Mortal Engines

Bevis finishes building the bomb and fits it in a satchel so that Katherine can take it to the party. Shouts echo from somewhere in the museum, and the Engineer security team thunders up the stairs just as Bevis and Katherine step out onto the landing. They arrest Bevis and Katherine for conspiring to destroy MEDUSA. They’re taking Katherine to the party and sending Bevis back to the Deep Gut, making Bevis squeak with fear. Katherine protests that Bevis was only acting on her orders, but her voice sounds frail, like “a child caught playing some stupid, naughty trick and protesting at its punishment” (322).

The Engineers drag them down the stairs, where they find the Historians armed with old weapons and blocking the doors. Pomeroy demands that the Engineers release Katherine and Bevis, and when the Engineers refuse, the Historians fire their ancient weapons, taking down the Engineer force. With only a half hour until MEDUSA fires, the Historians send Katherine and Bevis up a long-forgotten stairway so that more Engineers won’t find them.

Valentine arrives at Crome’s party, where he learns about the struggle at the museum and Katherine’s involvement. Valentine wants to rush to her aid, but Crome forbids it. Valentine obeys, realizing that all this time he’s been nothing more than a coward and that “all his adventures and expeditions have only been attempts to hide himself from this truth” (336). Meanwhile, Tom and Hester approach in the Jenny Haniver, and Katherine and Bevis climb up the old stairs, closing in on both the party and MEDUSA. Tom gets close enough to London that Hester can jump to the city before he flies away, hoping against everything that he’ll see her again. As soon as she lands, Crome gets a message that someone might have boarded the city. He sends a newly made batch of Stalkers to deal with her, ordering them to bring her back alive.

Tom doesn’t get far before the 13th Floor Elevator deals the Jenny Haniver a blow. As the huge airship circles around to finish him off, Tom remembers how a rocket broke the 13th Floor Elevator’s windows. Tom fires his remaining rockets through the windows. The 13th Floor Elevator bursts into flames and plummets like “a vast Chinese lantern tumbling down toward the lights of London” (349).

The 13th Floor Elevator crashes just feet from where Katherine and Bevis sneak along. Bevis pushes Katherine from harm’s way but is killed as the ship barrels over him. On another platform, Hester is thrown by the blast. She sees the wreckage and believes that it’s the Jenny Haniver and that Tom is dead. As she gets to her feet, she finds a group of stalkers bearing down on her, and above it all, sees the “dome of St. Paul’s […] starting to open” (352).