Over the last 10 years, prey cities have become scarce, and London has hidden from larger cities that would eat it. Now, London has reentered the Great Hunting Grounds and chases a small mining town. As the city picks up speed, 15-year-old Tom Natsworthy feels the rumble of the motors “like a big drum beating inside his bones” from where he cleans in the London Museum (3). He wants to watch the chase, but Chudleigh Pomeroy, his supervisor, forbids it. As a Third Class Apprentice, Tom works on Wednesday, when the museum is closed and everyone else has the day off, and he’s sure no one will notice if he sneaks down to the observation deck to watch the chase for a bit.

The town London chases is a salt mining town with powerful engines. As London bears down, the town’s airships take off, carrying away goods so that London can’t lay claim to them. Finally, the town loses a wheel, and London overtakes it. In the ensuing celebration, a pretty girl a year or two older than Tom invites him to a party that night. One of the First Class Apprentices argues that they don’t want Tom at the party because he’s a poor nobody from the slums, and Tom punches the apprentice, knocking him down.