As the Maraki pulled the boat higher, Petra uncrumpled Dee’s letter. The seal had been crushed, and waxy dust fell on her lap. There were only a few lines of writing.
My dear Petra,
You once asked me what Prince Rodolfo’s magical talent is. I refused to tell you. Now I would like you to know: he has none.
Call upon me if you need me.
John Dee
Petra folded the letter, and stepped aboard the ship.
THE PACOLET sailed down the Thames, and then ventured out into the sea. When England was just a fuzzy green line behind them, Treb summoned his crew. Everyone crowded into his cabin. They jostled, each wanting the best view of the globes resting on the table. They had seen the Terrestrial Globe before, of course, but they had heard that its twin was stunning. They were not disappointed. When Treb pulled away the black velvet cloth, several sailors gasped.
The Celestial Globe was almost entirely black. While the Terrestrial Globe was made of wood and paper, its twin was marble. And a strange kind of marble it was, too, one with shades of midnight blue. Points of light were scattered across its large surface. As Petra looked more closely, she saw that they were holes bored into the stone. Thin, inlaid lines of gold swirled around these stars, showing a swan, a man wrestling a snake, a ram with wavy horns, a lyre made from a tortoiseshell, and many other designs. They were the constellations.
Treb spun the Terrestrial Globe on its axis, stopped it with a finger, and pointed at a red spark off the coast of England. “Here’s a Loophole.”
“Where does it go to?” someone asked.
“Not sure,” Treb replied, frustrated.
“Well, you’d better make sure,” said Nicolas. “We could end up anywhere. I don’t think the Pacolet would sail too well on top of a mountain.”
“That Celestial Globe is pretty,” said Nadia, “but how does it work?”
“I thought it would do something,” said a disappointed sailor.
Many voices began to join in the conversation.
“What if we have to sail to the Vatra the usual way?”
“That could take a year!”
“Maybe we should cut into the globes. See if there’s anything inside.”
“Are you a fool? Because that idea sure makes you sound like one.”
“Get out of here, all of you.” Treb passed a hand over his eyes. “I swear on all the hairy bears, my head hurts.”
“Been drinking, Treb?”
“Couldn’t you celebrate after you figured out whether the globe was worth the trouble?”
“I said, Get out!” Treb slammed his fist down on the table.
Muttering, the crew began to leave.
“Tom,” Treb called.
Tomik, who had been quietly translating the conversation for Petra and Astrophil, looked up.
“Stay,” said Treb. “And you all, too.” He pointed at Petra, Astrophil, and Neel.
“Well?” Treb flourished a hand at the globes. “You’re a sensible lot. What do you think?”
“It is perfectly clear.” Astrophil shrugged. “We should wait until nightfall.”
“And why is that?”
“How else will we see the stars?”
• • •
IT WAS A CLOUDLESS NIGHT. Petra stood with her friends at the stern of the ship, and watched Treb and Andras walk toward them, each cradling a globe in his arms.
“It’s heavy.” Andras set the marble globe on top of the table they had brought on deck.
“Actually, so is this one.” Treb lowered the Terrestrial Globe. “I never thought about it before, but this thing doesn’t weigh like it’s made of paper and wood.”
“I bet there is something inside ’em,” said Neel.
“Maybe you’re right,” said Petra. “Why else would they glow like that?” In the darkness, each globe twinkled with points of light—red for the Loopholes, white for the stars. “It’s like they’ve got candles inside.”
Tomik laid a palm on the black marble. “There is a crystal!” he said excitedly. “I can sense it. It’s a sphere, nestled inside the globe.”
“What’re these?” Neel touched the three brass rings that encircled the Terrestrial Globe and gave them a spin.
“They’re called armillaries,” said Treb. “They’re used to help chart a course.”
Petra traced one brass circle. What was its history? She caught a glimpse of Gerard Mercator, long dead. He was a man who loved the world, but not the people in it. Petra looked at her friends. When she thought of her father, an aching sadness welled up within her. But Astrophil’s legs clung to her right shoulder, she saw Neel’s lopsided grin, and she felt the heat of Tomik standing next to her. Petra was not alone.
