Mentats of Dune

Chapter 41 (The ideal form of mob behavior is controlled chaos)

As a trained Sister, Dorotea did not normally dream, but when she did, the images often stuck in her mind like actual events. Sometimes she had trouble differentiating them from reality, especially with the distinct echoes from Other Memory.

She sat up in the darkness. Around her, the chamber was silent, as if holding its breath, but she had just experienced one of her more vivid, troubling dreams.

The Emperor had given Dorotea’s followers austere quarters in a former military barracks near the palace. She had her own suite of rooms in an officer’s section on the top level. After awakening, shaken, she rose from her bed and stood at the window, gazing across the grassy parade grounds, where she and her hundred faithful Sisters trained, along with the new acolytes they were now allowed to recruit. The parade grounds were empty, except for the night watchman’s silent vehicle as he made his rounds.

She opened the window to feel a cool breeze. The air was moist and clean, suggesting that rain had fallen while she’d been deep in her dream. Moisture still clung to the air … just as the dream clung to her awareness, trying to send her a wordless message. Dorotea felt the dream forming a sharper reality in her mind, sculpting an opening for itself, a place for it to remain.

Before going to bed, she’d been thinking about one of the Sister Mentats back on Rossak, an aged Sorceress named Karee Marques. Before the schism, Dorotea had liked the old Sorceress, and had tried to learn from her. Karee had investigated Rossak plants and fungi, preparing poisonous distillates that could be used for the Agony. Though Dorotea assisted Karee in her pharmaceutical work, the old Sorceress had always been reticent, leaving Dorotea to wonder what she was hiding. Karee had also been one of Raquella’s closest confidantes.

Did Karee know about the forbidden computers, the hidden breeding records? Did she know Raquella is my own grandmother?

These questions still lingered, even now, but by voicing her suspicions to Emperor Salvador, Dorotea had touched a spark to kindling. She hadn’t meant to cause such a disaster at the Rossak School. She had merely wanted to bring the Sisters back to the proper, safe path. The turbulence had gone out of her control — the massacre of the Sister Mentats, the disbanding of the Rossak order.

Now, she was determined that her orthodox Sisters would rebuild the order here on Salusa, correctly, with the full support of the Imperial throne.

The recent dream was sharper in her mind now, as if those other thoughts placed it in context, giving it a framework. While sleeping, Dorotea had seen herself talking with old Sister Karee about the important secrets Josef Venport was harboring — a conversation that was impossible, because Karee was dead, cut down by the Imperial soldiers.…

Nonetheless, the Sorceress was there in Dorotea’s dream, very much alive and talking about current events after the breakup of the Rossak School. Sister Karee explained that VenHold continued to operate profitably, that their ships flew safely in direct contradiction to so many tragic losses from other shipping companies. In the dream, Karee used her Mentat skills to counsel Dorotea, outlining circumstantial but convincing evidence that suggested Josef Venport had more than good luck on his side. Not only did his ships use the skills of mysterious Navigators, they might also be taking advantage of forbidden computers.

Without proof of his twisted dealings, though, Dorotea could not expose Venport. She had already made a grave error in voicing suspicions about the Sisterhood’s illicit computers, without having actual evidence. Many of her Sisters had died because of that. She would not make premature accusations again.

The dream-Karee wore the customary white robe of a Sorceress, giving her an air of mystery and secret knowledge. After the conversation, Karee watched Dorotea like a wise counselor while the younger woman ran a series of questions about Venport through her mind, as if she were using Truthsayer abilities on herself, rather than on someone else. Now her conscious mind asked questions of her subconscious, interrogating herself to get both sides of the truth.

Dorotea wore the black robe of a Reverend Mother, and somehow she was looking at herself as she spoke to herself, as if there were two versions of her at the same time — an older, wiser one and a younger version who still had much to learn. The older one acted as the Truthsayer.

“Speak to me of VenHold and of Combined Mercantiles,” the older Dorotea said. “Tell me what you know.”

The younger person hesitated, then said, “Directeur Venport has cut off the delivery of vital Combined Mercantiles products to any planet that supports the Butlerians.”

“And what is the most valuable product that Combined Mercantiles delivers?”

