C James

Chapter 137: Manipulating the Beast (Here's a link to google maps, centered on the area in the chapter, because I know some of you are like me, and love to follow along and see the areas they are in.) Trevor, pacing in Atlantis’s cockpit, glanced astern in the general direction of Melbourne, now far out of sight, beyond The Rip. Only a few shore lights were visible, and those were rapidly fading into the night. He was on the phone with Jason Kline, giving him a brief summary of what had

Manipulating The Beast is up. Please enjoy chapter M4. And PLEASE participate! Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Enjoy.

This is a thread for discussing the author's note at the top of today's chapter of Circumnavigation.

This'll explain a lot, such as why Trevor and Shane made a point of being recognized a couple of times. It'll be up in a couple of minutes. Benji! A goat would never have anything to do with a cliff!!

Good deduction! You're right, it wasn't Ares/Kookaburra. BTW, Bridget ISN'T yet aware that her asset list has been found. Had she been, we'd know, because she'd have phoned Gray with a "Kill everyone right now!" order. Any sign that the asset list (and thus the tape, which is the real threat) has been found changes everything. There sure are a lot of ways everyone could die, aren't there? (however, please bear in mind that is absolutely not, in any way, cliffhangerish). What? Me, evil??? But but but... it's Bridget, not me, who is out to blow up both boats!!! ROFL!!!! Okay, time to release the name of the next chapter. Manipulating the Beast.

How can this be a cliffhanger? We don't know what, if anything, is amiss aboard Atlantis. All we know for sure is that Gray's diver succeeded in accomplishing his mission under Atlantis. We just don't know what it was. Now, contrast this to Geraldton, where Kookaburra sailed with Trevor, Shane, and a professional killer aboard. We knew he was aboard, and what he intended, but that wasn't a cliffhanger, so how can this be when we don't know what, if anything, is aboard??? Yep, Lisa and Joel sure are in for an earful. Maybe they've learned their lesson? Bridget... yep, she surely knows they were looking for her. As well as claiming she has dementia. One thing about Bridget; she seems to lack a sense of humor about such things.

Cliffhangers? What cliffhangers?!?!? As you yourself said, Also, bear in mind that not only I but our entire hard-working, dedicated team thoroughly examine each chapter, seeking out any possible hint of a cliffy so that it can be dealt with (changed or removed). Yet, not one saw any hint of a cliffy!! Are Trevor and Shane worried? Nope.. not at all. So why should we be? As was said often during Trevor's transit of the Suez; one measly highly-unstable bomb aboard does not for a cliffhanger make! Pluse, we don't actually know what, if anything, was put aboard or under Atlantis. For all we know, Gray's minions were just helpfully checking for barnacles or looking for stuff they could helpfully polish. We really shouldn't just assume that a bunch of guys like that are up to no good, now should we?

I'm late too! Happy Birthday Steve!!! I hope you had an awesome day!!

If something was found and not mentioned, that would IMHO be very dishonest narration, because the narration was covering those scenes. It's okay to have developments "off camera" but not okay to show a scene while leaving something very big out. If something had been found, surely someone would react, tell Trevor and Shane, something. Conversely, putting something aboard could be done 'off camera', or with just a hint or two (bubbles from a scuba diver, perhaps). So, I have to say, nothing was found. Now, maybe there's nothing to find or maybe there is, but if it was already found prior to them entering The Rip, I'd have to say so in narration. So, nothing to worry about. There are absolutely no cliffs. We don't know for sure that there's anything unwanted aboard. Perhaps Gray's minions were just being helpful and were checking for barnacles, or to see if the brass needs polishing?

Chapter 136: Complete Success “So, what do you think?” Lisa asked, leaning closer to Joel in the crowded restaurant. Joel glanced across the street, studying the air conditioning repair store. “I haven’t seen anything yet.” “I meant about the food,” Lisa asked, taking a final bite of her johnny cakes; small fritters of seasoned, fried cornbread. Joel, smiling, regarded his now-empty plate, which had contained conch salad and johnny cakes. “Bahamian food is kinda cool – what we’ve had of

Complete Success is up. Please enjoy chapter M3, and sorry for the missed week last week. Now, a bit of good news! Thanks to our wonderful team, I can guarantee that next week's chapter will post on schedule at the latest. I think this is a nice chapter; a good look around at what's going on in various places. Enjoy.

I forgot to release the name of tone coming chapter... It's "Complete Success". CJ

But but but... um... ah... uh... well, that was more of a vertical rocky escarpment.

It is very complex... in hindsight, I was absolutely insane to try something this complex as a serial. Keeping track of the details is very hard, especially small, non-plot-related stuff. For example, Trevor rode on a train in Perth, yet it's only thanks to my team that he won't be saying "I've never been on a train before" in a coming chapter, because I'd forgotten. It's harder now we're in the final chapters, because I'm having to make sure all the clues and foreshadowing I've been leaving since the start matches up. Trevor, Shane, Lisa, and Joel are teens, so I figured they'd have their weak points and headstrong ways.

