Circumnavigation (99+55) Doomsday

[Benji]

Shane may be the heart needing to be restarted after STANDING in two feet of water when the lightning hit and spread to all exposed hull and "flesh".

 

As to the Sea Witch - hoping the PORT engine running in the red, explodes just as Xavier is checking on it (per Bridget's order) and between only one live engine and water coming into the boat through the hole in the bathroom (caused by Trevor's second shot) cause it to be sunk by Dean - esp as I also notice while mentioned twice, we are never told the damage done by his first shot to the PORT side.

 

 

...............You are so right, Shane was the one standing in water when the lightning hit, and he's the one most likely with a stalled heart.

[CWBY1966]

I have to say That i enjoyed this Chapter, i Agree that what ever happens to BB will not be enough for all she has done!!

[PDW51]

Yes dean is real, one slight possibility to avoid calamity. Read about the eye of the hurricane.

Slim chance, looking forward to reading CJ's resolution.

[Benji]

Yes dean is real, one slight possibility to avoid calamity. Read about the eye of the hurricane.

Slim chance, looking forward to reading CJ's resolution.

 

.............. I actually gave the 'eye' some thought, but Atlantis would have to almost remain stationary for that to happen and the counter-clock winds are going to approach 140+ miles an hour pushing the cat aside.

[Anubis]

Great chapter, CJ.  I trust this is the real climax of the story and the rescue/escape of Atlantis' crew will a bit calmer even if dramatic.

 

 

 

I agree (sadly) that Shane is the most likely victim of the lightning strike.  Since Atlantis is a commercial vessel, normally carrying paying passengers, it is likely to be required to carry a defibrillator and Trevor, as captain, likely knows how to use it.  He will save Shane.  I certainly hope he will.

 

 

Unfortunately while automated external defibrillators (AEDs) have proven to be very effective they are not as widely distributed as would benefit the population.  While their prices have come down a lot, most of them still go for over $1,000 USD and are not updated or maintained like they should be after purchase.  I would think that most larger cruise lines have one or more on their ships but a small charter service like Trevor has most likely would not.  Besides, even if he did have one, it was not on the list of things to be placed in the microwave so it is most likely fried just like most of the other electronics at this point.  

[ltc_fireman]

Incredible! I'm literally speechless. Some of the best reading I've done in a long time, and that includes New York Times bestselling authors. I'm not even trying to figure out how this ends any longer. Just gonna ride it out! Bravo, CJ!

Agreed, great writing but I'm still looking for a flea circus that needs a home.   I hear they like goats.

[DarkPrince]

My heart was pounding in my chest thru much of this chapter mostly toward the end. But word of advice if anyone on Atlantis dies. I will have a heart astroke. I will croak and die bury me six foot under I'm done. So make sure those four survive. Kill Bridget and those bastards. Not poor Trevor or Shane they make a cute couple and hole and Lisa just got married.

 

Make that Joel and Lisa even. Sheesh

[jacksf]

My thoughts exactly. Holy Shit! No hope. Four brave souls and three beating hearts. It's all been said already. And Bridget is still there. Will that bitch ever be put down! My heroes need to Live! 

[Fred]

Great chapter... Waiting for the next one is going to be excruciating.  Love the story and the way you write.  Please post the last chaper soooooon...!!!

[Benji]

................... How much damage could Bridget sustain if her port engine goes out?  Can she keep up the required 20 knots?

 

With difficulty, she held Sea Witch at twenty knots, which her weather plot told her would be barely fast enough.  Will she have to race W or SSW to avoid Dean as Trevor was planning to do?  If Dean abruptly changes course to ENE, leaving a floundering Atlantis adrift in better sea conditions, what if by chance Bridget sees the Atlantis mess? You know she will not pass that up, with Xavier possibly out of the picture via a exploding engine, the first amoungst equals and one soldier with a gunshot to the stomach unable to help, or prevent her. She could not pass up the opportunity to try and finish of the job herself! But she'd really want to see Trevor face to face, and not just shoot the boat up and leave. Nah, she wants needs/revenge, she may shoot it up, but then she has to investigate by boarding. Let's hope our heroes have  last trap for her!!

