C James

Jake is indeed in trouble... And yep, the surfer Mitch talked about was Brett, but that was before Corey and Brett became a couple. It's going to be ever so slightly... complicated. We find out the back story behind Jake and his father in the next chapter, "A Real Bastard". CJ

The Fall anthology, "No Going Back", is up! Please join me in thanking Graeme, Steph, and Joe, for their work on the fall anthology! Coordinating the anthology is a lot of work, and Graeme makes it look easy (it isn't, trust me on that!) I'd also like to extend thanks to the editors and beta readers, and to the participating authors. Thank you, one and all, for making this anthology possible.

UFO's? Now who would suggest UFO's as a plot element? (I'm hoping Shadowgod isn't reading this, after I did it to him...) The water at disappearance site (roughly 20 miles NE of Bimini) runs about 100 feet (some deeper, some shallower), and I've flown low over seas like that (clear, tropical) in small planes. my impression is that you're right, but only for an area directly below, and only on a calm day. The problem Trevor has is that all he has to go on is the radio call. "... Ares, taking on water... Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, twenty miles northeast of Bimini, Sailing Yacht Ares, taking on water

Happy Birthday, Conner! :2thumbs: :2thumbs: :2thumbs: Don't worry, 60 is young in goat years. Have yourself a great day!!

Benji, you pegged it in the last thread, when you said the bomb would be stolen. Bes (the Bringer of Joy) and Mufid were last seen on their way to the canal. And yep, the Egyptians will investigate thoroughly.

You see cliffs where MikeL does? Hrmmm! This is very perplexing! So, this means there is clearly something affecting your judgment, and the frog's, in the same way! Very perplexing... Could it be a virus!?!? And me? Lie? Would i ever do such a thing as that? And I take my glasses off sometimes and I see no cliffs!! And everyone knows I'm just not capable of writing a cliffhanger~! Ahha! Here we see froggish misdirection at play! He said that "the previous chapter ended in a cliffhanger" (emphasis mine). Yet, he complains that in response, I posted the last paragraph of the chapter! It was he himself who specified the END of the chapter. We don't have to limit ourselves to just the last paragraph though... we could include the final ten or even more, and no change. See? He's using that old Machiavellian trick: doing precisely what he's accusing me of doing! I see no such misspellings, but.. yes, I am noted for my misspellings! I am, and I freely admit it, the King of Typos! However, as for that page... I think the frog might be a bit paranoid? I mean.. that page is on the internet, so it must be true... I think the Tennessee Cliffhanger Chirping Frog describes MikeL perfectly! Right down to the fondness for barbecues.. I think the case is clear. Deny it though he might, the frog simply does not want to admit that he sees cliffhangers where there are none. And come now, would would ever thing that I'm devious?

