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To the advantage of everyone except the Tleilaxu with the damnable melange overproduction from their axlotl tanks!
This was a shattering thought. A Tleilaxu Master had heard every word spoken in this audience chamber!
Tuek called on Shai-hulud, the Divided God, to protect him. That terrible little man back there said he spoke also for Ixians and Fish Speakers. He produced documents. Was that the "new circumstances" of which Odrade spoke? Nothing remained long hidden from the witches!
The High Priest could not repress a shudder at the thought of Waff: that round little head, those glittering eyes; that pug nose and those sharp teeth in that brittle smile. Waff looked like a slightly enlarged child until you met those eyes and heard him speak in his squeaky voice. Tuek recalled that his own father had complained of those voices: "The Tleilaxu say such terrible things in their childish voices!"
Odrade shifted on her cushions. She thought of Waff listening out there. Had he heard enough? Her own secret listeners certainly would be asking themselves that question now. Reverend Mothers always replayed these verbal contests, seeking improvements and new advantages for the Sisterhood.
Waff has heard enough, Odrade told herself. Time to shift the play.
In her most matter-of-fact tones, Odrade said: "M'Lord Tuek, someone important is listening to what we say here. Is it polite that such a person listen secretly?"
Tuek closed his eyes. She knows!
He opened his eyes and met Odrade's unrevealing stare. She looked like someone who might wait through eternity for his response.
"Polite? I ... I ... "
"Invite the secret listener to come sit with us," Odrade said.
Tuek passed a hand across his damp forehead. His father and grandfather, High Priests before him, had laid down ritual responses for most occasions, but nothing for a moment such as this. Invite the Tleilaxu to sit here? In this chamber with ... Tuek was reminded suddenly that he did not like the smell of Tleilaxu Masters. His father had complained of that: "They smell of disgusting food!"
Odrade got to her feet. "I would much rather look upon those who hear my words," she said. "Shall I go myself and invite the hidden listener to--"
"Please!" Tuek remained seated but lifted a hand to stop her. "I had little choice. He comes with documents from Fish Speakers and Ixians. He said he would help us to return Sheeana to our--"
"Help you?" Odrade looked down at the sweating priest with something akin to pity. This one thought he ruled Rakis?
"He is of the Bene Tleilax," Tuek said. "He is called Waff and--"
"I know what he is called and I know why he is here, M'Lord Tuek. What astonishes me is that you would allow him to spy on--"
"It is not spying! We were negotiating. I mean, there are new forces to which we must adjust our--"
"New forces? Oh, yes: the whores from the Scattering. Does this Waff bring some of them with him?"
Before Tuek could respond, the audience chamber's side door opened. Waff entered right on cue, two Face Dancers behind him.
He was told not to bring Face Dancers! Odrade thought.
"Just you!" Odrade said, pointing. "Those others were not invited, were they, M'Lord Tuek?"
Tuek lifted himself heavily to his feet, noting the nearness of Odrade, remembering all of the terrible stories about the Reverend Mothers' physical prowess. The presence of Face Dancers added to his confusion. They always filled him with such terrible misgivings.
Turning toward the door and trying to compose his features into a look of invitation, Tuek said: "Only... only Ambassador Waff, please."
Speech hurt Tuek's throat. This was worse than terrible! He felt naked before these people.
Odrade gestured to a cushion near her. "Waff is it? Please come and sit down."
Waff nodded to her as though he had never seen her before. How polite! With a gesture to his Face Dancers that they remain outside, he crossed to the indicated cushion but stood waiting beside it.
Odrade saw a flux of tensions move through the little Tleilaxu. Something like a snarl flickered across his lips. He still had those weapons in his sleeves. Was he about to break their agreement?
It was time, Odrade knew, for Waff's suspicions to regain all of their original strength and more. He would be feeling trapped by Taraza's maneuverings. Waff wanted his breeding mothers! The reek of his pheromones announced his deepest fears. He carried in his mind, then, his part of their agreement--or at least a form of that sharing. Taraza did not expect Waff really to share all of the knowledge he had gained from the Honored Matres.
