C James

She's approximately 2000 miles west of Australia's southwest corner. That's part of the Southern Ocean, mentioned in chapter 29 as being very hazardous. She's set off two EPIRBS. and they're the ones that have to be activated manually. So, she survived the initial emergency (she was in a storm) but help is days away. Abby is the sister of Zac Sunderland, who completed a solo circumnavigation a year ago, finishing at the age of 17. (16 when he started). Hopes and prayers for Abby and her family.. I hope she makes it and is found alive.

Company policies vary... Some companies will fire you for using the internet for ANY non work related reason while on the clock. I used to know a guy who worked for an ISP, and he told me that their policy was so strict that even customer service could not access USENET at all, even to help a customer with a tech issue with the ISP's own Usenet feed. Also, only customer service could access the internet at all, and only for tech issues when helping customers. The company did this because employees were wasting paid time on the 'net. However, they went way too far; having a tech support department that couldn't access parts of their own services to troubleshoot it for a customer soon made them a laughing stock. They went out of business about a year later. My advice; check the company policy before surfing from work.

Yep... Contradicting oneself within a few sentences can indicate dissembling... So, if Bridget is hiding something, or more than one something, what is it? And those engine sounds again... Is it time to speculate again on whether Rknapp is involved? He's know to have an interest in engines, after all... Great point on Trevor; he'll grow, he'll have to. That's common among teens who circumnavigate solo; it becomes a true coming of age experience, and for the most part, it changes them, mostly for the better. The route across the Indian Ocean is his best bet... From the Eastern Med, he'd be adding thousands of miles if he went around Africa. Fortunately, he's had some advice from the Great White North, and he'll get more from then and others he meets. Plus, Bridget is knowledgeable on the Suez, and she'll probably help too. In the current chapter, it's early August, 2006. I'll make sure to reference the date better in a coming chapter. The Indian Ocean Tsunami was on Dec 26th, 2004, not 2005. However, in the summer of 2006 there were still debris at sea; floating logs, etc, drifting around. It was enough to make it difficult for yachts, unless then went slow. And good point; only twenty Lagoon 55's were made. There are similar models (such as the Lagoon 57) but they only made 20 55s. You're right; Lisa's fear of Dirk and concern for Trevor make her vulnerable to the "any port in a storm" problem; Much of what Lisa is facing is way out of her comfort zone, and especially with both Trevor and Joel far away, she relies on Bridget for help. The issue is magnified by Lisa's mistrust of her father, due to suspecting him of sending the e-mails. We don't know yet whether or not Bridget is up to no good, but that's a good theory! Bridget, like Lisa, thinks Dirk killed Rachel (I can confirm, per the text, that they both really believe it.)

ROFL!!!! Hoskins, that's awesome! Thank you for that link! I laughed until it hurt... I shudder to think what that engineer will create for walking the dogs? Wow.. that's some piece of work! I use an E6b mechanical flight computer as a backup when flying; it's essentially a sort of slide rule for calculating wind drift, pressure density, etc. Mine is aluminum, and I've had it since I was in my teens (When I first learned to fly). I do use an electronic version (Can't beat GPS!) but... I'm of the opinion that electronics can fail, so for something this critical, it's great to have a backup. I also have, somewhere in my basement, a triangular rod slide rule that was my great-grandfather's, but I never learned how to use it. Graeme, I'm surprised that an Australian would be fond of slide rules... Slide rules are tricky to use at the best of times, but using one while upside down (as all things down under are) must be especially challenging!

I thought it would be fun, for no particular reason, to have a thread about those enigmatic, perplexing folk known as engineers. Let's start with the Engineer's dictionary. HE ENGINEER'S DICTIONARY

That was great of him! I'd also like to add that it's wonderful for someone to run a contest and provide the prize! Thank you both!!!

