Dune: The Butlerian Jihad

by Brian Herbert; Kevin J. Anderson

  Omnius finally said, “I do not understand you any more than I understand humans.”

  “I know that, Omnius. It will always be your weakness.”

  The robot looked fondly down at his enslaved humans as his guards carried off the corpses and the injured. Erasmus thought of all the wonderful things he had learned from this species . . . and how much more he could discover, if granted the opportunity. Their collective lives were balanced on a tightrope over a dark, bottomless chasm, and Erasmus stood with them. He would not give them up easily.

  On the bright side, he saw that in his absence, two more sets of twins had been born. As always, the possibilities were endless.

  Human life is not negotiable.

  — SERENA BUTLER

  In honor of the bittersweet nuclear victory on Earth, the League Worlds hosted a massive celebration for their returning heroes and a touching farewell for their fallen dead.

  The battered ships had limped back after their long voyage, while faster scouts and couriers raced back to Salusa Secundus bearing the news and letting the League know what to expect when the Armada arrived, scarred and diminished.

  But the Earth-Omnius was destroyed, and the thinking machines had suffered a terrible blow. They clung to their triumph.

  In the hot and humid arena, Vorian Atreides felt sticky with perspiration in his dress uniform. No matter the weather, the people would want to see him and Segundo Harkonnen in full regalia. Xavier stood beside him now on the reviewing stand as Viceroy Butler and Serena quieted the crowd, demanding their full attention.

  The two men— who had made their peace with each other on the long journey back to Salusa Secundus— stood stiff-backed in the shade of a covered viewing platform, along with other dignitaries. Iblis Ginjo, dressed in fine clothes and proud of his increasingly influential position, also sat in the gilded VIP area.

  “For leading our united League forces on the mission to Earth, a landmark victory over the thinking machines,” Viceroy Butler said, holding a ribbon and medal high, “for making the difficult decisions and accepting the necessary challenge, I award the Parliamentary Medal of Honor to the League’s most distinguished soldier, Segundo Xavier Harkonnen. It is the highest award we can bestow, and we do so with heartfelt gratitude.”

  Three hundred thousand spectators erupted in deafening cheers. Many of these people had lost children, friends, and parents in the Battle of Earth. In silence, Vor remembered how many Armada fighters had fallen during the atomic sterilization of the planet. With his peripheral vision, he saw Xavier Harkonnen’s eyes glisten from the emotion of the moment as the Viceroy draped the ribbon over his bowed head. Soon there would be more battles to fight, more machine forces to face.

  Serena removed a second medal, different in design. “Next, we honor a more unlikely hero, a man raised by the thinking machines and blinded to their crimes. But he has seen the truth and cast his lot with free humanity. The vital tactical information he provided about Earth’s defenses helped to assure our victory. In the heat of the battle, his fast thinking thwarted Omnius’s plan to escape, and provided the League with an invaluable tool for humanity’s continuing fight.” Smiling at him, Serena stepped forward. Vor held his head high. “We award Vorian Atreides not only with the Exemplary Service Medal, but also present him with the honorary rank of tercero in the League Armada.”

  On cue, a squadron of antique aircraft and spacecraft zoomed overhead. Proud mechanics and historians had reconditioned the old vessels for the aerial show. Xavier and Vor saluted the sky as the pilots tipped their wings, and the crowd thundered its approval.

  Iblis Ginjo, savoring his celebrity status before so many spectators, pushed his way close and shouted into the public address system: “These fine pilots are our future fighters of the Jihad. The thinking machines will not stand a chance!”

  Wearing a preoccupied smile, Serena Butler pinned ribbons on a host of other heroes. She seemed wrapped up in thoughts of the past and of the insurmountable challenges humanity still needed to face. She seemed stronger now than ever before, but distant.

  Vor stole glances at Xavier, saw the love for her on his ruddy face and the pain from knowing that they could never be together. Yet even Xavier’s marriage to Octa gave Vor little chance to win Serena’s heart. He recalled the first time he had seen her at the villa of Erasmus, how lovely and strong she had been, and defiant. Now, she seemed to have passed beyond those earlier troubles, to concern herself with impending crises that few people could understand. Deep inside, Serena seemed to be developing a different, awe-inspiring power.

  Concluding her responsibilities in the victory celebration, Serena left the podium. She approached both Vor and Xavier as she departed, already intent on the plans that clamored in her mind. “I need to speak with both of you.” Her eyes were bright but hard; her voice allowed no room for argument. “Come to the City of Introspection at sunset.”

  Vor and Xavier exchanged surprised looks, then nodded in unison.

  • • •

  THE TWO FORMER adversaries dined together, sharing a bottle of Salusan shiraz and tiptoeing around the subject that weighed so heavily on their minds and hearts. Neither of them could guess what Serena intended to say.

  As pastel oranges and pinks of sunset tinted the sky, the two League officers traveled into the hills and entered the high gates of the quiet compound. Inside, the residents moved from building to building, activating luminors on the outside walls.

  Serena stood waiting for them just inside, and Vor thought she looked rejuvenated, with more color in her features. His heart beat rapidly.

