XII - OPEN WATER
“My plan is to rule as emperor for a full year before bestowing the position to my youngest dear nephew, Feyd-Rautha. This is a clever boy, but he always tries something against me. I plan to tell him a part of my strategy, so he can see himself as the new leader of the Harkonnen Planetary Government. And then, if he is good enough to stop his foolish attempts at my life, I will reveal all to him, and fully prepare him for his true destination: the Emperor seat. From there, I will be able to oversee his reign.”
—Baron Vladimir Harkonnen to Thufir Hawat, Giedi Prime, M11 10191 AG
“Do you have it?” Nestor whispered quietly to Clémentine.
They walked into the little ship. She nodded to him.
Great, I hope this turns out well, Nestor thought to himself.
“So, where should I go?” asked Kall, the pilot of the ship.
Feyd looked into the eyes of Nestor.
“Opheliaz, the Thulu System,” answered Nestor.
Kall ignited the motor and flew out of the Guild heighliner.
Nestor was sitting alone on the right, on the left side was Feyd close to Clémentine.
“What do we do once we’ve landed?” asked Feyd.
“We need to find a Thuluan post and use your name to gain access and hire transport to the deep storage, where the labs are,” Nestor explained.
“No, my uncle has surely blacklisted me. They will alert him and close all exits. I can’t do that.”
“We can try to steal them, or maybe try a smarter way. I have already breached their security before with a fake identity, but now they know me. We might try the same trick with Clémentine,” proposed Nestor.
“Good idea. Is that why you wanted to bring her?”
“Perhaps,” finished Nestor. “You will be Dr. Mira Lankasst, daughter of Dr. Narold Lankastt, who runs the operation down there,” said Nestor. “You need to distract them by saying that you need to access the archives on the site—Wait… Do you have the book, Feyd?”
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“Yes, I have it. A Thulu book I stole in Thufir’s room. I have replaced it with another, like you told me. Is this really important?”
“Yes, without that, we can’t enter. They will take time verifying the data, so if something goes wrong, we will attack them, you and me.”
“Everything settled?” Feyd asked.
They both nodded to him.
The young monster does not yet have the wisdom of his uncle. We will use this fool to destroy him. This will work, the voice told me I’m gonna succeed in my mission. I will avenge you, Brother.
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Later in the evening, they descended on landing zone 2B.
“Stay here, Kall; we should get back in an hour,” ordered Feyd.
The pilot nodded to him, laying back on his seat.
Feyd, Nestor, and Clémentine walked down the vessel. They were all wearing red suits.
“So you go first, Clémentine. If something goes wrong, we intervene. We give you 10 minutes.”
“Okay,” Clémentine answered.
She stepped toward the Thulu post. This is going to be tricky, she thought to herself. She took a deep breath, and repeated to herself, I am Dr. Mira Lankasst, I am here to collect my father’s data for him.Clémentine walked into the office to the little desk in front of her. Her face was rigid, focused.A woman in a blue dress emerged from a door behind the desk, “Welcome to Opheliaz! What can we do for you?”
“I am Dr. Mira Lankasst. I need to access highly confidential data for my father, Dr. Narold Lankastt. It’s an urgent matter.”
Clémentine showed the concierge the electronic book as Nestor has told her. “This is my access—”
“I am sorry, all entries to the deep storage room are currently prohibited, especially without the presence of Mentat Harkonnen.”
Clémentine felt a pang of anxiety come rushing through her. What should I do? I’m no longer used to being a spy... She remembered the words of Nestor in the cell: “You were an excellent spy, one of the best.” I need to react quickly.
“You should have known that already,” the concierge continued suspiciously. She looked at the transmission module on her right.
NOW! Clémentine instantly slapped her feet against the ground. This is the code.
Within a second, Feyd, followed by Nestor, jumped into the room.
The Harkonnen heir rushed on the concierge and held his knife close to her throat. She dropped her communication device.
“Do not yell, do not move!”
Nestor and Clémentine watch him.
“Now we need to go; time plays against us,” said Nestor.
In an animalistic movement, Feyd slit her throat.
“No!” Clémentine shouted in shock.
“You could have just tied her up!” said Nestor.
Has he been like that since he was born, or is he the product of his violent environment? The Harkonnens, the culture of the arena… so much violence. A child can only end crazy there. Such a place can turn a lamb into a wolf, Nestor thought as he saw Feyd dragging the lifeless body of the concierge.