Dune: The Butlerian Jihad (80 page)

But the Earth-Omnius was destroyed, and the thinking machines had suffered a terrible blow. They clung to their triumph.

In the hot and humid arena, Vorian Atreides felt sticky with perspiration in his dress uniform. No matter the weather, the people would want to see him and Segundo Harkonnen in full regalia. Xavier stood beside him now on the reviewing stand as Viceroy Butler and Serena quieted the crowd, demanding their full attention.

The two men— who had made their peace with each other on the long journey back to Salusa Secundus— stood stiff-backed in the shade of a covered viewing platform, along with other dignitaries. Iblis Ginjo, dressed in fine clothes and proud of his increasingly influential position, also sat in the gilded VIP area.

“For leading our united League forces on the mission to Earth, a landmark victory over the thinking machines,” Viceroy Butler said, holding a ribbon and medal high, “for making the difficult decisions and accepting the necessary challenge, I award the Parliamentary Medal of Honor to the League’s most distinguished soldier, Segundo Xavier Harkonnen. It is the highest award we can bestow, and we do so with heartfelt gratitude.”

Three hundred thousand spectators erupted in deafening cheers. Many of these people had lost children, friends, and parents in the Battle of Earth. In silence, Vor remembered how many Armada fighters had fallen during the atomic sterilization of the planet. With his peripheral vision, he saw Xavier Harkonnen’s eyes glisten from the emotion of the moment as the Viceroy draped the ribbon over his bowed head. Soon there would be more battles to fight, more machine forces to face.

Serena removed a second medal, different in design. “Next, we honor a more unlikely hero, a man raised by the thinking machines and blinded to their crimes. But he has seen the truth and cast his lot with free humanity. The vital tactical information he provided about Earth’s defenses helped to assure our victory. In the heat of the battle, his fast thinking thwarted Omnius’s plan to escape, and provided the League with an invaluable tool for humanity’s continuing fight.” Smiling at him, Serena stepped forward. Vor held his head high. “We award Vorian Atreides not only with the Exemplary Service Medal, but also present him with the honorary rank of tercero in the League Armada.”

On cue, a squadron of antique aircraft and spacecraft zoomed overhead. Proud mechanics and historians had reconditioned the old vessels for the aerial show. Xavier and Vor saluted the sky as the pilots tipped their wings, and the crowd thundered its approval.

Iblis Ginjo, savoring his celebrity status before so many spectators, pushed his way close and shouted into the public address system: “These fine pilots are our future fighters of the Jihad. The thinking machines will not stand a chance!”

Wearing a preoccupied smile, Serena Butler pinned ribbons on a host of other heroes. She seemed wrapped up in thoughts of the past and of the insurmountable challenges humanity still needed to face. She seemed stronger now than ever before, but distant.

Vor stole glances at Xavier, saw the love for her on his ruddy face and the pain from knowing that they could never be together. Yet even Xavier’s marriage to Octa gave Vor little chance to win Serena’s heart. He recalled the first time he had seen her at the villa of Erasmus, how lovely and strong she had been, and defiant. Now, she seemed to have passed beyond those earlier troubles, to concern herself with impending crises that few people could understand. Deep inside, Serena seemed to be developing a different, awe-inspiring power.

Concluding her responsibilities in the victory celebration, Serena left the podium. She approached both Vor and Xavier as she departed, already intent on the plans that clamored in her mind. “I need to speak with both of you.” Her eyes were bright but hard; her voice allowed no room for argument. “Come to the City of Introspection at sunset.”

Vor and Xavier exchanged surprised looks, then nodded in unison.

THE TWO FORMER adversaries dined together, sharing a bottle of Salusan shiraz and tiptoeing around the subject that weighed so heavily on their minds and hearts. Neither of them could guess what Serena intended to say.

As pastel oranges and pinks of sunset tinted the sky, the two League officers traveled into the hills and entered the high gates of the quiet compound. Inside, the residents moved from building to building, activating luminors on the outside walls.

