From Paul and Jessica’s ride through the sandstorm
to Paul’s meeting with Chani
Summary
“We must depend not so much on the bravery
of individuals, you see, as upon the bravery of a whole population.”
(See Important Quotations Explained)
After four hours of riding through the sandstorm, Paul
and Jessica finally fly out and discover that Harkonnen ornithopters
are no longer pursuing them. Paul lands their ornithopter near a
large rocky area, and as they run toward the rocks, a sandworm appears and
eats the ship.
Paul and Jessica trudge through the desert. They must
rest by day and move by night to avoid heat exhaustion. They reach
the end of the rocky zone and must cross open desert to reach the
next one. While they are making their way down a slope, Jessica
gets caught in a sandslide, and Paul abandons the pack to the sand
to save her. He rescues his mother and, with great effort, recovers
the pack.
Meanwhile, Gurney Halleck, the Atreides war master, has
survived the Harkonnen attack, and he meets with Staban Tuek, the son
of the now-deceased Esmar Tuek. Halleck decides to join the smuggler’s
operation, hoping to one day use it to his advantage against the
Harkonnens.
Paul and Jessica plant a thumper, a device that makes
a rhythmic thumping noise, to distract the sandworm while they shuffle
across the desert to the next rock zone—they must walk without rhythm
so they do not attract the worm. They reach the rock zone, but are
followed by the worm, which reaches over the rock’s facade and nearly catches
them. Luckily, another thumper, in the distance, draws the worm
away. At the top of the rock zone, Fremen accost and threaten them.
Elsewhere, Kynes stumbles alone through the desert without
a stillsuit. The Harkonnens had left him to die. As he tries to
walk, delirious from the heat, he imagines that his dead father—the planet-ologist
for Arrakis before Kynes—is speaking to him. His father chides him
for helping Paul and lectures his son on trying to educate the Fremen
about their planet to help create great ecological changes on Arrakis.
Kynes’s father also warns that a “pre-spice mass” is developing
underground, which will soon explode and kill Kynes. A pre-spice
mass is a stage in the growth of melange in which the spice explodes
in order to get to the sun and air above ground and complete the
melange cycle. The father continues his harangue, reciting the plans
he made decades ago to change Arrakis, changes that Kynes had initiated
during his lifetime. Finally, the pre-spice mass explodes, killing
Kynes.
Back at the rock zone, the Fremen interrogate Paul. The
wise leader of the Fremen introduces himself as Stilgar, who Paul
has seen before. Keynes had ordered Stilgar to find Paul, but he
is skeptical about taking Jessica as well. Jessica then pulls a
knife on Stilgar and holds it to his throat, while Paul runs and
hides in the shadows. Stilgar is impressed that Jessica is knowledgeable
of the “weirding way,” a form of combat. Jessica notices the Fremen’s
use of a language called Chakobsa and makes an assumption about
their culture, guessing correctly that they will recognize the term
gom jabbar. Stilgar makes a deal with her: if she will teach the
Fremen this combat style, then Paul and Jessica can live with the
Fremen. One of the Fremen is Chani, Kynes’s daughter, whom Paul
has seen before in a dream.
