Byron and Nathalie are reunited in Marseilles but the American Consul counsels them not to try and leave France without the proper documentation, so Byron returns to Gibraltar alone. Their plans to meet in Lisbon go awry however when, in November 1942, the Allies invade North Africa. As a result, the Germans occupy Vichy France and the borders are closed. Aaron, Louis and Nathalie travel to Lourdes to await what they hope will be a quick prisoner exchange. Pamela Tudsbury and her father Alistair are in Egypt where he is reporting on the Eighth Army's defeat of Rommel's Afrika Korps. The Russians are putting up stiff resistance on the Eastern Front and Hitler approves a new battle plan. At Auschwitz, the Nazi's complete construction of the gas chambers and the crematoria. Berel Jastrow and Sammy Mutterperl are transferred to a new work gang. In the South Pacific, Pug Henry's ship, Northampton, is severely damaged in an encounter with the Japanese.