X - SCHEMES WITHIN SCHEMES

“What do you know about our Dr. Lankasst?”

“He is a good doctor with an extensive set of expertise. He has certain oddities, but he does a fine job.”

“By ‘oddities’, do you mean he is crazy?”

The Baron laughed, “Yes he is, I created it, he is like a distant son. I tortured him for pleasure because he was a Suk Doctor. He then falls into madness, with a crippling spice addiction. He is a doctor, but also an exotic experimental researcher.”

—Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and Thufir Hawat, Giedi Prime, M11 10191 AG

“Nestor,” a feminine voice reached through the cell wall to him.

It was early morning. He awakened and answered, “Yes?”

She was still lying on the ground, face to the wall as she looked at him as she spoke, “You have not told me how they captured you.”

“I’m an Imperial spy; the Emperor has sent me to get secret information about the current Harkonnen plan. I infiltrated a hidden underwater complex on a Minor House’s planet. While sneaking in their private labs, I took something that messed with my head. I guess they caught me unconscious; not my smartest move, I have to admit.”

Why did I tell her all this? I’m a spy; I should not speak about my mission, even in bad or deadly posture like this one. But... But, for reasons unknown, I feel I can trust her. Is another Wind playing, or maybe it’s all in my own head?

“Have you sent a report back to them before?” asked Clémentine.

“Unfortunately, no. I was—well, busy,” answered Nestor, thinking about his strange experience, I talked to the wind.

A heavy knock came on the door.

“It’s time, princess! Feyd has returned from the arena and wants you again,” said a deep voice in front of Clémentine’s cell.

She got to her feet after rolling over to the centre of the gloomy room. The cell opened, and two burly men were waiting there, with their arms crossed. “Better not make him wait before he changes his mood.”

“Alright, alright,” said Clémentine, following the guards to the right alley.

Nestor watched her leave. Feyd—Feyd-Rautha, the heir to the red throne! So she knows him, and well apparently. He lay back on the ground, thinking about this.

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Four hours later, boots and voices resonated from the right alley. Nestor got up.

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One guard opened the cell, and the other threw Clémentine in it.

“And remember not to speak to the lad on your left; he will be dead by tomorrow afternoon!” yelled the first prison guard before closing the door.

They will execute me tomorrow, Nestor thought with sadness.

A few minutes later, Clémentine rolled slowly in fatigue to the left.

“So you know Feyd-Rautha, the nephew of the Baron?” Nestor asked.

“Yes, I know him. Already a sick monster like his uncle. I hate him.”

“You are a spy; have you tried to ... use or kill him?” he asked carefully.

“I was a spy, but I don’t have the energy to make a scheme like that now, I wish I could use him to destroy the monstrosity of fatness that is his uncle. I have tried, but each time, they have beaten me with the care not to kill me.”

“I think I may have a plan for you.”

She snapped, “I don’t care about your plan. Look, my life is already completely broken, so do not add a scheme to it. I am not a thing to use; people used me enough. I am not a toy to play with—” she yelled before breaking down in tears; her voice couldn’t continue the sentence.

Nestor could hear a shuffling sound; Clémentine must have rolled over. I’m an idiot, think Nestor after understanding that he had hit a very sensitive zone.

“Can I propo—” he asked.

“Shut up!” she snapped.

The moon appeared over the prison complex of Giedi Prime and gave a small hint of light to the prisoners.

I’m going to die. I have no way to tell the Emperor that the Baron will use a new spice to attack him. Whatever that voice told me, whoever’s voice it really was, they were wrong. I owe my failure to myself, alone.

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Clémentine whispered, “Fine, what is your plan Nestor?”

He woke up in surprise, feeling her close. He could almost feel her and see her through this grey wall.

“Is this true, that Feyd wants to become Baron a little earlier?” he asked.

“That’s, indeed, very true. He has tried many times to kill him, but he always fails. The Baron is too smart and has spies everywhere. But something odd happened recently. Last month, Feyd had a very complex scheme in place, almost perfect, but it failed. When he came back to me, he seemed different. Somehow, his uncle changed his mind. Maybe he promised him something bigger if he kept him alive,” she explained.

“Like an army,” Nestor thought out loud.

“What army? Is this the weird thing you have discovered? So the Emperor is in danger after all,” Clémentine deduced quickly.

She thinks fast. That is why she was one of the best of us, like Hector told me.

“Yes, I found that and other dangerous things, and I still have no clue what they’re for,” he explained. “Can you ask him to talk to me?”

“No way, he never speaks with strangers like that.”

“Trust me, he will want to meet me if you speak about my plan.”

“And why should I trust you?”

“Because we have the same past, and I want us to have a better future. I’m already a dead man, and you, the monster nephew uses you. You tell me you wanted to stop him or kill him, yourself. I offer you a way to break him and the chain that kept you here forever in the darkness. Trust me, Clémentine. I want to help you, and I need you for my plan. Please, save yourself, save us and the Emperor,” Nestor pleaded with optimism. It’s my only way out. I have no other plan.

His speech reached her deeply. She felt a furnace of hope igniting inside her.

“I’m in, but we need to be quick before they get you tomorrow,” said a thrilled Clémentine.

“When can you see him again?”

“Tomorrow morning, like today, he will be back from the arena. I can tell him that somebody wants to talk about secret intel concerning the Baron,” she explained.

“Yes, you can do that,” Nestor said contentedly.

“And then? What do we do?”

They continued throughout the night to develop their plan. A well scheme within a scheme. But were they already in someone else’s scheme?