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Rabban drew himself up. "But if the Emperor can make synthetic spice, what
happens to our holdings? What happens to all the spice stockpiles we've spent
years building up?"
"Provided the new synthetic is cheap and effective, Harkonnen spice-based
fortunes would evaporate," de Vries said stonily. "Practically overnight."
"That's right, Piter!" The Baron slammed a ringed fist on the table.
"Harvesting spice from Arrakis is incredibly expensive. If the Emperor has his
own source of cheap melange, the market will collapse and House Corrino will
control the rest -- a new monopoly held entirely in the hands of the Emperor."
"CHOAM won't like that," Rabban said with surprising insight.
De Vries suggested, "Then we will have to get this information to the Spacing
Guild. We must reveal to them what the Emperor was doing, and see to it that
Shaddam ceases all such investigations. CHOAM and the Guild won't want to lose
their investment in spice production either."
"But what if the new Emperor makes a treaty with them first, Piter?" the Baron
asked. "CHOAM is partially owned by House Corrino. Shaddam will be out to make
his mark as he begins his reign. What if CHOAM presses him into giving them
access to the synthetic spice at an extraordinary discount, as the price of
their cooperation? The Guild would love to have a cheaper, reliable supply.
They might abandon Arrakis altogether if it's too difficult."
"Then we'll be the only ones left out in the cold," Rabban growled. "House
Harkonnen gets stepped on by everybody."
The Mentat's eyes fell half-closed as he droned on. "We can't even file a
formal complaint with the Houses of the Landsraad. Knowledge of a spice
substitute would create a feeding frenzy among the Federated families.
Political alliances have shifted recently, and a number of Houses wouldn't mind
if our monopoly were broken. They couldn't care less if the price of melange
plummets. The only ones to lose would be those who had invested heavily in
secret and illegal spice stockpiles, or those who invested heavily in the
expensive spice-harvesting operations on Arrakis."
"In other words, us again -- and a few of our closest allies," the Baron said.
"The Bene Gesserit, and your little sweetheart among the witches, would probably
like an inexpensive supply, too."
The Baron glowered at his nephew. Rabban merely chuckled. "So what can we do
about it?"
De Vries answered without consulting the Baron. "House Harkonnen will have to
take care of this by itself. We can expect no outside assistance."
"Remember that we're only a quasi-fief on Arrakis," the Baron said. "It was
given to us on sufferance from CHOAM and the Emperor. And now it's like a hook
on which they've hung us out to dry. We must be extremely careful."
"We don't have enough military strength to fight all those enemies," Rabban
said.
"We'll have to be subtle," de Vries said.
"Subtlety?" The Baron raised his eyebrows. "All right, I'm willing to try new
things."
"We must disrupt this Tleilaxu research on Ix," de Vries said, "preferably
destroy it. I suggest that House Harkonnen also liquidate various assets, build
up a reserve of cash, and milk our current spice production for as much hard
profit as possible, because it may disappear at any moment."
The Baron looked over at Rabban. "We need to squeeze. Oh, and I'll have your
idiot father step up whale-fur harvesting on Lankiveil. We need to stuff our
coffers. The upcoming battles may be quite taxing to our resources."
The Mentat wiped a red drop from his lips. "We must do this in utmost secrecy.
CHOAM watches our financial activity carefully and would detect if we suddenly
started doing something unusual. For now it's best we don't tip our hand about
the Tleilaxu research. We don't want CHOAM or the Guild joining forces with our
new Emperor against House Harkonnen."
"We've got to keep the Imperium properly dependent upon us," the Baron said.
Rabban scowled, trying to wrestle his way through the implications by brute
force. "But if the Tleilaxu are entrenched on Ix, how do we destroy this
research without exposing it for what it is? Without giving away our own
involvement and bringing all of our enemies against us?"
De Vries sat back to stare at the sexual designs on the walls. The rotting
corpses hung in their display cases like hideous eavesdroppers. His mind
churned through Mentat calculations until finally he said, "We must have someone
else fight for us. Preferably without their knowledge."
"Who?" Rabban asked.
"That's why we brought Piter here," the Baron said. "We need suggestions."
"Prime projection," de Vries said. "House Atreides."
Rabban's mouth dropped open. "The Atreides would never fight for us!"
De Vries shot back a response. "The Old Duke is dead, and House Atreides is
currently unstable. Paulus's successor Leto is an impetuous young pup. He has
no friends in the Landsraad and recently gave a rather embarrassing speech at
the Council. He went home humiliated."
The Baron waited, trying to see where his Mentat was going with this.
"Second data point: House Vernius, staunch ally to Atreides, has been ousted
from Ix by the Tleilaxu. Dominic Vernius remains at large with a price on his
head, while Shando Vernius has just been killed, based on her renegade status.
House Atreides has offered sanctuary to the two children of Vernius. They're in
thick with the victims of the Tleilaxu."
De Vries raised a finger to assemble the points. "Now, brash young Leto is a
close friend of the exiled Prince of Ix. Duke Leto blames the Tleilaxu for the
takeover of Ix, for the bounty on the mother, and for the ruined situation of
their family. 'House Atreides values loyalty and honor far above politics,'
Leto said to the Landsraad. He may see it as his duty to help Rhombur Vernius
regain his position on Ix. Who better to strike a blow for us?"
The Baron now smiled as he followed the implications. "So . . . start a war
between House Atreides and the Tleilaxu! Let them tear each other apart. That
way House Atreides and the synthetic-spice research will both be destroyed."
Rabban was clearly having trouble envisioning this. From the intense look on
his face, the Baron could see that his nephew was thinking as hard as he could,
just trying to keep up.
The Mentat nodded. "If played properly, we could accomplish this in such a
manner that House Harkonnen remains completely apart from the hostilities. We
get what we want, and our hands stay entirely clean."
"Brilliant, Piter! I'm glad I didn't execute you all those times when you were
so annoying."
"So am I," de Vries said.
The Baron opened one of the nullentropy chambers to remove a flagon of expensive
kirana brandy. "We must have a toast." Then he smiled slyly. "Because I've
just realized when and how we can make all this happen." His two listeners
couldn't have been more attentive.
"The new Duke is overwhelmed with the complexities of running his holdings.
Naturally, he will attend the coronation of Shaddam IV. No Great House could
risk offending the new Padishah Emperor by scorning him on his greatest day."
De Vries caught on immediately. "When Duke Leto travels to the coronation . . .
that will be our chance to strike."
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