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.How many ofBurzmali's special troops do you have?""Almost two million." Startled out of her."So many!""He had more than twice that number with him at Lampadas when Honored Matresobliterated them.""We shall have to be more clever than poor Burzmali.Would you leave me todiscuss this with Duncan? That is why you keep us around, isn't it? Ourspecialty?" He aimed a smiling look at the overhead comeyes."I'm sure you'llreview our discussion thoroughly before approving."Odrade and her Sisters exchanged glances.They shared an unspoken question:What else can we do?As she stood, Odrade looked at Idaho."Here's a real job for a Truthsayer-Mentat!"When the women were gone, Teg pulled himself up onto one of the chairs andlooked into the empty room visible beyond the seewall.It had been close thereand he still felt his heart pumping hard from the effort."Quite a show," hesaid."I've seen better." Extremely dry."What I'd like right now is a large glass of Marinete, but I doubt this bodycould take it.""Bell will be waiting for Dar when she gets back to Central," Idaho said."To the nethermost hell with Bell! We have to defuse those Honored Matresbefore they find us.""And our Bashar has just the plan.""Damn that title!"Idaho inhaled a sharp breath restricted by shock."Tell you something, Duncan!" Intense."Once when I was arriving for animportant meeting with potential enemies, I heard an aide announce me.'TheBashar is here.' I damned near stumbled, caught by the abstraction.""Mentat blur.""Of course it was.But I knew the title removed me from something I did notdare lose.Bashar? I was more than that! I was Miles Teg, the name given meby my parents.""You were on the name-chain!""Certainly, and I realized my name stood at a distance from something moreprimal.Miles Teg? No, I was more basic than that.I could hear my mother saying, 'Oh, what a beautiful baby.' So there I was with another name:'Beautiful Baby.' ""Did you go deeper?" Idaho found himself fascinated."I was caught.Name leads to name leads to name leads to nameless.When Iwalked into that important room, I was nameless.Did you ever risk that?""Once." A reluctant admission."We all do it at least once.But there I was.I'd been briefed.I had areference for everyone at that table -- face, name, title, plus all of thebackgrounding.""But you weren't really there.""Oh, I could see the expectant faces measuring me, wondering, worrying.Butthey did not know me!""That gave you a feeling of great power?""Exactly as we were warned in Mentat school.I asked myself: 'Is this Mind atits beginning?' Don't laugh.It's a tantalizing question.""So you went deeper?" Caught by Teg's words, Idaho ignored tugs of warning atthe edge of his awareness."Oh, yes.And I found myself in the famous 'Hall of Mirrors' they described andwarned us to flee.""So you remembered how to get out and.""Remembered? You've obviously been there.Did memory get you out?""It helped.""Despite the warnings, I lingered, seeing my 'self of selves' and infinitepermutations.Reflections of reflections ad infinitum.""Fascination of the 'ego core.' Damn few ever escape from that depth.You werelucky.""I'm not sure it should be called luck.I knew there must be a First Awareness,an awakening.""Which discovers it is not the first.""But I wanted a self at the root of the self!""Didn't the people at this meeting notice anything odd about you?""I found out later I sat down with a wooden expression that concealed thesemental gymnastics.""You didn't speak?" "I was struck dumb.This was interpreted as 'the Bashar's expected reticence.'So much for reputation."Idaho started to smile and remembered the comeyes.He saw at once how thewatchdogs would interpret such revelations.Wild talent in a dangerousdescendant of the Atreides! Sisters knew about the mirrors.Anyone who escapedmust be suspect.What did the mirrors show him?As though he heard the dangerous question, Teg said: " I was caught and knewit.I could visualize myself as a bedridden vegetable but I didn't care.Themirrors were everything until, like something floating up out of water, I saw mymother.She looked more or less the way she had just before she died."Idaho inhaled a trembling breath.Didn't Teg know what he had just said for thecomeyes to record?"The Sisters will now imagine I'm at least a potential Kwisatz Haderach," Tegsaid."Another Muad'Dib.Bullcrap! As you're so fond of saying, Duncan.Neither of us would risk that.We know what he created and we're not stupid!"Idaho could not swallow.Would they accept Teg's words? He spoke the truth butstill."She took my hand," Teg said."I could feel it! And she led me right out ofthe Hall.I expected her to be with me when I felt myself seated at the table.My hand still tingled from her touch but she was gone.I knew that.I justbrought myself to attention and took over.The Sisterhood had importantadvantages to gain there and I gained them
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