C James

Doomsday should be posted by Wednesday, so 48 hours or less from now. I am very sorry for being so slow with this, but this is the next to last chapter of Circumnavigation, and I had to get it right. It also took an enormous amount of research time. I've put in many long days and a few all-nighters on this chapter. Plus, the only thing I can say about it is it's a large chapter, the size of 3 regular ones. (so from a words per week perspective, we'll still be ahead). After Doomsday, just one chapter and an epilogue remain. (the epilogue is less than a chapter in length, so I'm hoping to post it at the same time as the final chapter). I would like to thank all of you who have stuck with this very, very long story. I also want to thank my team, who have worked tirelessly on this story for almost three years now. (the story is very much a team effort). CJ

ROFL! I love it!

I'm catching up on some sleep, due to having put in several all-nighters finishing up Doomsday. It will post when I get it back from all members of the team. I apologize for the delay, but I had to get it right. It's the next to last chapter. The only thing I can say about the chapter is it's big. It's the length of 3 chapters. I'll come back to the thread tomorrow, but for now, I need some sleep.

As always, any awards are by rights the property of the whole team, not just me. As for Bridget... She's not the nicest of people, is she?

Strange that these are all happening to Carnival, which owns several other lines (including Costa). I've never been on Carnival, and these sort of incidents don't make me inclined to try.

Me? But... It's Bridget who is causing the problems, not me! As for getting them out of Jamaica safely, that's a worth goal, ad I'm sure it's foremost on their minds. But, wouldn't that be an escape? The final line of the posted chapter says, "This time, there would be no escape". That's narration, not a character's opinion, so it has to be true. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about though. Very good points! Yep, the prologue has been a key to many things. Are there clues in it to the ending? Yep. One small problem with faking their deaths though; it's the same as why they can't make use of the witness protection program. Trevor and Shane, especially Trevor, are famous. They'd be recognized. But, it could work, though only if they were willing to live in total isolation for many years. A self-imposed prison, really. But it's possible... except for the last line of the chapter, because that would be a form of escape. I don't think it's possible. For one thing, we'd have a dream within a dream; that dream sequence where Trevor (while still trying to get to Australia) dreamed he was arriving, and walked up onto the beach to be serenaded by the singing kangaroos. (they were singing Waltzing Matilda). Also, it's written in the third person, and many times the narrator knows things (such as about Bridget) that Trevor does not. Only one person has... and that's me. My goals for this entire story are to make it dramatic and realistic. And, of course, cliffhanger-free. Well, it does have one (and only one). The singing kangaroos.

You haven't even heard the worst part of Trevor's plan. It is a very good thing indeed that Trevor has never claimed to be sane. You're right; Shane's alternative, trying to make the pickup and all of them escaping on Atlantis, was the saner choice by far.