"M'Lord Tuek tells me you have been ... ahhh, negotiating," Odrade said. Let him remember that word! Waff knew where the real negotiation must be concluded. As she spoke, Odrade sank to her knees, then back onto her cushion, but her feet remained positioned to throw her out of any line of attack from Waff.
Waff glanced down at her and at the cushion she had indicated for him. Slowly, he sank onto his cushion but his arms remained on his knees, the sleeves directed at Tuek.
What is he doing? Odrade wondered. Waff's movements said he was embarked on a plan of his own.
Odrade said: "I have been trying to impress upon the High Priest the importance of the Atreides Manifesto to our mutual--"
"Atreides!" Tuek blurted. He almost collapsed onto his cushion. "It cannot be Atreides."
"A very persuasive manifesto," Waff said, reinforcing Tuek's obvious fears.
At least that was according to plan, Odrade thought. She said: "The promise of s'tori cannot be ignored. Many people equate s'tori with the presence of their god."
Waff sent a surprised and angry stare at her.
Tuek said: "Ambassador Waff tells me that Ixians and Fish Speakers are alarmed by that document, but I have reassured him that--"
"I think we may ignore the Fish Speakers," Odrade said. "They hear the noise of god everywhere."
Waff recognized the cant in her words. Was she jibing at him? She was right about the Fish Speakers, of course. They had been so far weaned from their old devotions that they influenced very little and whatever they did influence could be guided by the new Face Dancers who now led them.
Tuek tried to smile at Waff. "You spoke of helping us to ... "
"Time for that later," Odrade interrupted. She had to keep Tuek's attention on the document that disturbed him so much. She paraphrased from the Manifesto: "Your will and your faith--your belief system--dominate your universe."
Tuek recognized the words. He had read the terrible document. This Manifesto said God and all of His works were no more than human creations. He wondered how he should respond. No High Priest could let such a thing go unchallenged.
Before Tuek could find words, Waff locked eyes with Odrade and responded in a way he knew she would interpret correctly. Odrade could do no less, being who she was.
"The error of prescience," Waff said. "Isn't that what this document calls it? Isn't that where it says the mind of the believer stagnates?"
"Exactly!" Tuek said. He felt thankful for the Tleilaxu intervention. That was precisely the core of this dangerous heresy!
Waff did not look at him, but continued to stare at Odrade. Did the Bene Gesserit think their design inscrutable? Let her meet a greater power. She thought herself so strong! But the Bene Gesserit could not really know how the Almighty guarded the future of the Shariat!
Tuek was not to be stopped. "It assaults everything we hold sacred! And it's being spread everywhere!"
"By the Tleilaxu," Odrade said.
Waff lifted his sleeves, directing his weapons at Tuek. He hesitated only because he saw that Odrade had recognized part of his intentions.
Tuek stared from one to the other. Was Odrade's accusation true? Or was that just another Bene Gesserit trick?
Odrade saw Waff's hesitation and guessed its reason. She cast through her mind, seeking an answer to his motivations. What advantage could the Tleilaxu gain by killing Tuek? Obviously, Waff aimed to substitute one of his Fa
ce Dancers for the High Priest. But what would that gain him?
Sparring for time, Odrade said: "You should be very cautious, Ambassador Waff."
"When has caution ever governed great necessities?" Waff asked.
Tuek lifted himself to his feet and moved heavily to one side, wringing his hands. "Please! These are holy precincts. It is wrong to discuss heresies here unless we plan to destroy them." He looked down on Waff. "It's not true, is it? You are not the authors of that terrible document?"
"It is not ours," Waff agreed. Damn that fop of a priest! Tuek had moved well to one side and once more presented a moving target.
"I knew it!" Tuek said, striding around behind Waff and Odrade.
Odrade kept her gaze on Waff. He planned murder! She was sure of it.
Tuek spoke from behind her. "You do not know how you wrong us, Reverend Mother. Ser Waff has asked that we form a melange cartel. I explained that our price to you must remain unchanged because one of you was the grandmother of God."
Waff bowed his head, waiting. The priest would come back into range. God would not permit a failure.
