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

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"My dear, I think also of your comfort. I've engaged servants. They're locals, but Hawat has
cleared them -- they're Fremen all. They'll do until our own people can be released from their
other duties."
"Can anyone from this place be truly safe?"
"Anyone who hates Harkonnens. You may even want to keep the head housekeeper: the Shadout
Mapes."
"Shadout," Jessica said. "A Fremen title?"
"I'm told it means 'well-dipper,' a meaning with rather important overtones here. She may not
strike you as a servant type, although Hawat speaks highly of her on the basis of Duncan's report.
They're convinced she wants to serve -- specifically that she wants to serve you."
"Me?"
"The Fremen have learned that you're Bene Gesserit," he said. "There are legends here about
the Bene Gesserit."
The Missionaria Protectiva, Jessica thought. No place escapes them.
"Does this mean Duncan was successful?" she asked. "Will the Fremen be our allies?"
"There's nothing definite," he said. "They wish to observe us for a while, Duncan believes.
They did, however, promise to stop raiding our outlying villages during a truce period. That's a
more important gain than it might seem. Hawat tells me the Fremen were a deep thorn in the
Harkonnen side, that the extent of their ravages was a carefully guarded secret. It wouldn't have
helped for the Emperor to learn the ineffectiveness of the Harkonnen military."
"A Fremen housekeeper," Jessica mused, returning to the subject of the Shadout Mapes. "She'll
have the all-blue eyes."
"Don't let the appearance of these people deceive you," he said. "There's a deep strength and
healthy vitality in them. I think they'll be everything we need."
"It's a dangerous gamble," she said.
"Let's not go into that again," he said.
She forced a smile. "We are committed, no doubt of that." She went through the quick regimen
of calmness -- the two deep breaths, the ritual thought, then: "When I assign rooms, is there
anything special I should reserve for you?"
"You must teach me someday how you do that," he said, "the way you thrust your worries aside
and turn to practical matters. It must be a Bene Gesserit thing."
"It's a female thing," she said.
He smiled. "Well, assignment of rooms: make certain, I have large office space next my
sleeping quarters. There'll be more paper work here than on Caladan. A guard room, of course. That
should cover it. Don't worry about security of the house. Hawat's men have been over it in depth."
"I'm sure they have."
He glanced at his wristwatch. "And you might see that all our timepieces are adjusted for
Arrakeen local. I've assigned a tech to take care of it. He'll be along presently." He brushed a
strand of her hair back from her forehead. "I must return to the landing field now. The second
shuttle's due any minute with my staff reserves."
"Couldn't Hawat meet them, my Lord? You look so tired."
"The good Thufir is even busier than I am. You know this planet's infested with Harkonnen
intrigues. Besides, I must try persuading some of the trained spice hunters against leaving. They
have the option, you know, with the change of fief -- and this planetologist the Emperor and the
Landsraad installed as Judge of the Change cannot be bought. He's allowing the opt. About eight
hundred trained hands expect to go out on the spice shuttle and there's a Guild cargo ship
standing by."