"Be quiet. I wish Hawat treated kindly. He must be told nothing of the late Doctor Yueh, his true betrayer. Let it be said that Doctor Yueh died defending his Duke. In a way, this may even be true. We will, instead, feed his suspicions against the Lady Jessica."
"M'Lord, I don't--"
"The way to control and direct a Mentat, Nefud, is through his information.
False information--false results."
"Yes, m'Lord, but . . . "
"Is Hawat hungry? Thirsty?"
"M'Lord, Hawat's still in the hands of the Sardaukar!"
"Yes. Indeed, yes. But the Sardaukar will be as anxious to get information from Hawat as I am. I've noticed a thing about our allies, Nefud. They're not very devious . . .politically. I do believe this is a deliberate thing; the Emperor wants it that way. Yes. I do believe it. You will remind the Sardaukar commander of my renown at obtaining information from reluctant subjects."
Nefud looked unhappy. "Yes, m'Lord."
"You will tell the Sardaukar commander that I wish to question both Hawat and this Kynes at the same time, playing one off against the other. He can understand that much, I think."
"Yes, m'Lord."
"And once we have them in our hands . . . " The Baron nodded.
"M'Lord, the Sardaukar will want an observer with you during any . . .
questioning."
"I'm sure we can produce an emergency to draw off any unwanted observers, Nefud."
"I understand, m'Lord. That's when Kynes can have his accident."
"Both Kynes and Hawat will have accidents then, Nefud. But only Kynes will have a real accident. It's Hawat I want. Yes. Ah, yes."
Nefud blinked, swallowed. He appeared about to ask a question, but remained silent.
"Hawat will be given both food and drink," the Baron said. "Treated with kindness, with sympathy. In his water you will administer the residual poison developed by the late Piter de Vries. And you will see that the antidote becomes a regular part of Hawat's diet from this point on . . . unless I say otherwise."
"The antidote, yes." Nefud shook his head. "But--"
"Don't be dense, Nefud. The Duke almost killed me with that poison-capsule tooth. The gas he exhaled into my presence deprived me of my most valuable Mentat, Piter. I need a replacement."
"Hawat?"
"Hawat."
"But--"
"You're going to say Hawat's completely loyal to the Atreides. True, but the Atreides are dead. We will woo him. He must be convinced he's not to blame for the Duke's demise. It was all the doing of that Bene Gesserit witch. He had an inferior master, one whose reason was clouded by emotion. Mentats admire the ability to calculate without emotion, Nefud. We will woo the formidable Thufir Hawat."
"Woo him. Yes, m'Lord."
"Hawat, unfortunately, had a master whose resources were poor, one who could not elevate a Mentat to the sublime peaks of reasoning that are a Mentat's right. Hawat will see a certain element of truth in this. The Duke couldn't afford the most efficient spies to provide his Mentat with the required information." The Baron stared at Nefud. "Let us never deceive ourselves, Nefud.
The truth is a powerful weapon. We know how we overwhelmed the Atreides. Hawat knows, too. We did it with wealth."
"With wealth. Yes, m'Lord."
"We will woo Hawat," the Baron said. "We will hide him from the Sardaukar.
And we will hold in reserve . . . the withdrawal of the antidote for the poison.
There's no way of removing the residual poison. And, Nefud, Hawat need never suspect. The antidote will not betray itself to a poison snooper. Hawat can scan his food as he pleases and detect no trace of poison."
Nefud's eyes opened wide with understanding.
"The absence of a thing," the Baron said, "this can be as deadly as the presence. The absence of air, eh? The absence of water? The absence of anything else we're addicted to." The Baron nodded. "You understand me, Nefud?"
Nefud swallowed. "Yes, m'Lord."
Then get busy. Find the Sardaukar commander and set things in motion."
"At once, m'Lord." Nefud bowed, turned, and hurried away.
Hawat by my side! the Baron thought. The Sardaukar will give him to me. If they suspect anything at all it's that I wish to destroy the Mentat. And this suspicion I'll confirm! The fools! One of the most formidable Mentats in all history, a Mentat trained to kill, and they'll toss him to me like some silly toy to be broken. I will show them what use can be made of such a toy.
The Baron reached beneath a drapery beside his suspensor bed, pressed a button to summon his older nephew, Rabban. He sat back, smiling.
And all the Atreides dead!
