Duncan Idaho stood almost in the center of the no-ship's practice floor and three paces from the ghola-child. Sophisticated training instruments were near at hand, some exhausting, some dangerous.
The child looked admiring and trusting this morning.
Do I understand him better because I, too, am a ghola? A questionable assumption. This one has been brought up in a way much different from the one they designed for me. Designed! The precise term.
The Sisterhood had copied as much of Teg's original childhood as possible. Even to an adoring younger companion standing in for the long-lost brother. And Odrade giving him the deep teaching! As Teg's birth-mother did.
Idaho remembered the aged Bashar whose cells had produced this child. A thoughtful man whose comments were to be heeded. With only a slight effort, Idaho recalled the man's manner and words:
"The true warrior often understands his enemy better than he understands his friends. A dangerous pitfall if you let understanding lead to sympathy as it will naturally do when left unguided."
Difficult to think of the mind behind those words as latent somewhere in this child. The Bashar had been so insightful, teaching about sympathies on that long-ago day in the Gammu Keep.
"Sympathy for the enemy - a weakness of police and armies alike. Most perilous are the unconscious sympathies directing you to preserve your enemy intact because the enemy is your justification for existence."
"Sir?"
How could that piping voice become the commanding tones of the old Bashar?
"What is it?"
"Why are you just standing there looking at me?"
"They called the Bashar 'Old Reliability.' Did you know that?"
"Yes, sir. I've studied the story of his life."
Was it "Young Reliability" now? Why did Odrade want his original memories restored so quickly?
"Because of the Bashar, the entire Sisterhood has been digging into Other Memory, revising their views of history. Did they tell you that?"
"No, sir. Is it important for me to know? Mother Superior said you would train my muscles."
"You liked to drink Danian Marinete, a very fine brandy, I recall. "
"I'm too young to drink, sir."
"You were a Mentat. Do you know what that means?"
"I'll know when you restore my memories, won't I?"
No respectful sir. Calling the teacher to task for unwanted delays.
Idaho smiled and got a grin in response. An engaging child. Easy to show him natural affection.
"Watch out for him," Odrade had said. "He's a charmer."
Idaho recalled Odrade's briefing before bringing the child.
"Since every individual is accountable ultimately to the self," she said, "the formation of that self demands our utmost care and attention. "
"Is that necessary with a ghola?"
They had been in Idaho's sitting room that night, Murbella a fascinated listener.
"He will remember everything you teach him."
"So we do a little editing of the original."
"Careful, Duncan! Give a bad time to an impressionable child, teach that child not to trust anyone, and you create a suicide - slow or fast suicide, doesn't make any difference."
"Are you forgetting that I knew the Bashar?"
"Don't you remember, Duncan, how it was before your memories were restored?"
"I knew the Bashar could do it and I thought of him as my salvation."
"And that's how he sees you. It's a special kind of trust."
"I'll treat him honestly."
"You may think you act from honesty but I advise you to look deeply into yourself every time you come face to face with his trust."
"And if I make a mistake?"
"We will correct it if possible." She glanced up at the comeyes and back to him.
"I know you'll be watching us!"
"Don't let it inhibit you. I'm not trying to make you self-conscious. Just cautious. And remember that my Sisterhood has efficient methods of healing."
"I'll be cautious."
"You might remember it was the Bashar who said: 'The ferocity we display to our foes is always tempered by the lesson we hope to teach.' "
"I can't think of him as a foe. The Bashar was one of the finest men I've ever known."
"Excellent. I place him in your hands."
And here the child was on the practice floor getting more than a little impatient with his teacher's hesitations.
"Sir, is this part of a lesson, just standing here? I know sometimes -"
"Be still."
Teg came to military attention. No one had taught him that. This was from his original memories. Idaho was suddenly fascinated by this glimpse of the Bashar.
They knew he would catch me this way!
Never underestimate Bene Gesserit persuasiveness. You could find yourself doing things for them without knowing pressures had been applied. Subtle and damnable! There were compensations, of course. You lived in interesting times, as the ancient curse had it. All in all, Idaho decided, he preferred interesting times, even these times.
He took a deep breath. "Restoring your original memories will cause pain - physical and mental. In some ways, the mental pains are worse. I am to prepare you for that."
Still at attention. No comment.
"We will begin without weapons, using an imaginary blade in your right hand. This is a variation on the 'five attitudes.' Each response arises before the need. Drop your arms to your sides and relax."
Moving behind Teg, Idaho grasped the child's right arm below the elbow and demonstrated the first movements.
"Each attacker is a feather floating on an infinite path. As the feather approaches, it is diverted and removed. Your response is like a puff of air blowing the feather away."