Part 37 (1/2)
”If the Gate Thief strips you,” said Marion, ”we will go to the North Family, tell them all that you did, and that you have lost your outself. Maybe they'll let you alone, then, knowing that you're no longer a mage of any kind.”
”Not likely,” said Danny.
”But your only chance,” said Stone, ”if you no longer have the ability to gate away from anyone trying to kill you. Hermia and Veevee will be just as vulnerable-without your gates, they'll have nowhere to go and no way to get there.”
”I don't see why we have to do this at all,” said Leslie. ”Why not just let Danny live his life? The power he has right now can open Mittlegard to the Orphans. If Hermia is right and he has a vast store of gates inside him, why not link all the major cities of the world with big public gates and let the drowthers move everywhere freely?”
”The Families would still hunt him down and kill him,” said Marion sadly. ”And then his gates would slowly fade, like the ghosts left behind when clants are stranded.”
”I hate it,” said Leslie. ”Why not wait, at least? Why does it have to be now?”
”Every day that we wait is a day in which one of the Family spies might spot him or Hermia.”
”If the Gate Thief is just going to take him-”
”Mom,” said Danny-which silenced Leslie immediately, though it filled her eyes with tears. ”All the other gatemages who tried a Great Gate were alone. No other gatemage with them. I have Hermia and Veevee. There's a chance they can keep the gate locked against the Gate Thief.”
”Or something,” said Hermia. ”Since we don't know what the Gate Thief actually does.”
Veevee shook her head. ”I agree with Leslie. I think that this girl and I will make no difference at all-we'll just have a clearer view of how Danny gets stripped.”
”Even that will move our knowledge forward,” said Stone. ”We can write it down, we can spread it among the Orphans. Maybe we'll learn something that will let us do better on the next attempt.”
”This is all moot,” said Danny. ”I'm doing it. I'm doing it tonight. Either there'll be a Great Gate or there won't. Not only that, you'll all be there.”
”Getting bossy, isn't he?” said Veevee.
”Because if if I make a Great Gate, it might last for a few seconds. I want all of you to go through it as quickly as you can. Get to Westil and then, if you can, come back I make a Great Gate, it might last for a few seconds. I want all of you to go through it as quickly as you can. Get to Westil and then, if you can, come back instantly. instantly.”
”What's the point of that?” asked Leslie. ”What if we get stranded there? We won't know anyone, anyone, they'll probably kill us the moment they notice we're there. The Gate Thief might be the ruler of the whole world there, for all we know.” they'll probably kill us the moment they notice we're there. The Gate Thief might be the ruler of the whole world there, for all we know.”
”But we'll be the first mages to pa.s.s through a Great Gate in fourteen centuries,” said Stone. ”We'll be more powerful than anybody.”
”What does that mean to me?” asked Leslie. ”I'll be the world's most powerful cow?”
”She's got a point,” said Veevee. ”Maybe she shouldn't go.”
”But Marion has to, and Leslie won't stay behind alone if he goes,” said Stone.
”That's right,” said Leslie.
”And Marion's a Cobblefriend,” Stone went on. ”After pa.s.sing through the gate, he'll be the strongest stonemage in the world.”
”We don't know that,” said Marion. ”I'll be much stronger in the things that I can already do. But none of the literature suggests that a Great Gate can turn a Cobblefriend into a Stonefather. The Great Gates make a difference in degree, not in kind.”
”We'll try it,” said Danny. ”If you think we should, Stone, I'll go get Ced and bring him along. He's a windmage, and you say he's got a lot of ability. Maybe a Galebreath. If we bring him through the Great Gate, then whichever side he ends up on, he can protect the others. None of the Families will have a windmage to match him, once he's gone through a Great Gate, and the same will likely be true in Westil, if he gets stuck there.”
”You can ask him,” said Marion. ”n.o.body should go if they don't want to run the risk of being stuck in Westil. Think of everything that's happened in Mittlegard since 632 A.D A.D. All of modern technology, for one thing. Immunization against plagues. Medicine. If they don't have gates, they can't heal people easily. Flush toilets. The Copernican model of the solar system. Microscopes. Telescopes. There's no reason to think they have any of that stuff.”
