C James

Chapter 83: One Heart A confusion of dreams, blissful sleep, oft interspersed with sensations of Shane, guided Trevor through the night. Only once did he see the pirates, and then only in a dim and distant fashion, more as an observer than as a victim. For the second night in a row, Trevor had a respite from his nightmares: a needed and welcome hiatus. Long after dawn, for the night had been both late and strenuous, Trevor’s fuzzy dreams faded, as he gradually awoke, reality transposing i

I can comment on a couple of the above issues; Per the prologue, Atlantis was purchased three years after Ares, and Atlantis was put in Trevor's name at that time. It's mentioned above, as speculation, that Rachel may have done a circumnavigation of her own. If that's true, she'd have ended up back where she started. And now, shame on you guys for saying there may be cliffhangers in the next few chapters!!! You know I'd never do such a thing! Things are speeding up fast... and all will be revealed when Dec 17th (story time) rolls around. (though some may well be revealed sooner) And... you're probably wrong on the three days to go to the next chapter... I'm going to try to post a bit earlier than the usual time of week.

I love this thread, because it lets me know how things are coming across! :2thumbs: I do see one comment I can make; about whether Kline knows Kookaburra's name. From chapter 80;

Hmmm!!! I'm a bit confused here... the Florida link (a few hits down) seems to support my point; that the planting of a GPS tracker by a private citizen on a vehicle they have no ownership interest in is illegal in Florida. So, what Henry was breaking in to do was illegal. The Arizona & Texas laws don't apply at all in this case. CJ

Zombie, don't be taken in by the nefarious schemers! They, by allegation and innuendo, are trying to frame me! Why they pick on poor, innocent me, I know not... Yep, rumors... part of a nefarious plot to frame me! Huh? E Tu Marty? What evil have I ever done? Ahha! Not so! I did not make them wait... I realized that, perhaps, in the minds of some, Trevor feeling a little down and under a bit of pressure at the end of 48 could be perhaps seen as an ever-so-slightly-tense ending. Therefor, out of the goodness of my heart, I made the generous offer to post chapter 49 ahead of schedule. Here's my post that started the linked thread; "Post chapter 49 early?" And indeed I did post chapter 49 early, as I'd promised. ACK!! But Marty, if you believe your theory that Shane wrote Circumnavigation, isn't it Shane whom you should be threatening, instead of poor, misunderstood me? And nominating Shane for King of Cliffhangers?

How could a committee be singular? And btw, I was right about scurrilous rumor-mongers, just look at what Wildone wrote... See? Wildone is picking on me again!!! He knows I'd never do such a thing, but he accuses me of it anyway... :blink: :blink:

I am not exactly sure. The plot is pretty well cast in concrete at this point, but I suck at estimating the number of words it takes to cover some things. On the other hand, large amounts of it are already written, including the final two chapters and epilogue. The final chapter will be almost at 100 though... (for a story I originally estimated would have less than 25 chapters total!).

I am very sorry, but we're looking at a 7 day story hiatus on Circumnavigation again. I've fallen far behind, due to being busy offline with a tone of things (sometimes, life gets hectic.) plus going on a writing binge on a new novel. So, 83, One Heart, will be a week late. I also had to do this because the next few chapters had to be written all at once, and aren't done yet. So, hopefully, the 7 day slip on 83 will return us to a weekly posting schedule for the rest of the story.

Well, they were anonymous, in order to ensure objectivity and impartiality. They were identified only by their titles, like Moderator, hosted author, GA Administrator, etc. You might encounter malicious rumors claiming that I comprised every member of the committee, but those scurrilous rumors are not to be believed.

Me?!?!?? How could I possibly be to blame for any of this? Rknapp (Robbie) has admitted to being in the area, had a very similar boat, and was also in New Jersey! I think he sank Ares... I don't think that, under Florida law, committing a misdemenor while armed has any legal penalty enhancement. The statue los specific, it's felonies that get enhanced. Under Florida law, breaking and entering with intent to commit a crime is burglary, a class 3 felony. Planting a GPS on bridget's boat is a misdemeanor, and so is letting himself inside it, so by breaking and entering (or trespassing, same difference) with intent to do something illegal, Henry was committing a fairly minor felony. Carrying a gun would have made it a major one with a mandatory 3 year minimum prison sentence. As for the tire caper... who owns the tire that's now on George's car? Henry, who is basically tracking his own property. (that would make an interesting legal case! I think Henry would lose though) So, Gonzalez pointed out the theft issue of the original tire. Gonzalez is trying to turn a blind eye to Henry's law-breaking, but it's bothering his conscience. And I forgot to mention the title of the next chapter! It's "One Heart".