Trevor has a long way to go... His intended route is down the Red Sea (just the red sea, not counting the Gulf of Aden, is 1300 miles) then once well out in the Arabian Sea past Socotra (to be well clear of Somalia) south, to the Sechelles, then south by southwest to Rodreguez, anf then straight across (nearly 4k miles!) of open ocean to Australia. Total? Planned route from Suez to Oz is about 8000 miles. You do remember correctly. The Suez is quite an experience... I've done it in a cruise ship (sparing me much of the Baksheesh, lol!) and it's worth it. However, I find the Panama canal (I've been through it a few times) far better, for scenery and interest (For one thing, Panama has locks, Suez does not). I haven't been through either one in years (Most recently was 2006, for Panama) but they're both good in their way. Who, sweet innocent me? An explosives expert? Ghassan might not be out of the woods yet... ;-) And don't forget, Bes (the Bringer of Joy) and Mufid are on their way to the canal, too. You're right. The legal term is "Death in Absentia" and it varies from state to state, but also by circumstance. If the person just goes missing, it's usually around seven years. However, if they are deemed to be in "imminent peril" when last seen, it's a lot faster. In the case of many 9-11 victims, it was just weeks. For the adventurer Steve Fosset, who disspeared in a small plane, it was just a few months. BTW, you're right on the timing of the loss of Ares, too. It was in May, just a couple of months before the Southern Hemisphere's winter. Unless one went by the tropical route (Suez, or Panama) going through the southern Indian Ocean in winter would be nuts: it's one of the roughest seas on earth, and the far south Pacific would be impossible (Almost as stormy, and the winds are eastbound). Thanksgiving only in North America? Funnily enough, I remember going into a restaurant that had a great big "Thanksgiving dinners!" sign (in English) on Thanksgiving day a few years ago. That was in Paris. Okay, it was in a tourist area so they were catering to tourists, but I still chuckled when I saw it. And cliffhangers?? What cliffhangers!?!! You're right, Cape Horn is a hazardous area. I've been to it twice. The "cape" itself is just a jagged rocky promontory of a small island, and I was within sight of them. Here's what it looked like the first time (not my pic, but the weather and view was the same) We didn't round it, exactly. It was a cruise from Santiago, Chile to Buenos Ares, and it transited the the cape via the Drake Passage after a stop in Punta Arenas. It stopped in Ushuia, then sailed back west to the cape, rounding it by about a mile, then turning around and proceeding east (next stop was the Falkland Islands). This was in December (summer) as like in the pic, the sea was pretty calm. The next time I saw the cape is was like a millpond! Of course, it's usually not like that. The fastest way to get from Florida to Australia would be via the Panama Canal, as you say. But, Cape horn would be a horrible alternative. The reason it's so notorious is the Roaring 40's, a band of eastbound winds that circle the globe. In sailing days, that meant a westbound ship had to tack into heavy winds and seas to get around the cape; very difficult. So, to get from the cape all the way West to Australia would mean heading into the wind for thousands of miles. It's much faster to round Africa and travel with the wind. Here's the bit where Dirk was talking to Jim, telling him about taking the boat. There's no "other one" mentioned at all, though that does not preclude your theory. You're right; the narration confirms (and so it has to be true) that Bridget wasn't lieing about Ares. Bridget was first on the scene (not surprising, given her very frequent runs in high speed boats in the area) Bridget got there long before the debris could have drifted out of sight of a floating wreck. Could Ares have been sunk? Sure; a bomb would do it, by rupturing her buoyancy champers. (It's mentioned very early on that one of Trevor's improvements to Atlantis was filling her buoyancy chambers with foam, so we can assume that Ares didn't have that.). So, we can deduce that, when Bridget arrived, Ares was either on the sea floor by some means, or elsewhere by some means. It's also confirmed in the narration that Bridget thinks Ares is on the bottom in that area off Bimini. I'll also (I hope I'm not giving a spoiler here) confirm that the rock will not get good cellular reception. However, I just noticed something very interesting: You said you've been swimming in those waters?!!?!? So, what about a bomb, planted on Ares' hull, by a swimmer? Hrmmm! Is this mention of being there an admission on your part?

Frogs are indeed perplexing. Let's have a look at this instance (one of many) Okay now, here's the actual ending for the chapter the frog is referring to. Trevor is having good feelings and smelling savory spices! What's the cliffhanger? That his stomach might growl? Come now... Even for a frog, that's a stretch! So, the purpose of this thread is to propose theories as to what makes MikeL, our resident frog, so prone to seeing cliffhangers everywhere? Hrmmm... One possibility: Frogs are short.. just a few inches tall. So, to a frog, maybe every little bump in the road is a cliff, and a pothole looks like the Grand Canyon? Another possibility (perhaps related). I've long suspected that MikeL is a Cliff Chirping Frog. So, could the call of a cliff chirping frog be "cliff, cliff, cliff!"? That would explain much... Personally, I'm thinking that he is more likely to be a close relative, the Tennessee Cliffhanger Chirping Frog, Eleutherodactylus_Preciptious. Other theories have been raised... Perhaps the frog, like most frogs, has an aversion to salt water, and thus sees danger whenever the sea is mentioned? Submit your theories here! At the end, we;ll have a poll.

Happy Birthday, Robert!!! I hope you have a great day!!! Happy 45th! :2thumbs:

Ahhh, but Trevor does have a satellite phone aboard! It's in the bomb. Hrmmm, Benji, I think you have a good point regarding the frog! I was thinking that maybe it was because he's only a few inches tall, so even a small bump in the road looks like a cliff to him, but the salt issue... Yes, that could be why he sees danger (and thus cliffies) in a seafaring story. Hrmmm! I think we'll be seeing a poll in this tomorrow! (I'm too sleepy to compose it now... After i post the chapter, I'm sleeping!) Ahhem! that makes no sense! We all know that a goat would never have anything to do with a cliff. And also, Circumnavigation is entirely cliffhanger-free! Hrmmm... My theory is he's a cliff chirping frog. But, that is a good question.. what kind of a frog is he? Hrmm, That will be added to the poll.

