Mentats of Dune

Chapter 14 (The wise instructor does not teach everything she knows)

When she returned with her new Sister Mentats to Wallach IX, Raquella was delighted to find that Valya Harkonnen had come back to the fold. She was also relieved. Despite her youth, Valya was one of the Mother Superior’s most trusted protégées, and she needed her. Raquella had trained the young woman, groomed her, given her vital responsibilities on Rossak, even allowed her into the inner circle of Sisters who knew about the secret breeding-record computers.

Ambitious and talented, Valya was driven to serve the Sisterhood school — enough so that Raquella had even considered her to be a likely successor … before everything changed.

Knowing Valya’s hard personality, Raquella wasn’t surprised that she would risk enduring the Agony, even without Sisters to attend her. On windswept Lankiveil, where Sister Arlett had recruited her years ago, Valya had consumed the tailored poison all by herself — and had emerged strong as a new Reverend Mother. Raquella had always seen the potential in her.

Yet the Harkonnen woman had a dark side, too, a not-quite-hidden obsessive loyalty to her own family, enough to give the Mother Superior reason to doubt. Even so, Raquella knew she might not have a choice, because time was running out.

Raquella’s recent health crisis on Lampadas had been yet another reminder of her mortality. Her ancient body struggled to hold on to a thread of life, and she did not know if she had years or days remaining. She needed a clear successor. The Sisterhood she had created and nurtured was in a disturbing state of flux, split into two rival factions. She saw the rift as a mortal wound, and she had little chance left to heal — didn’t even know if it was possible.

The division was personal, more than just a power struggle or philosophical dispute. When Sister Dorotea had discovered she was Raquella’s secret granddaughter — yanked away from her mother and raised without any knowledge of her parentage — she had resented the Mother Superior and the Sisterhood’s heartless ways. Because of her emotional reaction, Dorotea made flawed decisions. The Sisterhood had been broken because of it.

Emotions caused so much collateral damage!

As she tried to rebuild her school on Wallach IX, Raquella pondered the best way to save her precious order, to heal the two broken halves. The clamoring voices of Other Memory offered no useful insights, though their cacophony continued. A few louder individuals beckoned to her, demanding that Raquella join them in the eternity of death and let these problems solve themselves, as they always did.

Perhaps she should just surrender, name Dorotea her successor, and let the two groups merge. They would become the totality of the Sisterhood, with the Emperor’s blessing. Maybe the orthodox Sisters on Salusa Secundus would welcome the most talented women from Wallach IX.…

Or if not Dorotea, then Valya might be her only hope.

Raquella felt a renewed vigor as she embraced Valya Harkonnen, a prodigal daughter come back to the Sisterhood. The young woman smiled with pride. “I’ve found you again, but it’s not just me, Mother Superior. I’d like you to meet my sister, Tula. I gave her some training on Lankiveil, and you’ll find her as dedicated and determined as I was at her age.”

Raquella turned to the girl, whose eyes were as pale as glacier ice. “Valya has set the bar high for you, but I am always pleased to welcome new recruits.” Keeping her expression mild, she reached out a withered hand to pat the young woman’s shoulder, while using all her skills as a Reverend Mother to read nuances on Tula’s face. If anything, this young woman had an even wilder intensity in her demeanor than her sister did.

A tool to be sharpened and put to good use for the Sisterhood, she thought.

During the Mother Superior’s absence, Valya and Tula had quickly settled into the Wallach IX school. Though Raquella had yet to accept Tula formally as a new student, Valya continued training her own sister, demonstrating techniques of her own devising; some of the other trainees also observed and learned. Raquella appreciated Valya’s initiative, and she would make every effort to shape her ambitions for the good of the Sisterhood.

The ten new Sister Mentats came forward to join the other Sisters, looking in reserved dismay at the new facilities on Wallach IX. Before they had departed for Lampadas to begin their intensive Mentat training with Headmaster Albans, the Sisterhood school had been thriving on Rossak. Now, they regarded the prefab structures Josef Venport had provided, along with the cool and bleak landscape that was so different from the lush silvery-purple jungles. Everything on Wallach IX was much more raw than the ancient and imposing caves on Rossak.

But at least the Sisterhood has survived, Raquella thought. And we will rebuild.

Fielle, the brightest of the new Sister Mentats, remained near the Mother Superior. Raquella noticed Valya’s quick assessing glances toward each of the returning Sister Mentats, as if she were trying to determine whether they might be competition. She could not help but notice Fielle’s bond with the Mother Superior, and Valya’s eyes hardened for just an instant.

Raquella was sure Valya would realize that a Mentat Reverend Mother such as Fielle had skills she did not herself possess — useful skills. While a rivalry could force both women to develop their best talents, it could also lead to friction, even another dangerous rift, and the Mother Superior could not allow that. She would intercede and make certain these two became allies. Combining their skills, Valya and Fielle could become a team far more powerful than anything Dorotea could offer.

RAQUELLA RESETTLED HERSELF in the modest rooms she maintained on the school grounds. The buildings were new but drafty, without the warmth and familiarity of Rossak, without the gravitas of history. But that would change. Perhaps the Sisterhood would someday return to Rossak, or perhaps Wallach IX would grow into an important Mother School in its own right.

