C James

Cumbre Viaja can been seen on Google Earth, but it doesn't really do it justice. I haven't seen it since I was very young. However, due to random circumstance lending a hand, I'll be in the Canary Islands before Changing Lanes ends. (I'll be there in just over a month). Oh, and I should mention; one of the activities I have scheduled is climbing a volcano. And yes, I will be taking pics. CJ

Fear not, I purchased said peanut butter over a year ago. Who, me? Thank you Edward!! The General had a dilemma; he had to cause a stand-down (we'll see more on why in 26) and so he forst had to make them think there was an attack, and then make them think it was an accident. He was counting on the chaos of war. He had very limited resources to work with, so his only option was to "game the system" and as he's so fond of saying, "get inside their decision loop". Basically, a strategic head-fake, to create the situation that he needs. The volcano... Volcanos very often become active, and then have a long sequence of eruptive events. Almost always, the largest is not the first. They also take time. Alaska is still waiting for Redbout to begin erupting, and after it does, if past history is a guide, it will be active for the better part of a year, with intermitant activity. That also fits with Cumbre Vieja's past history. However, volcanos don't always act as expected. Mount Saint Helens is a classic example; they dismissed the concern of a lateral blase becuase it hadn't occurred from that volcano in over twenty thousand years. Thus, they dismissed the ominous bulge that grew; the entire north slope of the mountain. In same cases, it grew by five feet a day, and the bulge was visible to the naked eye. Even once the eruptions were underway, they remained somewhat unconcerned. They did finally listen to the few who were warning of the danger, and issued a relacation order, but that was on may 17th. On the morning of may 18th, a moderate earthquake triggered the collapse, and fighty eight people died, many of them vulcanologists monitoring the volcano. I've been to Johnson Ridge, where their main station was. It's five miles from the volcano, on a ridge a thousand feet above the interveining valley. The blast scoured it down to bedrock. From five miles away. I highly recommend seeing it to anyone who will be in the area. Words alone aren't enough to relay the power of it; it was nature, on an awesome scale. CJ

All I can say is, from one frequent item on the menu to another, WELCOME TO THE MENU, MIKE!

Ahhh, so, Your Frogishness, you are making me out to be a scapegoat, eh? Well, I must admit, that fits. Here is the definition of scapegoat: Yes, the poor, innocent goat... unjustly and unfairly blamed for the sins of others.. that sums me up rather well i think. Thank you kindly, oh Amphibious One, for pointing this out.

:o :o Between that and the coat of arms, I think that makes the case!!!!

I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. General Bradson knows how military command and control works, and also what the likely reacations and procedures will be. So, by making it look like an air raid and then creating the false impression that it was an accident, he gamed their system into the stand-down order, though that is a very temporary situation. Eric has always been a bit... sexually ambigious. In LTMP, he did kiss a guy, so he was at least curious back then. I've always seen him as the kind of guy who would fall for a person, with the gender being of a lesser concern. Basically, I see him as a little bit Bi. Now, i may well be wrong (characthers do tend to take of a life of their own, and I've had them surprise me before) but that is my read on the situation. Don't worry, I wouldn't push him into a relationship if he didn't want to go there. (besides, Helen would kill me). Because it hasn't yet read the surgeon general's warning that smoking is hazardous for your health? Wildone!!! Now, let's be reasonable here!! Okay, yes, there are lemons, and this chapter was intended, regarding the choice of citrus, to be in part a bit of an ode to the famous Lemonade Cliffhanger in Shadowgod's Living in Surreality. However, that was a true lemonade cliffhanger, whereas there is not even a mention of lemonade in this chapter! So, be reasonable, this cannot be a lemonade Cliffhanger!! Thanks Kevin!! Yep, Chase is the youngest, Eric is the middle, and Jon is the eldest. For Jansen and Keith, Keith is the oldest. <CJ looks up from eating his peanut butter, pepperoni, and tobasco sandwich> Hrmm? Goats eat anything? (Actually, I literally was eating a peanut butter, pepperoni, and tobasco sandwich when I read your post, and it made me laugh. ) BTW, I should announce some story news. This might come as a shock to many of you, but Changing Lanes will very likely end up being longer than the 12 to 15 chapters I predicted when I started posting it. As a wild guess.... (and bear in mind my past failures in this regard) we're looking at an ending around chapter 35. I can, however, absolutely guarantee that it will either be 35 chapters, or less, or more. And BTW, in case anyone missed them from my other post, here's the next two chapter titles; 26: The Scorpion and the Frog 27: Drums out of Darkness

