"Frank Herbert - Dune 1 - Dune (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Herbert Brian & Frank)

space beyond. "Are the Guild ships really big?" he asked.
The Duke looked at him. "This will be your first time off planet," he said. "Yes, they're big.
We'll be riding a Heighliner because it's a long trip. A Heighliner is truly big. Its hold will
tuck all our frigates and transports into a little corner -- we'll be just a small part of the
ship's manifest."
"And we won't be able to leave our frigates?"
"That's part of the price you pay for Guild Security. There could be Harkonnen ships right
alongside us and we'd have nothing to fear from them. The Harkonnens know better than to endanger
their shipping privileges."
"I'm going to watch our screens and try to see a Guildsman."
"You won't. Not even their agents ever see a Guildsman. The Guild's as jealous of its privacy
as it is of its monopoly. Don't do anything to endanger our shipping privileges, Paul."
"Do you think they hide because they've mutated and don't look . . . human anymore?"
"Who knows?" The Duke shrugged. "It's a mystery we're not likely to solve. We've more
immediate problems -- among them: you."
"Me?"


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"Your mother wanted me to be the one to tell you, Son. You see, you may have Mentat
capabilities."
Paul stared at his father, unable to speak for a moment, then: "A Mentat? Me? But I . . . "
"Hawat agrees, Son. It's true."
"But I thought Mentat training had to start during infancy and the subject couldn't be told
because it might inhibit the early . . . " He broke off, all his past circumstances coming to
focus in one flashing computation. "I see," he said.
"A day comes," the Duke said, "when the potential Mentat must learn what's being done. It may
no longer be done to him. The Mentat has to share in the choice of whether to continue or abandon
the training. Some can continue; some are incapable of it. Only the potential Mentat can tell this
for sure about himself."
Paul rubbed his chin. All the special training from Hawat and his mother -- the mnemonics, the
focusing of awareness, the muscle control and sharpening of sensitivities, the study of languages
and nuances of voices -- all of it clicked into a new kind of understanding in his mind.
"You'll be the Duke someday, Son," his father said. "A Mentat Duke would be formidable indeed.
Can you decide now . . . or do you need more time?"
There was no hesitation in his answer. "I'll go on with the training."
"Formidable indeed," the Duke murmured, and Paul saw the proud smile on his father's face. The
smile shocked Paul: it had a skull look on the Duke's narrow features. Paul closed his eyes,
feeling the terrible purpose reawaken within him. Perhaps being a Mentat is terrible purpose, he
thought.
But even as he focused on this thought, his new awareness denied it.

===========================

With the Lady Jessica and Arrakis, the Bene Gesserit system of sowing implant-legends through the
Missionaria Protectiva came to its full fruition. The wisdom of seeding the known universe with a
prophecy pattern for the protection of B.G. personnel has long been appreciated, but never have we
seen a condition-ut-extremis with more ideal mating of person and preparation. The prophetic