[wildone]

So like others, I took time to digest this chapter and calm down.

 

As a side note, I want to say something about CJ

 

When I first joined GA years ago and was reading a story by Shadowgod which CJ was helping with, there was a scene which involved lightning. I revealed at that time to some that I had been hit by lightning when I was a teen and the scene brought back some bad memories. Later, I did an anthology which was in fact a biographical one of the time I was hit by lightning.

 

CJ has always taken this in consideration and given me a heads up before a chapter may involve lightning, I think this has been 3 or 4 times through Circumnavigation.

 

The other day I received a PM from CJ letting me know that the upcoming chapter would involve some lightning and that it might be upsetting to me. Even though he has tirelessly worked to get this chapter out to us, he extended the offer to alter the chapter a bit for just me. To think of all the effort he took to make this chapter a reality and then offer his time to make a version that wouldn't be as upsetting for me is beyond what any reader should expect or receive from an author. I declined but I want you all know how much it meant to me as well everyone know what lengths CJ will endure for his readers

 

I'm still digesting the chapter and to be frank, I am extremely anxious about the outcome of Shane. In the chapter mentioned that the bolt of lightning did mainly go out the bottom of the boat but do to the direct hit some of it went through the superstructure. Unfortunately Shane was in the bilge, not near the door, in two feet of water when the boat was hit. Although my heart didn't completely stop, my bizarre rhythm had me rushed to the hospital in a ambulance with lights and sirens and them sending my readings direct to the hospital. My only hope is in the fact that I survived this incident myself, so I'm hoping Shane will survive his own.

 

I won't get into more of the chapter and discussion until I can clear my head some more.

 

CJ, I am grateful for the offer, I choose to read it, and I am hoping that my hopes for Shane are seen in the next chapter.

[Clydee]

Well, I for one was hoping Trevor would hit Bridget at least once with the 30-06 just so she could feel a bit more uncomfortable!  I keep hoping an aircraft carrier shows up in the nick of time, but I doubt they would be much help anyway in a cat 5 hurricane.  Maybe some of Bridget's boats flipped over and are near by so they can hang on to them?  I dunno, this felt a little like a cliffy to me, CJ!

 

Marvelous writing, by the way!  I enjoyed the whole thing until lightning struck and fried Atlantis, but I have a little faith, all will be well, but not until they go through a bunch more hell, if I know our wonderful author!   I hope for my sake it ain't gonna take 3 weeks for you to get the last chapter out to us, CJ!

[wildone]

Sometimes when key characters are in immense peril or a highly tense situation (trying not to piss off the goat ), if we all beg enough, we might see a chapter sooner than later . Usually it involves people declaring that CJ doesn't use those tactics. (I won't say the word because I know it will become a new quote for him )

[Benji]

..............Okay, time to go out on a limb here; Let's look at Bridget she has killed or had killed her daughter, her husband, George, Henry, (and how many other people at the alligator pond) Billy for his head for Sanchez whom she killed also, then had Mr. B killed by Mr Gray, then Julie. Not to mention she tried to kill Trevor all this time to frame his father, but it went more then that. She had Mr. B try to kill all aboard the boat, including Julie and Joel. Bridget tried again with Mr. gray, who thought he imploded the Kookaburra with Trevor's family and friends aboard. Another nasty aspect of Bridget, now we have her taken an active role in killing Joel, Lisa Trever and Shane. She is a nasty piece of work and deserves as the fans demand a horrible death!

 

So, I have a couple of scenarios on this: Bridget alone with no back-up embarks on Trevor's boat, where she is caught by Trevor and company, tied up and captive. Meanwhile Joel and Shane go back to her boat and see that if they can take control of it.

 

Okay, until the last chapter Trevor has never killed anyone, Bridget has killed many and will not stop until Trevor and company are killed. With that in mind, Trevor has a choice. And it is either him and his friends or Bridget here, so I think that Trevor has Bridget captive, tied up and hurting, and she pleas with money and (false) remorse. So what does Trevor do?

