Ithaca (Dune)

Ithaca is a fictional no-ship from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. It is a giant spacecraft designed by the Ixians and created in The Scattering for the Honored Matres to serve as a great city in space, a type of space habitat. Miles Teg stole the ship from Gammu, and a decade later his clone-ghola, along with the Duncan Idaho ghola, Sheeana, and Garimi stole it from Murbella, bringing along 150 refugees; including the last Tleilaxu Master Scytale, some Bene Gesserit Sisters and Suk Doctors, male workers from Chapterhouse, the "wild" Reverend Mother Rebecca, Reverend Mothers Elyen and Calissa, the Rabbi and the surviving members of a cell of Secret Israel, four Futars, and seven small sandworms taken from Chapterhouse.

Ithaca is the name given by Duncan Idaho, Sheaana, and her Bene Gesserits a year after they escaped Chapterhouse, in light of the no-ship's endless wanderings similar to the ancient Greek hero Odysseus' journey back to his home of Ithaca.

The Ithaca is equipped with Holtzman engines, which allows it to travel to any part of the universe instantaneously. The vessel is a compact city over several kilometers long and about a kilometer in diameter, containing over a hundred decks with thousands of small connecting passages. In several parts of Chapterhouse: Dune, the ship is described as self sustaining, with a complex system of air scrubbers, algae vats to manufacture processed-food, and only needing to stop when the passengers want to land or go on a military mission. Since there are only a few hundred people on board, there is a huge amount of unused space on the ship.

The Ithaca is also equipped with a navigational computer to assist with instantaneous space travel, but Duncan Idaho destroys it, fearing that the computer would eventually lead them to a trap. Duncan uses his limited prescience to guide the Ithaca through foldspace whenever he feels that the mysterious hunters were near.

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