Mortal Engines

Grike reaches the Sea of Khazak and sees the aftermath of the battle. He enters the water and swims toward the Black Island, feeling proud of Hester and “the trail of destruction that she has left behind her” (201). He finds the life raft and slices it open to cut off Hester’s escape before following the trail of her scent.

On the Black Island, the mayor refuses to give up and drags his remaining crew toward Airhaven. Tom and Hester follow, and Hester is in a particularly good mood because they might get help from Fang. Tom is less enthusiastic, and Hester feels bad because he’s starting to realize that “you can’t trust anybody” (205). She thanks him for saving her in London and with the pirates, and Tom smiles at her, which makes her blush.

At nightfall, the group reaches the outer limits of the town. As they watch, Airhaven’s gas bags fill, and it lifts off into the sky. The mayor runs for it but gets caught in a bog and sinks. One of his men shoots him before the pirates turn on Tom and Hester. They raise their guns, but Grike arrives before they can shoot.

London is still being pursued as Katherine and Bevis sneak into the Engineers Guild meeting. On their way to the Engineerium, they overhear talk about a test of MEDUSA, and the Engineers are concerned about Valentine because he’s only a Historian. One Engineer tells the rest not to worry. Valentine is firmly on Crome’s side and will stay there as long as he can “pretend that foreign daughter of his is a High London lady” (216). The conversation leaves Katherine seething as they enter the meeting room, where all the important officials and researchers suddenly make her fear what will happen if she’s discovered.

Crome gives a speech about MEDUSA, revealed to be a weapon of mass destruction from the long-ago war. Thanks to Valentine, the guild finally has a working prototype, which they’ll use to obliterate the wall separating the Hunting Grounds from the Anti-Traction settlements, giving London endless new prey. As the audience applauds, Katherine is frozen in disbelief that her father has been lying to her and helped to recreate something so destructive. Crome announces a test of MEDUSA on the city that’s pursuing London. Unable to stand hearing any more, Katherine flees the chamber with Bevis. The two get lost in the hall and find a balcony overlooking St. Paul’s Cathedral. As they watch, the church opens “like a huge bud blooming” (222).

On the Black Island, Grike kills the pirates, and Tom runs while Hester faces the Stalker. Realizing that Hester’s trying to save him, Tom goes back for her and overhears Grike telling Hester that Crome promised to resurrect her as a Stalker so that she and Grike could be together forever. Hester agrees—as long as Grike lets Tom live. Tom lunges at Grike and runs his head through with one of the pirate’s swords, killing him. Hester whirls on Tom, furious because Grike was going to “make me everything I ever wanted; no memories, no feelings” (229). Tom argues that she would have been a monster, to which Hester says she already is. Tom starts to lecture her about how she isn’t the only one who’s lost people she loves—but stops short as a huge, bright explosion lights the night “as if a new sun had risen from the Out-Country” (231).

As Katherine and Bevis watch, MEDUSA rises out of the cathedral. A member of the Engineers Guild finds them and realizes they aren’t part of the guild. They manage to get out of the building, where the head of the Guild of Historians helps get Katherine home and find Bevis a place to hide. Far above, MEDUSA launches a snarling ball of flame and lightning with a boom like “a great door had slammed shut somewhere in the depths of the earth” (239). When the light clears, the pursuing city is nothing but a smoking heap of metal, and Katherine stares in horror as people nearby cheer at the destruction.