Titanic's sister ship, the Olympic, is damaged again. Mark can't leave. Sofia also has to postpone her plans. Pietro has been injured at work and she must look after him. Mark and Andrews look for new solutions. The gashes in Olympic suggest that the steel is just too weak. Eventually they have to concede that the steel, combined with the sheer scope, is just not good enough. The double hull would have protected the ship - Perhaps the bulkheads too. For this to become a serious problem, Titanic would have to crash into something very solid. An occurrence that seems remote on the Atlantic Ocean. While Mark and Andrews slowly come to their conclusions, Emily is sentenced to an astoundingly unfair six months in jail. But another terrible event occurs: Conor is shot dead while the Unionists start advocating a new, separate State, Northern Ireland.

An accountant from the United States, Samuel, makes Mark feel jealous. Samuel is handsome and witty. He is American and unaware and uninterested in divisions. For Sofia, he represents a real temptation: Pietro is better and Mark still can't leave his job. Mark is still uncertain: he still hopes to find his daughter. Mark discovers what the girl's name was: Sarah. The girl might live in a small village outside Belfast. But the girl, who had indeed been living there, has left. They have moved to Belfast but no one knows where. Andrews fights, and looses, a memorable battle to equip Titanic more life boats. And while Pirrie and Churchill try to campaign for Home Rule in Belfast, the divide between the Catholic and Protestant communities has grown. Lord Pirrie, by now disillusioned with most of his liberal principles, falls ill.

The time has come for the great ship to leave for the New World. As Morgan always wanted, Titanic's maiden's voyage will become one of the first great PR events. Sofia and Joanna Yaeger are friends and she gets her a job as an illustrator for the New York Times. Pietro uses most of his money to buy her a ticket. Mark himself only gets on board by chance. The group also includes Jack Lowry, a young riveter we met since the beginning of the story. Violetta with the baby, whom Michael MacCann, has come back to marry. Joanna will be onboard – and so will Kitty, by now an acclaimed actress. A little girl by the name of Sarah, with her mother, will board Third Class. Neither Mark nor his daughter are aware of their presence onboard the Titanic. And, while the ship sails for New York, and Mark and Sofia finally find happiness and reconciliation, we are left asking ourselves: who amongst our characters will survive the great disaster?