  “Thank you for coming.” She took each of them by the hand and led them along a gem-gravel path to an open garden. “We can talk here uninterrupted. Indeed, I have found this to be a place full of possibilities . . . but without politics. Here, I can do what needs to be done.”

  In a central area, surrounded by boxwood topiaries, water trickled from an ornamental pool, dribbling over a rock ledge and into another basin. Insects and nocturnal amphibians had already begun to practice their evening symphonies.

  At the edge of the pool, three wooden chairs faced a small waterfall. Vor wondered if many people came here to contemplate, or if Serena had brought the chairs specially for this meeting. Serena crossed her hands on her lap and smiled as her guests sat awkwardly on either side of her.

  She met Vorian’s gaze first. It seemed like a long time since their first meeting at the robot’s villa— with Vor arrogant and proud of his trustee position among the thinking machines. His appearance did not seem to have changed at all. He was so youthful-looking.

  In contrast, she noted fine lines starting to age Xavier Harkonnen’s face. Though he was young, he had endured a great deal of stress and tragedy, and she felt sympathy for him. Years had passed since they had made love in the meadow, and it seemed like a different lifetime. They were not the same people.

  So much had taken place; so many millions of lives had been lost. But she and these men were survivors.

  It was time to tell them.

  “I know your feelings, but both of you must forget your love for me,” she said. “We are about to embark on a war unlike any other.” She rose from her chair and stood at the edge of the pool, not taking her gaze from them. “But you must do something for me. Each of you in your own way.”

  Her eyes brightened with intense sparks of determination. “Go into the League War Room and study the star maps of the Synchronized Worlds, the Unallied Planets, the League Worlds. In that vast expanse, you will find only two planets that we have ever won back from Omnius. Giedi Prime and Earth. They must not be the last.”

  As darkness fell and the luminors grew brighter around the perimeter of the compound, the secluded area at the waterfall and the pond remained engulfed in thickening shadows. Even the frogs and insects quieted, as if they were listening to the noises of the night, constantly on the alert for danger.

  “Xavier, Vorian— you two must
rededicate yourselves to the fight,” Serena said. “Do it for me.” Her voice was like a chill wind across the galaxy. Vor saw now that her passion had not died within her, but had merely been redirected with a greater intensity toward a much vaster goal. “Our Jihad is righteous, and the evil machines must fall, no matter how much blood it costs us. Win back every planet, one by one. For humanity, and for me.”

  Xavier nodded solemnly and repeated something Iblis Ginjo had said to him, “Nothing is impossible.”

  “Not for any of us,” Vor said. Blinking away the stinging in his eyes, he smiled at her. “And especially not for you, Serena Butler.”

  Glossary of the Butlerian Jihad

  Abdel

  — old Zensunni man on Arrakis

  Agamemnon

  — one of the original Twenty Titans, cymek general, father of Vorian

  Alexander

  — one of the original Twenty Titans

  Aliid

  — young Poritrin slave, friend of Ishmael alloyglas— transparent, extremely tough material, often used as armor IV Anbus— Unallied Planet

  Aquim

  — human tender of Cogitor Eklo

  Arkov,

  Rell — charter member of League of Nobles

  Armada

  — League Armada

  Arrakis

  — desert world, Unallied Planet

  Arrakis

  City — main spaceport and town on Arrakis

  Assembly

  Hall — governmental building in Zimia

  Atreides,

  Vorian — son of Agamemnon, raised on Earth under thinking machine rule

  Ajax

  — cymek, considered the most brutal of the original Titans

  baliset

  — ancient musical instrument developed during the heyday of the Old Empire

  Ballads

  of the Long March — old legends and songs telling of early human exodus and resistance during the initial Time of Titans

  ballista

  — largest battleship created by Salusan Militia

  Barbarossa

  — one of the original Titans, programmer of aggressive computer systems

  Becca

  the Finite — Sister at City of Introspection

  Beetle

  — constellation seen from Arrakis

  Bludd,

  Favo — ancestor of Niko Bludd

  Bludd,

  Frigo — ancestor of Niko Bludd

  Bludd,

  Lord Niko — leader of Poritrin

  Bludd,

  Sajak — first Poritrin leader to advocate slavery

  bristleback

  — wild boar native to Salusa Secundus

  Buddallah

  — mysterious deity of the Zensunni religion

  Buddislam

  — core religion of Zensunnis and Zenshiites

  burrhorse

  — pack animal from Earth

  Butler,

  Faykan — primero of the Jihad

  Butler,

  Fredo — Serena’s younger brother, died from a blood disease

  Butler,

  Livia — Serena’s mother, abbess of the City of Introspection

  Butler,

  Manion — Viceroy of the League of Nobles

  Butler,

  Manion — son of Serena Butler and Xavier Harkonnen, and grandson of Viceroy Manion Butler

  Butler,

  Octa — younger sister of Serena Butler

  Butler,

  Serena — daughter of Viceroy Manion Butler

  Buzzell

  — Unallied Planet, source of soostones

  Caladan

  — ocean world, Unallied Planet

  Camio

  — Sorceress of Rossak, one of Zufa’s trainees

  Cenva,

  Norma — dwarf daughter of Zufa Cenva, mathematical genius

  Cenva,

  Zufa — powerful Sorceress of Rossak

  Chandler

  pistol — projectile weapon that shoots sharp crystal fragments

  Chiry,

  Cuarto — member of Salusan Militia

  Chusuk

  — League World, known for musical instruments

  Chusuk,

  Emi — great composer from the latter days of the Old Empire City of Introspection— monastery-style religious and philosophical retreat on Salusa

  Cogitor

  — disembodied brain, similar to a cymek, devoted to contemplating esoteric questions

  Corrin

  — Synchronized World

  cuarto

  — fourth rank in League Armada

  cymek

  —”machines with human minds,” disembodied brains inside mechanical bodies

  Dante

  — one of the original Titans, skilled in bureaucratic manipulation

  Dhartha,

  Naib — leader of Zensunni tribe on Arrakis

  Dragoon

  — guard force on Poritrin

  Dream

  Voyager — update ship captained by Seurat

  driftbarge

  — slow zeppelin transportation system on Poritrin

  Ebbin

  — slave boy on Poritrin

  Ebrahim

  — treacherous former friend of Selim’s

  Ecaz

  — Unallied Planet

  Eklo

  — Cogitor of Earth

  electrafludi

  — bluish life-support liquid for Cogitors and cymeks, also acts as fluid circuitry

  evermind

  — all-encompassing intelligent computer system

  fernfibers

  — Rossak fabric

  flowmetal

  — metallic, sensor-laden skin material used by robots

  Freer,

  Ohan — human crew boss serving thinking machines on Earth

  gelcircuitry

  — sophisticated fluid-crystalline electronics that form the basis of thinking machine neural networks

  Giedi

  City — main industrial and government city on Giedi Prime

  Giedi

  Prime — planet in League of Nobles, rich in resources and industrial capability, ruled by a Magnus

  Giedi

  Prime Home Guard — local defensive military on Giedi Prime

  Ginaz

  — planet in League of Nobles, mostly water; population lives on the scattered islands in an archipelago

  Ginjo,

  Iblis — charismatic human work leader on Earth

  glowglobe

  — mobile illumination source driven by residual energy from its component suspensor field. Developed by Norma Cenva on Poritrin

  glowpanel

  — long-lasting stationary light source

  Glyffa

  — old woman on Arrakis, foster-mother to Selim

  Grogyptian

  — extravagant Old Empire architectural style

  Hagal

  — planet in League of Nobles, known for mineral resources, ruled by a County General

  Hall

  of Parliament — governmental building in Zimia

  Hannem,

  Ryx — slaver, Keedair’s copilot

  Harkonnen,

  Katarina — Xavier’s mother, killed by thinking machines near Hagal

  Harkonnen,

  Piers — Xavier’s older brother, killed by thinking machines near Hagal

  Harkonnen,

  Ulf — Xavier’s father, killed by thinking machines near Hagal Harkonnen, Xavier— officer in Salusan Militia and League Armada

  Harmonthep

  — Unallied Planet, source of slaves

  Hecate

  — one of the original Twenty Titans, lover of Ajax, “resigned” and departed from the Empire not long before the Omnius takeover

  Heoma

  — powerful Sorceress of Rossak, one of Zufa’s trainees

  hollownut

  — Rossak nut, used for carving
<
br />   Holtzman,

  Tio — genius inventor on Poritrin

  hrethgir

  — derogatory term for “human vermin”

  Hrethgir

  Rebellions — first uprisings of enslaved humans against thinking machines, particularly cymeks. Major one occurred on Walgis, and was brutally crushed by Ajax

  irongourd

  — Rossak gourd

  Isana

  — primary river on Poritrin

  Ishmael

  — young slave taken from Harmonthep

  Ix

  — planet in League of Nobles

  javelin

  — mid-sized model of League Armada destroyer

  Jayther,

  Vilhelm — original human name of the Titan Barbarossa

  Jibb,

  Pinquer — messenger from Giedi Prime

  Juno

  — cymek female, one of the original Titans, Agamemnon’s lover

  Kaitain

  — peripheral League World

  Keedair,

  Tuk — Tlulaxa slaver and flesh merchant

  kindjal

  — fast, small fighter ship in League Armada

  Kirana III

  — League World

  Komider

  — industrial League World

  Kralizec

  — name of the final struggle, as predicted by Buddislam

  Kwyna

  — Cogitor dwelling in the City of Introspection

  League

  of Nobles — government of free humans

  League

  Armada — space navy designed to protect League Worlds

  League

  Parliament — governmental body of League of Nobles

  League

  Worlds — signatory planets to League of Nobles charter

  Linné,

  Serena — false name used by Serena Butler after her capture

  Lords

  Council — government body on Poritrin

  Magnus

  — political title on Giedi Prime

  Mahmad

  — Naib Dhartha’s son

  Manresa,

  Bovko — first League Viceroy

  Meach,

  Primero Vannibal — commander of Salusan Militia

  milkbug

  — edible arachnid from Harmonthep

  Moulay,

  Bel — Zenshiite religious leader

  Narakobe,

  Pitcairn — League military philosopher