Secret Gardens [Evening 1]

[Nirilli]

Nirilli smiled. A fond memory?

"My tribe-family had our own barge. One of the many barges drifting up and down the waterways in the Great Marsh. We sang songs and fished. I was a moss pearl diver, like my mother." She touched the necklace of green moss clamshells around her neck. The green pearls were worn by noble women like the Archon and Lady Xanthe.

"Or training to be one, anyway. Just a girl, really. But I was a good deep swimmer, enduring. There are pools so deep none have found the bottom. But you do not know ... maybe a little farther and the clam-bed awaits. So you dive deeper and deeper. And you return with pearls or you do not return at all."

"We have a saying - 'Man is but a pebble dropped in a marsh-pool.' Some add: 'And if man is but a pebble, then all his works can be no more' but who knows what the pebble finds when it stops?"

"Yes, it is some irritant, some stirred dirt that makes the clam make the pearl. So the pebble stirs the silt, and the silt irritates, and the pearl is made! But the pearl would always have been made, for it is - truly - a tear of the bakka."

[Kannon]

Meanwhile, the ornithopter landed. The Bene Gesserit began alighting. The bay opened into something that looked like a medical facility.

"We don't have a Suk doctor at our disposal here, Ms Gray, but I can offer medication that will hasten healing. To you as well, Nirilli." Salomea said.

[Cuyler Gray]

"What we do will return to us." she said almost to herself as Nirilli finished. Some distant thought was cast aside when Salomea spoke. "That would be greatly appreciated."

[Nirilli]

"It is kind of you to offer. Thank you."

"Is the medication from the garden?" She looked curiously towards the area that held the gardens.

[Kannon]

"It requires the garden." Salomea said before vanishing behind one of the sliding doors.

The medical facility happened to be adjacent to the Esophagos. One of its many gardens was readily available to them right next to where they were asked to wait for the treatment.

[Cuyler Gray]

"This is quite impressive." Cuyler marveled at the lush vegetation.

[Nirilli]

Nirilli nodded.

"It's so beautiful. One of my favorite places. I already feel calmer, just standing here taking in the beauty."

And then she turned back to Lady Gray.

"How did you meet those folks you are traveling with? There must be a story there."

[Cuyler Gray]

"Hadrian Martikova is a vintner. I sampled his wines on Caladan, at that festival I mentioned. As a sommelier I am always looking for unique, quality vintages. As for Dr. Vim, he and his daughter are planetologists. They taught me much about Caladan's ecology, which helped me understand more about their food sources."

[Nirilli]

Nirilli leaned in at the mention of Hadrian's name.

"He helped me after the lion attack. A vintner? Ah, it all connects. Garden, soil, plant, fruit, wine. The taste of place. And who better to judge wine than a chef?"

She looked curious at ''planetologist'. "Oh! He must know so much! What is Caladan like? A place of plenty?"

[Kannon]

In the meantime, dr Vim started exploring the gardens on his own, paying attention to some genera in particular.

[Cuyler Gray]

She looked curious at ''planetologist'. "Oh! He must know so much! What is Caladan like? A place of plenty?"

"It is diverse." She answered after some thought. "It's mostly oceans and I only experienced sone of the land. Large areas have been cultivated, with abundant agricultural resources. But, there are thick jungles teeming with unique flora and fauna."

[Sister Shinah]

Shinah had waited for an opportune moment away from the uninitiated to speak with Cordana.

"I saw him fight, Reverend Mother." That much had been plain, but Shinah did have a way of stating the obvious.

She recounted her observations of Pankratos. His skill and his movement, all retold with exacting, clinical detail capped with...

"He knew what I was doing. He will be further expecting...something from us now."

[Kannon]

Cordana listened carefully, having taken a pause to sit. She produced a small pill of melange and let it melt in her mouth slowly. She didn't react spectacularly to any of the revelations, but when she spoke back, it was with calm.

"A being like him would not have chosen to be dependent. He must have been leveraged into it or made this way."

She let Shinah compute some first- and second-level approximations following from this realisation.

"Had you been able to secure a sample of his DNA we would have a fair chance of determining his source stock. The Tleilaxu play these mind games with us, you see. They compound layers of discoverable so that we don't know how deep we must dig. Did he say anything?"

[Nirilli]

"It is diverse." She answered after some thought. "It's mostly oceans and I only experienced sone of the land. Large areas have been cultivated, with abundant agricultural resources. But, there are thick jungles teeming with unique flora and fauna."

"Thick jungles? Does it have giant cats like the lions? I know the lions come from off planet. I ..." she paused, thinking. "I can't remember which planet supplies them." Was it only one? More than one?

"Are there any Zensunni tribes there? On Caladan?" A place with such abundance. A good place to wander surely.

[Cuyler Gray]

"I did not see anything like the lions." she shook her head. "I did encounter what appeared to be flying manta rays with strong bioelectric abilities. On Caladan there are the Muadh. There may be some similarities between them and the Zensunni, but I believe they have different origins."

[Nirilli]

She nodded. So many worlds. So much to learn. Fascinating. Hard to imagine!

Her gaze, studying the garden, landed on Dr. Vim, at a distance looking at some green plants.

"You mentioned that Dr. Vim had a daughter? Also a planetologist? Was that the other woman who traveled with you and came to help with the lions? Leia? No, Layla?"

[Cuyler Gray]

"No. Sinsei, Dr. Vim's daughter, is still on Caladan." She explained. "Laila is Hadrian's bodyguard."

[Nirilli]

"Ah, that explains the mystery of why she did not travel this way with the Reverend Mother. Another duty." It had seemed like they'd known each other. Sat together and talked quietly, if she remembered right.

She glanced over at the Reverend Mother who was now speaking quietly to Sister Shinah.

"You all traveled together here? Was Caladan a spot for respite and resupply on the way from the Bene Gesserit homeworld?" They had all arrived together. Or it seemed so, to her.

[Cuyler Gray]

She shook her head. "I was traveling alone when I arrived on Caladan. It was a diplomatic visit, really. I represented House Mutelli in a previous matter of interest to House Atreides. The thought was that there might be something to gain by deploying my as an envoy." She shrugged. "Things didn't go the way I hoped, but it gave me the opportunity to come here, to learn more about the Zensunni."

[Nirilli]

"I think today is further proof that things often do not go as hoped." Her tone was solemn but steady. She would not let worry and fear cause her voice to break. But her thoughts flitted to her mistress. Was she alright? Was being here the best thing she could do to help her?

No, keep the conversation light. Focus. House Mutelli. House Atreides.

"Is House Mutelli also providing supplies for the Atreides castle?" A logical guess. The three houses - Mutelli, Atreides, and Hagal whom she served - were allies. And with the Reverend sisters also. So it seemed harmless to ask about Lady Gray's prior work here in this garden.

"I can tell you more of the Zensunni here, if you'd like. Though I have lived here at court since I was taken as a girl."