I can reveal a further clue to help regarding the mystery e-mails; they were sent by either a computer, or a web-enabled device. Thanks for the link, HH5! I was very young when I saw the Kathavorhhes, and it's stuck in my mind ever since. I love weird phenomena like that, and had to include it in the story. Yep, Joel seems to be over his anger, but he doesn't want Trevor continuing on alone. As for the littering of the seabed; I think I can safely say that's a minor infraction for a teenager. LoL! No worse, really, than shooting skeet (those shards have to go somewhere) from the rear deck of a cruise ship, something I've done many times, but now is no longer allowed for safety reasons (it ended around 2001). I do miss it; the moving deck and the wind adds a level of complexity. However, I can understand why it might not be a good idea to have a passneger (some of whom have never fired a shotgun) blasting away. All they'd have to do is slip and send a round in the wrong direction, and that doesn't even take into account malicious intent. Okay, Benji, you raise an excellent point (one of many!) on Gonzalez seeing the name on the boat and running its ownership. That would be standard procedure. However, there was this passage in 27;

Good to see you blogging again, Myr! Great news about the writing, and I'm looking forward to seeing you in the anthology!

Read the thread Graeme linked, it answere the question well. My take on the issue is; unless the plot specifically needs it for some reason, why include song lyrics from commercial songs? If it's not really needed, spare yourself the headache. Sometimes though, it is called for in a plot. I ran into this issue once myself, and found an easy way around the issue... When I needed song lyrics in a story, I just wrote some of my own. That way, there's no copyright issue. That won't work if you need a recognizable song that the reader has heard, but it works fine in some other circumstances.

That's some great speculation! I can't answer (It would be a spoiler if I did) but I love seeing this! Welcome to the forum! Hi!! Glad you're back. Hmmm! does anyone know if other pages display okay on a PS3? And if so, why mine don't? If I can figure out a way to fix this, I will. CJ

Hi Warrior, and welcome to the forum! The only suggestion I can make is don't start with Changing Lanes, because it is a sequel to Let the Music Play. Also, my short stories are, in some cases, a bit odd. Okay, in some cases, very odd. They are where I try new things, ranging from horror to satire to non-fiction, and some are well liked, others aren't. My own favorite would be Category 5, which is an adventure story. Benji, how can you call FTL's poor, misunderstood Eric evil? I thought he was one of your favorite characters? BTW, for anyone who hasn't read them yet, I should point out that the Eric's in FTL and Let the Music Play are very different people. There's no crossover between the stories. And yep, an FTL sequel is likely to be the next story for my site, after Circumnavigation wraps. It won't be a long story, just a few chapters probably (Hrmm, I said that about Circumnavigation...). The working title is "CHARGE!" My favorite snacks while writing. Hi Slug, Thanks!!! I have no idea if Jake will be posted to my main site. It's in Premium for as long as it's wanted there, and I won't post it to my site while it's in premium.

And what is in Australia? Graeme is in Australia!! Therefor, the question must be asked: Did Graeme sink the Ares? Perhaps he was working with Rknapp?

There is a method, known as the Canary Trap, for finding a leak. In order to make it work, all you need is access to some of what is being leaked, such as Gonzalez had a taste of in that second interview with Bridget. Then, you release differing versions of the confidential information (Differing mixes of fact and fiction)to your suspects. Then, if one version shows up, you know who the leaker is. So, Gonzalez might have been telling the truth about Jim and Dirk when he was talking to George... Or, he might have been lying. Dirk and Rachel were divorcing too. Does this mean that, if Bridget killed Arnold, then Dirk killed Rachel? BTW, yes, I can now admit that the seller of Ares mentioned in the prologue was Arnold Bellevue. Also, Arnold is mentioned in the narration as being dead, so he's dead, and that means he'll be remaining dead. Would it muddy the waters a bit if I mention that the ten-year statute of limitations is not found in Florida law? Oh, BTW, I can definitely confirm that Jim and Dirk either are, or are not, lovers. It's one or the other. I'm so helpful. :blink: You're making my head spin! Come now... would sweet, innocent me ever do anything as sneaky as using an obvious misdirection to mask a non-obvious one? Thank you everyone who has posted... I can't comment on some of the things discussed, but I love the posts. I also see that I've been forgetting to mention the coming chapter titles... the next one, 27, is called "Unraveling".

Happy Birthday, your wizzardlyness! Have a great day and have fun!!!

Huh? How could sweet, innocent me ever bear any resemblance to evil? Something baaaad? You're off key.

