"Being..." He almost said 'water-' "...bound to smugglers is a dangerous situation. But sometimes there is little choice." Stilgar nodded with understanding. "And what is the location?"

What followed lost some definition and was conveyed less a a scene and more a volley of emotions as if the deeper, more primal layers of the her brain below the cortex had finally got a say. This wordless reminiscence was joyous, happy, ecstatic and blissful even, and Cuyler's body relived it, if no...

"What is the arrangement?" Stilgar inquired more insistently in a voice that indicated it was an important question, and had to be answered truthfully else the budding trust between them Ahmina's vouching had won them would be frayed.

That was easier said than done. It looked like Paymon was in no hurry to greet them, wherever he was. Landing field was apparently not a place to find a source so to the bar is where Dorian should go. There must be one on those levels available to them. He got directions. And inside, within relative...

"They might have known about the place without knowing it." Chatt said, rising, reading to leave with her. "Things look different from above and from the sand. But we can ask that, I think. Anything else?"

Stilgar dwelled on something for a moment.

"We're holding some smugglers, and their equipment. They told us they have some arrangement with you. Is it true?"

"Am I not life? I can tell you, it radiates from me, with every breath..." The handsome boy leaned in. "Wander with me, Margot Kynes." He whispered.

"I'd tell him: you can't make a marionette by attaching just one string. Koans anger and confuse the likes of your father. I like him. But he is too reasonable. The universe is not. I don't want him to make you into someone like him. Your curiosity for life is delightful."

He nodded and finished his coffee.

"What do you want to ask them about? Good to know ahead, their answers may kill them."

That benefited him in more than one way, as the insides of the stilltent, this yet another device for closing water circulation, were hardly pleasant even for a shut-eye.

/scene

"I bet he'd say something like..." The boy made a serious, sullen face. "It's enough that Pardot has lost his mind. You should know better than your brother! There is nothing interesting about Salusa or all those other worlds of Zensunni martyrdom! We won't stay here long, I want the family back on ...

"They've been talked to, but we can try. You're here on Stilgar's suggestion, aren't you?" He chuckled. "I have faith in my naib, Ahmina, that he wants the best for the tribe. I'd have challenged him if I didn't. We don't always agree, but this is how it is within the sietch, isn't it?"

"Is it working?" He smiled warmly. "A Zensunni boy singing you songs from the Wanderings... What would your parents say?"

Chat cringed at the mention of Bewts. He apparently didn't appreciate their water business. "These smugglers are Tuek's. I don't think they have anything to do with the Bewts."

He shrugged it off and looked at her. "You've come to say something, Ahmina."

"I serve Bashar Kryubi." The man said with whatever firmness his audibly uncoordinated voice could muster after he had skimmed through the note. "Task doesn't matter."

It was very odd, that a man who'd spent his whole life on cold planets took so well to this furnace that he wanted to stay longer.

Ironically, his nemesis from Lankiveil was perhaps similar. Rabban enjoyed Arrakis way more than his own frigid demesne.

"If Orgiz can be so damning in Emperor's eyes, the Harkonnen may still destroy everything that points to them there themselves if they learn that you know. Without a force, you may only have one time to do everything you need to do, and you can't make mistakes." Stilgar shrugged. He personally had n...

"Ah." Stilgar sighed thoughtfully. "That can be checked, and quickly. But if they have returned to Orgiz, the surroundings will be guarded and the defences will be hard to overcome. A man may sneak in, but you don't look to me like people who can sneak in. Harkonnen will fight you if the discover yo...

[Mentat applies.] Upon some fine-tuning of the balancing, Edwell could project the following: De Vries and/or the Baron's involvement in the plan didn't nullify the claim of Harkonnen hubris as the driver of possible restoration of Orgiz. In fact, it was highly unlikely it was Rabban's personal ende...

[The problem is so well formulated it's just Understand 2.]

"It's hard to operate a refinery too far from the sand." Stilgar mused. "But possible."

Most nobles in the Imperium could only afford pinches into daily meals, just enough to unlock beneficial geriatric effects without causing addiction, though the main limiting factor was the price, especially now. The planet, however, was spoiling him; so far he could take as much as he wanted, thoug...

Stilgar raised his brow. He wondered if the Ice Man was asking for explanation. "The Baron's father built a refinery in a canyon. A sandworm broke through and destroyed everything. It was a long time ago. I heard the story from my naib." Something about Stilgar's schadenfreude smirk was telling that...

That was mentat's work, but even their projections were only as good as the data they were fed with. Bom's instincts led him in interesting directions; it was hard to tell if he was right or wrong. But one thing flashed in his awareness: one of the most brutal, wealthy and well-armed Great Houses ef...

"Shai-hulud always comes." Stilgar agreed. "The lesson of Orgiz must have been hard for them."