[This is written for my daughter Trinity, and my mother Katrina.]
The room is filled with the shining brass of telecopes, and the shining silver of clocks. Through a large window the masts of many ships are visible, and over the trees of the park, the buildings and ships of the Admiralty can be seen. A silver line runs down the middle of the room.
The door opens. A man walks in carrying a large hat, marking him a Naval Captain.
“Cookie! It’s so good to see you!”
“Bradley, I’ll have you know it’s been Captain for quite a while now.”
Both men laugh.
“How about, you just call me James.”
“Chief Astronomer eh? Bradley this place is looking good! I saw junior astronomers updating log tables and polishing telescopes as I walked in. You’ve got this place really humming!”
Bradley sighed.
“Yes, we keep it ship-shape, but the Admiralty wants more and more every year.”
James smiled.
“Tell me James. When you look through that ‘scope, do the planets still dance for you?”
James looks him in the eye for a moment.
“With all my heart.”
“Bradley I have a new mission coming up. I’m sailing to New Zealand to measure the transit of Venus. We get to see how big the dance floor really is!”
Bradley looked into the distance for a moment visualising the scene.
Bradley then looked at James with one eyebrow raised, “What then James?”
“And then we sail off the edge of the map!”
“James, you know what sailors say when you reach the edge of the map!”
James grinned.
“Time for a new map!”
Both men laugh.
“The problem is longitude. All our calculations of longitude are a guess with sextants and these unreliable clocks. You can’t make good maps of North-South coasts with a guess.”
Bradley puts his hands on a shining brass and silver clock.
“Do you see this Cookie?”
James puts his head on the side and squints.
“This is the greatest chronometer ever made. And you shall take it with you on your travels. And your maps of North South coasts will be so great, they will last for hundreds of years. Think of it James! Your name will be on them! They’ll call you a discoverer!“
“Oh pshaw! No one will believe that.”
“A warning to you Bradley. The Admiral got word of two ships that sunk off the Spice Islands. They’re calling it a navigation failure.”
The two men exchange a look.
“You’re going to have to put on a real song and dance if you want to keep this fancy job.”
Bradley smiles, a glint comes in his eye.
“Take this clock with you James. Godspeed for your travels.”