Jessica and Paul, having escaped with a Frem kit, secret themselves away in the desert. Duncan’s piloting is spotted by Paul, and he secrets them to a safety house where they meet with Kynes. Paul correctly identifies the purpose of the sietch is ecological restoration, and allies himself with Kynes, an exchange of aid for support of his plan when Paul eventually rises to power. His path to power, he believes, is to offer himself to the emperor in marriage to one of his daughters.
““From the throne,” Paul said, “I could make a paradise of Arrakis with the wave of a hand. This is the coin I offer for your support.” Right as the loyalty is exchanged, Sardaukar attack, and Duncan sacrifices his life for them. Paul and Jessica escape into the desert storm on a stolen ‘thopter.
In another hiding place under fire from the Harkonnen forces, Hawatt escapes, only to learn the value of bargaining with water, and joins tribes with the Fremen. They valiantly fight, and the Fremen dispatch Sardaukar easily, but eventually are overwhelmed, and Hawatt falls unconscious
The Baron, as ever, disappointed in his staff, questions the orderlies who tell him Paul and Jessica are dead, and hunts for a replacement to Piter, his twisted mentat killed during Leto’s assassination. His eye falls on Hawatt, and he encourages the belief that Jessica is the betrayer. He has hand-picked Feyd-Rautha to rule, and calls up his brutal older brother, Rabban, to give him control of Arrakis and indenture him in servitude.
The Baron advises Rabban to lie the remains of the Harkonnen forces, brutalize the Fremen, and extract steep taxes
Paul and Jessica make their way across the desert, pulling a few Bene Gesserit tricks from up their sleeves to survive low oxygen environments.
Gurney Halleck is still alive, and working with smugglers, and it is strongly implied that Gurney has his own personal score to settle with Rabban Harkonnen. The section ends with Gurney singing a dirge as another Atreides man dies.