 

Scene one she needs a death that will satisfy the readers:

 

Trevor decides to send her overboard with a weight attached to her as he experienced before.

 

Trevor decides just to send her overboard, bleeding and as a shark attractant.

 

Or he shots her to death, the later I don't believe will satisfy the readers.

 

Trevor and company take over the Sea Witch and tow the Atlantis behind her, keeping focused of the other boats of Bridget's position as they run from the area, they run north to Gitmo.    

[MikeL]

Sometimes when key characters are in immense peril or a highly tense situation (trying not to piss off the goat ), if we all beg enough, we might see a chapter sooner than later . Usually it involves people declaring that CJ doesn't use those tactics. (I won't say the word because I know it will become a new quote for him )

 

If you declare that this chapter is not a cliffhanger, the goat will be your friend forever.

[Trebs]

Okay, until the last chapter Trevor has never killed anyone

It was indirect, but it could be argued that Trevor was responsible for some of the pirate's deaths in the Indian Ocean, due to his action of disabling their boat.

[wildone]

Good points Benji.

 

I'm now in a mood to discuss .

 

First off, Trevor has done something that nobody has done before. I believe the First Among Equals is going to die soon, from a blast from the 30-06. He ordered Bridget to stand done, and she didn't. If anything, I hope Xavier will survive and pass on the truth to the rest of the Cartel that Bridget didn't do what she was ordered and got him killed.

 

Another thing that I did was looked up the track of Hurricane Dean. CJ has said he is using actually historical data and taking no artistic license to alter the actual track. So look at the map below. You can see that Hurricane Dean tracked along the southern coast of Jamaica which is where Atlantis and all of Cartel's boats are located. From the sound of it, it appears that the eye will go right over all of them as a Cat 4 hurricane.

 

 

I know that CJ, the narrator said some of the boats were heading South or Southeast to avoid the eye, but at this point I don't see anyone getting out of the eye especially Atlantis which is now virtually disabled with no mast and the added pressure to find and save Joel and Trevor losing blood out of his side. Personally, it doesn't look like anything is possible to avoid Dean. To think the guys can motor into the eye and round the eastern edge and cut across north to Cuba seems impossible at this point

[C James]

I'll be back to the thread later tonight or tomorrow (I'm on a writing jag, finishing up the final chapter, which was drafted but needs a lot of work). So just a fast note for now. First off, a bug THANK YOU to everyone who has commented. This story would not exist without feedback and comments, so in a very real way, the story would not exist without you. THANK YOU!!!

 

On the defibrillator issue; in 2007, they were far less commonplace in non-medical settings than today. Atlantis does not have one, and likely would not have one, even today. Good thought though.

 

Shane's lifesaver training included CPR. Therefor, he's the best hope whomever has the non-beating heart has. However, yes, he was standing in the bilge water, so he was the most at risk. That bilge contains electrical wiring, and also the grounding line for the mast routes through the area.

 

If it's Trevor with the non-beating heart, if the cause is blood loss, CPR (or a defibrillator) can't help him. 

 

Lisa was seen after the lighting strike, so we can rule her out. That leaves Shane, Joel, or Trevor.

 

Atlantis is in bad shape; no rig (the mast, sails, etc are all trailing over the side), she has bullet damage, and worse still, structural damage. Even without all that, she could not survive the storm's passage. The back side of the storm is carrying 100 foot seas and 150mph winds; if Atlantis gets in that, she's kindling. A non-survivable event. Also, the only reason the front half of the storm is milder by comparison is the wind (due to the counter clockwise rotation of the storm) is from the rugged, mountainous shore of Jamaica.