Shhh!! Don't tell anyone... it's supposed to be a secret.. ROFL!! Yep, that bomb just might be an issue in chapter 42... Or, maybe Trevor sails on around the world, just him and his bomb (would that be "Da Bomb?!?!) with the bomb just getting more and more unstable... A nice, relaxing voyage (though prone to a very sudden ending) Poor Bes (the Bringer of Joy.. and bombs) doesn't seem well liked? Hrmmm.. Of course, what could be ironic (and goats do love irony) is if the bomb did end up in someone else's hands, and Trevor went and, at great and valiant effort, took it back, shortly before KABOOM! Don't worry though, Trevor is a central character, so it would be difficult for him to die and the story go on... It's not like there's another highly popular (and hot!) central character who has been mentioned in the story several times as being the beneficiary of Atlantis's insurance, would inherit Atlantis (or the insurance $$$) and has sworn to find Ares no matter what... Oh wait, that's Joel... Nah, don't worry, I'm sure it's all just a coincidence. Oh, and BTW, please take anything the Frog says with a large dose of salt. As we all know, he's not entirely rational when it comes to the issue of discerning cliffhangers, and tends to see them everywhere they aren't. These chapters, of course, are not cliffhangers, it's merely a mystery. I mean really, one measly highly unstable bomb does not a cliffhanger make! And why not look on the bright side? Trevor wanted a sat phone aboard, and now he has one!

KABOOM!!!! Just thought I'd get that out first, as it's about time for the chapter 42 title to be announced. Bingo! That's one way! I think everyone is missing the obvious.. maybe Trevor needs to try bribing the bomb? Lol... Those might work.. assuming he could find out that there is unstable dynamite in there. Talcum powder would work, as would clay powder (that's how dynamite was originally made) and sawdust as you point out.. (cellulose is often used in modern dynamite). Sand would not work (not absorbent and would leave a film between the grains) but blotting paper would! *************** One problem Trevor has is this; even if he knew how to treat it, how would he know of the unstable dynamite?

Frog!! I fail to see how this chapter could be considered a cliffhanger! It ends with Trevor relaxed and happy, having actually enjoyed some of Egypt. Also, he wanted to have a satellite phone aboard, and now he does, in his propane storage rack. You do seem to see cliffs absolutely everywhere.. however, like a broken clock being right twice per day, you may well have found an actual cliffhanger; Benji's! Yes, Benji may indeed have given us a cliffhanger... I can't say whether it's relevant to the plot or not, but Benji has it right: Propane tanks, even full, will float. Trevor has specific tastes... and he tends to walk into bulkheads when he sees a guy he likes. Or, like in Taranto when he met the Sweede and racked his nuts on the corner of the pool table. Yep... and it's worse in the heat of the day (the surface tension of the droplets is lessened by heat) In the condition its in at the end of the chapter, it could be safely tossed gently overboard, and everything would be just fine, until it hit the water and went KABOOM! If it gets lightly bumped, as it did coming aboard, KABOOM!. You're right, the bomb is definitely getting worse. There's also another small issue; if it is discovered and the bomb squad is called, they won't try to disarm it, even if they don't know abotu the unstable explosives. The standard practice for bomb disposal worldwide is clear the area first, then, perhaps, try to remove it with a robot if available, or more likely detonate-in-place. They only disarm them if they are fairly sure it can be done safely (such as via cutting an exposed wire) and they have reason to do so. So, even if Trevor discovers the bomb and calls for help, Atlantis would almost certainly be destroyed. ******************************************* Now, this brings up an interesting question; does anyone know how you'd safe a load of unstable dynamite? (This isn't plot-related, just a question..) There is a way (besides blowing it up). BTW, I was worried that the AIS tracking mentioned in the chapter (and prior ones) might seem a bit of a stretch, so I included links to one actual site so it can be seen fisthand. Quite a few regions are covered.

Fully agreed, within a story and as called for by the plot. In the same vein, I use relaxed grammatical standards in dialog (more for some characters than others) and I'll do the same in narration, to a lessor degree, if the story is in first-person I also try to keep vocabulary and vernacular consistent with the character's - or if first person, the narrator's - age and background. What I meant regarding the texting shorthand wasn't for stories, but for forum posts. There it's just annoying when done to excess. I don't actually recall seeing it on GA, but I have seen sites that have it often. It makes me far less likely to return.