This one will be completed very soon. The next chapter is the next to last. However, I do know what it's like to have to wait for chapters, and that's part of why I am so forthright and fastidious in my utter opposition to anything even close to a cliffhanger. I do seriously apologize for the delays. I hope to get the next chapter into beta in the next 24 hours, but it's already too late to post Tuesday. I'm taking extra time on it to make sure I get it right. It's the next to last chapter of a project that's taken almost three years (wow... I still can't believe it's been that long!). However, instead of waiting for a week from Tuesday, it could be posted when done. I'm not sure yet. I'm doing all I can (I worked for eight hours on it yesterday alone, and close to 40 hours in the last week.). Two things I can say for sure; the next chapter is called "Doomsday" (I hope that doesn't seem ominous), it is the next to last chapter, and it is longer than normal. More like two chapters. However, it cannot be split, so it will post as one. And what? Sweet, innocent me evil? Thanks!!!! I'll miss this story tool it's been a huge part of my life for a long time. In the roaring 40's, he was facing gales and rough seas (except for that rogue wave). A strong gale is around a 50mph wind, with seas in the 20 to 30 foot range. That can give a boat a heck of a pounding, and that's a 9 on the Beaufort scale. A hurricane is a 12, which is is high as the Beaufort Scale goes. That's a 75 MPH wind, with seas getting to 40 to 50 feet. And that's for a category one hurricane (the lowest on the Safir-Simpson scale). A cat 4 or 5 (The Saffir Simpson scale ends at 5) is an utterly different beast. Minimum windspeed (sustained, not gusting) for a Cat 5 is 156 MPH. Seas? Massive, but also even more powerful than their height (up to 100 feet) would indicate. It would reduce Atlantis to kindling. What's it like at sea in the full fury of a Cat 5? No one knows, because no one has ever survived it. One of the best accounts we have of being at sea in a hurricane (though called a typhoon, due to being in the western Pacific) was 5th fleet's encounter in 1944. Due to an erroneous weather report, they sailed right into the heart of it, and tool losses commensurate with a major battle. Several destroyers were lost, and I'll link a pic of what it did to an aircraft carrier. And that was with 100mph winds, a category 2 on the Saffir Simpson scale. The clipper Fantome, which was mentioned in the story a couple of times, was caught by a Cat 5, though was probably torn apart well before reaching the inner core (the best guess is she came apart when in the outer core, which had high Cat3 strength.) The only trace ever found of her and her crew were some lifejackets, and even those had been torn apart. However, I'm sure that Dean is nothing to worry about (And just to be clear, Dean was very real, as are the weather bulletins seen in the chapter.) Just think of Dean as a new character, one who doesn't say much. As the old saying goes, into every life, a little rain must fall... (and a cat 5 does have rain... ). And that carrier was lucky. Trevor may have no choice but to do this Shane's way. Shane is refusing to go, so unless he changes his mind, that means Trevor gets to make the pickup. BTW, I was tempted to call the chapter "Mutiny on the Atlantis". Plus, Shane has often called Trevor "Captain Bligh". And as an aside, catamarans have many good points, but storms are not amongst them. So far, they have done well... but as we've seen a few times, that pounding on the wing (the structure that connects the two hulls) is one of the problems. Pound on something too much, and it breaks. I seem to recall that story. The good news is that Trevor is a highly skilled sailor, wise in the ways of the sea. The bad news is that Bridget Bellevue is is well, as we saw in her escape from Florida. Both of them can read weather reports, and understand what Dean is, and what Dean can do. And Atlantis is trapped between most of Bridget's force and Dean, with Dean coming their way. One way or the other, this is the final encounter. Okay, I'm off to work on "Doomsday". CJ

They do face a bit of a conundrum, don't they?

They say it's always darkest before the dawn.... but, it's nowhere near dawn yet. Dean was unexpected by both sides, so he's definitely throwing some monkey wrenches. At least we're at a nice, calm, restful pausing point between chapters.

Chapter 153: Final Rendezvous (Here's a link to google maps, centered on the areas in the chapter, which can be zoomed and moved around, because I know some of you are like me and love to follow along and see the areas on the story.) As Sea Witch raced around the tip of a small peninsula, she entered a sheltered bay on Haiti’s southwestern peninsula. In it, lolling in the sun, sat over three dozen large, fast powerboats of various makes. Bridget smiled, taking in the sight. “

Posted 94 December 2012 - 09:47 PM Final Rendezvous is up! (it might take a minute after this post to appear). Happy December 94th, 2012! Okay, we've got a chapter up. I'm now positive; after this chapter, we have two more (and an epilogue) remaining. What's been happening is that as I've filled out the draft of the final chapters (I wrote the drafts of the final chapters before the story started posting) it's ended up being a lot more verbiage than I thought, so some chapters got split into two. An example would be this one and the last one, which were drafted as one chapter. However, the next chapter to come (Called "Doomsday") cannot be split, so that won't be happening anymore. Doomsday is the next-to-last chapter. Posted 94th December 2012 - 09:47 PM

Sometimes, the police just make mistakes, too. For example, in the recent rouge cop episode in Los Angeles, they shot up a pickup truck that wasn't even the same color, let alone the same make, as the one the suspect had. And the two women in it looked nothing like the suspect. Then,m for good measure, half an hour later, cops on the same force did the same thing to another pickup truck. As for the actual suspect, he hadn't been seen within 30 miles. No fear of that, um, thing at the end... it's absolutly, positively, not a cliffy.

Thank you!!! You're absolutely right; I never use cliffhangers. They're evil, you know.

That's a good point, but one I think I can defend. I'll get a post up in my forum on the issue up tomorrow, showing real-world examples of the police acting... well, you'll see, but if I had them doing that in a story, I'd be laughed off the internet.. ;-) As for the company that sent the raffle, it was mentioned that they did check. They couldn't find anything amiss, because similar packages had gone out to all sorts of people, and also, the company was owned by someone with no record and no known ( to the authorities - connection to Bridget. There was no way for them to find the connection, so they didn't.

