Dune Messiah (pgs. 1-24) Summary

On the planet Wallach IX in the twelfth year of the Emperor Paul Atreides' reign, the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam hosts a secret planning meeting to overthrow Artreides. Committed to the plot are Scytale, a "Face Dancer" from the planet Tleilaxu, and Edric, a fishlike "Guild Steersman," who lives encased in a special tank filled with the spice "melange." Not yet committed but present is the beautiful Princess Irulan, Paul's wife, who is frustrated by their unconsummated marriage.

It is a tense alliance. Irulan has second thoughts. She finds Edric repugnant but knows his mental powers keep them shielded from Paul's prescience. Edric offers a lure: only by joining them can Irulan realize her goal of becoming the founding mother of a royal dynasty. She is secretly administering contraceptives to Paul's beloved concubine, Chani, to prevent...