As "Dune" begins, Jessica is the Bene Gesserit concubine to the Duke Leto Atreides, and mother to his young son and heir Paul. Leto has been granted control of the lucrative planetary fief of Arrakis, and is moving his entire household there from his ocean homeworld of Caladan. Jessica's former instructor, the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, is still furious over Jessica's past insubordination—she had been instructed to bear Leto a daughter but had instead intentionally conceived a son—but Mohiam is somewhat intrigued by the potential she sees in 15-year-old Paul. Still, an Atreides daughter is a crucial part of the Bene Gesserit breeding program to eventually produce a super-being they call the Kwisatz Haderach.