Mortal Engines

Katherine spends more time in the museum the closer London gets to the wall. Aside from the quiet, she finds Bevis’s presence comforting and wonders if she’s falling in love. One evening, Dr. Arkengarth shows her the bones of extinct animals, which are attributed to Pandora Shaw, formerly Pandora Rae, who was Valentine’s assistant years ago. Pandora was murdered about seven years ago, around the same time Valentine obtained MEDUSA, and in a moment of sickening clarity, Katherine realizes that her father killed Pandora to get the machine. Katherine bursts into tears and starts running, though she doesn’t know why because “there was no way that she could outrun the dreadful truth” (283).

Tom follows Valentine at a distance, torn about what to do. He doesn’t want to betray London, but he also doesn’t want to see the city destroyed. He finally decides to expose Valentine, but when he reaches him and yanks down the hood, he realizes that he lost Valentine in the crowd. Tom tries to warn the people, but none of them understand him. Instead, he gets directions to the inn where Fang is staying and tells her what he saw. Valentine is likely there to destroy their airships, and Fang thanks Tom for warning her in a gentle