Thanks for posting this! Yep, the Seychelles is a drug smuggling nexus, and those organizations often have contacts with each other. That's how Sanchez was able to pull off the attack on Atlantis with the pirates. :chris:

Hrmmm!!!! But... well, uncertainty? Hrmmm... I'd say there is usually certainty; for example, when Trevor had his little pirate problem off the Seychelles, it was certain he'd either die, or not. Or... that uncertainty angle is very intriguing... couldn't it be said that any mystery is, by its nature, uncertain until the mystery is revealed? Therefor, yep, there is indeed uncertainty in Circumnavigation. :o Wildone!!! No one can deny that LiS 26 was, truly, the Mother of all Cliffhangers! And let us not forget the great lemonade cliffhanger, forever unresolved... (the characters have lemonade at the end of the chapter, by we are forever kept hanging as to precisely what kind...) And let it always be remembered, and never forgotten, that Shadowgod received the very first GA King of Cliffhangers award, bestowed unanimously by a select and impartial anonymous GA committee. I am sure that Shadowgod would be the first to say that he deserved the award. :king: I have been unfairly accused!! :ph34r:

Hrmmm... there was, come to think of it, a fly buzzing around me when I read that... Huh? :huh: Benji, you know I never use cliffhangers!! Don't I say it often enough? :ph34r: :worship: Thank you!!! Hrmm, on an entirely unrelated topic, it will soon be time to update my sig file....

The boat is in a boatshed. A boatshed is basically a covered dock. It's a building. In the building, is the boat. The boat is a separate property. He'd need to enter it. That's a trespass at least, and entering a conveyance (such as a boat) for illegal intent is burglary. His illegal intent? to plant the GPS tracker. It's not legal for a private citizen to do that to another private citizen. Cops can do it without a warrant (like they did to Dirk) but only if the vehicle is publicly accessible. They can't go into a garage, or even a gated property, to do it without a warrant. Private citizens are under far greater restrictions. This is why Gonzalez requested to not know, though Henry felt the need to tell him, given the developments. Henry would be breaking the law in that building at least two ways: invasion of privacy statues, breaking and entering, and criminal damage (if he did even the tiniest bit of damage) by planting a tracker on that boat. That's a crime. Doing it inside a building makes it felony burglary, and doing so while armed makes it a very major felony. At least, that's my read on Florida law as it stood in 2006... An I'll fess up; that was said by Henry, and not in the narration, precisely because I was not absolutely 100% positive. Henry, after all, might not be sure either, and thought he was playing it safe.

Bridget... she's been under a lot of stress lately. Maybe that's why she's a bit cranky at times? ROFL!! Great point on the questions on forms.... yeah, some are real eye-rollers. Some are there to just create an extra legal charge against violators, but some... well, I guess they keep us safe from criminals who cannot lie. On the concealed carry permit issue; Yep, Henry has one. But, per Florida law, that does not make it okay to carry while committing a felony. Carrying a weapon while committing almost any felony (only things like anti-trust violations are exempt) adds on a major charge, and a minimum extra 10 years in prison. Was Henry committing a felony or a misdemeanor? Trespass is normally a misdemeanor. But, entering a building (and that boat shed he wanted to get into could certainly be called one) is a third-degree fellony. All he's actually guilty of is trespass, but, he intended to enter the shed, which would be felony burglary (it doesn't matter that he didn't intend to take anything) and armed with a gun, he'd be looking at a minimum three year stretch in prison. Here's another quote; That's why Henry didn't take his gun. It also triggered Gonzalez's stress over breaking laws... Gonzalez is supposed to enforce laws, not be a party-after-the-fact to breaking them. He self-justifies by the fact he's after a killer and a dirty cop, but he hates it. CJ

Thanks!! Good points! We don't see everything they do or think, so you're right, we didn't see Joel directly connect the dots on the trade shows. It's only now though that he makes mention of it. And yep, Lisa and Joel investigations is getting rolling! Let's just hope they don't talk about it in the guesthouse. Bridget has the perfect image to deflect drug-running suspicions; high society older lady, etc.. doesn't fit the profile. So, it might take a little while to connect a few dots, but that boatyard setup is mighty suspicious. Speaking of that boatyard... ROBS marine... hrmmm... RKanpp? However, look at the bright side... the garlic crusher is safe! Will there be a happy reunion with Trevor in its future? Trevor and Shane's bait and switch trick almost worked, and did buy them some time. However, it won't win them any friends amongst the reporters they did fool. This isn't the first chapter Trevor wasn't in... there was one other, right after he had his little pirate problem, where we focused on Florida happenings (Lisa and Joel's engagement). Trevor and Shane will be back in the next chapter. Cliffhanger??? But but but.. I never uses cliffhangers!! :blink: Bridget has betrayed Lisa in a very cruel way; using her vulnerability to manipulate her, to try to kill her best friend. Bridget is, well, not very nice at times... I have a hunch Joel may not enjoy it. Ironic, really... If they stay in Rhys Lagoon, they are safe. However, they plan to return to Carnervon, for Trevor's health. Thanks for defending me against cliffhanger accusations!