 

One way to think of the back calf of the storm is like a solid wall of death running for over a hundred miles north to south, from the shore to the open sea to the south. That wall is moving west at 18 knots. Atlantis is in the way. Atlantis's top speed on engines is, in perfect conditions, 16 knots. Rough seas slow her. Thus, she cannot get out of the way or reach shore. The narration rules out rescue from any source. Also, time is of the essence. Atlantis was already marginal to begin the speed run to the southwest with her rig; she was barely, barely fast enough to have a chance of evading the storm. If her rig could be restored instantly, she'd have a chance, but how does one restore a rig instantly? It'd take a boatyard days. Could four people do it at sea, even without the storm? No. Even if they could splice the mast, they'd need a crane to step it back into place. It took Trevor days to jury rig a sail in the Southern Ocean, and then, he had a mast. And a jury rigged sail would not be enough now; Atlantis needs the speed of her full rig, and it is beyond saving.  

So, the three with beating hearts aboard Atlantis have a little bit of a conundrum, even without the issue of one person aboard lacking a pulse, a condition that may be permanent.  

 

I see the eye of Dean mentioned... okay, let's assume they could make it to the eye. What then? It's about five miles wide and moving about 18 knots. And per Wildone's map, it does not make landfall on Jamaica. (Closest approach was 20 miles per the national hurricane center, and 19 miles from other sources) And Dean will be obeying the historical record in all particulars. Caveat; as you can see from the map, when Dean was off Jamaica, he was not heading perfectly due west, but about three degrees north of true west. Due west is a bearing of 270 degrees, and Dean's course at that time was about 273 degrees. However, in the chapters I said "West". This was done for simplification only and has no plot significance. Dean's course will be exactly as the historical map shows. 

 

Okay, I do admit that the situation at the end of Doomsday is a bit on the tense side.

 

And I was very happy to offer Wildone a lightning-less version of the chapter. I have to admit I was hoping he'd decline, because I could not figure out a good way of doing it, and I've had a long, long time to think about it (I knew the ending for Doomsday before I posted the first chapter of Circumnavigation.) About the only thing I could think of was to replace "lightning" with an innocuous term. Maybe "Fuzzy pink bunny". The problem there is Wildone would have had a chapter where they sky erupted and a fuzzy pink bunny blasted Atlantis.

 

BTW, at critical times in the story, Trevor has been watching lightning. Remember the first paragraph of chapter one?

 

The blue flicker of lightning on the horizon lit the night, the air thick and humid, unrelieved by the offshore thunderstorm. Trevor, in his accustomed place at the end of the breakwater, sat watching. It was his favorite place, one where he could be alone with both his thoughts and the moody sea, each of which so often mirrored the other. 

 

Also, the first line of the prologue,

The dawn came as with a thunder, a fitting omen for the day.

 

Also, in Carnarvon, when an absolutely dejected Trevor was watching distant lighting. That was when Shane appeared in the rain, come to apologize for their fight. Until that point, they'd been enemies.

 

There have been a few other times as well, but those two are the most important, and foreshadowed the end of Doomsday. 

 

Actually, quite a few bits of the story foreshadowed Doomsday. Remember Fantome, the big clipper cruise ship lost with all aboard in Mitch? (that's a real story, BTW). There are other things as well. 

 

Okay, I do admit that the end of Doomsday was a tad on the tense side. Those aboard Atlantis do indeed face a bit of a conundrum. They have a killer hurricane the size of Texas coming at them from the east, and Bridget's massive fleet to the west and southwest. And that heartbeat issue. And Atlantis is severely damaged in several ways. So yes, I admit, they face a bit of a conundrum.

 

I'm sure we'd all like to see the final chapter as soon as possible. I'm hard at work on it now. What would spur me to even greater efforts (and thus get the chapter ready sooner) is if we could all agree that Doomsday was not a cliffhanger. (Wildone and MikeL are right!). A tad tense, yes. A bit of a conundrum, yes. But surely not a cliffhanger. (as we all know, I never, ever use those).

 

Oh, and in case anyone gets any evil ideas, I'll point out that Circumnavigation won't be eligible for the 2013 Cliffhanger award, because it will be finished posting before the end of December, 2012.

 

CJ

 

                                             Posted 111th of December, 2012.

[wildone]

Must........ ........not....... .........fall....... ......into...... .....temptation....... .......... of  the goat.....

