Read Online Dune: House Atreides by Frank Herbert - Free Book Online
Authors: Frank Herbert
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Rabban would cuff the desert man across the jaw.
"You have been on Arrakis for so long, and you did not know this, m'Lord Rabban?
The Fremen consider the great sandworms to be gods," Thekar answered quietly.
"They name him, collectively, Shai-Hulud."
"Then today we shall kill a god," Rabban announced in a loud voice, causing the other hunters in the back of the compartment to cheer. He turned sharply toward the desert guide. "I depart for Giedi Prime in two days, and must have a trophy to take back with me. This hunt will be successful."
Giedi Prime, Kynes thought. Ancestral homeworld of House Harkonnen. At least I won't have to worry about him once he's gone.
"You will have your trophy, m'Lord," Thekar promised.
"No doubt about that," Rabban said, but in a more ominous tone.
Seated alone in the rear of the troop transport, huddled in his desert gear, Kynes felt uncomfortable in such company. He had no interest in the glorious ambitions of the Baron's nephew . . . but if this excursion gave him a good look at one of the monsters, it could be worth months of intensive effort on his own.
Rabban stared out through the front of the transport; his hard, squinting eyes were surrounded by thick folds of skin. He scrutinized the desert as if it were a delicacy he intended to eat, seeing none of the beauty Kynes noted in the landscape.
"I have a plan, and this is how we'll follow it." Rabban turned to the troops and opened the comsystem to the spotter ornithopters flying in formation around the transport. They cruised out over the expanse of open sand. The dune ripples below looked like wrinkles on an old man's skin.
"That outcropping of rock down there" -- he gestured, and read off the coordinates -- "will be our base. About three hundred meters from the rock we'll touch down in the open sand, where we'll drop Thekar with a gadget he calls a thumper. Then we'll lift off to the safety of the rock outcroppings, where the worm can't go."
The lean desert man looked up in alarm. "Leave me out there? But m'Lord, I'm not --"
"You gave me the idea." He turned back to address the uniformed troops.
"Thekar here says that this Fremen device, a thumper, will bring a worm. We'll plant one along with enough explosives to take care of the beast when it comes.
Thekar, we will leave you behind to rig the explosives and trigger the thumper.
You can run across the sands and make it to safety with us before a worm can come, right?" Rabban gave him a delicious little grin.
"I -- I . . ." Thekar stammered. "It appears I have no choice."
"Even if you can't make it, the worm will probably go for the thumper first.
The explosives will get the beast before you become its next target."
"I take comfort in that, m'Lord," Thekar said.
Intrigued by the Fremen device, Kynes considered obtaining one for himself. He wished he could watch this desert native up close to witness how he ran across the sands, how he eluded pursuit from the vibration-sensitive "Old Man of the Desert." But the Planetologist knew enough to remain quiet and avoid Rabban's notice, hoping that the hot-blooded young Harkonnen wouldn't volunteer him to assist Thekar.
Inside the personnel compartment at the back of the craft, the Bator -- a commander of a small troop -- and his underlings looked through the weapons stockpile, removing lasguns for themselves. They rigged explosives to the stakelike mechanism that Thekar had brought along. A thumper.
With curious eyes, Kynes could see that it was just a spring-wound clockwork device that would thunk out a loud, rhythmic vibration. When plunged into the sand, the thumper would send reverberations deep below the desert to where
"Shai-Hulud" could hear them.
"As soon as we land, you'd better rig up these explosives fast," Rabban said to Thekar. "The engines of these ornithopters will do a good job of attracting the worm, even without the help of your Fremen toy."
"I know that all too well, m'Lord," Thekar
"You have been on Arrakis for so long, and you did not know this, m'Lord Rabban?
The Fremen consider the great sandworms to be gods," Thekar answered quietly.
"They name him, collectively, Shai-Hulud."
"Then today we shall kill a god," Rabban announced in a loud voice, causing the other hunters in the back of the compartment to cheer. He turned sharply toward the desert guide. "I depart for Giedi Prime in two days, and must have a trophy to take back with me. This hunt will be successful."
Giedi Prime, Kynes thought. Ancestral homeworld of House Harkonnen. At least I won't have to worry about him once he's gone.
"You will have your trophy, m'Lord," Thekar promised.
"No doubt about that," Rabban said, but in a more ominous tone.
Seated alone in the rear of the troop transport, huddled in his desert gear, Kynes felt uncomfortable in such company. He had no interest in the glorious ambitions of the Baron's nephew . . . but if this excursion gave him a good look at one of the monsters, it could be worth months of intensive effort on his own.
Rabban stared out through the front of the transport; his hard, squinting eyes were surrounded by thick folds of skin. He scrutinized the desert as if it were a delicacy he intended to eat, seeing none of the beauty Kynes noted in the landscape.
"I have a plan, and this is how we'll follow it." Rabban turned to the troops and opened the comsystem to the spotter ornithopters flying in formation around the transport. They cruised out over the expanse of open sand. The dune ripples below looked like wrinkles on an old man's skin.
"That outcropping of rock down there" -- he gestured, and read off the coordinates -- "will be our base. About three hundred meters from the rock we'll touch down in the open sand, where we'll drop Thekar with a gadget he calls a thumper. Then we'll lift off to the safety of the rock outcroppings, where the worm can't go."
The lean desert man looked up in alarm. "Leave me out there? But m'Lord, I'm not --"
"You gave me the idea." He turned back to address the uniformed troops.
"Thekar here says that this Fremen device, a thumper, will bring a worm. We'll plant one along with enough explosives to take care of the beast when it comes.
Thekar, we will leave you behind to rig the explosives and trigger the thumper.
You can run across the sands and make it to safety with us before a worm can come, right?" Rabban gave him a delicious little grin.
"I -- I . . ." Thekar stammered. "It appears I have no choice."
"Even if you can't make it, the worm will probably go for the thumper first.
The explosives will get the beast before you become its next target."
"I take comfort in that, m'Lord," Thekar said.
Intrigued by the Fremen device, Kynes considered obtaining one for himself. He wished he could watch this desert native up close to witness how he ran across the sands, how he eluded pursuit from the vibration-sensitive "Old Man of the Desert." But the Planetologist knew enough to remain quiet and avoid Rabban's notice, hoping that the hot-blooded young Harkonnen wouldn't volunteer him to assist Thekar.
Inside the personnel compartment at the back of the craft, the Bator -- a commander of a small troop -- and his underlings looked through the weapons stockpile, removing lasguns for themselves. They rigged explosives to the stakelike mechanism that Thekar had brought along. A thumper.
With curious eyes, Kynes could see that it was just a spring-wound clockwork device that would thunk out a loud, rhythmic vibration. When plunged into the sand, the thumper would send reverberations deep below the desert to where
"Shai-Hulud" could hear them.
"As soon as we land, you'd better rig up these explosives fast," Rabban said to Thekar. "The engines of these ornithopters will do a good job of attracting the worm, even without the help of your Fremen toy."
"I know that all too well, m'Lord," Thekar
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