Thoughtfully, she pulled on two of the rings until they crossed over the red spark that marked the Loophole they sought.
There was a whir, and the third ring moved on its own.
“What did you do, Pet?”
“Look at that!”
On the Terrestrial Globe’s surface, the red light off England’s coast flared, and so did another light, exactly where the third ring crossed with another.
“The West African coast!” said Treb, peering at the second red flare. “That’s perfect. That’ll bring us a lot closer to India.”
“How do we find the English Loophole?” asked Andras.
“It’s somewhere close by.” Treb pointed at the darkness ahead.
“But we’re talking about a Loophole,” said Tomik. “You have to enter at exactly the right spot.”
“Align the Celestial Globe with the stars in the sky,” Astrophil advised. “Turn the globe until the constellations on the top match the ones over our heads.”
Neel spun the Celestial Globe.
There was a hum, and a shiver, and everyone stepped back as each globe split in half. Like eggs, they hatched. Inside the globes were bright crystal balls—one red, one white. The two spheres rose into the air and floated over the Pacolet, soaring over the waves. Then they came to a halt, hovering fifty yards off the starboard bow.
“It seems,” Astrophil observed, “that we should aim for the space between the two spheres.”
Treb began shouting orders at the crew, and the Pacolet turned. The ship sailed closer to the shining spheres.
“You ready?” Neel turned to Petra. He offered a hand.
She took it, and reached for Tomik’s as well. “Yes.”
One moment, the Pacolet was gliding over the dark sea. The next, it was gone.
Author’s Note
THE TITLE ABOVE is very misleading. It should say “Astrophil’s Note,” for the author has asked me to write this section. She flattered me, saying that I was a wise spider and could beautifully explain the relationship between her story and history. She is correct.
There was indeed a man named Gerard Mercator, and he crafted terrestrial and celestial globes. One was used to chart the earth; the other, the stars. A stunning set is owned by Harvard University. The globes are housed in the basement of Lamont Library, and no one ever goes to see them, but they really should.
Many of the characters in this novel had real historical lives, including Queen Elizabeth, Walter Raleigh, Madinia and Margaret Dee (although John Dee had several other children our author decided to ignore), Robert Cotton, and Francis Walsingham. Each of these people had colorful experiences impossible to describe here in any detail, but the following trivia might interest you. As Kit claimed, Francis Drake turned pirate and stole gold from a Spanish galleon called the Cacafuego. And yes, Robert Cotton did have a glorious collection of rare books. As for Francis Walsingham, he was responsible for creating a network of spies who worked for England. He spent almost every penny he had on the project, and died poor. Kit Rhymer was never a real person, but he was inspired by an actual man named Christopher “Kit” Marlowe, a playwright and spy. Marlowe died in a knife fight, though some people believe he was murdered for the secrets he knew.
Whitehall Palace ha
s long since burned to the ground, but during Queen Elizabeth’s day it had a shield gallery overlooking the Thames, much like the one in The Celestial Globe. A description of the palace can be found in James Shapiro’s A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599.
In the early medieval period, several ships were buried in the ground of Sutton Hoo, in the shape of large mounds. They were probably meant to honor the dead people who lay inside the ships, for they were piled high with treasure. Many of these artifacts can be seen today in the British Museum, though, sadly, not all of them, for grave robbers had been stealing from the mounds long before they were excavated by a serious archaeological team. In fact, we know that someone at the end of the sixteenth century dug into several mounds. According to Angela Care Evans’s The Sutton Hoo Ship Burial, that someone could have been John Dee, whom Queen Elizabeth might have asked to search for treasure in that part of England. There is, however, no firm evidence of this.
It is nonsense to imagine that people would have been able to walk around inside one of these ships like Dee and Petra do. The soil in Sutton Hoo is sandy and acidic, and would have eaten away all the wood by the sixteenth century. The author claims that her portrayal of Dee and Petra exploring a Sutton Hoo ship is “poetic license,” which she says means the right of a writer to change the truth in the name of what would make a better story. I think it merely means the author’s excuse to do whatever she pleases.
