Norma Cevna (148 BG - 78 BG) a Shipwright and navigator from Komos, "Foster-mother of the Spacing Guild".
History
She left with her lover Aurelius Venport and other refugees to establish a computerless interstellar navigation system and then, the reunion of humankind. During one of their stops, they were joined by the Bene Gesserit outcast and Cevna's future friend Dardanius Leona Shard.
The exiles reached Tupile where Norma devoted her time to the design of hyperspace ships. She was also the first pilot to experiment with the use of melange in ship steering. Leone taught her the ways of the Bene Gesserit, through which Norma would realize the navigational potential of spice-trance prescience. The computer could be replaced with a spice-heightened brain. Venport was skeptical about Leona and discouraged Cevna's association with the "witch".
The Golden Advent
Using the industry developed by the exiles on the planet, Cevna built The Golden Advent, which she piloted on its maiden voyage as both captain and navigator, using melange.
Cevna had terminals implanted in both hemispheres of her her cerebral cortex and was physically linked to the guidance subsystems of the Holtzman Drive generators: The right hemisphere would drop the ship into The Void, and the left would navigate by shifting mass-compensators mounted on a universal gear.
The ship reached its destination, while Cevna suffered increasingly from electrical minicharges induced in her brain by the electrodes. Furthermore, spice made her subconscious foresee the trauma of these charges. The crew however hypothesized it was caused by the fatigue of her dual role.
Cevna's constant connection made a feedback loop unavoidable (since it is suggested that in her situation, spice-awareness causes functions to be shunted from the hemispheres in an attempt to maintain the functions and minimize damage). Cevna went into epileptic convulsions and Venport had to abandon hyperspace and complete the return on backup systems.
The ship travelled several light-years in only 5 days. The glory however was credited to Cevna.
Decline and death
Cevna was diagnosed with induced cortical epilepsy by the doctors of Tupile and seizures continued despite the best treatments. As a last resort, the two hemispheres were separated by cutting the corpus callosum, and her abilities were permanently crippled.
She fell into depression and retired. When Venport disappeared in 79 BG, she declined and died the following year.
Character
Cevna's common sense and intelligence and her pairing with the ferocious energy of Venport, made possible the organization of the Guild
- This article is a stub: It may require more information.
Behind the Scenes
For the analogous character in Original and Expanded Dune see: Norma Cenva