technicians, spies, and other specialists. It was not much different in kind from the days of the Master Masons on Old Terra. Mainly a difference in numbers, quality and sophistication. Boundaries were transparent to some as they had always been.
She felt it important to review this occasionally, looking for flaws.
The great mass of planet-bound humanity spoke of “the silence of space,” meaning they could not afford the cost of such travel or communication. Most people knew the news they received across this barrier was managed for special interests. It had always been that way.
On a planet, terrain and avoiding telltale radiation dictated the communications systems used: tubes, messengers, lightlines, nerve riders and many permutations. Secrecy and encryption were important, not only between planets but on them.
Odrade saw it as a system Honored Matres could tap if they found an entry point. Hunters had to begin by deciphering the system, but then: Where did a trail to Chapterhouse originate?
Untrackable no-ships, Ixian machines, and Guild Navigators—all contributed to the blanket of silence between planets except for the privileged few. Give hunters no starting points!
It came as a surprise then when an aging Reverend Mother from a Bene Gesserit punishment planet appeared at Mother Superior’s workroom shortly before the lunch break. Archives identified her: Name: Dortujla. Sent to special perdition years ago for an unforgivable infraction. Memory said it had been a love affair of some kind. Odrade did not ask for details. Some of them were displayed anyway. (Bellonda interfering again!) Emotional upheaval at the time of Dortujla’s banishment, Odrade noted. Futile attempts by the lover to prevent separation.
Odrade recalled gossip about Dortujla’s disgrace. “The Jessica crime!” Much valuable information arrived via gossip. Where the devil had Dortujla been posted? Never mind. Not important at the moment. More important: Why is she here? Why did she dare a trip that might lead the hunters to us?
Odrade asked Streggi when she announced the arrival. Streggi did not know. “She says what she must reveal is for your ears alone, Mother Superior.”
“Alone?” Odrade almost chuckled, considering the constant monitoring (surveillance was a better term) of her every action. “This Dortujla has not said why she is here?”
“The ones who told me to interrupt you, Mother Superior, said they thought you should see her.”
Odrade pursed her lips. The fact that the banished Reverend Mother had penetrated this far aroused Odrade’s curiosity. A persistent Reverend Mother could cross ordinary barriers but these barriers were not ordinary. Dortujla’s reason for coming already had been told. Others had heard and passed her. It was apparent that Dortujla had not relied on Bene Gesserit wiles to persuade her Sisters. That would have brought immediate rejection. No time for such nonsense! So she had observed the chain of command. Her action spoke of careful assessment, a message within whatever message she brought.
“Bring her.”
Dortujla had aged smoothly on her backwater planet. She revealed her years mostly in shallow wrinkles around her mouth. The hood of her robe concealed her hair but the eyes peering from beneath it were bright and alert.
“Why are you here?” Odrade’s tone said: “This had damned well better be important.”
Dortujla’s story was straightforward enough. She and three Reverend Mother associates had spoken to a band of Futars from the Scattering. Dortujla’s post had been searched out and asked to get a message to Chapterhouse. Dortujla had filtered the request through Truthsense, she said, reminding Mother Superior that even in backwaters there could be some talent. Judging the message truthful, her Sisters concurring, Dortujla had acted with speed, not unmindful of caution.
“All due dispatch in our own no-ship,” was the way she put it. The ship, she said, was small, a smuggler type.
“One person can operate it.”
The heart of the message was fascinating. Futars wished to ally themselves with Reverend Mothers in opposition to Honored Matres. How much of a force these Futars commanded was difficult to assess, Dortujla said.
“They refused to say when I asked.”
Odrade had assessed many stories about Futars. Killers of Honored Matres? There were reasons to believe it but Futar performance was confusing, especially in accounts from Gammu.
“How many in this party?”
“Sixteen Futars and four Handlers. That’s what they called themselves: Handlers. And they say Honored Matres have a dangerous weapon they can use only once.”
“You only mentioned Futars. Who are these Handlers? And what is this about a secret weapon?”
“I reserved mention of them. They appear to be human within variables noted from the Scattering: three men and a woman. As to the