Dune: The Duke of Caladan by Brian Herbert

Author:Brian Herbert
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

Caladan, oh Caladan! I have tried to write songs, but thy beauty beggars all music. My memories are all the songs I need.

—GURNEY HALLECK, Collected Songs

Atreides crackdown troops swarmed over the fishery complex, uncovering more hoarded barra ferns hidden among moonfish shipments, ready to be sent off to the main city. Leto turned the investigation over to Thufir Hawat, knowing the Mentat would get to the bottom of the matter.

They spent the night in quarters provided by the crew chief, protected by Atreides soldiers, and flew out the next morning into the rising light, with Gurney Halleck at the aircraft controls. The flyer cruised over small fishing villages and docks, and then over more rugged terrain.

Higher up the uninhabited coast, they found an isolated inlet with a broad expanse of gravel, where Gurney landed the craft. “This should be safe, my Lord. Thufir has the tracker, so he will be able to locate us. We also have emergency communicators to call for help, if necessary. A response would be only an hour or two away.”

He glanced at Yueh, and the Suk doctor nodded. “I have a full medical kit.”

After disembarking, Duke Leto looked inland toward the rugged forests and rock outcroppings. The land looked tantalizing and mysterious. “We are prepared, Gurney, but we won’t need any rescue party. Paul and I want to get away from the comforts of noble life.”

Gurney scoffed. “You say that now, my Lord.”

“I will say that in a few days as well.”

After securing the flyer and activating shields to keep wildlife away, they took their packs and headed out. Forging their own trail, they followed the streams up from the coast, heading into the tall conifers. Paul could sense his father’s stubborn determination.

Even here in the wilderness, Leto wore his ducal signet ring, and Paul wondered if he would ever wear it himself. He didn’t want the ring as a symbol of personal power or to increase his wealth or holdings, but he understood the games of the Landsraad, the positioning of Great and Minor Houses. Out here in wild and beautiful Caladan, political problems seemed so far away.

Objectively, he understood why his father had approached Duke Fausto Verdun about joining their Houses in marriage. It was a necessary move, an exploratory idea. Paul had seen images and read reports about Junu Verdun, who seemed intelligent and pleasant enough, certainly pretty, although she was not the girl he kept seeing in his dreams.…

Surrounded by the glorious northern forests, Paul marveled at the lush fir groves, the moist air laden with the spice of evergreens. The thriving foliage and buzzing insects gave him a sense of untapped bounty, an urgency of life that made him feel smaller, a mere part in an interconnected web of nature.

A biting fly landed on his cheek and tried to draw blood, but Paul swatted it instantly, a reaction of his training, and the squashed fly fell dead to the ground.

The drizzle had been intermittent as they trudged into thicker forests.

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