Hunters of Dune – Entry #2

     Although the Oracle of Time is not mentioned in Frank Herbert's books, Brian Herbert mentions it in the prequel books.  The Oracle is a guiding force, something like a god, for Guild Navigators.  The Oracle reappears early on in Hunters of Dune to guide Duncan and the no-ship, Ithaca, out of the lost universe he put them in when they escaped from Chapterhouse.  "They" includes Sheeana, a group of conservative Bene Gesserit, Master Scytale, Miles Teg, and the small of band of Jews rescued from Gammu including the wild reverend mother Rebecca (wild in this context means that she became a reverend mother without the benefit of Bene Gesserit training).

     The Oracle warns Duncan that many are looking for them and that they must move out of the universe they are in.  The Oracle also tells Duncan that he has a role to play in Kralizec, a sort of Armageddon.  Kralizec was specifically mentioned in Frank Herbert's Dune books and was foreseen to some degree by Muad'Dib.

     So in this point of the story, we have two forces that seem to be able to spread themselves over vast spaces ... the Oracle and the old couple.  Duncan seems to be the only one to have "seen" or "heard" them.  These are the key characters to the end of this saga.

     On pages 41 through 48, we meet the new breed of Face Dancers and Khrone in an exchange with an Elder of the Lost Tleilaxu.  We find out in this meeting that the Face Dancers can replace just about anyone without others being aware that the original has been killed and replaced by a Face Dancer.  Additionally, we find out that the Face Dancers take orders from the old couple.  Khrone demands that the Tleilaxu use their resources to find the no-ship saying that according to the old couple's projections "the escaped no-ship holds something or someone supremely important to them." (Hunters of Dune, p. 45)

     Khrone also gives the reader reason to pause.

"Are you certain you Lost Tleilaxu created us ... or did you simply find us out in the Scattering?  True, in the distant shadows of the past, a Tleilaxu Master was responsible for our seed stock.  He made modifications and dispatched us to the ends of the universe shortly before the birth of Paul Muad'Dib.  But we have evolved since then."

(Hunters of Dune, p. 46)