YaP

I think its hard/impossible to separate politics and the games - at least when the games take place in a country like China. I decided to ignore the games because of Chinas politics....

Lol, i'll never get what American football is about.. (or why you guys even call it football - except for those field goals (??) it's never played with the foot ).. except for watching some cute guys of course.. but you can't see much of them the way they are dressed up, can you? I rather watch "real" football (what you would call soccer).. at least the guys don't hide their bodies behind armor and masks.. and they even go shirtless after the game (if they won ). But its probably as Graeme said.. if you don't have some sort of "buy in".. you'll never get passionate about the game. And American football still isn't really popular here, although there are a few teams now - but they never show a game on TV (at least as far as I know)...

Hey MikeL I wish you a Very Happy Birthday Hope you have a great day !

I totally second what Graeme said ! All the best !

Great ending of a wonderful story. Well done CJames ! See Benij, i told you.. never assume anything with CJames... only believe it when he spelled it out clearly :-) Which leads me to the question if The Scar is really dead or if he may have survived the explosion... hmm, well, i'd say we can be sure he was hurt badly by the explosion ("... or what was left of him..."), and that he took some severe burning wounds ("... he could only scream as he burned alive..."). But thats about it. No word about him being dead really ;-). And they only found part of an arm.. which he might have lost due to the explosion... did he somehow manage to get out from under the debris ??? Maybe the sequel will tell .. it could be another GEGM ! But thats what we lovehate CJames for But much more love than hate !

Well, there is no mentioning of Helen being dead ! You are right, it LOOKS a lot like she is dead.. but it is never spelled out. The Shadows can be sorry for Helen being hurt and in critical condition as well as being sorry for her being killed.... It LOOKS more like it is a chapel than a hospital room, but its never spelled out. The "grim edifices" could be a chapel... but could be a hospital as well. Thats exactly where the "GEGM" (Great Evil Goat Misdirection) comes on the scene . With CJames, i will only believe Helen is dead when he actually spelled it out clearly !

Great story CJ... and a last chapter that wrappes up almost everything. I like that Vladimir got his revenge :-) That was unexpected, and thus another very good twist in the plot ! And Joe joining the shadows ... thats well deserved (and I didn't see that one coming either) ! I agree... the scene with Helen could be at the hospital ! I would expect more happening at a funeral... maybe, just maybe, she is in an ICU in critical condition and still has a chance to survive... we'll hopefully know more soon, the Epilogue should hopefully take care of that. Wouldn't this be a typical "Goat Misdirection" ? I sure wouldn't mind Good thing the sequel is already "in the make"...

mine is a pic of my best buddy .. my beloved cat.. well actually he is not mine, I am his slave, and he has trained me well to open the cans and rub his belly whenever he feels like. Lol. Well, i love to have him around, and I believe he loves me as well

Yes, thats actually where it started.. :-)

YaP = Yet another Pete.. well, there are plenty of Pete's around, so i chose "yet another" pete... its a bit of an insider joke for computer geeks.. i was thinking about Yacc (yet another compiler compiler), which is a Unix tool that is around probably almost as long as i am alive Actually i wasn't aware that "yap" actually IS a word in English.. but after I learned what it means i thought Yap as a screen name is just the more fitting ;-)

Yes, but don't forget that it is CJames who wrote this . He made us think (especially with that evil peek preview) that Eric was hit badly.. but it only was a minor injury.. and the former corpman may be wrong in is assessment. Helen is a strong women.. some of those that can endure even more than strong men ! I agree its about time Dimitri is caught.. but I don't think we will have to wait too long for that to happen. He is trapped. If Chase can get away somehow, or the bikers can get a free shot at him without risking to it Chase, he is history.... (but well, one never knows what CJames still has up the sleve for Dimitri..)

Well, of course I love CJs writing too much to really wait for a story to be finished before I start reading it. I don't think i could withstand even if i tried ;-). Not only torturing us with cliffhangers (and yes, I agree, its a very valid rhetorical device, and I can't really blame CJ for using it), but teasing us with misleading announcements (about posting late after a really steep cliffhanger) and rather evil "peek previews" is a bit excessive... Regarding Helen: It would be great if she would survive. I agree, she is the "fighter type".. and maybe she can make it. Pretty please CJames, let them all survive . I would like to meet them all again in the sequel YaP (Yet another Pete ;-))

CJames is not only treating hic characters badly, but us readers as well. Cliffhangers over cliffhangers, false announcements about later publishing, absolutely mean "sneek previews". Booooh ! If he wouldnt be such an execptional author, i would not talk to him anymore after this But well, this was just another excellent chapter ! And maybe he will even spare Helen (although it doesn't look good at all, and i fear the worst). Good move on Chase not telling the truth... that saved his life - at least for now. Now I just hope they can finally kill Dimitri without wounding or losing more of our friends.... Ohhh the tension.. another week to wait. Maybe I should think about not to read CJames next sequel before it is completely posted...

