Chapterhouse: Dune

Duncan Idaho is working with Miles Teg to help him recover his memory. He talks to him about the old Bashar Teg, reflecting on his memories of him and the warnings Odrade gave him before she entrusted Miles Teg to his care. Though Duncan is awakening old memories, he is also helping a new person form.

Odrade asks how Duncan’s memories were restored, and he tells her it was done by the original Bashar Teg. Duncan tells Miles Teg that the restoration of his original memories will be a painful experience both physically and mentally, as there are artificial ghola barriers around his original memories. He explains there is a particular difficulty restoring Miles Teg’s memories, as gholas usually have a memory of their original’s death that they can use to break these barriers, but Miles Teg’s cells were scraped and cloned before death. Duncan also tells Miles to be wary of the Bene Gesserit.

Murbella enters and says they won’t appreciate him saying this. She has come off the Honored Matres adrenaline drug entirely under Bene Gesserit training and feels loss as she realizes she can’t go back to the Honored Matres.

Duncan asks if Miles Teg has been told of Muad’Dib, as he is an Atreides. Duncan will show Miles Teg the Bashar Teg’s favorite picture of his home. Murbella notices that this diverges from the Bene Gesserit instructions of awakening original memories. Duncan leaves, seeking Sheeana, saying there must be a better way to restore the memories.

Duncan is on his console and finds an entry in it from early in his incarceration. He suddenly has a vision of an elderly couple that stretches across his ghola lifetimes; he doesn’t recognize them but knows they are face dancers.

The vision ends, and he is confronted by Murbella, who he tells about his vision. He curses the Tleilaxu for tampering with him.

Odrade is having her first spice of the morning. This is painful for her after overnight withdrawal. She is in her sleeping chamber waiting for it to take effect. She reflects on the reality of Bene Gesserit’s spice addiction. They don’t typically consider it such, but its effects shape every part of their life, and they can’t live without it.

She talks to Streggi about how unique spice is as a drug, increasing life rather than shortening it like many other drugs; the price, however, is addiction. She tells Streggi to go find Tamalane.

Odrade thinks about how Sheeana and Duncan want to speak to each other about Miles Teg. Creating the pain that will help Miles Teg recover his memories troubles Duncan.

Odrade sees a stack of records on her desk, part of the organization of the Scattering. She summons Bellonda, who explains that the records were judged significant. Odrade says that the sheer mass of records is sloppy work. She contacts Tamalane in the transport hall, asks how soon they can leave, and says she will be taking Streggi, too. Later, she learns from Tamalane there has been no word from Dortujla.

The Rabbi is sitting with Rebecca in a no-chamber buried under an ash pit. They are in hiding from the Honored Matres. They have been in the restrictive chamber for some time and may have to stay there. Rebecca thinks about the appeal of prescience as well as its cost. She thinks of Muad’Dib’s attempts to prevent the terrible things he’d seen coming.

A rainstorm is approaching and will make the ash in the ashpit set like concrete. If they need to get out, they will have to dig with tools.

Duncan thinks about Miles Teg’s education. It is carefully structured to echo the original Bashar Teg’s childhood. He thinks about the no-ship and how it is his prison, staffed by Reverend Mother guards. The Bene Gesserit are also studying it to figure out a way to nullify its no-ship cloaking.

He spends many hours trying to figure out the ship’s data stores, but it locks out of certain systems such as flight. He knows the systems well enough to hide his own data and booby trap it to delete itself should someone else try to access it.

For some time, he’s been aware that he could escape, but he stays because he is unable to bring Murbella with him. His data sources on the current situation with the Honored Matres has been deliberately stifled to hobble his Mentat abilities.

Meanwhile, Murbella is becoming more like a Bene Gesserit. The no-ship has become a place where the Bene Gesserit train Murbella to become one of them and help strengthen Duncan’s abilities. The Bene Gesserit intend to use Duncan’s sexual bonding abilities to control Sheeana for them. Murbella and Duncan talk about how their love is in contradiction with her aim to become a Reverend Mother.

