Commander of Dune

Chapter 2

"An eye for an eye will make us all blind."

~ Mohandas Gandhi – Ancient Peacemaker

Personal Journal:  Arista Atreides, Empress of the known world.

'Caladan is the ancestral home of House Atreides, as Earth is the ancestral home of the human race.  Yet our water has mingled with that of Fremen.  Does this make me Fremen? Or a hybrid?  Is Caladan even home?  Is Caladan part of the Atreides jurisdiction by virtue of the fact that it is of our House? Or is the planet mine because I rule.

One may doubt that I am Atreides.  Though I am; if not by birth then certainly by the genetic manipulation of The Tyrant.'

With a sigh the most powerful female in the known universe shut the image ring and looked out the window.  Dune – Desert Planet – Home.

Her thoughts wandered.

'Now this! Yet another appeal.

When the migration had begun one thousand years after the death of the God Emperor not one thought it was possible.  Zensunni and Zenshite live on the same planet?  The Universe held its collective breath.

Amazingly peace had been the result.

First because the then Emperor had let the ancestral home be annexed by the religious fanatics.

Second because the Buddislamics had split the planet down the middle and for the first time since the human race had left 

Earth there was not a single planetary rule, but a primitive sharing of that power.  Left to their own devices they had thrived.'

She turned before her aide could politely cough.  Somethings had become genetic and the ability to foretell aspects of the future was now ingrained into the DNA of the Atreides bloodlines.

“Yes Annan.” Arista prompted, knowing full well the reason for the interruption but wanting the Aide to vocalize it.

“Highness.  The Ambassador is here.”

“Which one?”

“Both, Highness.”

'Of course both' she thought.  Stifling a sigh Arista swept past the young woman and headed for the Hall where she held Court.

~*~*~*~*~

The Reverend Mother assigned to the Court of Arista Atreides watched as the brown skinned woman entered the Throne Room.

Even as the Atreides had brought Dune from Desert Planet to Tropical Paradise and back to Desert Planet; the Planet itself had affected the family too.  No longer were they blue in blue eyed blond and Arian but with the effects of both the Fremen gene pool and the hot desert sun the Atreides now were as brown skinned as any native.

The change had only served to enhance their mystic, beauty and power.

Arista was true to all three qualities.

The Reverend Mother listened bored by the latest appeal of the joint petition of the Ambassadors of the Planet Caladan.  As they had done for the last five visits they appealed for assistance from the Throne to fight the strangle hold the Tleilaxu had on them.  

Once again they presented their case, “For over twenty thousand years, Highness we have not only co-existed with each other but did so in peace.  We are a threat to no one.  We did not deserve this.”