“Of course,” said Hermia. “I only succeeded for the first time just now, and I only had to move it a few feet. I have no idea how far I can reach with it. Probably not very far.”

“So the messages are delivered,” said Pat, “and Hermia thinks you handled it well with your family.”

“Actually, I think she was being sarcastic,” said Danny.

“No, I wasn’t,” said Hermia. “I really think it went well. You made your point with that bully Zog, and everybody else you treated respectfully. I don’t know if I could have done that.”

“He’s so ni-i-i-ice,” said Wheeler.

“He is!” insisted Xena.

Please get off my side, Xena, said Danny silently. Especially because I don’t even have a side.

“My point is,” said Pat, “the messages are delivered, so isn’t it time you took us through a Great Gate?”

“You?” asked Hermia in genuine surprise. “What’s the point?”

“To see what it does to us,” said Pat. “There’s a lot of bastard mageblood in the world by now. Who knows whether we might not have some latent abilities?”

Veevee laughed. “You don’t have to invoke all those happy impregnators among the corps of minor gods. Magery is certainly latent among the entire human race. Or so Danny thinks, since he’s so sure that humans began here in Mittlegard and only became mages when a tribe stumbled on a naturally occurring gate and got carried to Westil.”

“If there were such a thing as naturally occurring gates,” said Hermia, “don’t you think there’d have been one during the centuries since Loki ate all the gates?”

“The Gate Thief got any gate that opened,” said Danny. “And maybe they only happen when the planets are aligned somehow. Maybe there are cycles.”

“Or epicycles,” said Hal.

“Danny’s a Virgo,” said Xena. “I’m not sure how the planets lined up for him, though.”

“It’s just a theory,” said Danny. “And it has nothing to do with astrology.”

“Let’s test it,” said Veevee. “Take these little darlings through a Great Gate and see what it does to them.”

“If you’re going to do it at all,” said Pat, “you need to do it before you send any of the Family mages through. Once there are other great mages loose in the world…”

Danny thought of his father coming home with his power over metal and machinery multiplied by two. Or ten. And for that matter, what would his mother be able to do? There were gods in the past who really could hurl lightning. No doubt a mage of light and heat like Mama would be able to make lightning, after passing through the Great Gate.