DUNE Page #16

---

EXTERIOR:
DESERT NEAR ARRAKEEN.

On the dunes from which, in the distance, the government palace can be seen, beggars and Atreides soldiers are preparing for a military exercise.

From a hill, the Chief of staff watches the maneuver, including Leto, Paul, Hawatt, Halleck, Idaho, and other generals. Hawatt describes the maneuver to the Duke:

HAWATT:

We have divided them into groups (he points) the old men and the sick (towards the second group) the children, the freaks, the blind and madmen; (group three) the women and their sons; (the group of half-starved men) the men; (pointing to the soldiers armed with bows and arrows) the warriors.

Halleck sounds off a bugle as big as an orange. An electronic roar comes out of it, which can be heard all over the field. The thousands of beggars and the few soldiers form a circle, which becomes square, triangular or adopts various shapes similar to amoeba.

The first line contains the old men and the sick, then come the children, the freaks, the blind and the madmen; then, there are the mothers using their children as shields. The following line is made up of the women and the half-starved men. Finally, in the center, the Atreides soldiers.

The bugle sounds off again. The group separates into two, keeping the same order. The bugle sounds several times. Each time, the groups, still in the same order, split into two until there are a number of small groups where the beggars surround only one soldier. From inside his cell, he fires arrows.

Halleck’s bugle gives out a different sound. The groups begin to integrate into each other, still in the same order, until they again form the initial circle.

HAWATT:

Each Atreides will be protected by a wall of bodies. Many Harkonnens will die before they can get to him!

INTERIOR. GOVERNMENT PALACE HALL.

There is a large machine in the middle of the hall. Soldiers are finishing the connection of some cables under Yueh’s orders. Leto and his Chief of staff inspect the installation. Yueh pushes some buttons. The machine lights up.

YUEH:

Due to this protective screen, the government palace is invulnerable!

He raises a lever.

EXTERIOR:
DESERT - VIEW OF THE GOVERNMENT PALACE

In the middle of the desert, the government palace can be seen in the distance. Slowly, a semi-transparent bell of slightly yellow light covers the palace like a dome.

Ships arrive from all points in space. They land in a semi-circle in front of the government palace, little more than half a mile away. These are the Harkonnen ships.

EXTERIOR:
GOVERNMENT PALACE TOWER.

Leto, Paul, and the Chief of Staff are watching the enemy. From the tower’s terrace, the armada of space-ships can be seen in the distance, together with battalions in attacking formation.

LETO:

The Guild has lent its ships and the Emperor is paying for half the army!

DUNCAN:

Nobody can defeat the Sardaukar!

LETO:

Either we surrender or die fighting!

They all react smartly, having been offended by this.

HALLECK:

Would we have less courage than beggars?

LETO:

(moved)

They’ll kill us but they won’t defeat us! To legally govern Dune, they have to produce my head, and Paul’s, in front of the senate. We shall shut ourselves in the Palace! The protective screen will last centuries! They’ll never get hold of our bodies!

EXTERIOR:
BATTLEFIELD IN FRONT OF THE GOVERNMENT PALACE

The Harkonnen armies and the Sardaukar move forward to meet the Atreides and the beggars. The Harkonnens, with their military band, their display of arms, their colored uniforms, camels, elephants, and war machines, look like a circus parade.

The Sardaukar, because of their incredible discipline, give an impression of terrifying power with a minimum of effects. Their uniform, iron masks, rubber gloves provided with sharp tips, swords with triple blades, etc... all give a feeling of murderous efficiency.

The Atreides and beggars’ army forms three sections. In the center of each group, aboard rolling triangular platforms drawn by three men, are the three section leaders: Hawatt, Idaho, and Halleck. Nobody moves. Silent like wax figures, they are waiting for the enemy army to draw near. The armies are about to meet. An order rings out, and the Atreides-Beggars’ army dissolves into a host of small groups which move to attack the enemy ranks.

EXTERIOR. THE DUNE SKY

The sky fills with vultures. The sound of battle can be heard: a deafening uproar, the clash of arms, explosions, wails, military bands, mingling their rival hymns.

A black smoke darkens the sky.

INTERIOR:
GOVERNMENT PALACE CORRIDORS.

Out of breath, Yueh runs down a corridor, arrives in front of a door and knocks despairingly.

Leto, sword in hand, opens up. Yueh can hardly speak.

YUEH:

Jessica ...! Paul ...! The Harkonnens...! in the underground passages!

Leto follows him into the corridor. As they turn into another corridor with walls formed of large blocks of stone, a woman’s silhouette comes staggering towards them.

LETO:

Jessica!

They run towards her. It’s old Mapes who collapses, a dagger planted between her shoulders. She tries to speak.

MAPES:

My Lord, ... don’t...

She tries to get enough strength together to talk. Yueh has taken her in his arms. Mapes moves, then dies.

YUEH:

This way!

They set off running again.

INTERIOR:
THE GOVERNMENT PALACE - UNDERGROUND PASSAGES

Jessica and Paul are lying in a pool of blood. They appear to be dead. Through the open door, Leto can be seen running in, followed by Yueh.

With a great cry, Leto falls to his knees in the blood and embraces Jessica and Paul. Yueh, benefiting from his distraction, sticks a little syringe in his neck. The effect is immediate. Leto feels a paralysis begin to come over him. Jessica and Paul drop from his arms. He falls on his back, breathing with difficulty through his mouth.

His vision distorted by the drug shows him the image of Yueh coming closer and taking out one of his teeth. He then sees him taking a false tooth out of a small box. Yueh puts the tooth in front of his eyes. It seems enormous, while Yueh’s head seems tiny and far away.

YUEH:

An exact replica! When you bring your jaws together, it will break and release a deadly gas. When Baron Harkonnen comes near you, don’t forget the tooth, Leto Atreides, the tooth!

Yueh lifts the Duke up and sits him down in a corner of the room. That way he can follow all his movements. As if in a dream, Leto sees Yueh bind and gag Jessica and Paul. He points to the pool of blood.

YUEH:

Artificial blood! In exchange for the Baron’s death, I shall save your wife and son.

Yueh injects Jessica and Paul. They begin to come half-awake, struggle and moan... Leto sees Yueh take off his ducal ring and slip it into one of Paul’s pockets. He sees him pushing on a part of the wall, which gives way, making a path for two brutal and drunk spice searchers (CZIGO and KINET). He sees the giant Kinet load Jessica and Paul on to his shoulders. Yueh gives Czigo a large bag, a purse full of gold, and two full bottles of brandy. Kinet weighs the money in his hand. The two searchers laugh like animals. They drink and leave with his wife and son. The wall closes. Yueh gives him a second injection. Before he finally loses consciousness, Leto sees Yueh putting in his false tooth. Yueh’s face is distorted. He tells the Duke.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes