Guriff pushed his way down the aisle with Alaenor Ven following him. He reached the back, where a hatch led into the cargo bay.
“You forgot to recognize the importance and power of religion,” she said, continuing as if she had never paused. “Even if the fanatics are not wealthy, they will sacrifice everything to pay for something they believe is important. They truly revere their Divided God.”
Guriff worked the hold’s controls, but missed the proper button. He slapped his palm on the wall and rekeyed the pad. Finally, the hatch slid open.
The transport’s cargo hold was full of sand.
Ordinary sand.
The CHOAM woman continued to smile. “The faithful seek any sort of artifact from Rakis. Sacred relics. Even in the best of times, only the richest and most dedicated could afford to make a pilgrimage to their sacred Dune. Now that the planet is dead and almost all travel cut off, every scrap—every holy artifact—is worth even more.”
“You’re planning to sell sand?”
“Yes. Beautiful in its simplicity, isn’t it?”
“I’ve never heard of anything so absurd.”
“CHOAM will file for the necessary mining rights and patents to prevent claim jumpers. When word gets out, of course, there will be smugglers and purveyors of fraudulent goods, but those are all problems we can deal with.”
Lokar came up beside them and beamed as he stared into the dusty, sand-filled hold. Stepping forward, he bent down and thrust his hands into the soft grains, pulling up handfuls. “Isn’t it wonderful? Offworld, throughout the Old Empire, even a tiny vial of this sand will sell for many solaris. People will line up for a single grain, to touch the dust to their lips.”
“The sand must flow,” the CHOAM woman said.
“You’re all idiots.” In disgust, Guriff exited the transport and went to meet what was left of his crew. They were pleased at the stacks of fresh supplies. When they asked him about the departing priest and what the CHOAM representative had said, he refused to answer, gruffly telling them to get back to work. They all had risked everything to come here, and they needed to find something worthwhile on Rakis. Something other than sand.
As the heavily laden transport ship lifted off, kicking up a blast of sand around it—worthless sand, in his view—Guriff looked at the barren landscape and imagined the real treasure out there, treasure that he would find.
Chronology of Dune Fiction
“Hunting Harkonnens”
The Butlerian Jihad
“Whipping Mek”
The Machine Crusade
“The Faces of a Martyr”
The Battle of Corrin
Sisterhood of Dune
Mentats of Dune
“Red Plague”
Navigators of Dune
House Atreides
House Harkonnen
House Corrino
“Wedding Silk”
Dune
“A Whisper of Caladan Seas”
Paul of Dune
Dune Messiah
The Winds of Dune
Children of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
Heretics of Dune
“Sea Child”
Chapterhouse Dune
“Treasure in the Sand”
Hunters of Dune
Sandworms of Dune
About the Author
Brian Herbert is the author of multiple New York Times bestsellers. He has won a number of literary honors, including the New York Times Notable Book Award, and has been nominated for the highest awards in science fiction. After more than five years in development, he published Dreamer of Dune, a moving biography of his father (Frank Herbert) that was a Hugo Award finalist. His acclaimed novels include the Timeweb trilogy (Timeweb, The Web and the Stars, and Webdancers), The Stolen Gospels, The Lost Apostles, The Race for God, Sidney’s Comet, Sudanna, Sudanna, and Man of Two Worlds (written with Frank Herbert).
Kevin J. Anderson has published 140 books, 56 of which have been national or international bestsellers. He has written numerous novels in the Star Wars, X-Files, and DC Comics universes, as well as unique steampunk fantasy novels Clockwork Angels and Clockwork Lives, written with legendary rock drummer Neil Peart, based on the concept album by the band Rush. His original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series, the Terra Incognita fantasy trilogy, the Saga of Shadows trilogy, and his humorous horror series featuring Dan Shamble, Zombie PI. He has edited numerous anthologies, written comics and games, and the lyrics to two rock CDs. Anderson and his wife Rebecca Moesta are the publishers of WordFire Press.
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Four Unpublished Novels
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Other WordFire Press Titles
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Blindfold
Climbing Olympus
Clockwork Angels: The Comic Scripts
Dan Shamble, Zombie PI Series
Dan Shamble 1: Death Warmed Over
Dan Shamble 2: Unnatural Acts
Dan Shamble 3: Hair Raising
Dan Shamble 4: Slimy Underbelly
Dan Shamble 5: Working Stiff
Gamearth Series
Gamearth 1:Gamearth
Gamearth 2: Gameplay
Gamearth 3: Game’s End
Hopscotch
Million Dollar Series
Million Dollar Productivity
Million Dollar Professionalism for the Writer
Worldbuilding: From Small Towns to Entire Universes
Resurrection, Inc.
The Saga of Seven Suns, Veiled Alliances
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Memorymakers,
Marie Landis & Brian Herbert
The Race for God
The Stolen Gospels 1: The Stolen Gospels
The Stolen Gospels 2: The Lost Apostles
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Our list of other WordFire Press authors and titles is always growing. To find out more and to see our selection of titles, visit us at:
wordfirepress.com