Trevor and Shane are indeed at risk... but that's to be expected, given the daunting odds they face.

I still love that story, Steve! One thing though... it shows be standing on a cliff. As we all know, I'd never go anywhere near a cliff....

Often, adapting old systems for use in a new system costs more than starting over. The SLS SRB is a 5 1/2 segment design, on Shuttle it was 4. That might not sound like much, but it's a major, major redesign. It also keeps the flaws inherent in the old design, such as segmented fuel and casing (without which the O rings that failed on Challenger would not have existed). The reason they need a segmented design? So it'll fit through railroad tunnels in the Rockies. If it wasn't built so far from the launch site, this would not be an issue.

As I often say, but is especially appropriate when it comes to awards, Circumnavigation is a team effort, so that award belongs to the team. As for Bridget being a bit autobiographical... that's just not possible for one as sweet and innocent as I.

Thank you to those who organized and ran this... and special thanks to SidLove: those banners are awesome! And I'm with Andy... All hail Cia, Queen of Cliffhangers! , Sovereign of the Malevolent Precipices, undisputed ruler of the edge of the looming abyss. Long may she reign! :worship: :worship:

Just a fast visit from me; I'll answer the question in this thread soon. I've been super busy this week, as well as dealing with an injury that kept me off the computer for a few days (nothing serous, just racked up a few tendons in a leg, had to stay off it and keep it raised for a few days.). The title to the next chapter is Final Rendezvous. Now, as for the number of chapter remaining; I think I've been very consistent, for several chapters now, that it's about three. What's been happening is fleshing out the draft chapters (written long ago) resulted in them being bigger than expected, so some were slip into two. However, as I've been saying for a long time, the story ends in August 2007, and it's already mid august 2007 in the posted chapter. So, I'm well along enough in finalizing the final chapters that I'm certain now. Final Rendezvous is the first of the final three. The next one, the next to last, is called Doomsday. After that, ONE chapter plus an epilogue. I won't release the title of the final chapter yet though. The reason I'll claim publicly is that it's a spoiler. The real reason is I haven't made up my mind yet. I'm now 100% certain we have three chapters to go, because Final Rendezvous is done, and Doomsday cannot be split. I'll even mention the reason, though it's a bit of a spoiler; there's a tiny touch of tension in some parts of it, and were I to split it, some unscrupulous scurrilous miscreant (perhaps from Canada ) might possibly imply that it's a cliffy. And, as we all know, our team and I are 110% dedicated to making absolutely 120% certain that there's not even a hint of a cliffy in Circumnavigation. And, earlier in the thread I was asked how many days in December, 2012. Well, it's a leap year, and in the goat calender, that means December is quite large. Circumnavigation will conclude well before December does. In fact, I hope to be well into posting another novel before 2012 ends. :ranger:

Well, it was a bloodbath, of the exact kind Bridget was hoping to achieve. Her goal just wasn't what we thought. Sorry about that, ah, largely vertical terrain feature, Lover's Leap. It's actually there, as is Alligator Pond, so think of this as just seeing the local sights. I've seen Lover's Leap, though from the seaward side. It's quite... horrifying, to one as cliff-averse as me. Here's a pic I found, taken from the top, looking down at the rocks a quarter of a mile below.

Cliffs? What cliffs? Bridget is very good at neatly arranging things. And one way or the other, this is the final time. :battleaxe: Don't worry, I promise that this chapter will feel bright and happy once we have the next one to compare it to.

They should have been in the GA system long ago, the only reason they aren't is abject laziness and procrastination on the part of the author (me). I'll get it done as soon as I finish my current serial in a couple of weeks. For now, the links Mike gave work. I'm not sure these are the stories you are looking for, as the new member is a singer, not a drummer, but other than that, the description fits. BTW, Let the Music Play is the first of the two novels. Changing Lanes is the sequel. Both are complete.

Chapter 152: The Grand and Deadly Design (Here's a link to google maps, centered on the areas in the chapter, which can be zoomed and moved around, because I know some of you are like me and love to follow along and see the areas on the story.) In Ft. Pierce, Gonzalez listened with consternation, and not a little confusion, as one of his lookouts reported over the radio that a tow truck, with just one man in it, was casually pulling up behind Trevor’s car. He set down his body armor and