The Commodore’s Clock

PER ASTRA PRO REGE

OR

THROUGH THE HEAVENS FOR THE KING

Finally, it was time for the departure briefing. It was a very distinguished gathering. The Commodore was only waiting for his clock to chime.

Heavenly Magister James of Cooper KGSH was present and would accompany this expedition as he had so many before. At one time he had been a rear admiral in the Royal Space Corps, but that had never been a good fit. He had always been uncomfortable in the Navy and the feeling was entirely mutual. He felt much more comfortable with his civilian rank and titles. The Navy, however, always called him ‘admiral’. The Navy sensed, in that mysterious way that organizations sometimes have, that calling him “admiral” made him uncomfortable. So naturally, the Navy called him “admiral” at every opportunity.

There were six formidable familiars. Copenhagen was present, a distinguished Master Familiar who had once carried Wellington both before and after Waterloo. He had assisted in the rescue of HSH Sir Gary Ashmore KGCGD at San Diego by changing into a rat which allowed him to get to the prisoner through the heating duct.

Babieca, once the Charger of El Cid, and a distinguished familiar who had worked with James of Cooper for years.

Bing DM, was a fine Alsatian and a highly experienced soldier as well as a Master Familiar. He had led the boarding party onto the Riffian Frigate 2010 during the Earth Prime campaign. He won his Dickin Medal when he parachuted into Normandy with the 6th Airborne. Before he even was a familiar.

Simon, a black and white cat, was a Master Familiar with great experience working with Elves and Bwca against a variety of enemies both foreign and domestic. He had thoroughly enjoyed returning the golden menorah, stolen by the nazis, to the synagogue in Berlin.

Wilde, as handsome a fox as ever flashed through the woods, was also a Journeyman. He had great experience working with James of Cooper, had been with him from the beginning. Indeed, he had returned the Hammer of Thor to him and was very fondly thought of by Cooper. Very little got past Wilde.

Carlos, the third Journeyman of the expedition, preferred to be a falcon. He had a great deal of tactical experience and it was thought that some staff work would broaden him. He had worked a great deal with Corporal Frank Young DCM. This could be difficult as Corporal Young was the sort of soldier who ran toward machine gun fire with a revolver to hand.

There were six familiars. One for each ship and one as a supernumerary. They might be on a ship, or elsewhere as needed, but usually they would all be on The Scouts. There were docking bays for each of the gunboat scouts and they would be firmly attached when the jumps were made. The Scouts would effectively be one ship. Much easier on the familiars that way. A familiar could accompany a gunboat should the mission require one.

+++++

The clock chimed gently.

The Commodore was of the opinion that serious speeches should begin with a hint of levity.

“Ladies. Gentlemen. Familiars. I should perhaps let you know that we’ll be leaving soon. But we’re going nowhere.” He paused and was rewarded with some forced chuckles and some restless movement. Sometimes, at important events, the audience is not disposed to levity.

“That is to say, we don’t know where we’re going.” His audience peered at him patiently. He hurried on, aware that his comments had not struck the right note.

“Our King, as you may, or perhaps you may not know; well…he’s quite the historian. And he came upon the story of the Roman Emperor Hadrian and his lover Antinous. Antinous drowned in the Nile while the Imperial party was visiting Egypt. The Emperor was distraught. Romantics suggest that Antinous voluntarily sacrificed his life to help the Emperor. Realists are apt to note that being a royal or imperial favorite could be very hazardous to one’s health under the best of circumstances. Anyway, the Emperor was distraught.

“The Emperor built a city on the Nile dedicated to Antinous. He made Antinous a semi-divine hero and created a religion to worship him. His astronomer royal named a star for him. And that’s where we’re going.

“The problem being that that old astronomer royal had no telescope; he used the naked eye, and the star he named for Antinous was actually the constellation Aquila - or at least a part of it.

“So there you have it. We’re off to a memory. For a memory. Perhaps, in a very real way, the greatest adventure of all.”

He paused for dramatic effect.

“Ladies. Gentlemen. Familiars. Take your posts!”

There was quiet bustle as experienced professionals went quickly and purposefully about their business.

