Memories of Dune

This series is being written in memory of Frank Herbert and the legacy he left us. Like any other true Dune fan, I feel disgust at the crap that Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson wrote to "continue" the Dune novels. Hunters and Sandworms were especially crappy, and contradicted Frank Herbert's Dune novels so many times, also ignoring the message that he was giving us (through writing about Leto II and his Golden Path). There was also too much personal drama and unnecessary filler material that stretched it into two books.

Hence, this series is what I think Dune 7 should have been. Mind you, I am not endeavouring to attempt to write a full-length novel. Rather, I am writing short drabbles and oneshots based on what would be important events after Chapterhouse Dune. I might not be Frank Herbert, but I do my best to honor his legacy, and hopefully give you a better read than Hunters/Sandworms. I felt that 'Memories' was an appropriate title for my series, considering what happened to Arrakis/Rakis/Dune in Heretics of Dune, and for the memory of Frank Herbert.

This particular installment concentrates on Murbella after the events of Chapterhouse, and how she has to bring the BG and the HM together. What Brian and Kevin did for this part of Dune 7 was absolutely stupid and convoluted. Here is my version ;) The spark that started this idea was based on the Great Honored Matre's reaction to Darwi Odrade's metabolizing the poison she was given so it wouldn't harm her.

o0o0o

Chapterhouse Planet, 15,245 AG (Five years after Sheeana and Duncan's escape at the end of Chapterhouse Dune)

Murbella stared off into the horizon, seeing the haze of the sunset filtered through the dust clouds. Though there were years yet before the sand would reach Chapterhouse lands, already this planet felt like a desert. The air was devoid of moisture, and should a Sister wander out for a walk, they'd soon enough feel specks of dust blowing in on especially windy days.

But she was satisfied. Soon enough, there would be Spice. For that, sacrifices had to be made. Being leader of both the Bene Gesserit and the Honored Matres had not been easy. But if she had been lacking in sufficient character, she wouldn't even have made it through the Agony.

Odrade-within gave her solace on the days and nights that were most trying. There was so much to do... ensuring the worms were well, dealing with other planets and organizations, and trying to assess just who this Other Enemy was. At least she had completed her first hurdle – the one of bringing her former sisters into the fold of the Bene Gesserit. At first, her Matre sisters had resisted becoming part of the Bene Gesserit fold. Who could blame them? To them, the Sisterhood was outdated, something left over from the old days before the Scattering.

But Honored Matres want one thing, and that was power. It had been bred into them from their ancestors – renegade Bene Gesserit who had lost many of the old ways, Fish Speakers hungry to regain the order that they had lost after the Tyrant had died, and angry Tleilaxu females determined to never again be powerless under men.

When they saw the powers the Sisters had, it was something they naturally coveted. As a converted Honored Matre, Murbella understood that all too well. She spoke to her former Sisters in the way that they understood best. Adhere to Bene Gesserit beliefs, adapt to their ways, and they would have all the power that an Bene Gesserit had. Voices-within, changing their metabolism, transforming poisons within their bodies, remembering anything and everything they needed, and last but most certainly not least of all, speaking with that certain Voice that compelled all others to obey.

Of course, to be able to have all of these things required discipline. A few Honored Matres did not make it, but the rest were sufficiently motivated enough to go through the training that every acolyte received. And as all within the Sisterhood knew, the training of a Bene Gesserit is never easy. For those who had gone through it successfully, it changed them. No longer were they so violent and blood-thirsty. Patience and self-control were two cornerstones of the Bene Gesserit School of Thought, and all it had taken for her to make her former sisters understand was to dangle a reward for all that considerable effort in front of them.

And sometimes, all it takes is a promise to achieve the best results. Odrade-within could not help but chuckle at this thought and the memory of a Honored Matre who had been surprised at what a Bene Gesserit could do with poison, and Murbella smiled to herself as she continued to stare at the horizon. Any goal could be achieved with the right kind of motivation – and usually by not letting others know exactly what you were doing. The Honored Matres didn't recognize that by giving in to their own desires, they were achieving Murbella's goal.

Just like how Leto II launched the Universe onto his Golden Path, and no one understood exactly what he was doing until well after he died. Just like the enlightment that Honored Matres attained when they became Bene Gesserit, so did Murbella see that everything Leto had done was for the good of humankind, even though many today still cursed the Tyrant's name.