Goliath by Scott Westerfeld

there?”
    Alek paused a moment, still giving her the strange look. “He claims that he destroyed that forest himself. He has a weapon of some kind in America, called Goliath. It’s much bigger than the one we tore down in Istanbul, and he wants to end the war with it.”
    “He said he . . . w-with a
what
?” Deryn sputtered.
    “It’s like a Tesla cannon, which he says can set the air on fire anywhere in the world. Now that he’s seen firsthand what it can do, he wants to use it to force the Clankers to surrender.”
    Deryn blinked. The boy had said the words so simply,as if repeating a duty roster, but they hardly made sense.
    “Surrender,” Bovril said. “Mr. Sharp.”
    “A barking
weapon
did all that?” She could recall with perfect clarity the night of the battle with the
Goeben
, when the Tesla cannon’s lightning had spread across the
Leviathan
’s skin, threatening to set the whole ship aflame. An astonishing sight, but a fly’s fart compared to the destruction here in Siberia.
    Deryn felt dizzy. The news was staggering, and it didn’t much help that supper hadn’t been served that night. Tazza nuzzled her hand, whining hungrily.
    “No wonder you couldn’t sleep,” Deryn said.
    “That was part of it.” The boy looked her in the eye again. “It could all be a lie, of course. You can never tell when people are lying.”
    “Aye, or mad. No wonder the lady boffin wanted us to do a little skulking tonight.” Deryn stood, pulling on the thylacine’s leash. “Come on, beastie. It’s back to the cabin with you.”
    “We should take the loris with us,” Alek said as he stood up. “It’s been quite perspicacious lately.”
    “
Mr.
Sharp,” Bovril added, and Deryn gave it a hard look.
    “Well, all right,” she said. “But I hope it knows when to shush.”
    “Shushhh,”
the loris said.

     
    The belowdecks were full of snoring men.
    The
Leviathan
might not have had enough bunks for its guests, but the ship’s empty storerooms had plenty of space. Except for their captain the Russians were all down here, packed together like a box of cigars. But Deryn reckoned they were happy enough, getting their first night of sleep in weeks without the lullabies of hungry fighting bears.
    It was drafty in the belowdecks, and the men were still wrapped in their furs. Deryn saw no glimmer of watching eyes as she slunk past. Sitting on Alek’s shoulder, Bovril softly imitated the sounds of snoring, breathing, and the wind of the airship’s passage.
    Near the rear of the ship, she and Alek reached a locked door, its wooden frame bound with metal. She pulled out the ring of keys that Dr. Barlow had given her that afternoon.
    The door swung open on silent hinges, and Deryn and Alek slipped inside. “Some light, your princeliness?” she whispered.
    While Alek was fiddling for his command whistle, she relocked the door behind them. His shaky tune came through the dark; then Bovril joined in, and the green light of glowworms sprang up around them.
    It was the airship’s smallest storeroom, the only onewith a solid door. The officers’ wine and spirits were kept here, along with any other cargo of special value. At the moment it was empty except for the captain’s lockbox and the strange magnetic device.
    “The crew saved this machine?” Alek asked. “Even when they threw all our food away?”
    “Aye. The lady boffin had to yell a bit to make it happen. She’s a clever-boots, thinking ahead like that.”
    “Clever-boots,” said Bovril with a chuckle.
    Alek’s eyes opened wider. “Of course. This device was meant to find whatever Tesla was looking for.”
    “Aye. But he’s already found it! Captain Yegorov said that Tesla’s men dug something out of the earth a few days ago. So whatever they discovered must be aboard the
Leviathan
right now!” She looked down at the device. “And he’s supplied us with a way to find out exactly where.”
    Alek’s smile grew as his hands took the machine’s