PART ONE

I - ESCAPADE

A little time after the Harkonnen raid on Arrakis, the Padisha Emperor Shaddam IV called for a trial.

—Imperial report of the Harkonnen trial, M5 10192 AG

On the little stolen vessel, Nestor Karfo was riding with great speed through the left corner of Morr VII, avoiding any defensive trap left by the gigantic ship. At his side was Virgo Gizzard, hands tied and mouth gagged.

“I hope you don’t mind our little escapade, Virgo,” said Nestor with a smirk.

Virgo watched him, eyes widened by the fear of the unknown.

“Oh, you may want to talk,” Nestor realised, “I can untie your mouth soon. Let me just get away from this place.”

He sped at full burst and reached the end of the freight monster. He then travelled in the direction of the nearest planet: his new target, Opheliaz, a little planet governed by a Minor House.

Just behind his vessel, an armed ship appeared, like a storm in the middle of a calm sea.

“Oh we have a little company,” said Nestor as he analysed the ship on his tails.

It was a brand-new Scarvax 9 from the Navigator Guild foundry. They were equipped with two laser cannons: one little one on the top that could rotate and one big fixed one under the cockpit that was powerful enough to blow up a whole vessel.

“We need to get the traitor now!” said Lexe Kardla to her men, inside the cockpit of the Scarvax 9. “I will not fail like my predecessor, the foolish Jacob Landsvit. The Major House whom we serve gives us one last chance before they send their own recovery team with us,” Lexe, the freshly-designated chief, started to explain.

“The Guild trusted me to retrieve the runaway ship, its contents, and the corpses inside; let’s prove to them that we can do it, guys!” she exclaimed, masking her doubts. She was just a simple controller this morning.

The High-Controller Tor has put trust in me for this; I will not fail like the old fool.

He was good with us, but his age made him weak. I am the new chief; I will do it, Lexe thought, trying to motivate herself as much as possible. Besides, I don’t want to meet Marika Truthhands...

The ship locked onto its target and shot with its big laser, but the hot red plasma was quickly avoided by Nestor.

“Great, let’s play with the cat for a bit,” Nestor said, so he flew towards the nearest asteroid field, a few kilometres to his left. The Guild ship immediately followed him while firing in bursts of small lasers.

As he entered the asteroid field, Nestor tried to lose his tail with fast and precise manoeuvres around the lifeless rocks. They followed him at each turn like they were on a cosmic roundabout.

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His little vessel took a sharp left through a narrow route; the Guild ship followed on the right due to its size. Nestor slowed the acceleration and turned again to his left, then flew at high speed over the field.

The Guild spaceship was obstructed between two asteroids, the left side scratched by the dead rocks.

I must remain calm; I will succeed, the new leader tried to reassure herself.

At the sight of the enemy ship gaining distance in the asteroid field, she lost her temper.

“Faster! Get over those bloody rocks!” blurted Lexe.

“But we’re gonna lose our left wings—” explained the pilot with tension.

“I don’t care; get over it and shoot him!” Lexe yelled again, without thinking.

Nestor was recovering his speed and turned around on the right, searching for a quick exit from the field of cratered rocks. He stopped suddenly, as he was surprised to see the Guild ship in front of him, a wing heavily damaged, but with a big laser ready and locked on Nestor’s cockpit.

“And now, the first surprise,” said Nestor as he clicked two buttons. Instantly, a purple nebulous texture appeared around the little vessel with a strident noise.

In the Guild ship, the gunman was preparing the perfect shot.

“Do not fire, fools!” boomed the chief. “He is near us; a close laser shot on the shield will blow us all,” Lexe explained with tension. “Let this traitor pass; we will catch him later with Harkonnen’s enforcer. After all, he has only one place to go!”

Nestor drifted to his direct right and exited the asteroid field at full speed.

“We have speed and shield!” Nestor cheered with joy.

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A few minutes after the fight, Nestor untied the mouth of Virgo. “You see, against all odds, you can escape with an unarmed vessel, even when a new Scarvax 9 is dangerously behind you. But it’s not finished, they will trail us to our destination, for sure. That’s why I need your full cooperation if you want to be free and alive by the end of this journey.”

“What are you, Nestor? Why did you capture me? I’m just a simple controller,” said Virgo, trying to catch his breath.

“I needed some arbitrariness about the incident: One controller missing would have been obvious. Now they don’t know who is captured, or if a third person is in charge,” Nestor explained calmly. “This will buy us time, precious time, Virgo.”

“So I’m just a tool for your scheme. I don’t want to die; I have a wife and, soon, a child,” pleaded Virgo, his face full of fear. “Are you a kind of spy from a Major House?” he asked, trying to understand where he fit into this scheme.

“That I can’t reveal, but you don’t need more information than you already know. You won’t die, at least not by my hand, I can promise you that,” said Nestor before thinking, He is not a bad lad, I hope my plan will work. But I need to remember that my mission is the most important matter. “I advise you to sleep a bit before we arrive.”

Virgo turned his face to the left, watching outer space through the window, partially closing his eyes.

Nestor locked the ship to constant high speed, in the direction of Opheliaz.

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A few hours later, in the private quarter of Leon Tor, a woman knocked on the door.

“Enter,” said Leon. The door opened to show a tall woman in a dark red uniform with a pair of big shoulders and a surprising significant scar above the left cheek. She sat down in front the high-controller.

“So, you wanted to see me?” she said directly.

“Yes, Sergent Raad. The Baron has commissioned me to take care of a private transport for one of his special units and their belongings. This morning, we had got a little incident: someone—I suspect an infiltrated spy—has stolen a part of these private belongings. The special unit did not suffer any losses, but they have failed to recover by force what was stolen from them. That is why I need you and your men to retrieve what was stolen from you on Opheliaz by any means necessary,” Leon explained with a delicate tone.

“How much?” the sergeant asked abruptly.

“Enough to buy your silence on this... incident. Once the mission is complete, the special unit can then proceed to Opheliaz to complete their assignment.”

She nodded to him, stood up and left the room with a great haste.