“Do you love him?"
Deryn swallowed, then pointed at the screen. "He makes me feel like that. Like flying.”
“Let others wage war. You, lucky Austria, shall marry.”
“Reality had no gears, and you never knew what surprises would come spinning out of its chaos.”
“I'm a girl."
When Deryn opened her eyes, the lady boffin was staring at her with no change of expression.
"Indeed," she said.
Deryn's mouth feel open. "You mean you...Did you barking know?"
"I had no idea at all. But I make it a policy never to appear surprised." Dr. Barlow sighed, staring out the window. "Though on this occasion, it is proving rather more demanding than usual. A girl, you say? And you're quite certain?”
“Have a little faith in me, Volger."
"I have great faith, tempered with vast annoyance.”
“That letter was your whole future, you daft prince."
"It was my past. I lost that the night my parents died. But I found you, Deryn. Maybe I wasn't meant to end the war, but I was meant to find you. I know that. You've saved me from having any reason to keep going."
"We save each other. That's how it works.”
“Oh, this beast? It's...perspicacious loris. 'Perspicacious' meaning 'wise or canny'."
"Get stuffed," Bovril said, then giggled.
"And it insults people," Telsa said. "How peculiar.”
“To everyone who loves a long-secret romance, revealed at last.”
“Emperors are vain and useless things.”
“He makes me feel like that. Like flying.”
“You can't blame a match for a house made of straw”
“You young things are too easily persuaded by the touch of lips.”
“Miss Rogers waved a hand. "But Mr. Hearst just wants a dramatic story. If the rebels destroy us, he'll get no story at all!"
"Aye, but has anyone explained that to the barking rebels?"
"These are civilized rebels, young man. They have movie deals!"
"That's no guarantee of sanity!”
“Alek said, "Do you think I'm being a fool?"
"I think you're trying to do something good. But doing good is rarely easy, and no weapon has ever stopped a war.”
“Sprinkled across the black waters below were at least a hundred small boats set out to greet the Leviathan, their navigation lights like shifting stars. Among them loomed a glittering cruise liner, her fog horn bellowing in the night. The low groan grew into a chorus as the other great ships in the harbor joined in.
Perched on Volger's desk, Bovril attempted to imitate the horns, but wound up sounding like a badly blown tuba.
Alek smiled. "But they're already singing our praises!"
"They are Americans," Volger said. "They toot their horns for anything.”
“Did you really think I was too fragile to know what Deryn was?"
"Fragile?" Volger looked about. "I hadn't thought so, but now I find you brooding in a bathroom. This doesn't speak well of your sturdiness.”
“He thinks Goliath can end the war," Alek managed at last. "The man wants peace!"
"As do we all," Count Volger said. "But there are many ways to end a war. Some are more peaceful than others.”
“Surely no one would ever use such a weapon against a city."
"There are no limits in war," Volger said, still staring out the window.”
“...that was what kept the world interesting...reality had no gears, and you never knew what surprises would come spinning out of its chaos.”
“But they're already singing our praises!"
"They are Americans. They toot their horns for anything.”
“No matter how far from the war we run, it always catches up with us.”
“It's just the way things are." she shrugged. "It's no one's fault."
"Or everyone's.”
“Fate didn't care a squick about what anybody was meant to do.”
“Perhaps Clankers and Darwinists would always be at war, if only in their hearts.”
“Assisted him? Dylan made the repairs. I only fell and hit my head, from what I can recall. Yes, I make excellent deadweight.”
“Ah. So he's forgotten the most important rule of warfare.
Which is...
That nothing ever goes to plan.”
“This is the power of the Goliath, that no one on earth, Clanker or Darwinist, can escape. So we all must learn to share the globe, or perish together!”
“You have a bad habit of listing anything that can go wrong, Volger."
"I have always considered that a good habit”
“I make it a policy never to appear surprised" - Dr Barlow”
“I would scream for you if you would hear me. I would burn this place to the ground if it meant you would see the smoke. I love you – I know this.”
“Adah could not stop thinking about her discovery that the whites were just as fallible as everyone else. There were bad whites and good whites, just as there were bad blacks and good blacks! Why then did they claim to be superior?”
“Within families, you’re stuck with the character they think you are, whatever you do. You become a war hero and all that your parents ever talk about is something supposedly funny you used to do when you were in nursery school.”
“The power of knowing the future could corrupt even the most noble heart. - Marcus Bennett”
“it is the nature of religions to put a higher premium on your proper attention to ritual than on your convenience.”
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