56.
Three tiny one-seater ships -- SPOTTERS -- circle overhead.
KYNES (CONT'D)
A rich spice bed, by the color. If
you get a little higher you’ll have
a better view.Leto makes an elegant U-Turn and brings the aircraft to a
higher altitude.
KYNES (CONT'D)
There, you see the spotter
aircraft, looking for wormsign.LETO
Wormsign?KYNES
A sand wave moving toward the
crawler. Worms travel deep but get
closer to the surface when they
attack. If you are patient, we
should see one.Paul notices Kynes’ last words: she seems please by the
worm’s menace.
GURNEY
A worm always comes?KYNES
Always. They’re drawn by rhythmic
noises.PAUL
Why don’t we shield the crawlers?KYNES
A shield’s a death sentence in the
desert. They attract the worms and
drive them into a killing frenzy.She breaks off as the Duke kicks on the jet brakes. The ship
bucks as its wings elongate and cup the air. The craft
becomes a full “thopter” as the Duke banks it, holding the
wings to a gentle beat, pointing with his left hand off to
the east beyond the factory dune crawler.
LETO
Is that a worm?Where the dunes recede in curves to the horizon, a straight
track cuts through them: a wave-crest approaching, the way a
fish disturbs the water when swimming beneath the surface.