What bugs me personally (And I don't see this much or at all at GA) is people posting in nothing but texting shorthand, plus random capitalization thrown in: "LoLz shR, l8Tr" for line after line. That's what I consider incoherent.

I have zero experience with children, so I can say nothing worthwhile on that aspect. However, I live in a rural area (not even in a small town) and I've lived in cities in the past. My area (Northern Arizona) has a heavily Fundamentalist and Mormon population, and it is not surprise that it is not gay-friendly. That of course is a negative, but I would never consider living in a city again. It's a matter of personal preference, but I despise cities. Give me wide open spaces any day. If I need the amenities of a big city, I can drive to Phoenix in a few hours. You might consider investigating small communities in the regions that interest you that are artist havens. Based on what I've seen, they tend to be more accepting. There is an artist's colony in the city of Jerome (Not too far from Sedona) about fifty miles from here, and they are very accepting.

When I saw the title of this thread, my first thought was: "Why are they discussing me in the Lounge?" I have long believed that coherency, like sanity, is highly overrated. :wacko: Seriously though, I do see the point. I'm not pointing at (or even thinking of) anyone in particular, but on occasion posts are atrocious, beyond any possible reason. In my own case, I have to be careful. I'm dyslexic, and as such I am notorious for my typos. I do however make an effort, such as using a browser that has spelling check. This does not preclude errors, but at least it reduces them to a lessor level.

Good point! The narration says

Ahh! Wildone, you raise an excellent point! I'll clear this up in a coming chapter, but there are (or, were) a total of four propane tanks on Atlantis. Two reside in the storage locker, and then two are in use; one in the galley, and one under the barbecue. Trevor's comment about having "three full" in 31 was poorly worded on my part; he hasn't used the barbecue much so it's almost full, the galley stove was just about out, so Trevor put one of his reserve tanks in the galley stove, and was taking the empty in to get it filled, and then put it in the propane storage. Sorry, I worded my explanation badly: The bump had nothing to do with Mufid's boat choice; he'd already made his choice at that point, and almost set of the bomb with the bump. He also would be unlikely to know about the differing hull materials. Mufid made his guess based on the picture, and with a 50-50 chance to start with, he got it right. Red has saved me from a great many technical errors in this story. ***************************************** Here's something to consider.... Trevor and his father are already estranged; if Trevor lives long enough to get that rock in the box, will that help or hurt their relationship?

Trevor was with the measurer, well forward, and missed the visitor:) True, Mufid had a 50/50 chance. And while Jim had a pic of Atlantis, Mufid had a pic of a different boat of her make and model. Based on the pictures, one difference is the bows... Atlantis's are slightly raked forward, but the Gunboat 52's are straight up and down. But.. Could Mufid see a bow profile? The boats are docked stern-in, so his perspective made for a hell of a task. But.. at worst he had a 50-50 chance. I honestly can't remember if it was mentioned specifically where the full tank storage rack is in earlier chapters, and I wrote it! ************************************************** Okay, it's time to reveal the truth, and kudos to Benji and Glimsong for getting it!! :worship: There were two clues. The first was the chapter title: it only fit well in one of the two scenarios. The main clue was the bumping of the bomb as it was carried aboard. It was described as bumping the fiberglass hull, and it was mentioned in the chapter that Talon has carbon-fiber epoxy hulls. So, it was not Talon, and is therefor Atlantis. The bomb is now nestled in Atlantis's propane storage compartment in the cockpit. We'll see ironclad confirmation in the next chapter.

