Navigators of Dune

30

After the overthrow, the Mentat School had been cleansed and restructured to Manford’s liking, and the Butlerian leader was proud of the accomplishment. Zendur, the school’s deputy administrator who had served under the traitorous Headmaster Albans, was weak, terrified, and easily manipulated. Therefore, Manford considered him the perfect person to fill the position.

Even before the overthrow of the institution, many Mentat students had been Butlerian followers, and the rest were being properly reeducated now. In the aftermath of the siege, the school complex had been rebuilt and fortified along the shore of the marsh lake. The buildings were connected by wooden platforms, atop pilings driven deep into the soft soil. The ornate roof arches and walkways linking one structure to the next gave the complex the appearance of serenity, an elite academy dedicated to human contemplation. From now on, that contemplation would consist only of orthodox ideas.

As Anari Idaho brought him to inspect the new facility, Manford saw that Headmaster Zendur was a broken, nervous man. Despite being a Mentat, the administrator seemed unable to extrapolate his own situation and put it in the proper context. Zendur had been trained by Headmaster Albans and was therefore suspect, but for now, at least, he would serve as interim manager over a carefully prepared curriculum, with students rigorously selected on the basis of their philosophical beliefs, rather than mental acuity.

For Manford loyalty was primary; everything else was secondary.

When Zendur came out to meet them, he pressed his hands together and bowed deeply. Manford had no doubt that this school would be exactly as expected, and this inspection visit was merely a pro forma exercise. The replacement Headmaster and the remaining Mentat students had learned their lesson. They understood that their role was to calculate and advise, not to lead some kind of thought-revolution.

Carrying Manford in her shoulder harness, Anari strode along the wooden walkways. Beside them, Zendur babbled about the new classes, the progress of the students, and even the survival-training sessions out in the swamps. Their footwear made noises on the wood.

“Has there been any sign of Anna Corrino yet?” Manford interrupted. “Any hint as to how she escaped? Any remnant of her body?”

“No to all that, Leader Torondo,” said Zendur, “but she never was a strong girl. If she fled into the swamps, there is no chance she survived.”

“You understand probabilities, Mentat, so you know there is always a chance, however infinitesimal it might be. Emperor Roderick fears that I had something to do with her disappearance. If I can return Anna Corrino to him, then I will secure his gratitude and cooperation, which is something I need.”

Anari made a dissonant noise. “We didn’t need Emperor Salvador as our ally. We simply made him do as we asked.”

“Roderick is different from his brother,” Manford said, but because Zendur was listening, he didn’t add his own concerns about how difficult it would be to manipulate or bully the new Emperor. Roderick saw through Butlerian strategies in ways that Salvador never had.

In a clear snub, the new Emperor had pointedly not invited Manford to his coronation. With Anna gone missing during the Butlerian siege of the Mentat School, as well as Roderick’s young daughter killed by an out-of-control mob during a rampage festival, the Emperor had sufficient cause to turn against their movement … or worse, join forces with Directeur Venport to eradicate him and his followers. Manford had been very concerned.

But then a miracle had happened when Venport was revealed to be the man behind Salvador’s assassination! The vile business mogul had become an outlaw, hated by Roderick, and this political shift gave Manford and his Butlerians a chance to regain ground.

From his perch on Anari’s shoulders, he asked the new Headmaster, “How many of your Mentats are trained well enough to be put into service? I need at least two to accompany us to Salusa Secundus.”

Zendur stammered, calculated, and nodded. “I have what you require.”

“Good. We will take them to the Imperial Palace as a gift to the Emperor. My followers on Salusa will help me cement a new position for our movement. We can provide Roderick Corrino with whatever he needs, and with a sufficient show of force, we will keep him on the straight and narrow path.”