After resting, Raquella changed her robe and walked outside, where the weak sunshine warmed her face. She felt refreshed, better able to face her continuing obligations. So much to accomplish … and she dared not let herself die with all that important work unfinished. But she had to be realistic.

On an expanse of brittle blue-green grass outside the complex, she watched Valya and Tula practicing martial arts, with other Sisters gathered around to watch them. Though separated by seven years in age, the two Harkonnen girls were about the same height and build, both physically fit and flexible.

From prior testing, Raquella knew the Harkonnen bloodlines could be suitable for a beneficial intermingling that the breeding computers had projected. The school’s few Sister Mentats had difficulty reproducing the projections now, limited by the bound copies of the Rossak files they had managed to rescue.

It was plain to Raquella that she needed to retrieve the sophisticated computers from their hiding place in Rossak’s jungles. Those gigantic databases with a wealth of genetic data from noble houses and other significant families could not be lost. The bloodline archives would enable her experts to suggest optimum genetic matches. It was time to get them back, and Valya’s return was serendipitous. The Harkonnen woman had dismantled the computers and hidden the components. She would need to lead a retrieval mission.

As Raquella watched, the two Harkonnen sisters performed a series of swift combat moves that Valya had developed with her brother Griffin. The young women struck out at each other and fell back, feinted, advanced, dodging blows with precision, as if this were a complex, well-rehearsed dance. Their movements were fluid, graceful, and lightning fast. They charged at each other; Tula leaped over Valya and went into a smooth roll, while Valya rolled in the opposite direction. Less than ten meters apart, they sprang to their feet, whirled, and charged again, ignoring the gasps and cheers of Sisters watching them.

Raquella considered that Harkonnen genetics might offer intriguing possibilities, but she could not visualize Valya as a breeding mistress — she was too independent, too forceful. This beautiful new girl Tula, on the other hand, might be perfect for the program.

Valya and Tula stood back-to-back and each took one step, then whirled and struck out with hands and feet. A pair of blows struck home, as Valya kicked her sister in the abdomen, receiving a hard chop to the neck in return. Three more times they stood back-to-back, took a step, and whirled on each other. Raquella realized this was their variation of a less-than-deadly duel, in which they tried different attacks each time.

Raquella had already observed Valya’s impressive fighting abilities on Rossak, but her speed and fluidity had improved significantly. Additional Sisterhood training, as well as greater control as a Reverend Mother, had made Valya astonishing. She monitored her muscles, reflexes, and every move she made with precise control. It was obvious that Valya had taught Tula a great deal, because they shared the same instincts and speed. As a fighting team, they could be quite lethal.

When the young women concluded their impromptu demonstration, some of the onlookers asked Valya about her technique, while Tula stood looking quiet and shy. With a glance at the Mother Superior, Valya raised her voice. “When I trained with the Sisterhood, I identified a number of talented fighters in our ranks. Back then, the exercises were informal demonstrations of bodily control, but now they should be more than that.” She wiped perspiration from her brow. “We Sisters know our bodies and our reflexes better than any typical fighter — we can take advantage of that, develop it. We need to be able to defend ourselves against outside threats. Our Sisterhood has already been massacred once.”

Raquella stepped forward. “What are you suggesting?”

Valya flicked dark hair from her eyes. “Remember how easily the Sister Mentats were killed by Imperial troops? They were helpless in the face of brutish soldiers!”

The Mother Superior listened and considered. “The Sisterhood’s mission is to improve human abilities in all our candidates. Training is physical as well as mental, and mental abilities are enhanced by well-honed bodies. I agree, personal combat training would make the Sisterhood stronger.”

“Our enemies definitely won’t expect it.” Valya stood next to her sister as they faced the old woman. “Do we have your permission to show other Sisters our methods?”

“Of course. Each individual contributes to the whole. Develop an instruction routine as you see fit. But first I have a different mission for you.” She extended her arm. “Come, Valya, walk with me.”

As they crossed the grass, Raquella leaned on the younger woman’s arm, though she could have kept her balance without the assistance. The support she needed from Valya was far more than this.

The old woman continued, “On my orders, you were instrumental in hiding our electronic breeding records on Rossak. Although the new Sister Mentats are memorizing the incomplete bound records, that is not sufficient. Even if the records were exhaustive, it would take them far too long to assimilate so much data, one page at a time, and the result would not accomplish our larger goals.”

Valya could see where the discussion was heading, and her eyes flashed with a hungry pride. “You want me to go to Rossak, retrieve the hidden computers, and bring them back to Wallach IX, so we can continue our work on an accelerated scale.” Her lips curved in a grim smile. “That would prove Dorotea and her faction didn’t win.”

Raquella paused at a bench to catch her breath. “Those computers caused the deaths of many Sisters and created a huge schism in the order. But they are necessary, and I refuse to surrender them. Dorotea could never find the computers, never prove they existed, no matter how hard she searched. When we have them again, we must be extremely careful not to let the secret out.”

Valya narrowed her eyes. “I am good at keeping secrets — and at accomplishing what needs to be done. I will bring them back for you, Mother Superior. You can count on me.”

“Yes … yes, I can count on you. Lead a team of our best Sisters to Rossak to retrieve what is ours … and do it soon. We may not have much time.”

Valya was concerned. “Is there a crisis?”

“There is always a crisis. Right now, I am very old, Valya. Old and tired.”