That was Jan.. Eric is on Thaddeus, a massive 3 masted schooner, far bigger than any of the other yachts (and worth far more). Jan, however, is on a boat slightly larger than Atlantis, so should have paid more. (it's based on a formula used to calculate internal volume). However, it's almost randomly applied, so in this case Trevor got stung. The Baksheesh culture of the Suez is real... I've seen it, but only as a cruise ship passenger. I picked up a lot of the smaller details from reading the blogs of yachters doing transits. And yep, we've got two clocks ticking, in a way.. planned cellular detonation in 48 hours, on Trevor's second day of transit, and the very real possibility of it going off sooner. BTW, that bump on the fiberglass hull nearly set off the bomb, so it was a very close thing. Mufid nearly blew himself, and whichever boat that was, to bits. If it was Atlantis, Trevor would have likely been killed right then, even though he's at the forward end and that was at the stern. If it's on Talon, I wonder how it would fare at a party (Which Trevor will be at), with guests clomping by all night long? The way I see it, the bomb is just a bit.. irritable. It was mentioned that when Mufid came aboard (at the sterns), the owner of the boat was forward with a measurer. That one bump wouldn't have alerted anyone, and you can't see into the cockpit from the forward areas on Atlantis, or Talon. There is a way to easily determine which boat the bomb is on, but that's not quite it. Maybe Jan wants his party to be a real blow-out? Always expect the unexpected. We don't know who or what goes boom yet. ******************************************************************** Okay, now two questions; #1: I'd love to know why everyone is assuming the bomb is on Talon? #2: Should I give some hints as to what in the chapter shows where the bomb is? As soon as someone posts the clue and what it means, I'll confirm (as soon as I see it, anyway..).

We have a few little mysteries in this chapter. A few chapters back, when Trevor was chatting by phone with Bridget, Trevor was really looking forward to the Suez. Bridget assured him it would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and Trevor replied that he was really looking forward to it, and that he'd have a blast. But... Trevor's experiences in the canal so far (all the Baksheesh) have not been great. So, will things pick up and he'll get to have a blast after all? Will Bes (the Bringer of Joy) help? Oh, and one other small question. Where is the bomb? It's clearly aboard either Talon or Atlantis (and I'll confirm that it's in one of those two places). There's a way to figure it out for sure, and it's all in this chapter.

We shall, in a few hours. Yep, the enigmatic Mr. Rotide... en route to a literary convention. The next chapter, posting in about ten hours, is "A Package From Home". Will Bes live up to his name and bring Joy?

Yep... if he misjudges the landing and hits wrong, it could be fatal. That's also one hell of a leverage load he's putting on that rope rig, and if a tree branch breaks... Hitting the water from that height has to be done just right. I've done feet-first entries from heights considerably less than that and even done right, you hit damn hard. I've blown an entry from just fourteen feet (trying flips and twists) and managed a blown eardrum as a result, and I've also screwed up diving board dives from the LOW board and even that hurts. From a high dive platform (33 feet) a bad entry can be dangerous. I've over-rotated a forward flip more than once (I sucked at diving) and even that was agonizing. I think a belly flop could be deadly from 33 feet. Personally, I think the guy in the vid is crazy.

Hey, it's not easy to type with hooves. Ouch... the gag suffocation reflex involved in waterboarding in powerful, sorry you had to go through that in training. Installing the GPS? Hrmm, he hasn't had time yet. I the one Brett got for Jake was a handheld, the kind you mount on the windshield with a suction cup.. Actually, in California (unlike the other 49 states) that's not legal, it would have to be attached to the dash top instead.. but Big Tony has a well equipped shop there, so maybe this could be a fun project for Jake and Big Tony to do together? You can't track a GPS navigation system; they are receive-only. The only thing a GPS in his car would do would be tell Jake where he was. Oh, and some have a traffic subscription feature, which allows them to detour the driver around reported traffic jams, but that's always useful in LA. And what cliffhanger? Tony wishing Jake a Merry Christmas can't possibly be seen as a cliffhanger.. What next: will it be a cliffhanger is someone sneezes and someone else says Ghezeuntite? Thank you, Conner!! :2thumbs: :2thumbs: Tony could actually be doing Jake a favor... those bullets did cause him some legal headaches in the last chapter after all. You are of course 100% right.. it's not a cliffhanger. Jake has a few issues, but who doesn't? Christmas can be an emotional time, and it's probably cathartic for Jake to be able to vent a little. A serious note on Brett: he was interesting to write. We meet him through the eyes of Jake, who kinda hates him and thought no end of mean things about him, which made it tricky to show the real Brett. Jake's perceptions (like anyone's) are colored by his likes and dislikes. It is a complicated mess, isn't it? Brett loves Corey, loves him enough to give him up, perhaps the only noble thing Jake has ever done... but how long can his conscience hold back his heart? And in spite of himself, Jake can't bring himself to hate Brett, even though he wants to. Thanks Mike.