Greetings, Your Amphibiousness! Ah, but the title of 27 is one word different from LeVay's hymn. As for Cumbre Vieja, it's there, that's all. It's sort of like all the smog in Los Angeles; just background color. Just think of it as another character in the story, with it's own quirks and mannerisms. Now, while it's true that it might be said to have a hot temper, it's been very well behaved, so far. So, stop worrying, sit back, and enjoy the volcano. Frogs, well, frogs do seem to show up in the darnedest places. I'd like to call everyone's attention tho this... Yes, that's a pleasant, and very froggy, coat of arms, no? Now, whose heraldry might that be, with the three frogs? Why, it just so happens to be Satan's! Yeppers, per Wikipedia, that's the coat of arms of Satan himself. Is there something you're not telling us, Mike?

The following was posted by our resident amphibian, MikeL, in the Chapter 25 thread. ~from "Hymn of the Satanic Empire" by Anton LaVey Hrmmm, now, why would a frog be quoting satanic hymns? It's one of those things that makes you go hmmmmm... Also,. he does seem particularly concerned with the volcano... Why might that be? I also wonder where he gets his info from? The reason I ask this is, Chapter 27 is entitled Drums out of Darkness However, Chapter 26, which I do intend to post before 27, is entitled "The Scorpion and the Frog". CJ

Since when did I become Shadowgod's second hand man? Well, the General got them in, and got his stand-down order. The c-130 won't have a black box; military aircraft don't have them, and ex-military, sold as surplus, usually don't have them retrofitted, especially overseas. However... There are loads of other clues for the Iranians. One would be (mentioned in the chapter) that not all the grenades hit the refinery, and some of the grenades were mangled by the impact and didn't detonate. They also might find it odd, if they have even the moist rudimentary of medical examiners, that the planes "crew" were already well into rigor mortis before the crash. Those are just two things (I'm not saying those will be in coming chapters, just that they are clues the Iranians might pick up on), there are loads more. Given the resources he had available; a few old transport planes, some mercenary troops, some standard infantry weapons, etc, and that we know that his target is a heavily defended base deep in Iran, the General had to come up with some kind of head fake to manipulate them into standing down. Making them think, at first, that it was an air strike, letting them react, and then presenting evidence that it was all a horrific accident, made them do so. That's an example of getting inside the other guy's decision loop. Of course, as someone once said, getting in is the easy part. There's also the little matter of The Scar's orders to Felecia. What are the notes in the General's pocket? Okay, Garage door openers... Good point Wildone!! I asked around a bit today. Seems some people here do call the remote the opener, but that was two out of four, not exactly a large sample. So, I have a question for those that do call the remote control the "garage door opener"; what do you call the mechanical device inside the garage that opens the door?

That would have fit better for the "Satan's Own Thunder" chapter. LoL It's contextual ads. They scan the page, and pick relevant subjects. Evidently, they picked up on Shadowgod's name in the credits...

I can't say much without giving spoilers.. But Satan's Own Thunder should be up around Noon Tuesday, my time.

There is the issue that the Jet was able to restart one engine only, as I recall, and for only long enough to make an emergency landing in Anchorage. Generally speaking, the ash causes a compressor stall, but, it also coats the turbine fans with what amounts to glass (melted ash). There's a good chance you can re-start one once out of the cloud, if you have time, but it is very unikly to run for long. You'll likly see Anchorage International shut down for a while if Redoubt erupts and the wind is from the west; with ash on the ground, planes can't take off. (engine intakes suck it in, right off the ground). CJ

Thanks for posting that! It remanded me of this article, which nicely illustrates what volcanic ash can do to aircraft. (it took out all four engines on a 747... this was from Redoubt volcano, the one linked above that is about to erupt again).

