Chapter 12

Teg departs Gammu reluctantly but prepared for violence, sensing threats converging on the Keep and the Duncan ghola. Aboard the Ixian-converted Guildship, he notes shere precautions and Taraza’s coded signals indicating surveillance. Taraza publicly orders Duncan awakened despite his youth, secretly confirming the command.

Switching into Mentat mode, Teg analyzes the political-economic forces, linking Gammu’s banking nexus to vast WEALTH from the Scattering. He infers outside influence aboard, rips aside a curtain, and exposes a tall, armed observer. Confronted, the man admits allegiance to Honored Matres, prompting Teg to threaten total destruction with no-ship monitors and a timed ultimatum.

The intruder yields, and Teg escorts Taraza, Darwi Odrade, and their Sisters to the lighter. He observes formalities to project control and preserve options. Once clear, Odrade reveals she countermanded orders to destroy the Guildship. Teg protests until Taraza explains they allowed themselves to be taken, expecting Scattering agents to converge on the ghola project and counting on Teg or Burzmali to extract them.

Taraza argues the Guild and Ix will avoid open attack on Gammu due to competing Scattering interests and business constraints. She frames Bene Gesserit strategy as calming passions off battlefields, credits the Tyrant’s long shadow, and praises Teg’s empathic, balancing warfare. Taraza then returns to the point: Duncan must be awakened immediately, despite his age, because the danger has become “deadly necessary.”