“Melange, of course. Combined Mercantiles is the prime supplier, and they run their own spice-harvesting crews on Arrakis. After Directeur Venport’s recent announcement, his Spacing Fleet will be the only distributor of spice. Aboard his own ships, Venport’s Navigators consume enormous quantities of melange. VenHold and Combined Mercantiles are inextricably connected.”

“What else? What about the spice?”

“Spice is increasingly popular across the Imperium. It extends life, it promotes health. Many people are addicted. With the VenHold embargo, the inhabitants of Butlerian worlds are unable to get their spice by any means, and they grow more desperate. Venport expects this unrest to weaken their faith in Manford Torondo. The deprivation may drive them to break their pledge — as Baridge just did.”

The older, more sagacious version of Dorotea nodded. “Is it just political, or is Josef Venport using the embargo to increase profits as well? Speak to me of VenHold and the major banks. What do you know of the flow of money?”

Wrestling with her memories, the hints as well as actual data that seeped into her mind, Dorotea was aided by Other Memory. Information surfaced from all directions.

“In addition to the shipping embargo, there are credible reports that the major planetary banks have acted in collusion to freeze the assets of planets that took the Butlerian pledge.” She paused, followed another thread. “The planetary banks have also refused to grant financing to VenHold competitors, such as EsconTran. Nalgan Shipping nearly went bankrupt and was forced to sell its fleet to Venport. Meanwhile, the banks grant generous terms to Venport Holdings — and also to Combined Mercantiles.”

The dreaming, younger Dorotea blinked as pieces clicked into place.

“And what have you seen that you don’t know you’ve seen? Josef Venport is the Directeur of Venport Holdings. Who are the officers of Combined Mercantiles? Who are the officers of the major planetary banks?”

“I–I don’t know their names.”

“The names do not matter. You are missing the heart of the question.”

The words were heavy as the younger Dorotea lifted them out of her mind. “Venport Holdings and Combined Mercantiles are one. Venport Holdings and the planetary banks are one. The puppet strings all go back to Kolhar.”

The older Dorotea nodded like a wise teacher. “And the connections are likely to go farther still.”

Off to the side of the dream, white-robed Karee Marques folded her gnarled hands in her white sleeves. She listened, nodding as the student dissected the problem.

The younger Dorotea remembered Venport’s wife, Cioba, a powerful Sister from Rossak, someone else with Sorceress blood. Cioba and Josef had two young daughters, who were also being taught by Mother Superior Raquella. And Venport fostered and funded the new Sisterhood school in exile on Wallach IX.

She thought of Raquella’s Sisters and Cioba Venport … which led her thoughts to Josef Venport, then Venport Holdings, the planetary banks, Combined Mercantiles, the embargo of Butlerian planets. It was all a web, with a single nexus.

Dorotea saw the old Sorceress nodding with a rueful smile on her lips. Then she faded away, leaving Dorotea awake in the darkness, feeling very much alone and troubled by these astonishing revelations.…

SHORTLY AFTER DAWN, armed with her realization, Dorotea awaited the Emperor outside his office in the Hall of Parliament. It was far too early for Salvador to receive visitors, but she felt a sense of urgency now that she had pieced together the broad strokes of Josef Venport’s spreading plan. Without any doubt, the powerful Directeur had extended his web throughout many aspects of the Imperium, with no regard for the Corrinos.

More importantly, Manford Torondo needed to know, and she would send word to him on Lampadas. The linchpin seemed to be the Combined Mercantiles operations on Arrakis, the dependence on spice being the vital link in an ever more oppressive chain. Yes, Manford needed to know … but first she was obligated to inform the Emperor.

After revealing the fraud of House Péle and publicly humiliating Grand Inquisitor Quemada, Dorotea had been much more welcome in the Emperor’s presence. She was Salvador’s official Truthsayer, and her newest revelation would make her even more valuable to him. The Emperor would never again doubt what she had to say.

It might even make up for her disastrous fumbling of the situation on Rossak, which had destroyed the school there and broken the Sisterhood.…

The repercussions of Quemada’s confession still reverberated through the palace. The apprentice Scalpel torturers had performed their work with precise efficiency. In a particular, but unsurprising, irony the Grand Inquisitor had not survived his own interrogation, and his organs were sold to a research group.

