The next morning, Janie goes to Shiskin’s cabin. She asks him to change his mind and help them, but he refuses. When she says that they’re planning to kill him, Shiskin begs to use his radio. Janie hesitates, acting as though this wasn’t part of the plan, but when she unties him, he grabs her. Janie shouts for help, and he hits her on the head with his gun. Count Vili enters, but Shiskin refuses to listen to him.

Shiskin points a gun at Janie’s head, and she suddenly realizes how silent and still everyone is. Vili has frozen time, and he appears to move with tremendous speed, pulling Janie from Shiskin’s grasp and taking the man’s gun. Benjamin enters and tries to kill Shiskin in anger. They permit Shiskin to use the radio to tell the Soviets that he’s been captured and will be executed; however, they don’t really plan to kill him. They lock him up, though.

The Anniken continues into Russian waters. Janie notes an albatross soaring above the ship’s wake. She watches as Jin Lo extracts salt from the seawater, making it safe to drink, and then as the chemist practices catching particles with her polymer net. The crew asks her to use it to catch fish, and they grill the fish for dinner. Vili tells Janie about the bomb that the Soviets are testing and adds that it was designed by Andrei Sakharov, a young genius. She asks him about the Dark Force that was released when Burrows harvested the Quintessence, and he explains that there are always consequences when people tamper with natural laws.

Later, Benjamin confesses to Janie that he no longer fancies Sarah. He confesses that he now likes Janie, and they kiss.

The ship crosses into the Arctic Circle en route to Nova Zembla. A crew member spots a Soviet patrol vessel, and Captain Norberg says that the group must leave the ship so that they aren’t discovered. They use the avian elixir. Jin Lo changes into a falcon, while Count Vili turns into an albatross. They use “Lot’s wife” on Shiskin, placing his pile of salt in a tiny backpack that Burrows will wear once he’s a bird. Janie hides the Pharmacopoeia with the captain’s books in his cabin. The apothecary changes into a white barn owl, and Janie fits the backpack onto him. Then, Janie and Benjamin change into their bird forms.

The group flies to Nova Zembla, and they spot Danby and the Scar with Sakharov. Vili is excited to see the scientist. Only Janie is small enough to squeeze into the building where the bomb is kept, but the Scar notices her while Danby and Sakharov inspect the weapon. He catches Janie inside his cap, and they take her back to their ship. Once there, she returns to her human shape.

She pretends that she’s the only one to have survived the flight to the island, and Danby decides to leave her on deck when the bomb goes off, thinking that the radiation will kill her. She watches, hoping that her friends will succeed in containing its blast.

As Janie watches the shore, she sees a cloud on the horizon. Another cloud blooms above it. Then, the clouds stop expanding and begin to contract, the top one rejoining the bottom. Soon, Janie smells the scent of the jaival flower on the breeze. When Danby comes back up on deck, he quizzes Janie about what happened, but she claims ignorance.

Janie, Danby, the Scar, and Sakharov take a helicopter back to the island, and she sees a black cloud above the land. A charred circle marks the spot where the bomb detonated, but Janie sees no sign of her friends. Danby tries to explain Burrows’s work to Sakharov, saying that he’s an apothecary and a magician, but Janie wavers, hoping to appeal to the young scientist.

Then, they hear a cry and see Benjamin falling from the sky; he drops into the sea. She tells Danby that Benjamin knows all the apothecary’s secrets, prompting Danby to orchestrate the boy’s rescue. The Scar pulls him from the water, and Danby and Sakharov work to revive him. Meanwhile, Janie watches a dark cloud moving purposefully toward them; it envelops the helicopter, and Janie grabs the unconscious Benjamin as they fall from the open door. In the water, he regains consciousness, imploring her to leave him and save herself. As they begin to sink, a man reaches into the water and pulls them up.

The man takes them to Norway, and Janie awakes in a smoky hut. She introduces herself and the unconscious Benjamin to Hirra, the man who saved them. She sinks back into sleep, and Hirra wakes her, having brought her to the Anniken. She has a vague memory of trying to describe the red ship to her savior. The apothecary gives her something to knock her out, and she awakens much later on a plane. He explains that Benjamin’s fever has broken and that they’re headed back to London. They have fake papers that name them as a family, and he thanks her for saving his son’s life. The group gets past security and heads to the Scotts’ apartment.

Janie’s parents are overwhelmed with relief; they were sick with worry. She says that the apothecary will explain everything tomorrow. The next morning, Benjamin calls, asking Janie and her parents to meet him and his father at the train station. He sounds odd and asks her to bring her diary. When they arrive, Pip is there too, and Burrows proposes a champagne toast to celebrate their success. He explains everything to Janie’s parents and says that the country is no longer safe for him and Benjamin, so they’re leaving.

Benjamin says that the champagne they drank will erase their memories of the last three weeks, and he asks for Janie’s diary. Pip and the Scotts are incensed that they’ve been drugged, but Benjamin explains that it’s for the best. When Detective Montclair arrives to arrest Burrows, the apothecary gives him champagne as well.

Janie feels her memory growing fuzzy. She and her father try to pursue the Burrowses onto the train, but Benjamin pours something onto the train connector that dissolves the metal. By the time the train cars separate, Janie and Davis can no longer recall why they’re there. When they return to the station, the detective introduces himself, as if for the first time.

The Scotts make it back to their apartment but must piece together their lives from the clues they find there. Janie finds her St. Beden’s uniform, so they assume that she attends that school. Sarah talks to Janie about Pip, but Janie doesn’t know him. Pip says that he can’t remember anything either, but he goes to St. Beden’s now too. The chess club gets a letter from Sergei, who lives in Florida now, asking them to thank Janie, but she doesn’t remember why.

A year after her return to St. Beden’s, Janie receives a package in the mail. Inside is a red diary. She recognizes her handwriting and finds a note from Benjamin. He wrote that it seems safe for her to have the diary now. As she reads it, she finally understands the strange feelings she has experienced all year, and she realizes that Benjamin and his father are trying to keep the world safe.