Navigators of Dune

Moving through the room, she opened the opposite door that led into the larger complex. Down the passageway, she spotted other stealthy figures moving. Good, another of her commando squads had already gotten inside, and moments later she received a signal confirming that the third one had entered as well. They began the full search.

Now they could all hunt, and soon the task would be completed. They would find the two Atreides quickly enough.

* * *

AFTER SITTING MOTIONLESS, awake but drifting into a meditative state, Vor snapped to full awareness when he saw a flicker of motion on the holo-image. Sleek, dark shapes were moving through the enclave—where they definitely did not belong. He nudged Willem, put a hand over the young man’s mouth as he awoke, and pointed at the display.

Willem silently grabbed his weapons kit from the alcove. Vor already had his. They were both ready. The two men watched the female shapes glide like oil through the tunnels to converge outside Vor’s previous room. The dark figures paused, regrouped, and then forced their way inside.

Vor gripped his weapons, knowing that the chamber was empty. Moments later, the dark-garbed women were back outside, huddling together in obvious confusion. Then they began hunting again.

“Be ready,” he whispered. Willem was perspiring and breathing unevenly as he tried to keep himself calm. “I knew they’d come.”

The images were dark and indistinct, but Vor decided one figure clearly resembled Tula Harkonnen; if it was Tula, then Valya might be with her, to make certain the attack was successful. He was hoping for that.

Watching them, he decided to take action of his own. He had planned for this. Counting down the seconds, he touched a trigger to activate explosives he’d implanted in the walls. The roar of the detonation sent shock waves through the tunnels. On the portable screen, he saw dark-clad bodies slamming into the walls … and then sections of the unstable tunnels sliding down in collapse.

Korla and the rest of the scavengers would be awake now. Vor needed to take charge of the crisis.

In the flickering projection on the damaged imager, Vor saw several of the strangers lying motionless, while others bounded away. He had not expected to kill them all; this was just the first step, but he was ready to deal with them. He counted three bodies, wasn’t sure who they were, but hoped …

Willem looked at him with shining eyes. “For Orry.”

Vor nodded. “Let’s go.”

One of the surviving women discovered the implanted imager. She scanned the device, followed the signal, and then plucked it out of the wall. Just before the holo dissolved into a smoke of static, Vor saw her point down the tunnels toward his hiding place. The commandos raced along the passageway, heading in his direction. Then the screen showed nothing but static.

Cursing, Vor grabbed his companion’s arm and pushed him toward the rear escape hatch and out into the side corridor. Willem gasped as they ran, “Did you see them? What sort of weapons do they have?”

“I don’t know exactly, but I don’t like what I saw.”

Underground alarms sounded; bright amber lights strobed inside the stairwells. Vor and Willem fled in silence. Reaching the last doorway at the top of the steep stairwell, they burst outside onto the rubble-strewn surface. Under the starry night of Corrin, the rough landscape appeared even more otherworldly than in daylight. Vor hurried Willem to the other side of a slag pile, where they hid. His ship wasn’t far away, out in the open, but he had no intention of running now that he had lured the Harkonnens here.

Before long, he heard a voice call out. “Vorian Atreides, this is Valya Harkonnen. Your traps and tricks can’t stop us. Enough running. It’s time to face the justice you deserve—to bring honor back to our house and death to yours.”

Vor and Willem both withdrew compact projectile pistols from their weapons kits and prepared to fire.

“You could keep hiding,” Valya shouted, “or you could come out and accept our challenge. You know that’s the way it’s destined to be, Atreides—us against you. Do you accept, or are you cowards?”

In the moonlight, Vor spotted the two Harkonnen women in dark singlesuits, while four other women emerged behind them. He wondered how many more there were.

He could see how much Willem wanted to fight them, win or lose. Vor felt the same—but what about the other Sister commandos out there? Valya had undoubtedly brought the best with her. He doubted if Griffin’s sister would truly accept a fair duel, without reinforcements to interfere if he and Willem were to get the upper hand.

And the two Atreides were here alone.

Before he could respond, Vor heard many more voices—men and women. In the moonlight he saw the burly form of Korla of Corrin striding out, garbed in her shimmering flowmetal cape. Many angry scavengers accompanied her, well armed with large projectile rifles. Their powerful illuminators bathed the stark area in bright light.