Duke Leto Atreides stands on the landing control tower outside Arrakeen at night, looking over the Shield Wall and the city lights. The formal notice of Imperial transfer feels hollow to him, because the Fremen, the local Houses Minor, and the Atreides all understand that Arrakis is dangerous and politically compromised. Leto repeatedly returns to the thought that someone has tried to kill Paul, and his anger deepens his sense of isolation.

Leto reflects on the Emperor’s private contempt for the Fremen and on his own longing for Caladan, which he believes he will never see again. Though Leto privately thinks of Arrakis as a hellish exile, Leto resolves to hide that despair from Paul, because Paul must be able to imagine a future and a home on Arrakis. Leto also considers that the Fremen may be the key to preserving the Atreides line, provided the Harkonnens have not corrupted them.

When a shuttle lands, Leto descends to the assembly room, where the last Atreides troops arrive noisily under Gurney Halleck’s command. Leto draws Gurney aside and explains that Thufir Hawat has lost two agents but has found useful intelligence on the Harkonnen network. Because the Atreides need immediate security, Leto orders Gurney to send three hundred of his best men to Hawat for covert, violent work.

Leto then gives Gurney a second task: persuade some of the departing spice hunters from the old regime to stay and work for House Atreides. Leto wants willing cooperation because their experience with spice driving, weather scanning, dunes, and open sand is urgently needed. Gurney worries that a twenty percent pay increase may not be enough, so Leto allows discretion while warning that the treasury has limits.

Leto orders Gurney to arrange water-discipline instruction and lodging for the newly arrived troops, then return for a staff meeting in a council room. Leto plans a new planetary dispersal order with armored squads going out first, because Leto expects both open battle and secret conflict despite the formal presence of a Judge of the Change. After Gurney leaves, Leto moves through the troops with a confident public manner, gives propaganda instructions to reassure the men about their women and morale, and privately returns again to his fury over the attempt on Paul’s life.