- The next day, Deryn and Newkirk are on watch duty on the spine as pilots and engineers work on the new engines.
- Deryn watches Alek through her binoculars, knowing nothing is a bigger crush-kill than a girl disguised as a boy crushing on a prince who can't reveal his identity.
- Romance is driven from her mind by approaching German walkers: nothing kills the mood like approaching German walkers.
- They've got to get the ship in the air pronto.
- Deryn uses a drop line to swing down to the engine pods and let the engineers know what's up; Alek calculates and tells her the German machine will be on them in twenty minutes.
- There's more: The Germans are armed with phosphorus flares—and phosphorus plus hydrogen equals boom.
- Deryn swings off (she does a lot of swinging) to alert the bridge.