Orson Card - The Gate Thief

“What do you mean, ‘with him’?” asked Hal. “He’s got this incredible power. What does he need from us?”

“What the gods have always needed,” said Hermia. “Servants.”

Consternation. Outrage. “I thought we were his friends!” said Laurette.

“Are you his equals?” asked Hermia. “Are you? When the others come to kill him, what do you think you can do? When Danny’s mother electrocutes you or his father makes your car stop working, and any gun you point at them fails to work and a hawk comes to peck out your eyes, can you stand up to them?”

“Duh,” said Laurette.

“We’re useless,” said Hal. “So why would he need us?”

“That’s why I didn’t say that he needs soldiers. Or allies. He needs servants. He needs people he can send with messages. People to watch and notice things, and tell him about them.”

“Spies,” said Pat.

“And messengers,” said Hermia. “The Families will know you’re powerless. With any luck, they won’t kill you. But they could. If you piss them off. Do you understand? You’re powerless. But you can help Danny to put together some kind of peace treaty. Some way to unite the Families and share some of his power with them.”

“And why would we want to do that?” asked Xena. “ If these gods actually, like, exist , why would we want Danny to give them more power?”

“Because if he doesn’t, they’ll kill him,” said Hermia. “It’s a matter of time, that’s all. Are you his friends or not? You’re the ones who demanded the truth, so here it is. Now you have a choice. With him, or not with him.”

“With him,” said Hal.

“Slow down,” said Pat. “This is major.”

Hermia had done all she could-all that Danny needed her to do. Now it was time for Danny to face his friends again. He had been a coward to leave it up to her.

So he gated into the house.

He appeared in the middle of the room. They stared at him in fear.

“It’s true,” whispered Laurette.

“Cool,” said Wheeler.

Danny turned to Wheeler. “This isn’t a comic book, Wheeler. It doesn’t go from panel to panel until the good guys win. In the real world, good guys lose all the time. What wins is power. I have a lot of it, but I don’t have enough to protect you all the time. I advise you to get the hell away from me and pretend you never met me. With any luck, none of the Families will notice you and you’ll be as safe as anyone.”

“How safe is that?” asked Pat.

“If I create a Great Gate and the Families send people through, so they become gods again instead of elves and wizards, the way they are now, then you won’t have a choice anymore. You’ll stay out of their way, and if they notice you, you’ll do what you’re told or you’ll die. Our Families aren’t nice people. They call you drowthers. They think of you the way you think of cars. Useful when you need them, but fun to crash into each other and watch them blow up and burn.”

They were looking sick and scared. So Danny was communicating.

“Do you see why I tried not to tell you?” said Danny.

“I think you’re just trying to scare us,” said Xena defiantly.

“Is it working?” asked Danny.

“Yes,” said Laurette.

“Good,” said Danny. “I came here in hopes of having a normal life. Two years of high school. But then I got stupid and did that thing with the rope climb and Hermia saw it and told me that it was a Great Gate. I finally got the knowledge to do some really powerful stuff.”

“But it sounds terrible,” said Sin. “Why would you let them through?”

“Here’s how it’ll work,” said Danny. “Either I’ll work out a way to give all the Families equal access to a Great Gate, or one of the Families will kidnap somebody I care about and kill them if I don’t give them exclusive use of a Great Gate.”

“Who would they kidnap?” asked Hal.

“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.”

“Drowthers-that’s us?” asked Xena.

“It sounds like the N word,” said Pat.

“It’s exactly like the N word, the way most people in the Families use it,” said Danny. “But some of us want to use our power to protect you.”

“Don’t let them through the Gate, man,” said Hal.

“I told you how they’ll make him do it,” said Hermia.

“Then kill yourself first,” said Hal. “That’s what I’d do.”

The words hung in the air.

“Maybe you would,” said Danny. “But I’m not that kind of hero. I’m not any kind of hero.”

“‘With great power comes great responsibility,’” intoned Wheeler.

“If only,” said Danny. “In the real world, with great power comes great suffering-by the people who don’t have the power.”

“I wasn’t kidding,” said Hal. “You shouldn’t exist. If you didn’t exist, things would keep on going the way they have been since 632 or whenever.”

“Spacetime would only create another like me,” said Danny. “And maybe the next guy would be even worse than me.”

“He did use his power to help us,” said Laurette.