Did Karee know about the forbidden computers, the hidden breeding records? Did she know Raquella is my own grandmother?
These questions still lingered, even now, but by voicing her suspicions to Emperor Salvador, Dorotea had touched a spark to kindling. She hadn’t meant to cause such a disaster at the Rossak School. She had merely wanted to bring the Sisters back to the proper, safe path. The turbulence had gone out of her control — the massacre of the Sister Mentats, the disbanding of the Rossak order.
Now, she was determined that her orthodox Sisters would rebuild the order here on Salusa, correctly, with the full support of the Imperial throne.
The recent dream was sharper in her mind now, as if those other thoughts placed it in context, giving it a framework. While sleeping, Dorotea had seen herself talking with old Sister Karee about the important secrets Josef Venport was harboring — a conversation that was impossible, because Karee was dead, cut down by the Imperial soldiers.…
Nonetheless, the Sorceress was there in Dorotea’s dream, very much alive and talking about current events after the breakup of the Rossak School. Sister Karee explained that VenHold continued to operate profitably, that their ships flew safely in direct contradiction to so many tragic losses from other shipping companies. In the dream, Karee used her Mentat skills to counsel Dorotea, outlining circumstantial but convincing evidence that suggested Josef Venport had more than good luck on his side. Not only did his ships use the skills of mysterious Navigators, they might also be taking advantage of forbidden computers.
Without proof of his twisted dealings, though, Dorotea could not expose Venport. She had already made a grave error in voicing suspicions about the Sisterhood’s illicit computers, without having actual evidence. Many of her Sisters had died because of that. She would not make premature accusations again.
The dream-Karee wore the customary white robe of a Sorceress, giving her an air of mystery and secret knowledge. After the conversation, Karee watched Dorotea like a wise counselor while the younger woman ran a series of questions about Venport through her mind, as if she were using Truthsayer abilities on herself, rather than on someone else. Now her conscious mind asked questions of her subconscious, interrogating herself to get both sides of the truth.
Dorotea wore the black robe of a Reverend Mother, and somehow she was looking at herself as she spoke to herself, as if there were two versions of her at the same time — an older, wiser one and a younger version who still had much to learn. The older one acted as the Truthsayer.
“Speak to me of VenHold and of Combined Mercantiles,” the older Dorotea said. “Tell me what you know.”
The younger person hesitated, then said, “Directeur Venport has cut off the delivery of vital Combined Mercantiles products to any planet that supports the Butlerians.”
“And what is the most valuable product that Combined Mercantiles delivers?”
“Melange, of course. Combined Mercantiles is the prime supplier, and they run their own spice-harvesting crews on Arrakis. After Directeur Venport’s recent announcement, his Spacing Fleet will be the only distributor of spice. Aboard his own ships, Venport’s Navigators consume enormous quantities of melange. VenHold and Combined Mercantiles are inextricably connected.”
“What else? What about the spice?”
“Spice is increasingly popular across the Imperium. It extends life, it promotes health. Many people are addicted. With the VenHold embargo, the inhabitants of Butlerian worlds are unable to get their spice by any means, and they grow more desperate. Venport expects this unrest to weaken their faith in Manford Torondo. The deprivation may drive them to break their pledge — as Baridge just did.”
The older, more sagacious version of Dorotea nodded. “Is it just political, or is Josef Venport using the embargo to increase profits as well? Speak to me of VenHold and the major banks. What do you know of the flow of money?”
Wrestling with her memories, the hints as well as actual data that seeped into her mind, Dorotea was aided by Other Memory. Information surfaced from all directions.
“In addition to the shipping embargo, there are credible reports that the major planetary banks have acted in collusion to freeze the assets of planets that took the Butlerian pledge.” She paused, followed another thread. “The planetary banks have also refused to grant financing to VenHold competitors, such as EsconTran. Nalgan Shipping nearly went bankrupt and was forced to sell its fleet to Venport. Meanwhile, the banks grant generous terms to Venport Holdings — and also to Combined Mercantiles.”
The dreaming, younger Dorotea blinked as pieces clicked into place.
“And what have you seen that you don’t know you’ve seen? Josef Venport is the Directeur of Venport Holdings. Who are the officers of Combined Mercantiles? Who are the officers of the major planetary banks?”
“I–I don’t know their names.”
“The names do not matter. You are missing the heart of the question.”
The words were heavy as the younger Dorotea lifted them out of her mind. “Venport Holdings and Combined Mercantiles are one. Venport Holdings and the planetary banks are one. The puppet strings all go back to Kolhar.”
The older Dorotea nodded like a wise teacher. “And the connections are likely to go farther still.”
Off to the side of the dream, white-robed Karee Marques folded her gnarled hands in her white sleeves. She listened, nodding as the student dissected the problem.
The younger Dorotea remembered Venport’s wife, Cioba, a powerful Sister from Rossak, someone else with Sorceress blood. Cioba and Josef had two young daughters, who were also being taught by Mother Superior Raquella. And Venport fostered and funded the new Sisterhood school in exile on Wallach IX.
She thought of Raquella’s Sisters and Cioba Venport … which led her thoughts to Josef Venport, then Venport Holdings, the planetary banks, Combined Mercantiles, the embargo of Butlerian planets. It was all a web, with a single nexus.
Dorotea saw the old Sorceress nodding with a rueful smile on her lips. Then she faded away, leaving Dorotea awake in the darkness, feeling very much alone and troubled by these astonishing revelations.…
SHORTLY AFTER DAWN, armed with her realization, Dorotea awaited the Emperor outside his office in the Hall of Parliament. It was far too early for Salvador to receive visitors, but she felt a sense of urgency now that she had pieced together the broad strokes of Josef Venport’s spreading plan. Without any doubt, the powerful Directeur had extended his web throughout many aspects of the Imperium, with no regard for the Corrinos.
More importantly, Manford Torondo needed to know, and she would send word to him on Lampadas. The linchpin seemed to be the Combined Mercantiles operations on Arrakis, the dependence on spice being the vital link in an ever more oppressive chain. Yes, Manford needed to know … but first she was obligated to inform the Emperor.
After revealing the fraud of House Péle and publicly humiliating Grand Inquisitor Quemada, Dorotea had been much more welcome in the Emperor’s presence. She was Salvador’s official Truthsayer, and her newest revelation would make her even more valuable to him. The Emperor would never again doubt what she had to say.
It might even make up for her disastrous fumbling of the situation on Rossak, which had destroyed the school there and broken the Sisterhood.…
The repercussions of Quemada’s confession still reverberated through the palace. The apprentice Scalpel torturers had performed their work with precise efficiency. In a particular, but unsurprising, irony the Grand Inquisitor had not survived his own interrogation, and his organs were sold to a research group.