The bosun’s pipe shrieked through the ship on the intercom. Then Scout announced calmly, “Underway.”

It took The Scouts about an hour to clear the system under ordinary power. Sir James of Cooper, Joe Flowerdew, and Copenhagen had been in close collaboration during this time. And they planned to make the first jump of about five light years when all was ready. Copenhagen and Sir James extended their senses to ensure that when the jump was made their destination would be empty. Joe felt ahead with his ability to discern intent. They did not want to land on something sentient.

And they made the jump. Five light years virtually in an instant.

Copenhagen would now stand down to replenish his abilities. Bing took his place and the process was repeated. Almost six light years were traversed.

This left approximately six light years to Antinous. The Scouts now activated the improved and refurbished Riffian superluminal drive while they planned the next jump. The distance from Earth Prime to Antinous was seventeen light years give or take; but there would still be considerable distances between the actual stars of the constellation. From Hadrian’s villa, with the naked eye, Aquila looked to be close and compact. But the distances between the stars of that constellation were anything but close. It was hoped that the journeymen familiars could make shorter jumps upon arrival.

It took them eighteen further jumps of varying distances and five months of time ticked off by the Commodore’s Clock, before a star comparable to Earth Prime’s sun was located and closed upon. All five familiars had made several jumps. The journeymen were all quick learners.

This star, temporarily named ‘Radiant’, had ten planets in orbit.

Again, the wail of the bosun's pipe summoned the gunboat crews to their ships and for the exploration of the system to begin.

HMS Badger, captained by Lieutenant Alan St Marie was first away. Badger’s captain is the son of Paul St Marie, one of the original liegemen of the King. Alan, and his twin sister, Alicia St Marie, had been born in Australia where their father was the first Governor General. They returned to Ellendale when their father was promoted to be head of the zeppelin air service of Earth Prime.

Badger had the three planets nearest The Scouts to survey.

HMS Sharpshooter, captained by Alan’s sister Alicia, was close behind and was bound to the next closest three planets.

HMS Sparrowhawk and HMS Ladybird would each have two of the furthest planets to survey.

The Scouts assumed a static orbit in the system.

+++++

“Dammit!” Swore the Commodore ferociously. He suspected that he’d forgotten to wind his clock. He bustled over to the clock; he managed to somehow bustle sedately. There he was surprised to see it keeping time happily. “Dammit!” Swore the Commodore discreetly. “I guess I just forgot that I’d wound it.” He returned to the bank of monitors displaying the activity of his little fleet on his flag bridge.

+++++

Badger was rapidly closing on the fourth planet which seemed the most likely to sustain life. It was called ‘First Prime’ as they were occupying the Earth Prime universe.

Captain St Marie brought his ship into what was called “high orbit” so that various sensors could search the surface of the planet without alarming any indigenous life. Or so it was hoped.

Detecting nothing noteworthy, several drone probes were launched into the atmosphere to take a closer look. The atmosphere had already been deemed breathable for the peoples of Ellendale. Serious nitrogen with oxygen and argon and a few other lesser gases were present although there was more water vapor and carbon dioxide than was considered ideal.

First Prime was cooler than Ellendale normal; but it was certainly livable enough though seaside resorts and cocktails with little umbrellas would be unlikely.

Large storms paraded across the surface. Serious wind and rain. Comparable storms had assaulted Earth as the climate changed. But these had been greatly inhibited as the warming of Earth had finally been dramatically reduced. Such storms were exceedingly rare on Earth Prime. Elves disliked them, Tommy Knockers dressed appropriately, and the Trollians felt right at home.

+++++

“Shit!” Doctor Monty Conroy MH, muttered at his science station aboard HMS Badger then in close orbit of First Prime. Probes had returned a number of samples to the Badger. These samples remained isolated from the ship while they were measured and tested remotely.

“Fuck!” He continued with emphasis.

