If the Emperor disqualified Jesse from this contest, House Linkam would be ruined. They had mortgaged everything, even borrowing deeply from exploitive noble families who charged crippling interest. Could Jesse leave that in place as a legacy for his son? Barri would be penniless, as weak and insignificant as William English’s family had been. The thought of Barri being thrown onto a penal planet like Eridanus V made his stomach roil.
Intellectually, when he assessed the angry powers arrayed against him, Jesse knew he could not win. For a moment he considered just taking his spice hoard and fleeing to another planet. Given the high price of melange, even on the black market, he could buy a planet somewhere on the fringe of the Empire. Take Dorothy and Barri, load a ship, and go renegade.
The Grand Emperor cannot strip House Linkam if he cannot find House Linkam. Despite his flouting of rules, even Emperor Wuda could not completely spurn the Nobles’ Council. Legalities must be observed.
But unlike his father and brother, Jesse Linkam was not a man to run and hide. Besides, Ulla Bauers would undoubtedly use some tricky legal loophole to hunt down Jesse and his family.
Rage infused Jesse, and fresh determination.
He thought of another way.
Leaning across the bed, he kissed Dorothy on the cheek. “I love you, my darling. Always remember that.” She murmured the same in return, then drifted back to sleep again with a gentle smile on her face.
Three days.
Jesse swung out of bed, dressed quietly, and slipped into the shadowy corridor. He wrote and sealed a terse, irrefutable letter that specifically revoked all of his concubine’s authority, stating that Dorothy could no longer be his proxy. And he intentionally named no successor. Let Bauers wrestle with that little legal wrinkle.
Because he would leave no explanation, she would be angry, even crushed, but Jesse was confident she could eventually figure out his reasons. He considered waking Tuek and telling the security chief his plans, then decided instead to take this bold action on his own. If they didn’t know what he was doing, even an Imperial interrogator could not drag the information from them.
Before long, Jesse was at the controls of an ornijet, speeding over the dark sands toward the forward research base.
25
We are, each of us, capable of anything.
—VALDEMAR HOSKANNER
Confused, upset, and most of all afraid for her nobleman’s safety, Dorothy waited for three days, but no word came from him. Jesse had disappeared in the middle of the night, leaving only a shocking letter that stripped her of all authority. Why? What had she done? Had someone accused her?
No one seemed to know where the Linkam patriarch had gone, and because he had removed her as his proxy, no person could be contacted who was officially in charge of House Linkam. It was an impossible situation. All business seemed to be frozen.
Hardest to deal with were Barri’s questions about his father. The boy could sense his mother’s concern, but he wasn’t completely frightened yet. Jesse had often gone out to the spice fields, though never without telling her first.
If he knew anything about the mystery, Esmar Tuek refused to share information with her. The security chief seemed even more guarded than usual, as if he dreaded what was about to happen. He kept watching the open skies. After reading the severance letter, Tuek had looked at Dorothy with even deeper suspicion. It troubled her to see the strange enmity in his eyes, the subtle hostility in his demeanor. But he was hiding a deep secret of his own behind that hard, inscrutable face; she could read the telltale signs in his body language.
Yet Jesse claimed he trusted the man implicitly. Tuek had now served three heads of House Linkam, and it was not a mere concubine’s place to question the relationship between a nobleman and his loyal, if overly zealous, security chief.
Why would Jesse simply leave Carthage? Why hadn’t he trusted her enough to explain his strange departure? It was as if he wanted to make himself disappear and hide from everyone, even from her … .
And now an unannounced ship was arriving.
Alerted by an office assistant, Dorothy ran out on a sealed-plaz balcony of the mansion. From her high vantage she gazed toward the northern desert, where a heat-addled shape approached, glinting in the midday sun. She hoped it was the ornijet Jesse had taken, or perhaps a larger transport ship from the forward base. Thermal ripples in the air blurred all details.
The approaching craft circled, choosing the best of the various landing fields in the stepped and rocky city. The Imperial inspection ship still dominated the main field, where it had rested for months without moving.
Hearing something behind her, she turned to see Tuek step out on the balcony. Had he been reading her thoughts … or spying on her in his irritating manner? She kept her tone cordial but cool. “That ship isn’t Jesse coming back, is it, General?”
The old veteran stood stiff and straight, watching the unusual craft land in one of the zones normally reserved for Linkam ships. She had never seen a vessel of such gaudy design. “No, that is not Nobleman Linkam.” He pointed toward the smaller of the two spaceports. “It is Emperor Wuda’s personal yacht.”
She reeled. The Emperor had come in person! Even under the baking heat of Arrakis, Dorothy felt a peculiar, disturbing coldness. An Imperial arrival could only mean a political coup that would damage House Linkam. “Does Jesse know about this?”
The general smiled slightly with his stained lips. “It is not for me to say what the nobleman knows or does not know.” He turned to look at the Imperial yacht as it landed. “Now the fun begins.”