I could explain many more historical facts that have influenced The Celestial Globe, but I would hate to spoil the pleasure you would take in researching them all by yourself! I wish you happy hunting among the bookshelves of some lovely library, and remain, as ever, your
Astrophil
Spider and Scholar
Acknowledgments
AS I LOOK BACK over the writing of The Celestial Globe, I’m very aware of how much help I had, not least when it came to research. My friend Mark Hanna, expert on early modern piracy, pointed me in the direction of several books about the subject. I thank the Williams-Mystic Sea Program in general and Jim Carleton and Glenn Gordinier in particular. Glenn was unfailingly generous with his advice, and I’d like to clarify that any errors in my representation of ships and sailing in the Renaissance are solely due to my ignorance or willfulness. Thanks to Vic Chica, Paulo Gonçalves, and Gordon MacMullan for information about docking tall ships on the Thames. I’m grateful to Tess Bogart and the New York Yacht Club for letting me poke around in the club’s library, and to David Verchere for getting me access to it. David’s enthusiasm for sailing was infectious, and his readiness to answer questions I had about it is very much appreciated.
Andrew (AJ) Romig team-taught with me at Harvard University and I appreciate that he and our students shared my enthusiasm about Sutton Hoo. Dan Wolfe helped me on the fencing front. Tanya Pollard advised me on poison. My mother-in-law, Christiane Philippon, accompanied me to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and taught me what the explanatory placards didn’t. Sarah Wall-Randell discussed the qualities of cotton with me. David Frankland’s covers for the Kronos Chronicles continually impress and delight me.
I owe a debt to those friends willing to read parts of The Celestial Globe when it was in its first draft, or to talk about ideas: Esther Duflo, Dave Elfving, Doireann Fitzgerald, Dominic Leggett, Becky Rosenthal, Larry Switzky, Steve Zoegall, and, especially, Donna Freitas. My husband, Thomas Philippon, endured many long discussions about Celestial, and has made me coffee in the mornings far more frequently than I have for him. I cherish him for that and more.
Thanks, as ever, to superheroes Hilary Costa, Meredith Kaffel, Marcy Posner, Lindsay Winget, and Charlotte Sheedy for fabulous literary agentry.
I’m grateful to everyone at FSG, especially Jay Colvin, Jill Davis, Jennifer Doerr, Michael Eisenberg, Margaret Ferguson, Jeanne McDermott, Lisa Graff, Katie Halata, Liz Kerins, and Beth Potter. My editor, Janine O’Malley, is nonpareil—just like those chocolates, but sweeter and infinitely better for my health.
Aimee Rupsis, my sister, inspired a scene in this novel—she knows which one! I’m so glad to have a sister, and two brothers, Andy and Jonathon Rutkoski. They’re the best presents my parents have given me.
Table of Contents
1. T HE G RAY M EN
2. T HE S PARROW
3. T HE S IGN OF F IRE
4. B LOOD OF THE S HADOWDRAKE
5. T HE P ACOLET
6. A SK-AND -A NSWER
7. M ADINIA AND M ARGARET
8. A RIEL
9. R IDDLES
10. T HE O WL OF S ALLAY
11. A B ARGAIN
12. T HE D EATH OF THE W EST
13. T HE Q UEEN’S S WANS
14. O N THE R ATLINES
15. T HE T ERRESTRIAL G LOBE
16. T HE S TATUE OF L IFE
17. T HE O NLY O NE L EFT
18. T HE W INTER B ALL
19. T HE C OURT OF W ARDS
20. A L ETTER FOR THE P RINCE
21. T HE L EFT H AND
22. M ERMAID T AVERN
23. S UTTON H OO
24. A RRIVAL AT D EPTFORD
25. S HOE L ANE
26. I N THE L IBERTIES
27. T HE Q UEEN’S C OUNCIL
28. H ELP
29. T HE G REENHOUSE
30. D AMAGE
31. T YRANTS
32. T HE W IND
33. T HE V ATRA
34. S ECRETS
A UTHOR’S N OTE
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Celestial Globe Page 26