Serena stood waiting for them just inside, and Vor thought she looked rejuvenated, with more color in her features. His heart beat rapidly.

“Thank you for coming.” She took each of them by the hand and led them along a gem-gravel path to an open garden. “We can talk here uninterrupted. Indeed, I have found this to be a place full of possibilities . . . but without politics. Here, I can do what needs to be done.”

In a central area, surrounded by boxwood topiaries, water trickled from an ornamental pool, dribbling over a rock ledge and into another basin. Insects and nocturnal amphibians had already begun to practice their evening symphonies.

At the edge of the pool, three wooden chairs faced a small waterfall. Vor wondered if many people came here to contemplate, or if Serena had brought the chairs specially for this meeting. Serena crossed her hands on her lap and smiled as her guests sat awkwardly on either side of her.

She met Vorian’s gaze first. It seemed like a long time since their first meeting at the robot’s villa— with Vor arrogant and proud of his trustee position among the thinking machines. His appearance did not seem to have changed at all. He was so youthful-looking.

In contrast, she noted fine lines starting to age Xavier Harkonnen’s face. Though he was young, he had endured a great deal of stress and tragedy, and she felt sympathy for him. Years had passed since they had made love in the meadow, and it seemed like a different lifetime. They were not the same people.

So much had taken place; so many millions of lives had been lost. But she and these men were survivors.

It was time to tell them.

“I know your feelings, but both of you must forget your love for me,” she said. “We are about to embark on a war unlike any other.” She rose from her chair and stood at the edge of the pool, not taking her gaze from them. “But you must do something for me. Each of you in your own way.”

Her eyes brightened with intense sparks of determination. “Go into the League War Room and study the star maps of the Synchronized Worlds, the Unallied Planets, the League Worlds. In that vast expanse, you will find only two planets that we have ever won back from Omnius. Giedi Prime and Earth. They must not be the last.”

As darkness fell and the luminors grew brighter around the perimeter of the compound, the secluded area at the waterfall and the pond remained engulfed in thickening shadows. Even the frogs and insects quieted, as if they were listening to the noises of the night, constantly on the alert for danger.

“Xavier, Vorian— you two must rededicate yourselves to the fight,” Serena said. “Do it for me.” Her voice was like a chill wind across the galaxy. Vor saw now that her passion had not died within her, but had merely been redirected with a greater intensity toward a much vaster goal. “Our Jihad is righteous, and the evil machines must fall, no matter how much blood it costs us. Win back
every
planet, one by one. For humanity, and for me.”

Xavier nodded solemnly and repeated something Iblis Ginjo had said to him, “Nothing is impossible.”

“Not for any of us,” Vor said. Blinking away the stinging in his eyes, he smiled at her. “And especially not for you, Serena Butler.”

Abdel

Agamemnon

Alexander

Aliid

Aquim

Arkov,

Armada

Arrakis

Arrakis

Assembly

Atreides,

Ajax

baliset

Ballads

ballista

Barbarossa

Becca

Beetle

Bludd,

Bludd,

Bludd,

Bludd,

bristleback

Buddallah

Buddislam

burrhorse

Butler,

Butler,

Butler,

Butler,

Butler,

Butler,

Butler,

Buzzell

Caladan

Camio

Cenva,

Cenva,

Chandler

Chiry,

Chusuk

Chusuk,

Cogitor

Corrin

cuarto

cymek

Dante

Dhartha,

Dragoon

Dream

driftbarge

Ebbin

Ebrahim

Ecaz

Eklo

electrafludi

evermind

fernfibers

flowmetal

Freer,

gelcircuitry

Giedi

Giedi

Giedi

Ginaz

Ginjo,

glowglobe

glowpanel

Glyffa

Grogyptian

Hagal

Hall

Hannem,

Harkonnen,

Harkonnen,

Harkonnen,

Harmonthep

Hecate