Thank you, oh Amphibious One, for declaring this chapter cliffhanger-free! (your wording, specifically "another one", clearly implies that this one is cliffhanger-free!). I can't answer any of the questions or the Echidna will get me, but I will say this: they will all be answered in the story. So far, there has been only on mention of goats in the story... The plaintive bleating of goats heard by the General after parachuting into the Cape Verde Islands. That's not to say it will be the last, though. I can't take credit for the "Mount Saint Helen" line. Probably one of my team (maybe Graeme, but i can't remember for sure), or possibly a forum post or PM by a forum member, referred to Helen that way. I think it was back in LTMP. So, when I was writing that part, it just came to mind. It fits, i think. Trapped on an island with an erupting volcano... what could possibly go wrong? The Scar, admittedly, does have a few personality flaws. Well, there is the little fact that SoCal is still in danger from "the Big One", but that's nothing to worry about! Why, just the other day, I saw this... http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fa...0,7734479.story Oh, and interestingly enough, SoCal did have a quake on the San Jacinto fault (the one in the story) on Jan 9th, just a few weeks after it was posted, though it was not as large as the one in the story. Oh, and fear not! There's one scenario by which the volcano could explode without killing the resort guests; If the fears of a lateral collapse are true, and a latteral collapse occurs. In such a scenario, the area the resort is on would be safely under the Atlantic by the time the volcano's magma pipe is uncovered (resulting in a mount saint Helens style lateral blast). All the guests would be underwater, en route to a permanent gig at the bottom of the Atlantic, so would be unaffected by the blast. You picked up on the core of the problem; Jane is a bit neurotic, but so are they all, to one degree or another. The stress of their situation is making them that way. People do behave oddly when under sustained stress. In other words, tempers flare easily. Jane also has the added worry that she might be destroying her marriage. And I agree, it was a sad scene. OK, I have been given a special clearance from the Echidna Himself to mention the following: We find out about the lemons, and a lot of other things, in Chapter 25, Satan's Own Thunder. It's also a bit longer than normal.

He's had his own nut on his face? Whatever else one might think, at least we know he's flexible...

Chapter 24 was supposed to be posted Tuesday afternoon, but I'll be away all day and unable to post. Sorry. (however, it's posted now, to avoid any delay).

Did His Shadowyness just tell me to drop dead?!?!!? See? I keep telling y'all, he's evil!!! And yes, pales in comparison! Just look at the cliffhangers in DnCW!

OOps! I goofed on the URL. The one in the original post now links to the story. (It's real, BTW) As for an alibi, all I have is my precious reputation as a sweet, innocent (and quiet) goat.

Hrmmm, depends. I might be accused of stealing his thunder... Okay, I think I can address a couple of details from Wildone's analysis. These aren't spoilers on my part, because they are just discussions of technical facts, or things from the posted chapters. Garage door openers: I am not aware of any method by which they could jam radar. The laptops; only one is on Flight One. The other is on Flight Three. CJ

GREAT post, Wildone!!! Okay, most of that I cannot comment on, for fear of irking our anti-spoiler Echidna. I can address the refueling, though. The C-130 does have that capability in military service. However, the ones they are using would most likly have the refueling portal (located atop the fuselage) welded shut. It would be easy enough to make it serviceable, but the there are two very large constraints for the General's team; one is training. Only the General would likely have the experience at in-flight refueling, and he might not be qualified at it in the C-130. In flight refueling takes an enormous amount of skill. It takes a great deal of skill, plus a great deal of specialized equipment, on behalf of the tanker aircraft. They'd need a refeuling probe, control mounts, special fuel pumps, and a host of other gear. They'd also need highly trained crew. So, while air-to-air refueling would be very useful on the mission, they are not set up to do it, and the General decided to eschew that option. What they are planning on (it's in the text, Graeme, so no spines!!) is landing Flight Two in Oman, right at the northern tip, near the straits of Hormuz, and Flight Three plans on joining them there on the ground to refuel. In chapter 22, it said,

The next chapter title hasn't been released yet, so perhaps I'd best not mention that its "Confrontations." I'd certainly better not mention that the chapter after it, 25, is titled "Satan's Own Thunder".

Us goats do like to travel.

Thought y'all might find this interesting. And for the record, I've never been to Nigeria, so it isn't me! http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090123/ap_on_.../odd_goat_thief

Well, Dreams and Clipped Wings would have been somewhat affected, due to the loss of its central protagonist. But, you are quite right, by having Cody enter the LTMP world, it would have saved us, and Cody, from the dizzying, terrifying cliffhangers of DnCW. Thank you Jan!

Well, I *did* offer to let that San Francisco encounter continue, and have Cody join Instinct on tour as he and Eric get into a relationship. But, a certain Shadowyness declined. Cody would have had such fun with Eric... he'd have even gotten to fly on a private jet in chapter 37 of LTMP. CJ