Dune Messiah

Chani stares out at the sietch desert, having recently returned to her old home. She is not wearing a stillsuit, and this makes her feel unprotected in the strong wind. Her stomach constricts painfully, and she knows the birth will be soon. The morning sunlight somehow enhances the feeling of cynicism she has had ever since Paul became blind. Chani wonders why she and Paul came here and why Paul brought so many people with them. When she asked Paul the value of so many companions, he said they had become “money-rich” and “life-poor.” He touched her stomach and lamented that he tried to invent life when it had already been invented.

Remembering this exchange, Chani touches her stomach. The desert wind stirs up “evil odors,” and she regrets asking Paul to bring her here. She wonders what storms Paul sees with his vision; he’s become a madman since going blind. Chani observes the hawks flying overhead and knows that a storm is coming. Hayt calls, warning her of the storm. Chani turns into the sharp wind and feels paralyzed by the desert’s transience. She pictures the desert with its private sounds, and a melange worm slithering into dry depths. Although it was only one moment, she feels that the whole planet is being swept away.

Hayt approaches Chani and tells her to hurry or else the wind will tear the flesh from her bones. Trusting him, Chani allows Hayt to escort her into the moisture-sealed building. Inside is a thick smell of melange. Chani looks around, trying to believe this place is still her home. A birth pang ripples through her stomach. Chani asks Hayt why Paul is afraid of her giving birth. Hayt says that it is natural for Paul to worry, and that Paul still remembers when Sardaukar killed Chani’s first baby. Chani looks at Hayt, wondering if he is really Duncan Idaho.

Chani realizes that what troubles her about sietch is the odors of the foreign substances the Fremen bring in. Chani says she is scared and asks Hayt where Paul is. Hayt says that Paul is busy with political affairs. Chani thinks about how Paul had steered the ‘thopter with his sightless eyes when they flew to sietch. Another birth pang spasms through Chani. Realizing that she is going into labor, Hayt grasps her and leads her to her room. He lays her down and calls for Harah. Soon, people bustle around Chani.

Hayt goes into the hall and ponders over his own actions. He realizes that his panic is centered on the future moment when Paul will come to him to grieve Chani’s death. Hayt shudders and tells himself that panic cannot come from nothing. He searches his mind; people have been replaced by shadows, “creatures of possibility.” Starting to sweat, Hayt tries to grasp the infinity that courses through his mind.  Suddenly, Hayt sees Bijaz in his mind, and realizes that the dwarf rigged him with a “compulsion.” A passing guard asks Hayt if he said something, and Hayt says that he has said “everything.”