[Nick Deverill]

Regrettably (who am I kidding?) as far as I know, Gay Authors uses the generally accepted Gregorian calender for its awards, and not the Julian, or any other, including those invented by authors.

 

A tad tense, yes. A bit of a conundrum, yes.

 

Has got to be about the most complete understatement ever given. Not of course a cliff-hanger as CJ says he doesn't use them, but certainly one heck of a goat-hanger. And we all know how masterful goats are on seemingly unclimbable slopes.

[TalonRider]

Regrettably (who am I kidding?) as far as I know, Gay Authors uses the generally accepted Gregorian calender for its awards, and not the Julian, or any other, including those invented by authors.

As lead of the WST, when I brought that up, my ears rang for week. Those video's of screaming goats is nothing compared to what CJ can do.

 

Also, I need to point out that this is Bridgett's mission. It's been stated once in each of the last two chapters that the First Amongst Equals is in charge of the land based operation. Bridgett is in charge of the sea mission.

[Anubis]

If it's Trevor with the non-beating heart, if the cause is blood loss, CPR (or a defibrillator) can't help him. 

 

While a trauma arrest is pretty much only solved by bright lights and cold steel (surgery) the field treatment for such would be CPR and/or defibrillation (if it was one of the rhythms that can be shocked--"flatline" can't be shocked) along with other advanced life saving treatments that they don't have access to.  However, one could argue that since Trevor was outside and possibly in contact with some sort of metal that could have conducted some of the current then that could be what caused the arrhythmia.  If we are really lucky hopefully the current exited his body through the wound helping cauterize some of the vessels thus slowing the bleeding.  But I'm not holding out much hope for that since it was the goat himself who said it was Shane who was in most danger.  The only thing I can think of to take some of that danger away is that maybe Shane was wearing some of the protective weather gear they had and maybe insulated himself against most of the current.  

 

 

 

Atlantis is in bad shape; no rig (the mast, sails, etc are all trailing over the side), she has bullet damage, and worse still, structural damage. Even without all that, she could not survive the storm's passage. The back side of the storm is carrying 100 foot seas and 150mph winds; if Atlantis gets in that, she's kindling. A non-survivable event. Also, the only reason the front half of the storm is milder by comparison is the wind (due to the counter clockwise rotation of the storm) is from the rugged, mountainous shore of Jamaica.

 

100 foot seas?  There are some people who would pay to get to surf a wave that big... Since they don't have a life raft or zodiac anymore they just need to take the surfboards and ride it in to the Jamaican shore...  Better odds than staying on Atlantis.  

[Swhouston44]

Cliffhanger.....Definitely a Cliffhanger ....think about it.... lover's leap

 

And someone really needs to scuttle Bridget and her Armada.

[bayoudreamn]

................. Hmmm, For brave souls, three beating hearts – adrift in a massively damaged Atlantis close to being devoured by Dean. Shane will have to do some CPR on Trevor because we need four beating hearts.

 

Now that Bridget's entire fleet knows that Trevor has ridiculed her, she will lose face if they don't find the Atlantis. I think she will be in further trouble as the first amoungst equals dies on her. Xavier heard the exchange and is well aware that she disobeyed him, I wonder how much of her fleet is intact or if they fled from the approaching storm?

 

Not sure how Atlantis is going to survive, could be dumb luck having the bilges flooded and keeping her stable in what is going to a very rough ride. Nice cliffhanging chapter, it will be interesting to see how you get our heroes out of this mess you created with the help of Bridget.

I don't think it's Trevor whose heart isn't beating. I think it's Joel. Joel was at the helm when the lightning struck the mast and the electrical charge went into "flesh" I think the text said. I believe it's Joel and Shane is going to have to do CPR and in the epilogue he's going to tell Trevor that Joel "kisses" better.

[Benji]

I don't think it's Trevor whose heart isn't beating. I think it's Joel. Joel was at the helm when the lightning struck the mast and the electrical charge went into "flesh" I think the text said. I believe it's Joel and Shane is going to have to do CPR and in the epilogue he's going to tell Trevor that Joel "kisses" better.

 

............Hahaha!