It can't be a goat, because that's near a cliff.

It was the flyers vs. Canadians with the airliner, and it ended up going down in the Hudson river.

Needless to say, I'd never do this, but some people seem to enjoy swimming in what's called the Devil's Pool. Check out this blog and pics; they're real. However, I'd suggest NOT looking if you're afraid of heights.

My sunglasses? I can't see what that has to do with anything, but okay.... My eyes do tend go get slightly red, but that's not at all uncommon for most people in pollen season. See? I'm innocent, I tell ya, innocent!

Happy Birthday, Graeme!!!! Have a wonderful day, and have fun!!!!

Atlantis, Trevor's favorite shuttle, and one that has been seen in the story (It was Atlantis's launch that triggered Trevor to try his around-the-world voyage) is on her final mission. Here's a link to a story and video of the launch. In November of this year, the final shuttle flight is scheduled to take place, and after that, the shuttles will fly no more. We are seeing the end of an era. Columbia, Challenger, Atlantis, Discovery, and Endeavor, have written much history in their time. Three survive, but after this year they will be museum pieces, nothing more. There is one remaining unallocated flight-capable external tank, so it is possible that we might see one extra mission, to take place in 2011. I judge it unlikely because the cost would be enormous, but it's possible, and Atlantis would be the most likely candidate (She'll be prepped as the emergency rescue vehicle for Endeavor's flight, so she'd be the most flight-ready.) The follow on to the shuttle program was going to be Constellation, but if the current administration's plan holds, it will be canceled. I've been a fan of NASA all my life, and I dislike the vast majority of Obama's plans, but on this, I think he's right. I've looked into the design of the Ares/Constellation system... it's both horrendously expensive and a technical mess. At best, it would be a capsule, akin to Apollo, with few of the shuttle's capabilities (cargo, in-orbit satellite servicing, etc, etc). It also wouldn't have been ready to fly with a crew until 2018 at the earliest. The much ballihooed recent launch of Ares X-1 was not actually a prototype flight. Ares x-1 was a shuttle SRB with a mock-up of an upper stage and Orion capsule on top. It used not one bit of actual Ares flight hardware. It would have been better named Estes x-1. (Estes is a well-known maker of flyable model rockets). Also, that one jury-rigged launch of a mockup cost 800 million dollars. To put that in perspective, that's more than the entire development and production cost of the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 series from Space X (Falcon 9, which has it's first launch scheduled for later this month, is planned to have, with its "Heavy" derivative, a similar payload capability to what Ares was claimed to have had (and would not have had; they had some major design issues that would have reduced payload). Falcon 9 and the Dragon capsule could return us to flight in three years, far sooner than Ares/Constellation could have done, even had they met their schedules. However, iven if things work out with Falcon9 or one of the other EELV like Delta 4 or Atlas 5 (the tow other contenders for manned commercial launch) or even if Ares/Constellation is resurrected, we will not have the capabilities given to us by the shuttle system. It is unlikely that we will see them again, not within our lifetimes. Voyage well this final time, Atlantis.

Ahh, but that site is not mine; I had to link to the archive of the web to get it to load; the site is currently offline, probably hacked by fanatical anti-goatists. And would sweet, innocent me ever plot anything evil or diabolical? I'm innocent I tell ya, innocent!

It's a server permission issue on their server... I guess we'll have to blame New Jersey. New Jersey's team is called the Devils?!?!!? Hrmmm, how fitting! As for who you'll go after next, wasn't bringing an airliner down in the Hudson enough?

I'll check back on the narration; I might have misremembered. In which case, please disregard my post, and above all, please keep quiet about this if the Echidna is around!! However, we do know from the narration (Benji quoted it) that the murder suspect was getting confidential info about the case, and in the conversation we see that Bridget is getting confidential info about the case. Gonzalez is shown being upset about the leak in his department, and also Bridget is shown as being the recipient of the leak, and then the narration says the murder suspect is the recipient of the leak. As for the Ares, all that is in the narration so far is in the prologue; a radio distress call was received (From Rachel), and a search was launched, but nothing was found. This as as one would expect, if the Ares was taken out by an operative from New Jersey, doing a class project for his piracy class.