Well, there always is hope.... but I agree.. severe internal wounds... thats not good :-( And we don't know how (and how bad) Jon was wounded. Yea, maybe the military can get help in fast enough. Maybe help is already on the way because that Air Force dude was on the phone when the first shots could be heard... I can't beleive anybody would agree to CJames posting later.. especially at this point in the story where everything builds up to the grand finale...

Great chapter CJ. Indeed. But eeeeeeeevil. Giving us another cloudhanger and then delaying the post for the next chapter ! Noooooooo. Not fair ! /me jumps and kicks and screams and pulls his hair out oh wait, i am bald.. freshly shaved today, so the last part doesn't work Dang ! Helen is a hero. Wow. But Helen AND Jon getting shot. Eeeeevil. I hope very much they don't have to die :-( Please CJ, let them survive !! Dimitri on the other hand is doomed to die. I like Gary's idea that someone (either one of the bikers - maybe they were already on their way for the bbq ?) or the AF office will shoot through the window and take him out. No way Brandon could live with the guilt of having killed Eric. Maybe Brandon does have some brilliant idea. Maybe Chase can get free somehow and the field of fire is clear for Brandon or Eric to kill Dimitri. Maybe maybe maybe. There has a way to be out. I can't believe we have to wait 10 days to find out. Maybe we will get an early post instead of a late one - that would keep it out of the way of the Anthology release date as well ;-). At least I hope very much that CJ does have some mercy with us. But just in case.. i am going to get a really big charcoal grill !!

Hmmm, thats tough. True, Jon doesn't seem to play a major role.. He seems to be the more quiet guy. Well, we know he does like to party with Eric (even though it seems he doesn't get as wild ). I'd hate it if any of the boys would get killed. If someone of Instinct has to die.. well, yea, I guess i would miss Jon the least. Barbara doesn't play an important role for me. Lol, well, she does for Helen of course. Yea, Helen (or anybody else) sacrificing herself to save the others would be a heroic move. And I think she would be capable to do that - as others would too. Brandon already proved he is willing to sacrifice himself (in the plane...). Well, i'd prefer some more of those stupid local policemen get killed ;-). If it has to be a band member, let it be one of the Shadows guys....

yes, Dimitri is for sure still on his killing mission. And (as CJames told us in this great chapter) he isn't aware that Instinct already told pretty much everything they know (except that there was a second attacker with Mario.... and what Joe may be able to tell..) - and that his mission doesn't serve any purpose now. And he sure seems to enjoy killing. Mean bastard. I really hope somebody "punches his ticket" in the next chapter, before he can actually kill a band member (i don't mind too much he took out the stupid deputy ) - or blast off one of the bombs (although i doubt thats something he has planned - it seems he enjoys "manual killing" much more than setting off a bomb when he can't even see the effect....). Well, another tuesday to look forward to :-).

what can i say that has not already been said ? Indeed another great chapter ! No real cliffhanger this time.. which isn't harming the tension as the plot is still building up for the "grand finale" (even though I do think CJames IS the king of evil cliffhangers, he does not use evil cliffhangers all the time ). The General showing up just in time to run the deputies down was classic . And I agree, I think this is material definitely worth being published as a "real" book. I would buy it

Nite beasty ! *tucks BestKid in*. About time you go to sleep... you got the puters mixed up. Its his newer, "big" computer that runds 2000... not the old laptop (i suppose that runs on 98 if it is 10 years old...). You are right in that Win2000 is based on NT. As is XP. Actually 2000 and XP have a lot in common.. If you switch off the visual features of XP it even looks pretty much like 2000 :-). From my experience both are rather stable.

Lol, why ? Windows 2000 usually runs smoothly ! Who needs all that Vista crap ?

for he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good... .. writer as well I wish you a very very happy birthday. Have a wild party aussy style (i assume a BBQ is in order !?).

I think CJames mentiones something about the last part being one big document that is beta-ed and edited at the moment and will probably end up being around 7 (????) more chapters when it is posted.. i hope i got that right, because it would mean that we can enjoy it a bit longer

Mann kann sich immer die Zeit zum schreiben nehmen lol, i know, not fair.. i am sure i make a lot of mistakes in my english writing... so feel free to correct me any time Oh, and back to the topic... Congrats to corvus !! well deserved. I hope you find the time (between learning german and preparing for your finals) to write more, because I really like your writing

I liked the chapter. One needs a breather once in a while And you have to come down after a "high" before you can climb up again (even higher ? ). So that chapter really is what is needed at this point in the story . The only sad thing about it is, that we come closer to the end of this wonderful story with every chapter .