”Or they might have better stuff,” said Danny. ”For all we know, the Gate Thief isn't a person at all. What if it's a machine that sucks the power right out of any mage? We don't know anything.”
”And it's time we did,” said Marion. ”Leslie's and my kids are grown. If we're stranded there, we'll miss them, but they don't need need us.” us.”
”Why are we having this conversation?” said Hermia. ”The gates will probably be sucked out of Danny before anybody can go anywhere.”
”Greeks are so cheerful,” said Veevee.
”For what it's worth,” said Hermia, ”we're not really Greek. We were never Greek. We're Pelasgians. We were the G.o.ds of the Illyrians, the Albanians, the Danae. When the Dorians and Ionians came, we wiped out their Families and they wors.h.i.+ped us. But we're not not Greek.” Greek.”
”Thanks for the history lesson,” said Leslie.
”I think it's fascinating,” said Danny.
”Oh my, Danny's in love,” said Veevee. ”Danny and Hermia, sitting in a tree-”
”Give it a rest, Veevee,” said Stone. ”Everybody's a little crazy tonight. But Hermia's right. The most likely outcome is that the Gate Thief will swallow all of Danny's gates before anybody makes it to Westil, let alone back again. And there we'll all be in Buena Vista, Virginia, which isn't exactly a metropolis, without any gates to get us home. Somebody's going to have to rent us a car so we can drive to the airport in Roanoke and get the h.e.l.l away from there. With With Danny, whatever kind of shape he's in.” Danny, whatever kind of shape he's in.”
”I'll do it,” said Veevee. ”Danny can make me a nice gate between the airport and this rope in the gym-”
”Why do we have to do it there?” asked Leslie. ”Surely there are other ropes hanging from gymnasium ceilings that aren't a stone's throw from the North fortress.”
”That's the one that worked today,” said Hermia. ”Danny proved he can make a Great Gate, and he did it there.”
”If we can make a Great Gate,” said Danny, ”then maybe we can break down this system of miserable, hate-filled, paranoid, inbred Families.”
”And replace them with miserable, lonely Orphans,” said Marion. ”Sorry to be cynical, but I'm not optimistic about our ability to do any better. Whoever has the power will become the G.o.ds of legend-capricious, cruel, tyrannical.”
”And yet you're going to go through the gate?” asked Veevee.
”It's going to be made, isn't it?” asked Marion. ”If it's going to happen, I want it to be us that go through it first. Maybe we can make it less awful for the world than it might otherwise be.”
”I think we're done here,” said Danny. ”I've got some gates to make. From here to Parry McCluer High School, so when the time is right you can all just step through. From there to the Roanoke airport so Veevee can rent a car. It'll take her about an hour to get it up I-81 to B.V. Meanwhile I'll go get Ced, if he'll come. Stone, maybe you should come with me.”
”And me,” said Hermia. ”I'm staying with you.” She turned to Veevee. ”And no more jokes about being in love. You and I are both nothing nothing without him, and you know it.” without him, and you know it.”
”I do,” said Veevee, chastened before her fierceness.
”If you're lying to us,” said Stone to Hermia, ”and you're setting him up to get killed, I swear I'll kill you with my bare hands.”
”I'm glad you're so loyal,” said Hermia without batting an eye. ”But I am no liar and no spy.”
”Good, that's settled then,” said Danny. ”Since I'm the idiot who set this all in motion by playing around with the rope-climb in a high school gym, I apologize right now for everything that goes wrong with this. With any luck, I'm the only one who gets zapped in the outself, and everything else goes on like normal for the rest of you. But if terrible things happen, please remember that I meant well, and that I did my best. That's what I promise you. I'll do my best to try to fight off the Gate Thief and get this thing done right. It's up to you to make the most of it, if you can.”
Leslie burst into tears. Danny walked over and put his arm around her shoulder.
”Oh, don't bother with her,” said Veevee. ”Comforting her is Marion's job. We have work to do. Move it, Gate Boy.”
Everyone laughed, even Leslie. Danny stood up and made a public gate from the Silverman living room to a s.p.a.ce near the bleachers in the Parry McCluer gym. Then he took Hermia's hand and stepped through it. Veevee took Stone by the hand and followed them.