Rhombur wore a well-tailored uniform and dramatic purple cape lined with copper merh-silk. His movements were smooth enough now, and the garments so well made that he could disguise his cyborg body from anyone not looking too closely. Proud to be at his side, Tessia took his arm and accompanied him through the military hangars at the fringe of the Cala Municipal Spaceport.

Inside the largest aircraft bay, they met Leto and Thufir. The battering and clanging of maintenance crews filled the building with a tumult that made Rhombur cringe.

“The first step is nearly ready, Prince Rhombur,” Hawat announced. “We have purchased passage on a Heighliner for you and Gurney, but you will follow such a convoluted and time-consuming route that when you arrive at Ix, no one will be able to trace your origin.”

Wiping grease from his hands and shoving a crystal databoard into his pocket, Duncan Idaho hurried over to greet them. “Leto, our fleet is almost ready for inspection. We have completed full checkouts on twenty-six war frigates, nineteen troop dropships, one hundred combat ‘thopters, and fifty-eight single-man fighters.”

Thufir Hawat mentally recorded the numbers, calculated the number of solaris the Spacing Guild would charge to transport the entire force, and compared it to the available finances of House Atreides. “For such an extensive operation, we will need to secure a loan from the Guild Bank, my Duke.”

Leto dismissed the concern. “My credit is solid, Thufir. This is an investment we should have made long ago.”

“And I will pay back every solari, Leto… unless I fail to recapture Ix for House Vernius— in which case, I’ll be bankrupt, or dead.” Noticing the flash of Tessia’s sepia eyes, Rhombur added quickly, “It’s difficult to overcome my old ways of thinking, I fear. But I’ve waited long enough. I wish Gurney and I could leave tomorrow. We’ll have a lot of work to do underground.”

Leto had eyes for the sleek forms of his military aircraft. They walked past crews that were testing engines, refueling, checking control panels. The men of the Atreides House Guard snapped to attention and saluted their Duke.

“Why so many ‘thopters and single-man fighters, Duncan? This isn’t an air or ground battle. We will have to fight our way through tunnels into the underground city.”

Duncan pointed to the various craft. “Our assault relies heavily on the frigates and troop dropships to deploy nearly a full legion of men as rapidly as possible. However, the ‘thopters and the single-man fighters will hit first, and hard, to take out Sardaukar sensor towers and crack open the shielded hatches that lead through the cliff walls.” He scanned the cluster of dart-shaped, fast fighters. “If our troops can’t get past the surface defenses quickly, the underground takeover is doomed.”

Leto nodded. Thufir Hawat kept a careful mental inventory of the shields, explosives, lasguns, hand weapons, rations, fuel, and uniforms. This kind of major, single-strike assault posed as many business problems as tactical ones. As it was, he would be taking away most of the forces he normally kept in place to defend Caladan. It was a balancing act.

However if the Emperor decided to retaliate against the Atreides homeworld by sending Sardaukar, no amount of defensive strength would be adequate. Since the Emperor’s dire warning about illegal spice stockpiles, and his astonishingly vicious assault on Zanovar, many Houses were tightening their security. Some noble families had voluntarily surrendered long-held spice hoards, at great cost to themselves, while others vehemently denied any involvement in contraband melange.

Leto had sent a message to Kaitain, volunteering to submit to a CHOAM audit— a message that had not been answered. Innocence was no assurance of safety, since records (and even stockpiles themselves) could always be falsified. Thufir cited the example of House Ecaz, whom he considered to be innocent of charges in a recent flare-up. After an infiltrator destroyed a hidden spice stockpile on Grumman, Viscount Hundro Moritani railed against Ecaz— his archenemy. Shortly afterward another spice hoard was exposed, this one on Ecaz. Indignant, Archduke Armand Ecaz claimed it had been planted there by House Moritani, simply to frame the Ecazi people. As proof, he offered several already-executed Grumman “saboteurs.” The Emperor was investigating while the two sides hurled charges and countercharges at each other.

A liveried Courier poked her head into the daylit frame of the hangar. Breathless, she trotted inside and asked directions of one of the mechanics, who pointed toward the Duke and his companions. Leto stiffened, recalling all the times in the past when flushed Couriers had delivered urgent messages. Never once, as far as he could remember, had they brought good news.

The woman approached Leto briskly, bowed, and asked to see his ducal ring to verify his identity. Satisfied, she handed him a message cylinder, after which he dismissed her with a minimum of courtesy. Rhombur and Tessia took a step back, giving Leto space in which to read and consider the communiqué. Duncan and Thufir both stared at him, steeling themselves.

“It is an official notice from Kaitain. There has been an assassination attempt on the Emperor,” Leto said, his voice low, then he paled. “And Jessica was in the line of fire!” His knuckles whitened as he clenched the open cylinder; his gray eyes flicked from side to side as he absorbed the details. “According to this, a madman went berserk during a play.”

Rhombur looked at Tessia in dismay. “Vermilion hells! Jessica was supposed to go to Kaitain for protection.”

“Is she injured?” Duncan asked.

“Jessica wrote this second note,” Leto said, clearly relieved, removing a new sheet of paper. He read it and passed it on to Thufir Hawat, not caring if his Mentat saw the private thoughts of his concubine.

Leto stood in turmoil, feeling his stomach knot. Sweat broke out on his brow. Against his better judgment, he had come to love her and now placed so many of his hopes on her unborn child.

“I am sure there is far more to the story than the official announcement reveals. But still, Jessica was clearly not the target, my Duke,” Hawat pointed out. “If any assassins had meant to kill her, they must have had ample earlier opportunities. Security was far greater with the Emperor present. No, your Lady was just… in the way.”

“But she would have been no less dead if she had taken a lasgun blast.” Leto’s face was stormy; his heart wrenched. “Lady Anirul requested— no, demanded— that Jessica go to Kaitain for the remainder of her pregnancy. Would I have had to worry about her life if she’d remained here at Castle Caladan?”

“I think not,” Duncan said, as if promising his own protection.

Around them in the hangar bay, work resumed, its sounds drowning out their low conversation. Leto felt helpless and ready to lash out. Jessica could have been killed! He would fight ferociously to defend her. Losing her would devastate me.

His first instinct was to go immediately to the Heighliner in orbit, and arrange for the first available transportation to Kaitain. Just to be by her side, he would abandon these military preparations— let the others here finish them— and stand ready to tear apart any would-be assassins who dared to cross his path.

But when he saw Rhombur looking at him, Leto remembered the complex interworkings of their secret plans, as well as what Thufir and Gurney had reported about the horrors on Ix. Yes, Leto was a human being, a man, but first and foremost he was the Duke. Despite his anguish and his longing for Jessica, he could not ignore his duty and leave his best friend Rhombur, and millions of Ixian people, to suffer for it.

“The Padishah Emperor has many enemies and is making new ones every day. He clamps down, seizes stockpiles, threatens to destroy other worlds just as he did Zanovar,” Rhombur said. “He continues to clench his fist.”

Tessia’s expression became contemplative. “Shaddam’s power comes directly from his birthright. He has the Throne… but does he have the skill?”

Leto shook his head, thinking of all the innocent victims that already littered the Emperor’s twisted, blundering path. “I believe his Great Spice War is going to backfire on him.”