It had been quite an adventure for him to get here. Monty and his brother Rodger had been abandoned by their mother. Together with their dog Turbo, they had been surviving on the streets of San Francisco until they were accidentally rescued by the Rescue Commando of King Justin 3. Of whom they had never even heard when rescued. They were quickly whisked off to Earth Prime where they made friends with Bobby and Tommy Seward, who had also been rescued and subsequently adopted by Sir Claude Clanrobert KOM, OH, who was then First Nurse at the primary hospital of Earth Prime. Sir Claude, noting this excellent friendship, also adopted Rodger, Monty, and Turbo. They soon found themselves back to school and a regular life in a most unusual Elven world.

When they were eligible, they enlisted in the Royal Space Corps. Assigned to HMS Constitution, they were present and active in the defeat of the Riffian fleet. Rodger and Turbo remained in the Corps.

But Monty had other interests which had been encouraged by Sir Claude. He returned to school to study medicine and ultimately became a full doctor; but he was more interested in research and scientific investigation than he was in the practice of medicine. He had focused on opportunities in research and had gained a reputation for painstaking work and endless patience. This was the reason he had been posted to The Scouts for this mission.

+++++

“A glitch!” The Commodore exclaimed with alarm. He suffered a brief moment of panic where he wanted to shout: ‘we’re doomed! We’re all going to die! Oh my God!’ But he restrained himself. To have panicked so would have been most un-commodorian.

“Scout! Look here. There’s a glitch. This bot is winding my clock. It’s not s’posed to do that. God dammit! This is serious.”

“Wait one,” responded Scout. “Let me check.”

“Glitches are terrible. We’re forty-some light years from home and we’ve got a glitch in the computers.”

“Sorry, Sir,” Scout responded a second later. “There’s no glitch. The bot is following orders.”

“That can’t be. I told it to tell me every sixth day so I could wind it. The clock is two hundred years old for chrissake. Can’t have a bot fumbling about with it.”

“Now then, Sir. Everything is fine. You gave the bot its orders: you told it to take care of the clock - its care and maintenance that was the bot’s prime directive (as they say). Later, in what might be seen as a subset of the order, you asked to be notified to wind the clock. When you didn’t wind the clock, in order to be in compliance with the primary order, the bot wound the clock for you to keep the clock running. The bot fully understood that the purpose of the clock is to keep time.”

“Failed to wind the clock. But wait. I wound the clock religiously.”

“Of course you did, but somehow you missed winding it seven times. As I’m sure you know, all of the bots' activities are logged. You have a great deal to worry about. Winding the clock might just slip the mind when you have space exploration to consider. You know, like life and death stuff. But bots just go about attending to their orders no matter how mundane those orders might be. There’s no glitch.”

“Er, good show then. Er, tell the bot thanks for me. Well, well, look there, it's lunchtime.”

+++++

“Hey you guys!” Monty shouted, “I’ve got life here!” This was the most spectacular thing that had ever happened to Dr Montgomery Conroy MH. “I’ve found life! Life! Life here!” He continued to exult.

They gathered in The Scouts’ spacious wardroom to discuss the discovery. The Commodore, all the officers, and all the Familiars. Dr Conroy MH went on at length about the discovery. He explained the protocols that prevented any contamination of the ship from the sample. He described the sample and said there was only so much research that he could do, here on the ship. So he doubted his ability to answer all of their questions, but said he’d give it his best.

“I think that it pretty much occupies the niche that the lichens have on Earth Prime,” he concluded.

“Lichens” the Commodore mused. “What’s a lichens?”

“Well, they’re a form of algae, or fungi, or growth anyway, found in all sorts of interesting places at home. Like on rocks and stuff. I don’t have all the answers; hell, I don’t even know all the questions, yet. But think about it. We have now made contact with two other Earth Class planets. There is life on both of them. All three if you include home.” Monty concluded.

“So a vegetable, then.”

“Well, nothing like an onion or a carrot. But yes, kinda, plantlife.”

“We haven’t done any dimension jumps since leaving First Prime. Based, however, on Earth and Riffia I suspect we may very well find life there, too.

“I wonder,” Scout commented, “If we shouldn’t notify Earth Prime of our discovery. I believe that we will find life on the next Earth Class planet that we visit. The likelihood of abundant life in the galaxy is important.”

Copyright © 2026 Joe