Anna Corrino grasped her companion’s arm. “Erasmus is one of us now. He is my lover and my true love. Thank you for keeping me safe here with him, Directeur Venport.”
Josef gave the young woman a reassuring smile. Anna’s primary mental damage had occurred on Rossak at the Sisterhood school. Afterward, she had been sent to be trained among Mentats, in the hope that Headmaster Albans could reshape her thoughts and make her normal again. When Draigo Roget whisked her off to safekeeping on Denali, Anna had been frightened, but he managed to convince her that the laboratory domes were a sanctuary against the turbulence in the Imperium. Anna seemed not to understand her value as a hostage.
Now she pressed herself against the biological body of Erasmus. “We are so happy now.”
Josef smiled back at her. “Good, then there is something I need you to do for me. I think your brother is concerned about you. Would you record a message for me? We should reassure him.” For insurance.
“My brother?” Anna’s brow furrowed, as if trying to remember. “Which one — Roderick? Or Salvador?”
Josef kept his voice smooth and gentle. “I’m afraid Salvador suffered an unfortunate accident. He is dead.”
“Oh, that’s right — I forgot. A sandworm gobbled him up.” She shrugged. “Salvador ruined my love affair with Hirondo and sent me to the Sisterhood school.”
“Roderick is Emperor now,” Josef said. “I’m sure he wants to know that you are safe. I would very much like you to record a holo message to reassure him. Could you possibly do that for me?”
“Of course, as long as I don’t have to leave Erasmus.” She slipped her hands around her companion’s arm.
“No, I want you to stay safe right here, for as long as is necessary.”
Erasmus’s brow furrowed as he worked through the implications. Finally he looked at Josef. “I understand. He is right, Anna, it is very important that we say what your brother needs to hear. I will help you make the recording so that it says exactly the right words.”
“Thank you. Record it as soon as you can.” Josef looked into the human eyes of the independent robot, and a strange understanding passed between them. Erasmus was probably devious enough to develop a more effective recording than any Josef would have constructed, and it was obvious that Anna would do anything for him. “I’ll review it when you’re finished,” Josef added.
Interrupting them, Draigo arrived at the office door, accompanied by two cymek carts carrying brain canisters. “The walkers are being loaded and shipped up to orbit now, Directeur. All Navigator brains have been briefed on the attack plan against Lampadas. Ptolemy and Noffe are eager to go.”
Anna brightened. “Will you kill Manford Torondo?”
“We most certainly will,” Josef promised.
“I’m glad. He’s a monstrous, cruel man. He cut off the head of Headmaster Albans. Actually his Swordmaster did it, but Manford gave the order, so he’s responsible.” She frowned, reliving the event. “If you kill both Manford and Anari, that would be best.”
“We intend to,” Josef assured her. Anna seemed happy with the answer.
66
For every scientist who dedicates his life to helping humanity, there are ten thousand fools who are just as willing to destroy.
The warship sensors were connected directly to Ptolemy’s brain via thoughtrode, so he was able to study the entire planet as the VenHold fleet approached Lampadas. Manford Torondo was down there, the man who had inflicted so much pain, suffering, and ignorance on the human race.
The last time here, when Ptolemy was accompanied by only two other cymeks, they had dropped down to cause mayhem and kill a single target. Although the latter objective had failed, they had learned much about the planet’s vulnerabilities. Now this full-scale, Imperially sanctioned operation would mount a frontal assault on the dangerous fanatics — using cymek walkers and advanced warships.
There would be no mercy, no peace talks, no prisoners taken. The Butlerian infestation would be exterminated in their own nest.
Directeur Venport had said it best. This was a sentence to be carried out in order to guarantee the future of human civilization. The titanic cymeks and the bulk of the VenHold Spacing Fleet would be enough to do the job.
As the ships closed in, Ptolemy, Noffe, and the brooding Navigator brains installed themselves in gigantic cymek walkers, each one an arsenal in itself. When the preservation canisters were locked into place, the cymek brains tested the thoughtrodes. The spiderlike walkers would be an agile and unstoppable army, ready to raze the city of Empok.
As the cymek drop-pods prepared to launch, Ptolemy wondered if he would feel pleasure once he avenged Dr. Elchan, or just a sense of closure to know he had at last done something for his friend and all the others the fanatics had harmed.
When the armored containers were loaded in the launching bay, Ptolemy’s external sensors showed him the adjacent pods containing Administrator Noffe and the other Navigator cymeks. They would smash the Butlerians like a hammer. Ptolemy swiveled his optical sensors to watch Directeur Venport enter the bay. The business leader stood proudly next to the cymek pods, with the black-garbed Draigo Roget at his side.
