The room may also be larger than would fit between the adjacent rooms. Inside there's a window on the wall the door is on with exploding stars visible through it.

There's an unfamiliar man who looks maybe in his 50s at a table. He looks up as Paul runs in. His clothes are well made but plain in a way Paul might not have seen before. Undyed fabrics with simple cuts. The man's movements seem maybe a bit heavy or unpracticed.

He addresses the man "Do you happen to know what this place is, sir?"

"According to the bar it's called Milliways. And while you're here with the door closed, time is paused back in your universe."

That would be... convenient.

Can they trust this person? His body language says that he believes what he said to be true, but still.

Paul looks at his mother.

She gestures with her hand :Truth:, and then :Be wary:.

Should he tell them that Milliways also translates sign language? And how did she determine he was telling the truth. Both questions worthy of some thought. She could of course just be a good reader of people like he is but he wouldn't be that confident in such a novel context. Then again, most people aren't as thoughtful as him. "Would you be willing to tell me more about your universe? The Bar says they can vary quite a bit."

"We may, yes. The bar can... talk?"

He holds up a napkin, one of several arrayed on the table in front of him. It has "Welcome to Milliways, the first drink is free." written in it if they have particularly good vision.

"She'll produce napkins with text written on them in response to questions."

He tries asking... the room? "Would you happen to know how did we get here?"

A napkin appears on the bar. "The door replaces where doors would normally go for reasons nobody I'm aware of has been able to predict."

Did the napkin just... appear?

Breathe in. Breathe out. Center yourself.

"You'll have to excuse my terrible manners. Before we came through the door we were being chased by warriors sent to kill us. That had us on the edge, but it appears to be true that they are not coming through the door, therefore we probably have some time and I should properly introduce myself.

I am Paul Atreides." - an almost imperceptible hesitation, and then - "Twenty-first Duke Atreides.

This is my mother, Lady Jessica."

He extends his hand towards the stranger.

Pham has ever shaken hands before it's a thing in some customer cultures. Paul's hand looks like it's oriented for that so he sits up and shakes the hand. "Pham Nuwen. I'm an armsman for the Qeng Ho. I don't expect you have those in your world though."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance. It is indeed the first time I hear about the Qeng Ho, who are they?"

"We're traders. We travel to find the things that make each world unique, take that into ourselves and preserve it against the travails of time." And the inevitable collapse of planetary civilizations. But maybe if he wins, maybe they can be more.

"That seems like a noble purpose, being the memory of humanity's variety. You said you're an armsman, what weapons are you proficient in?" and would you be any help against the Sardaukar.

"I'm most comfortable with space combat. I haven't fought on a planet's surface in quite some time. Still, I know how to use projectile weapons to a fair degree of proficiency and I have some hand to hand skill."

Space combat! His society must be truly different for that to be his specialization. And projectile weapons!

"What kind of projectile weapons? They are mostly unused on my world, because of shields. Do you have shields?"

"Wire guns, dart guns, and the like. As for shields, not unless you mean physical barriers people hold."

So no lasguns, interesting.

He activates his shield. It visibly surrounds him in a semi-transparent layer.

"You can try to punch me on the shoulder. As long as you try to do it quickly you will fail. That's why we don't really use guns anymore, where I come from."

"I'll take your word for it. I'm not quite adjusted to moving in full gravity at the moment. Fighting in the main bar is also against the rules."

He deactivates the shield.

"What do you use for traveling vast distances? I'm guessing you wouldn't have Guild navigators like we do."

"Our starships use ramscoops and coldsleep. It takes decades or even centuries to cross between the stars."

Oh. There goes his hope of finding a way around the Guild.

"How can you keep your civilization together if commerce is so... slow?"

"Planetary civilizations always collapse. Sometimes enough people survive to rebuild and redevelop technology. Other times, they are not that lucky. It's my dream to change that. As yet I haven't succeeded."