Heretics of Dune – Entry #1

It is now 1500 years after the “death” of Leto II.  Certainly, a lot has happened but the Bene Gesserit persist as does the Litany Against Fear, which appears quite early in this book on page 8.  The Litany, unchanged for many thousands of years, is a key thread throughout the Dune Saga.

Early in the book, we meet Miles Teg; retired Supreme Bashar (military commander) for the Bene Gesserit, mentat, and an Atreides.  We also meet young Duncan Idaho, evidently the twelfth ghola in a series bought and paid for by the Bene Gesserit and created in the Bene Tleilax axlotl tanks.  Teg has been asked to come out of retirement to complete the training of the young Duncan (16 years old) on Gammu (previously known as Geidi Prime – Home Planet of the Harkonnens).  This ghola was altered on the request of the Bene Gesserit so that his reflexes match contemporary human capabilities. Teg, whose appearance is strikingly similar to Duke Leto Atreides, has also been charged with restoring Duncan’s memories.

Although similar forces rule in the universe, including the Bene gesserit, the Spacing Guild, the Fish Speaker Council, CHOAM, Ix technology leaders, and the Bene Tleilax, the Bene Gesserit have regained much power since the Tyrant’s death.

A small measure of the Sisterhood’s far-reaching authority could be deduced from the fact that they held this authority despite Tleilaxu tank-grown mélange, which had broken the Rakian monopoly on the spice, just as Ixian navigation machines had broken Guild monopoly on space travel.

(Heretics of Dune, p. 69)

Space travel now includes the “no-ship”; a ship that is not visible through prescience or by scanning.  It and its inhabitants can only be found if seen.

There is also a new force, the Honored Matres, who have come from far reaches of space, returned from the scattering.  Evidently, after Leto II died, there were Famine times and the Scattering … a sort of Diaspora.  The Honored Matres return from the Scattering with wealth and power yet they seek more.  They seek to “nullify a no-ship’s invisibility” (Heretics of Dune, p. 79).  And they know there is something very dangerous about the Idaho ghola.