“Hermia. The woman who pretends to be my aunt. Or maybe you, Hal. It depends on how much they’ve observed already.”

“And if they kidnapped Hal,” said Laurette, “what would you do?”

“He’d let them kill Hal,” said Hermia. “He’d let them kill me. Because if he lets one Family have a Great Gate, and not the others, then that means that the most violent and evil Family will rule the world. But if they all have a share of the Gate, then maybe, just maybe, they’ll balance each other out. Maybe they’ll avoid a war. Maybe you drowthers won’t all end up as collateral damage.”

“Is she right?” Hal asked Danny.

“I hope so,” said Danny. “But if it came down to it, I don’t know if I could do it. Let them kill you or her or anybody. Up to now, the only life I was risking was my own. But once I made a Great Gate, everything changed. Now the whole world is at risk.”

“But you can do things,” said Hal. “Like, if you’d been around for 9/11, you could have made those planes—”

“No, I couldn’t have done a thing,” said Danny. “Because I would have found out about it when everybody else did, by watching television. I’ve got a couple of talents, but I’m not really a god. Not like you’re thinking—a god that knows everything and can do anything he wants. I can do a few specific things, and I don’t know very much at all.”

“Then what good is it?” asked Pat.

“Not much,” said Danny. “All I can do is try to keep the damage to a minimum.”

“So what’s your choice?” said Hermia. “My Family’s on the way here right now, you can count on that. If you’re going to choose not to stand with Danny, then he’s got to get you away from here before they come. Go get in your cars and drive away and forget you ever knew Danny. Don’t do anything to tip off the Families that you’re his friends, or you’ll end up as hostages. Get it?”

“Shit,” said Sin. “That’s just—that’s terrible.”

“Exactly,” said Hermia.

“Why did you make a Great Gate, man?” asked Hal.

“Because I’m a servant of spacetime,” said Danny. “Because it’s what I was born for. Because I faced a powerful enemy and beat him. Because I’m stupid.”

“There’s a feeble chance,” said Hermia, “that it will be better. For instance, Danny’s father and mother, if they went through a Great Gate, maybe they’d come back and use their power to destroy all the nuclear weapons in the world.”

“Could they do that?” asked Hal.

“The question is, would they,” said Hermia. “The Families don’t have a history of trying to make life better for the drowthers.”