Navigators of Dune

13

Proud, determined, and fully in control of the Sisterhood, Valya gazed across the women she had summoned to the central grounds of the school complex. Reverend Mothers, Sisters, and young Acolytes all waited to hear her in the chill morning air, standing at attention on an expanse of brittle, blue-green grass. Clouds gathered overhead, threatening snow rather than rain, and the women struggled not to shiver.

Valya stood on a mound, waiting for a male technician to finish adjusting the voice-amplification equipment. Though the Sisterhood trained only women, the school complex hired offworld men to work on construction, maintenance, and low-skill technical duties.

The exercise field was encircled by prefabricated buildings with pitched metal roofs, structures provided by Josef Venport when he had transported the women here after their exile from Rossak. Lately, workmen had been upgrading the prefab buildings. With added insulation and reinforced walls, the buildings were acceptable, though sterile and utilitarian. Valya wanted to keep them as a reminder of the Sisterhood’s hard times, when they were in the depths of despair and barely hanging on. Those times were in the past, now that she was Mother Superior. The Sisterhood no longer needed to rely on a generous benefactor.

On the opposite side of the field, a pair of three-story buildings with sturdy stone walls and red tile roofs were under construction — imposing, permanent structures, because Valya intended her Sisterhood to last for millennia. The school was one of many projects in her long-term plan, one that included not only the expansion of the order, but the redemption of her own family. For Valya, the two were not mutually exclusive. She fully intended to achieve both.

When the worker finished adjusting the voice amplifier, Valya dismissed him and focused her attention on the gathered women. Some were already her elite, others would become that in time, while some might not make it at all. But they were all her followers, her Sisters, and she felt a certain affection for them, although she knew that love itself was a dangerous weakness. She would have to be careful.

The speaker system carried her words across the silent throng. Some of the audience shivered in the cold, while others were more adept at controlling their metabolisms. “We stand at a critically important time for the Sisterhood. It was Mother Superior Raquella’s dying wish that our factions be reunited, the rift healed, and I intend to lead my new Sisterhood united through a bright time of growth and strengthening.”

As she spoke, snowflakes fluttered through the air, a few at first, and then a thickening mass. Valya glanced up at the clouds. Perfect. The weather predictions had been accurate.

“We must place more Truthsayers and Sister Mentats in the noble houses of the Landsraad League — make ourselves indispensible to the Imperium. Not only will this generate revenue for us, it will also make us vital to very influential people.” She allowed a smile on her face. “But that is only a stepping-stone. We have much greater plans in store.”

Snowflakes settled on the attentive Sisters. The Reverend Mothers and Sorceresses could ignore the cold and the wet, but some of the Acolytes struggled against their increasing discomfort. Valya had no sympathy for them; they would have to learn, or die.

“Your training will not be entirely mental and philosophical. I have developed new fighting techniques, which I’ve taught to many Sisters already. They will now train you. You will all be expected to master those skills.” We will never be weak again, she silently vowed, not individually nor collectively. Filled with determination, she remembered how they had been scattered from Rossak by Emperor Salvador and the antitechnology fanatics.

Sister Ullora, one of the Reverend Mothers recently recalled from the Imperial Court, brushed snow from her hood. “Considering the weather, Mother Superior, perhaps this is a day better spent inside with other forms of instruction? Politics? Economics? Memorizing the Azhar Book?” She frowned at the blowing snow. “Some of the Acolytes are suffering.”

Valya did not conceal her annoyance. Ullora had been far too loyal to Dorotea and had publicly disparaged Raquella and her “ragtag women” at the new school. Valya’s reply was withering. “Combat is neither a courtly dance nor a pleasant, springtime conversation.” She added just a hint of her new Voice control. “You will fight when I command it.”

Ullora flinched, paled, and seemed to shrivel physically. She looked down in shame. The rest of the women showed their faith in Valya. Yes, she had them well in hand. As Mother Superior, she had to be firm with them. “Training may be harsh, but the rewards are worth the effort. We in the Sisterhood are the elite of all women, together as one, closer than any other friendship or loyalty. As individuals, many of you are already deadly warriors. Side by side, we are even stronger.”

Several Sisters began to applaud, but Valya dismissed the distraction, wanting no empty cheers. An icy wind cut across the grassy area, and she saw Acolytes securing their robes tightly around their bodies, while others stood still and endured. Snow fell harder now.

“Our Sisters may be assigned to noble houses, but they remain loyal to us and gather intimate information which we can use. The greatest power is the unseen and unexpected power.” She heard a murmur of concurrence in the assemblage, saw heads nodding.

“Our focus shall also include powerful business interests, traders, philosophers. Our influence must spread to backwater planets, where we can use indoctrination and conversion methods. Passive or uneducated populations will be swayed most easily.”

Cold wind whistled through the voice-amplification system. From control decks, the huddled male technicians adjusted the electronics, so that her words remained powerful and clear.

“We will dispatch specialized Sisters as missionaries to such planets to plant seeds of superstition that can protect the future of the Sisterhood. Because beliefs among such people are often more powerful than knowledge, we will observe their fears and folktales and thus guide them so that they — unknowingly — begin to think and believe along lines that are useful to us.”

By now, with the heavy snow collecting on the ground, even the Reverend Mothers struggled not to shiver. It was a useful observation. In addition to the many regimes of intellectual and psychological study, each Sister should know how to control every nuance of her body, including her core temperature. Cold such as this should be no more than an inconvenience. Valya noted which ones seemed most able to endure the discomfort and decided to choose them as the women best suited for the challenging work on primitive worlds. They would be the first such missionaries.

All the pieces would fit together, wheels within wheels within wheels. Yes, the Sisters would become so much more than Raquella had ever imagined! The Sisterhood had been whipped too often, had served others too often. The new Mother Superior would insist that they be active, not passive. To outsiders, they would continue to look subservient and useful, but internally they would have their own powerful agenda. Valya’s agenda.

We will be invisible, but still strong. We will have the power, not the glory.

She would create a harsher, edgier Sisterhood of women willing to use any tool or weapon they possessed — mental skills, ruthless combat methods, even seduction and manipulation. And the Sisterhood would become an extension of her personal goals for House Harkonnen. As the order advanced, so too would her Great House … and the historical injustices committed against her family would be reversed.

She only wished Tula would be part of it, but her sister had gone home, at least temporarily. Tula seemed unsettled, and Valya hoped the young woman would come to her senses quickly, leave her self-imposed exile on Lankiveil, and become a strong member of the Sisterhood again. Tula might need firm encouragement … but Valya’s patience with her had not run out. Not yet.

In any event, she had discreet operatives who were subtly keeping watch on the girl, just to make sure Tula did nothing foolish. It was best not to take chances.

The wind howled as the storm became a blizzard, but she knew that a far more powerful storm was coming. Valya shouted, “Now strip down to your fighting clothes, all of you. It is time for combat training.”