“You will launch as soon as we enter planetary orbit,” the Directeur said. “Cymek forces will take care of the ground battle, while our fleet will have its hands full fighting the barbarian warships.”
“Those old Butlerian vessels are no match for our shields or weapons,” Draigo said, not in a boastful manner, just stating a Mentat analysis. “But it will be a tactical challenge, considering the size of their fleet. We are risking everything on this.”
“With the Emperor’s blessing,” Venport said.
While he made sure that Arrakis was well defended, Venport had left only a skeleton crew behind at Denali, since the secret research outpost was secure in its isolation. Once they eliminated the Butlerian threat, the research station’s reason for existence would go away, and Ptolemy looked forward to the day when he and Administrator Noffe could focus on other scientific work to help humanity.
“We will accomplish the mission, Directeur,” Noffe said through the pod’s speakerpatch. “Given the level of resistance that Lampadas is capable of mounting, we will not fail.”
“I wish I could be down there myself,” Venport growled, “but I’ll do my share of destruction up here.”
Alarms sounded as the VenHold fleet entered Lampadas orbit. The antique Butlerian warships scrambled to respond to the unexpected arrival. They blasted away in a pell-mell barrage without any tactical coordination. Explosions rumbled through the hull of the VenHold carrier, and Ptolemy’s sensors detected energy discharges, but none of the enemy strikes penetrated the shields. Manford’s defenders were like a child having a tantrum, growing more desperate when it didn’t get what it wanted.
Draigo said, “We should launch the cymeks now, Directeur.”
Venport’s eyes gleamed with anticipation. “Yes, we need to do that.”
Connected to his fellow cymeks through external sensors, Ptolemy watched armored pods tumble out of the bay doors of other carriers, dropping through intermittent, timed gaps in the Holtzman shields. Finally Ptolemy felt his own pod launch.
Speeding down through the atmosphere like a meteor, Ptolemy scanned upward to watch the VenHold fleet begin its clash with the Butlerian ships. Already, three of the enemy vessels were damaged or destroyed.
And it was just the beginning.
ANARI IDAHO BURST into Manford’s office, her eyes uncharacteristically wide in panic. “Venport has come for us — we are under attack by his fleet! They’ve opened fire on our ships in orbit.”
Startled, Manford quickly concealed the Erasmus journal he’d been reading behind a pile of other papers. His rush of guilt vanished when he saw her look of urgency. “Venport?” he said. “But we obliterated Kolhar — what can he possibly have left to fight with?” He scowled. “I didn’t know he was even still alive.”
Deacon Harian strode into the room, his face flushed. “Apparently, he had more assets than just Kolhar, and now he intends to get his revenge.”
Anari nodded. “Venport’s ships have dropped more than a hundred armored projectiles through the atmosphere, just like the ones we saw before. I believe they are cymeks — and they are on the way down to Empok.”
As if to confirm her statement, the projectiles began to crash around the city, and Manford felt a sickening chill. We used atomics against him, and now he turns thinking machines against us.
Anari reached down to grab him. “Let me take you to safety in the deep tunnels, Manford. I’ll seal you in an armored room and guard you myself. We’ll send your body double outside—”
“You will not!” He shook free of her grasp. “The demon machines are our greatest enemies, and I will not hide while Venport’s monsters lay waste to my world. Now is the time for me to guide my followers — I will rally them!”
In a stern voice, Deacon Harian said, “Leader Torondo, this is the reason your body double exists. Let that expendable man take the risk. Anari can carry him into battle.”
Manford was growing angry. “Millions of my followers came to Lampadas for me, to be my weapons in the fight for the human soul. Now is the time I need them most, and I won’t let them be led by a counterfeit. Enough! There will be no further discussion.”
Outside in the streets, the crowd was roaring like a beast. Some fled in panic with no safe place to go, while others tried to form a solid defense against the cymeks that emerged from their crash pods. Manford could hear explosions and the heavy grating sounds of mechanical limbs, humming pistons, and thudding footfalls — far too close. The giant walkers began to march.
“Take me out there, Anari. My faith is strong enough to face down these demons.”
She looked torn. “But I swore to keep you safe, Manford.”
“Then don’t allow any harm to come to me.”
Anari’s thoughts and loyalties seesawed, and finally she secured her shoulder harness in place and lifted him onto it. Then she grabbed her sword and carried him out into battle.