Tangled Webs is up.

Thank you, Canuk!! :2thumbs: :2thumbs: :2thumbs:

Chapter 82: Tangled Webs Joel’s emotions warred. The suspicion that gnawed at the back of his mind would not let go, even though he’d given himself time to let the issue work itself out. It hadn’t, and he knew he couldn’t ignore it any longer. Joel snuggled up to Lisa on their beach towel, stroking her hair, and said, “Lisa, something’s been bugging me. It’s about Trev, and what you said about motive. It’s just kind of a hunch, but it sorta fits.” Lisa smiled, hugging Joel to her, letting

Just a quick note; the title of the next chapter is "Tangled Webs". It will, internet connection permitting, appear Monday night.

Ah, but "Night of the Mob" was Shane's doing, not mine! It was written in his style (the grammatical constructs are stylistically different) and he even used the Aussie spellings. He also, I cannot help but note, put his name in a larger font than the title. So, therefor, this can't be said to be my doing. I am innocent in the great kangaroo caper.

As I recall, you spotted that right away, when it first posted. All I can say is... you were right, midweek trade shows or conventions in that business, ain't happening. We now know he was off to see Jim, for whatever reasons, on at least many of those occasions. Another factor that might be relevant; we know that Bridget tipped off the feds on Rachel, as part of a ploy to get Ares back. Now Benji... would poor, innocent me ever mess with anyone's head like that? 0:) 0:) He also told Gonzalez that Dirk wasn't gay, and the narration there said he was truthful. BTW, one more helpful bit I can add; If Rachel died in 1997, she would be still dead in 1998, and in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, almost certainly 2004, 2005, 2006, and in 2007, there are heavy odds she'd still be dead. This helpful earthshaking revelation brought to you by your friendly neighborhood goat.

Awesome post!! I can comment on a couple of aspects. The chandlery does indeed carry a fairly large inventory, typical for that ki9nd of a buisness, as seen in chapter 5, "The Chandlery", when Lisa, Joel, and Trevor do the inventory, as a surprise help for Dirk. (and in the process, Trev ends up discovering the divorce papers) Dirk had no employees, except for Trevor sometimes helping out. Dirk's family has never been mentioned. Trevor has mentioned that he might have grandparents in Australia, which is part of why he wants to find his family there. Trevor also mentioned thinking of Dirk being totally alone at this Thanksgiving, and he mentioned that Thanksgiving dinners when he was little were his mom, dad, and him, then later, Joel's family invited him and Dirk to join them. You are correct that Dirk leveled with Frank Tittle, and Jim as well. The narrative indicates it, so it has to be. We can therefor assume that Jim and Frank (and thus Henry) know the entire story, to the limits of Dirk's knowledge. Hrmmm! Interesting! When one becomes a fugitive from justice, the clock stops on the statute of limitations, not just for that crime, but any crime. That's established law. We did not see all of Frank Tittle's discussions with Jim and Dirk, but this is a fact of law, so I can comment. Jim and Dirk are fugitives at the moment, which means the clock stopped on everything. As things stand now, the statute of limitations won't be expiring for Dirk on Dec 17th. Frank would certainly know this. Chapter 82 will shed a bit of light here. I can't get into all the details, but the leap... It's honestly not much of a leap; Trevor, who is just a hair under 6 feet tall, would have a reach of just under three feet. If you look at the stern pic, comapred to the height of the guy in it, you can see that the bottom of the transom is in the neighborhood of four and a half feet over the water. Even if five, that makes Trevor's 'leap' less than two feet, which is very easy. Trevor could have seen the plaque; hanging by one hand, pointing and tapping at it with the other. I did indeed screw up port and starboard in my post. But, is that so strange? How many goats do you know who can keep them straight all the time? Me? Dignity? Ahh, but think of it... here's one ending that wraps it all up neatly; Trevor ends up getting a neck-level trim :battleaxe: , and his head is sent to Sanchez eastbound. That completes the circumnavigation. Bridget gets Lisa and Joel sent to prison, wrapping up their storyline. Dirk and Jim end up losing their cases, and Sanchez takes care of the one remaining loose end, Shane. See? All wrapped up, nice and neat. The above may or may not be the actual ending, but the actual ending does bring it all together and take care of it all. The final chapter, plus the epilogue, were written months ago (I write out of sequence). Generally, I like to have the ending written before I start posting a story.

OOPS! I got my port and starboard mixed up in the post. And zinging me is fun, heck, even I do it. But, turnabout is fair play, as they say. I'm off to scheme.

Ah, but he did have one; the one night stand back in Italy. But, he's sure been dry for a long time. The rest of the story? Oh, there's definitely a few little challenges ahead. ;-)