From Paul’s meeting with the duke to Paul’s concern
over Mohiam’s warnings
Summary
We learn from the introductory biographical note, as well
as from Dr. Yueh’s own thoughts, that he is the traitor to the Atreides.
Paul is joined by his father, Duke Leto, in the training room. Leto
admits that they are walking into a trap set by Baron Harkonnen,
but he believes that the Atreides can survive if they keep their
eyes open. Leto reveals to Paul that the Harkonnens have been stockpiling melange,
the spice drug, and plan to destroy the production of it on Arrakis
while also obliterating the Atreides. Destruction of the spice supply
would drive the prices of melange so high that the Harkonnens would
gain control, while the Atreides shoulder the blame for the high
prices. Leto tries to allay Paul’s fears; Leto believes that the Atreides
can beat the sneaky baron at his own game.
Soon the Atreides arrive on planet Arrakis. Lady Jessica
meets her new servant, Shadout Mapes, who is a Fremen—a native of Arrakis.
The native has been sent to test Jessica, and since she is a Bene
Gesserit, a member of a special ancient school for women, Jessica
passes the test. Jessica correctly identifies a strange knife that Mapes
shows her, calling it a maker. Mapes refers to Jessica as “the One.”
Jessica then goes to find Paul but instead finds Dr. Yueh.
Paul is sleeping in the next room. Jessica and Yueh discuss Arrakeen
politics, particularly the fact that some natives resent their rulers
for the extravagant use of water on a planet that has practically
no water. Other natives believe that the Atreides bring hope to
Arrakis, in contrast to the previous Harkonnen rule. Yueh, who is
desperately trying to conceal his traitorous plans from Jessica,
who has Bene Gesserit mind abilities, reveals one small truth: his
wife, also a Bene Gesserit, was taken and presumably killed by the
Harkonnens.
In Paul’s bedroom, a small robotic probe appears from
behind the headboard and tries to kill him, but Paul manages to
escape. The Atreides troops find a man beneath the palace, where
he had been controlling the deadly robotic probe. Meanwhile, Jessica
discovers the palace greenhouse, where thousands of plants are given
hundreds of gallons of water per day. She also discovers a note
from another Bene Gesserit, Lady Fenring, who belatedly warns Jessica about
the assassination attempt on Paul. Fenring warns that a traitor
is in their midst. Paul runs into the greenhouse, and Jessica tells him
of the message.
The duke, rattled by the attempt on his son’s life, attempts
to move on with business, assigning Halleck, the war master, to
convince the spice miners of Arrakis to continue working for the
Atreides.
The duke meets with Paul and Thufir Hawat, the master
of assassins. Hawat tries to resign for his failure to protect Paul,
but the duke refuses to let him. The duke calls a meeting of all
his men. They make several plans: to infiltrate the spice smugglers’
network and win their support; to prepare for the impending Harkonnen
trap; to raid in secret the Harkonnen spice reserves on another
planet; and to recruit the Fremen as warriors to fight any possible
threat. The Atreides also discuss Liet, the mysterious, perhaps
godlike leader of the Fremen. While at the meeting, Duncan Idaho
returns, along with a Fremen leader, Stilgar. Duncan, the swordmaster,
has won Stilgar’s respect, and the duke, with his respectful attitude,
also wins Stilgar’s respect. Stilgar offers Duncan a place in his
sietch, a protective cave, and with the duke’s blessing, Duncan
agrees to join the Fremen. As the meeting breaks up, Paul recalls
the Reverend Mother Mohiam’s warning that his father would not be
alive for long on Arrakis.
