The Eyes of Heisenberg

infobox Book |
name = The Eyes of Heisenberg
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Cover of first edition (paperback)
author = Frank Herbert
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Science fiction novel
publisher = Berkley Books
release_date = 1966
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
pages = 158 pp
isbn = NA
preceded_by =
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"The Eyes of Heisenberg" (1966) is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert.

Setting

The short novel takes places in a future in which society is stratified into genetic and reproductive classes. All humans are mandatorily genetically modified ("cut") at birth by surgeons answering to the Optimen (who include women), a ruling class of genetically superior humans. The Optimen are distinguished not only by genetic excellence, but also by a unique vocation; their metabolisms are such that treatment with the life-extension enzymes available to most members of the society instead induces biological immortality.

The Optimen exercise absolute dictatorial control over Earth from an enclave in North America. they hold global society in stasis through continuous manipulation of the human genome, culling any form of naturally selected mutation. Only a small minority of the poplation is allowed to reproduce - the vast majority are "Sterries," kept sterile through a prophylactic gas. The Optimen are naturally sterile.

The "Folk," the vast majority of the population, revere the Optimen with a quasi-religious fervor, centered on the mantra "They are the power that loves us and protects us"." As with many oppressive societies, a resistance exists in the "Parents Underground" and the "Couriers," both networks sponsored by the Cyborgs, mechanically enhanced humans long opposed to the immortals. As the story unfolds, the setting - which had seeemed a relatively close future, perhaps a few centuries at most - is revealed to be at least 80,000 distant (the age given for the oldest Optimen). The Cyborgs are implied to be rather long-lived themselves - an Optiman-Cyborg War is briefly mentioned, and it is implied as having taken place in the quite distant past, but it is elsewhere stated that this was no more than three Cyborg generations ago.

Most of the book takes place in the Seatac Megalopolis - apparently incorporating present-day Seattle and Tacoma - and the Optiman enclave.

Plot

Chs. 1-4

Harvey and Lizbeth Durant arive to witness the cutting of their embryo. Svengaard, a low-ranking doctor, tries to convince them to skip the procedure, but they are adamant and insist on their right, all the while secretly communicating their contempt for Svengaard in a silent Courier code. Potter, a high-ranking surgeon, arrives to perform the cut. During the procedure, he is shocked to discover that the embryo has qualities not seen in millennia; superior genetics in the areas of intelligence, plus vocation for immortality and full fertility. Obligated to destroy it, Potter is suprised to find himself unwilling to do so, aided by the on-the-spot collusion of one of the nurses who sabotages the record of the operation.

Ch. 5

Max Allgood, Boumard and Igan arrive at the Hall of Counsel for an audience with the Tuyere. Tachy-Security monitoring has detected something amiss with the Durant embryo cutting. The nurse has been arrested, but has died under interrogation. The Optimen Calapine, Nourse and Schruille playfully mock their subordinates, always with a faint undercurrent of danger. They order that Svengaard be brought before them. Boumard and Igan are revealed to the reader as Cyborg agents.

Ch. 6

Svengaard is interrogated by the Tuyere. Badly frightened, he fumbles and grows agitated under their mockery, becoming insubordinate. The Tuyere calm him down by a display of magnanimity, reminding him of their power and ancience.

Ch. 7

In a service area under the Seatac Megalopolis, the Durants have gone into hiding. They meet with the Cyborg Glisson, who informs them of events, tells them that a strange external force had (beneficially) interfered with the cutting process of their embryo, and orders them to stay put. The Durants chafe under its unfeeling, domineering manner, hoping to one another to one day be free of the Optimen "and" Cyborgs. They scheme to deliver their baby the unheard-of natural way, and keep it out of reach of both. They wonder if the interfering power is God.

Ch. 8-9

Svengaard detects activity in the hospital vat room, where the embryo is kept. Investigating, he is rendered unconscious and abducted from under the nose of Max Allgood's surveillance.

Ch. 10-11

Potter is escorted through the streets of Seatac by a resistance agent. Near their destination, they are intercepted by security forces. Potter's escort sends him ahead, revealing himself as a combat cyborg and decimating the pursuers until it is destroyed. Potter is spirited away by the resistance. The Tuyere -and many other Optimen - watch the battle live, the long-unfamilar thrill of violence awakens odd sensations in them.

Ch. 12

In a resistance safehouse, Igan tries to recruit a recalcitrant Svengaard. Failing, they sedate him and make plans to evacuate Seatac, which they suspect the Optimen are about to genocially purge of all life.

Ch. 13

The Durants, Boumard and Igan (their cover blown) and a gagged Svengaard are moved out of Seatac in a truck driven by a Cyborg, later revealed to be Glisson. At a checkpoint, Svengaard cries out briefly, causing them to be traced.

Ch. 14

The Tuyere wipe out Seatac through a combination of poison gas and sonic weapons. They find themselves suprised by their unstable emotional reactions to the event.

Ch. 15

Characters

* Harvey and Lizbeth Durant - protagonists, Couriers
* Dr. Vyslav Potter - a surgeon, performs the "cut" on Harvey and Lizbeth's embryo, refuses to destroy it
* Dr. Thei Svengaard - a lower-ranking surgeon. Shanghaied by the resistance after becoming suspicious
* Glisson - a high-ranking Cyborg
* The Tuyere - the ruling triumvirate of the Optimen, elected for a century. Comprises Calapine, Nourse and Schruille
* Dr. Boumard and Dr. Igan - high-ranking surgeons in the service of the Optimen
* Max Allgood - the Tuyere's Chief of Tachy-Security

Major Themes

The novel is principally about the negative impact of and problems inherent in any static system. Continuing a theme present in many of Herbert's other works, the Durants find themselves a cog in the high-level machinations of competing factions, none of whom have their own best interests at heart.

Herbert's interest in complex, rigidly codified or ritualized behaviors is reflected in the precise etiquette expected of those granted an audience with the Tuyere. His interest in exotic forms of communication takes the shape of the secret language of the Couriers, conveyed through subtle palm pressures during handholding.