A POMPOUS AND overdressed emissary issued a formal command for Nobleman Jesse Linkam to meet with Grand Emperor Wuda aboard the inspection ship. The tall emissary displayed all the emotion of a robot; he stood in the mansion’s great vaulted hall, delivered his words to Dorothy, and then turned like clockwork, preparing to exit.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” Dorothy said, bringing him to a halt. “The nobleman is not currently available.” Her voice, though soft, had the effect of a wrench jammed into the man’s gears.
Flustered, the emissary searched for a new script from which to recite. “No one is unavailable for the Grand Emperor!”
The man’s large stature made Dorothy feel even smaller, but she had seen his type before and had no patience for imagined self-importance.“Nobleman Linkam is in the deep desert supervising spice operations. I do not know his exact whereabouts, and I have no way of communicating with him.”
“Nobleman Linkam was forewarned of the Grand Emperor’s arrival. He should have arranged to be present. Who is his proxy to receive an edict? The formalities must be observed.”
“No one. I was formally removed from that position, and the nobleman has not yet appointed a replacement.”
The man looked as if he might explode. A sudden bright pleasure warmed Dorothy’s heart as she put the pieces together and reviewed the evidence. This was exactly why Jesse had made himself unavailable! He had intentionally terminated her as his representative, leaving a vacuum, which effectively tied the Emperor’s hands. If no one could find the nobleman, then no one could deliver legal demands. And no one could make any binding decisions for him.
Dorothy maintained her confident smile. “Spice harvesting is a difficult business, and unforeseen disasters occur with unfortunate regularity.” Not a lie … in fact, she hadn’t told him much of anything. “Though I am not allowed to make binding decisions for Nobleman Linkam, I would be happy to greet the Emperor. Tell him I will be there at the appointed time.”
The emissary did not look pleased, but could only agree.
AFTER PASSING THROUGH the ornamental rock garden where the broken Hoskanner statues had been discarded, Dorothy crossed the armorpave landing field toward the huge inspection ship. Hot yellow sunlight pounded down with the force of weapons fire, but she breathed as calmly as she could, trying to force peace upon herself.
General Tuek insisted on accompanying her, but still held his secrets as tightly as Duneworld gripped the mysteries of melange. How could she react properly to the Emperor if she did not have the information she needed? Why hadn’t Jesse explained himself to her before creating the authority vacuum ?
Together, they stepped onto a royal purple carpet that had been laid for the Grand Emperor’s procession from the ornate yacht at the other spaceport to the enormous inspection vessel. Blown dust and sand had already dulled some of the fabric’s brilliant color.
Imperial guards stood at attention on each side of the inspection ship’s entrance, where an open lift awaited the visitors. She and Tuek entered an enclosure that verified their identities and scanned for weapons. After being cleared, they stepped through to the lift where Ulla Bauers waited, gazing down the bridge of his nose at them. “Hmmm, since when do a concubine and an old soldier speak on behalf of a House? We specified Nobleman Linkam in person.”
Dorothy bristled, but tried not to show her irritation. She glanced sidelong at the stoic veteran; his red-stained lips formed a firm iron line.
“Nevertheless,” Tuek said, “we will try to be of assistance.”
“Hmm-ahh, we shall see. This way.”
The lift took them up twenty-seven levels, deep inside the massive inspection vessel. Dorothy wondered why the Emperor’s man needed such an immense ship to keep watch on spice operations. Perhaps much of the size might be puffery to promote an imposing sense of awe for the Emperor. Tuek was convinced that the vessel contained an entire standing army tucked away in soundproof compartments, though he had no proof.
Maybe the Counselor had hoped to seize a huge cargo of spice by military force, leaving the Linkams empty-handed. Packing such a hoard into the ship and delivering it to the Grand Emperor, after skimming a satisfactory percentage for himself, Bauers would reap many rewards.
Dorothy and Tuek followed the overdressed, ferretlike man through a maze of corridors, observation galleries, and rooms without apparent purpose, then into the opulent grand salon. The gilded walls and ceilings were covered with frescoes, some of the finest and most extravagant workmanship she had ever seen. On the far side of the chamber, one of the Emperor’s numerous portable thrones had been erected; Inton Wuda undoubtedly had one aboard his personal space yacht as well.
The fat, pale ruler sat high atop the elaborate chair; to Dorothy, he looked like an overstuffed, overdressed doll. Bauers moved forward with a mincing gait that seemed like an intricate court dance. He bowed, then stepped to one side. With a casual gesture, Bauers motioned for the two to approach.
In unrehearsed unison, Dorothy and Tuek bowed, averting their eyes from the most powerful man in the Known Universe, the third Wuda to rule in succession following the Millennial Wars. Nearly lost in bowls of fat, his eyes moved from face to face. When he spoke, his voice seemed too small to come from such an important man. “What is this insignificant delegation? I summoned Nobleman Linkam himself.”
Road to Dune Page 15
