Norma Cenva - The Oracle of Time

The Oracle of Time

The Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson prequel novel Dune: House Corrino (2001) introduces the "Oracle of Infinity" as the guiding force and "patron saint" of the Spacing Guild.

In Hunters of Dune, the 2006 Herbert/Anderson sequel to Frank Herbert's 1985 Chapterhouse: Dune, the Oracle of Time appears. She is able to communicate with the Guild Navigators and Duncan Idaho telepathically, although the range of her communications and prescience has limits. The Oracle possesses the power to fold space; she calls all Navigators to a certain coordinate in space, and when they arrive in their heighliners she transports them all to an alternate universe. She informs them that Kralizec, the so-called "final battle," is upon them, and they must find the wandering no-ship Ithaca. According to the Oracle, the Ithaca — fleeing from both the Bene Gesserit and the all-powerful Daniel and Marty — contains the ultimate Kwisatz Haderach, and both sides in the great war between mankind and thinking machines wants him for their victory. The Oracle finds the Ithaca and transports it back to the Old Empire, telling passenger Duncan that he has a part to play in Kralizec. But with Daniel and Marty in pursuit, the Ithaca soon flees and the Oracle loses track of the ship again.

At the end of Hunters, it is revealed that Daniel and Marty are in fact reincarnations of thinking machine leaders Omnius and Erasmus, and that the Oracle of Time is actually the consciousness of Norma Cenva, somehow still in existence over 15,000 years after the formation of the Spacing Guild. She watches over humanity in order to prevent Omnius and the thinking machines from destroying the human race.

In Sandworms of Dune — the 2007 sequel to Hunters and the conclusion of the original Dune series — the Spacing Guild has begun replacing its Navigators with Ixian navigation devices at the prompting of Face Dancer infiltrators with their own plot to take over the universe. Their supply of melange cut off, the obsolete Navigators are dying one by one. As Edrik pursues alternate sources of the spice, he and the remaining Navigators seek the Oracle's assistance. She responds that their problem is trivial compared to her need to find the Ithaca and assure victory in Kralizec.

As the forces of mankind make a last stand against the thinking machine forces and ultimate Kwisatz Haderach Duncan faces Omnius, the Oracle gathers the last of the Navigators. The weaponry and navigation of the human ships fail due to Face Dancer manipulations, but the Navigators intervene and are able to hold back the first wave of the machine attack. The Oracle emerges on Synchrony, the capital of the new Synchronized Empire, and takes all traces of Omnius with her to an alternate dimension. This paves the way for Duncan Idaho to bridge the gap between the humans and machines and guide the two into a peaceful coexistence.