Odrade travels into the desert with Tamalane and Streggi in a ground vehicle. The Honored Matres have destroyed four more planets, leaving the Bene Gesserit with only 12, a fact that Bellonda has been asked to keep secret. The desertification of the planet is progressing, and many plant species are under threat. Nothing can be done.

They arrive at Pondrille Tsimpay, and the head Bene Gesserit of this community comes out to meet them. There is some controversy about the desertification of the planet for the sandworms among the local farmers. They continue on, and Odrade mentors Streggi in her approach to history and morality. Odrade gets them to stop near the ocean. The sea has receded due to the climate change. Odrade gets the driver to bring the vehicle down to the sea so she can swim. While swimming, she instructs Tam to eliminate the sea as fast as possible. It is essential for the future of spice production.

Dama is in her new control center on planet Junction. She knows that Dortujla has returned to planet Buzzell and asks Logno to bring her in and to starve some Futars.

The Honored Matres are searching for Chapterhouse and closing in on it. She killed two Ixian scientists after they asked for more information on The Weapon. They were unsure of what The Weapon is and could not replicate it. Dama asks after Rebecca, who is in hiding; Logno is unable to locate her.

On her way to the no-ship, Bellonda reviews her assessment of Duncan’s many lives. His personality has subtly changed throughout his various incarnations, going from impulsive to cynical. She is fascinated by his long service to Leto II, where he had served as a Mentat in several lives and a truthsayer in others. This mix of skills and experience is something she sees as dangerous.

When she arrives in the no-ship, Duncan says that he was expecting her. Miles Teg enters and stands with Duncan. He is there to ensure that Bellonda doesn’t hurt Duncan, because if she does, Miles Teg will never cooperate with the Bene Gesserit. Bellonda accuses Duncan of conspiring with Sheeana. Bellonda and Duncan argue. He calls her a hypocrite, making her flinch. She initially thinks this is due to The Voice but realizes it is something deeper.

Bellonda tries to keep her composure for the com eyes, but Duncan berates her, questioning her value to the Bene Gesserit. This makes it hard for Bellonda to maintain her hold on Mentat mode.

He interrogates her on a variety of subjects from the risks of the Bene Gesserit Scattering to the idea that the Honored Matres may be a relatively small group fleeing into the old empire to recoup their strength. He also suggests that the Ixians may be developing cyborgs, something that disgusts Bellonda.

He goes to Murbella’s room and discusses the meeting with her, revealing to her the Missionaria Protectiva—the arm of superstition for the Bene Gesserit—are planning to build a religion around Sheeana.

Tamalane enters Odrade’s quarters in Eldio just before dawn. She says that the road ahead has been covered by large dunes and is impassible. Odrade orders the ornithopters—small transport vehicles commonly called ‘thopters—to drive to a nearby observation terminal shortly after breakfast. The desert is spreading rapidly across the planet, and Odrade realizes that soon she will have to relocate the population to the polar regions.

At the observation terminal, Odrade sees the vast expanse of the dunes and sand in the desert. A message arrives from Buzzell: Dortujla and the Reverend Mothers there have been taken by strangers. Odrade says the Honored Matres have taken the bait. The message was brought by a fleeing acolyte, and Odrade contacts Bellonda to check if the acolyte is ready for the Spice Agony so that she may become the Reverend Mothers’ messenger. She then instructs Bellonda to give Duncan open access to Archives. Tam reveals that Duncan and Sheeana have been in collaboration for some time.

The ‘thopters arrive and embark across the desert, landing at the Desert Watch Center. Sheeana arrives to meet Odrade. Odrade asks her about her collaboration with Duncan, which she admits to. Later, Sheeana tells Odrade that a spice mass has been spotted close to the Observation Center.

Odrade tells Sheeana that she may have to replace Tam soon. When Odrade departs, Sheeana reflects on a discussion she had with Duncan about imprinting Miles Teg to restore the Bashar’s memories. Imprinting requires a technique common to the Honored Matres that Sheeana also possesses; she must have sex with a partner to create a powerful psychological bond that gives her control over that partner.