No one in Zimia would see Empress Tabrina again either. One of the most surprising revelations that spurted like blood from Quemada’s mouth was that Tabrina had been aware that the Grand Inquisitor sold his victims’ organs on the black market. Rather than exposing the scheme, though, she had blackmailed the torturer, forcing him to become her lover — surely not because she had any fondness for the man, but in bitter retaliation for all of Salvador’s concubines. Maybe she liked Quemada’s sense of power, or the lingering scent of blood on his skin.…

When confronted with the accusation, Tabrina had crumbled, begging not to be thrown to the Scalpel apprentices. Only Prince Roderick’s hard and rational insistence had saved her. Grim and still grief-stricken after the death of his little daughter, Roderick insisted that the Imperium could not tolerate an expanding scandal. The Corrinos had already drained House Péle of its wealth, and Tabrina was sent into exile. Salvador had no need for her anymore — she had not given him an heir.

Dorotea knew Salvador would never have a child, not by any lover. The Sisterhood on Rossak had seen to it that he was secretly rendered sterile to cut off his flawed bloodline. It was one of the few matters on which Dorotea and Mother Superior Raquella had agreed.…

While she waited, listening to the palace stir, Dorotea heard a guard escort march down the tiled corridors. She rose to her feet, presented herself, and faced forward as Salvador and Roderick arrived together. She bowed, and when she straightened she said, “I have something you both must hear.”

The balding Emperor looked as if he might panic at the thought of another crisis, but Roderick remained calm. He opened the door to the Emperor’s main office and gestured them inside. “Your insights are always useful, Reverend Mother Dorotea.”

Suppressing her nervousness, she followed them. Whispers at the back of her mind clamored for attention, the ancient voices that were much more real than a dreaming revelation. She knew her conclusions were valid. “I am not a Mentat, but as a Truthsayer I can detect falsehoods. I observe, I look at subtle threads, and during a particularly deep meditation I accomplished an analysis on a very large scale.… My conclusions are troubling.”

Dorotea sketched out her discovery. “Venport Holdings is more than just a shipping fleet, and Directeur Venport’s plans extend through all portions of our lives. He has created a vast invisible network, like a cancer working through the Imperium — he owns the largest spacing fleet, the only one with access to Navigators for safe transport. He secretly runs Combined Mercantiles and controls commodities, transportation, the spice industry. He is the power behind the largest interplanetary banks, and he transports the majority of Imperial Armed Forces on their maneuvers. In short, he is everywhere, Sire. We cannot even gauge the extent of the net he has woven around us.”

The Emperor’s eyes shimmered with surprise and anger. He fussed and fidgeted in disbelief, and looked to his brother for confirmation. Prince Roderick seemed more circumspect. “I will look at your records, have our own Mentats and accountants analyze the connections you suggest … but I suspect you’re right. I was concerned when Directeur Venport recently announced his acquisition of Nalgan Shipping, giving him a virtual monopoly on foldspace transportation. His stranglehold tightens on the Butlerian planets, and the recent defection of Baridge is only the first of many, I suspect.”

“He means to smother the Butlerian movement!” Dorotea was unable to hide her alarm. “If he allows thinking machines to return, we could all be enslaved again—”

While Salvador stared at him, unsure of what to do, Roderick lifted a finger to silence her. “There is a vast gulf between allowing the use of a machine and becoming enslaved by a computer overlord. Manford Torondo’s ‘slippery slope’ warnings hold more hysteria than reality.”

When Dorotea attempted to argue and defend the Butlerian position, Roderick’s voice took on an edge. “Directeur Venport is clearly dangerous and ambitious, but he doesn’t incite mindless riots in the streets … mobs that kill little girls.”

Dorotea swallowed, listening to the sharp slap of his words. She had made her point, and the Corrino brothers did see the extent of Venport’s schemes, but Roderick had no love for the Butlerians either. And the Emperor would do whatever his brother advised.

After a long silence, Roderick added, “Although I have no fondness for the Butlerians, if Sister Dorotea is correct, the influence of Manford Torondo pales in comparison to Directeur Venport’s. We may have to force both of them to their knees.”

And how will you get the power to do that? Dorotea thought, but did not dare to speak aloud.

Salvador was exasperated. “Is the whole Imperium going mad? Venport can’t do these things without my permission! Where will he stop? Does Josef Venport want my throne, too?”

It sounded like a joke, but Dorotea nodded. “Perhaps so — if you get in his way.”