I don't think Fuji is much of a threat to Tokyo, it's too far away. Maybe some ashfall though.

Arizona is an interesting place (I'm biased; I live here.) Not all of it is warm though; the northern half of the state is high altitude, and thus much cooler. (I often get snowed in for a week or more). I'm working on a return visit by Chris and Steve... and of course, Benji's favorite character, Eric. And Pssst, Benji... go look at the review Wildone did for Circumnavigation in the GA stories feature. You're in it.

But I fully approve of that quote!!!! No precipices, but yep on the rest. ROFL!! Hopefully several!! And have a great trip. Exactly!!!! Just a reminder to everyone; due to my abject procrastination and lazyness, I have yet to move two of my novels, Let the Music Play and Changing Lanes, to GA stories. They can be found here. I need to get them moved over, I've been procrastinating far too long.

Thanks Myr, for this wonderful place. You began this, you worked long and hard for many years on it, and it shows. You built this, and it only gets better.

There are absolutely no cliffs! Explosions, perhaps, but no cliffs.

Dave... this isn't a cliffy!!! And yep, there are many evil bastards in this story... Gray, a professional killer, is surely one. Trevor and Shane didn't tell Gray all that much; Bridget already knows there are two boats, knows they are heading for Panama, etc. However... they did slip on a few details they shouldn't have mentioned, but what could possibly go wrong?

I was hoping I could get to the end without another of these, but there's no hope of a chapter for this coming Tuesday. The next couple of chapters are very, very complicated to write, and have to be written all at once, not chapter by chapter. We're on the run-up to the end (August 2007, and it's now April 2007, and we're about to jump forward in time by large steps), though major events occur much sooner. A lot sooner, such as in the coming chapter. I've also been ill (just a pesky cold, finally over it, but it had me out of writing mode for five days). BTW, we should be thankful that the delay is now, at a nice, restful pausing point. As Wildone (!!!!!) said, Anyway, sorry for the delay.

I wish I could do that more often! However, there's about to be an announcement of a 7 day delay... Sorry. Benji! Quit trying to blame me! Bridget is very, very strong-willed. I could try to tell her what to do, but she wouldn't listen (and would probably feed me to alligators). Bridget's plan is to try to take them out whenever an opertunity presents itself, but the backstop plan is Panama. However, she's currently after Ares (Kookaburra) if she can figure out which is which, or failing that, blow up both. So, Trevor and Shane are probably safe for the moment, unless they make Gray think Atlantis is Kookaburra. However, if Gray, or Bridget, see a chance to "solve the problem" before Panama, they will. BTW, Shane sure did like seeing those Kookaburra birds, didn't he? That was such a happy scene. (BTW, yes, this is a CLUE!). As for Lisa and Joel... they have a copy of the asset list with them. If Bridget sees it, she'll know (or at least suspect) that Trevor and Shane found the tape. She will then need them dead, pronto. It's a good thing they are far away and not close to any of her hired killers... It's probably too late...

Welcome, Alcarose! For the Love was my first novel, and has a special place in my heart, as do Chris and Steve. And I can confirm that there's a sequel in the works.

Myr, thank you for founding this place and keeping it running all these years! A little background on GA stories software; I saw some of what went on during its development and also testing. Myr and the site techs did an absolutely monumental amount of work on it over a timeframe of over a year. It didn't just happen; they made it happen.

Awesome! I'd love to visit there. Trevor and Shane's trip was based on a lot of help from Graeme. Even Bridget;s own people call her the witch now. Gray was NOT provided the 1.5 million just for information. The info is part of it... the other has something to do with the other things discussed by Gray and his associates. (Related to the line, "What are they, bloody battleships?") Cliffy?!!?! WHAT cliffy? Even Wildone said it's not a cliffy. But a couple of chapters back, it was mentioned that someone's luck is running out... oh, wait, that was Trevor... probably nothing to worry about though. There are several situations in the current set of circumstances that are basically hair-triggers for many of the characters. Or, maybe they plan to sail into Sydney harbor in broad daylight, tour the bay on Atlantis, and tie up downtown, next to the Sydney Opera House, as part of their secrecy plan? Bridget and gray already knew their are two boats. They want to find out which is which, or failing that, destroy both. They don't know the tape has been found, so they are still going for Ares (Kookaburra) as their primary target - or both, if they can't be sure which is which. And yep, going looking for Bridget is not the brightest of moves. However, they did say that they just want information, so they can give Gonzalez her location. They just have no idea how much danger they are in. The odd thing is, if Trevor or Shane had said they were on Atlantis, they'd likely be safe for a while - though Kookaburra would suddenly become a very dangerous place to be. Benji!!! It wouldn't be me killing off Lisa and Joel, it would be Bridget! Stop trying to blame me for things she does (or might do). ************************************** BTW, to clarify some of the above; Bridget already knew most of their route; that's why she has a reception planned for them in Panama (with explosives, rocket-propelled grenades, etc). So, in telling Gray that, they really gave away nothing.