All-Star Survivor: Hawaii Episode #1 Return of the King

Keko Tribe (green): Alicia Calaway, Teresa Cooper, Gretchen Cordy, Colby Donaldson, Richard Hatch, Michael Skupin, Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien, Ethan Zohn
Ahi Tribe (orange): John Carroll, Frank Garrison, Colleen Haskell, Susan Hawk, Rob Mariano, Vecepia Towery, Lex van den Berghe, Tina Wesson

Click here to watch the All-Star Hawaii opening credits!

DAY 1

Richard Hatch just didn't want to be the first one voted out.

The big man anxiously peered out the window of the helicopter, watching as it came closer and closer to the island below. And deep down, he was scared. Oh, he wasn't scared on the outside. To the rest of the players sitting here, Richard appeared as cocky and full of confidence as usual. To them, he looked like his usual self. But Richard knew that was all just an act. Deep down, he knew he was going to lose.

So Richard sat in the back seat of the helicopter, staring down at the island that he would soon call "home." He looked at the island that would soon host his own version of "Hatch's Last Stand." And he was nervous. Richard Hatch wasn't the type of person who got nervous very often, but he was definitely feeling it right now. After all, in less than an hour, the seven other people in this helicopter would be coming after him with everything they got. They would all be vying for the coveted honor of "the person that took Richard down." And that's why he knew he was going to lose. Richard was going to lose, and he was going to lose hard. That much he had accepted as fact.

But to be the first one voted out...?

Well, that was a humiliation he would be ever so happy to avoid. Survivor legends don't get voted out first. Survivor masterminds weren't supposed to be subjected to that kind of infamy. Only losers went first. And that's why Richard was a little bit nervous.

To be voted out of Survivor, well that was something he could deal with. After all, he knew he was going to lose. So why worry about something you knew was inevitable? No, the thing that Richard was truly worried about was that he just didn't want to be first. Richard's goal, at the moment, in this game, was that he just wanted to be standing here on day four.

And as for anything beyond that? Well, he'd just start thinking that far ahead if he managed to get there.



^^



As Richard sat in nervous tension in the back of the helicopter, the All-Stars around him were starting to make some noise. Because even though Richard wasn't looking forward to the next three days of his life... at all... the other seven people here definitely were. In fact, the mood inside the helicopter was downright electric. Seven people in this helicopter were hooting and hollering with anticipation as their Black Hawk slowly settled down on the sand. Because that meant they were officially here. All-Star Survivor had officially come to the sand of Ni'ihau Island.

The most exciting season in history was ready to begin.

Since this had been a "special" edition of Survivor, an All-Star version, the producers had decided to do things a little bit differently right from the start, in an attempt to keep the players off-balance. And that's why the first eight players had been flown out here all on their own. The eight players in this helicopter had no idea who they would be playing against. In fact, they weren't even sure where they were!

The only thing the players had known going into All-Star Survivor was that it would be held on an island, and they would be competing against the best of the best. And that was it. They had no idea they'd be stranded in Hawaii. Heck, most of them wouldn't even figure out this was Hawaii for a good half hour.

All the players knew at the moment was that their helicopter was landing, and they were on some sort of tropical beach. And that was really good enough for now. The Black Hawk touched down, the players cheered out loud, and with that it was time to unload.

The island of Ni'ihau was about to get eight new inhabitants.



^^



Even though it is the westernmost of the major Hawaiian Islands, Ni'ihau is much better known by its nickname: "The Forbidden Island." In other words, yes it is part of Hawaii, but no, most people aren't allowed to come here. Despite being one of the most beautiful locales on the face of the earth, the "forbidden" island of Ni'ihau has been virtually untouched by human encroachment. This is a place where human beings simply are not meant to go.

The reason Ni'ihau is "forbidden" to visitors is because it is privately owned. The 70-square-mile island is owned by private investors, and for this reason has been off-limits to tourism since virtually the beginning of time. The owners of Ni'ihau have always meant to keep this a "natural" place. They have tried very hard to maintain the island in its natural form. And that's why tourists are not allowed. In fact, it's entirely possible that tourists will never be allowed. The only people allowed on Ni'ihau are friends and acquaintances of the island's owners. And even they don't get free reign to visit. The official policy on Ni'ihau is that the owners "will only allow as many visitors as the land itself can support." And if the island happens to have met its quota, well then visitors will just have to wait until next year.

And that's why the Hawaiian Island of Ni'ihau remains one of the most seldom-seen places on the planet Earth.

Even though Ni'ihau is off-limits to most everybody, the fact remains that it is still one of the major Hawaiian islands. And like the other islands, that means it is deeply rooted in Hawaiian tradition and custom. In fact, one interesting fact about Ni'ihau is that it is the only place on Earth to list "Hawaiian" as its primary language. The other six islands have all converted to English over time, but Ni'ihau has always stayed true to its original mother tongue. This island has always been a part of Hawaii, it will always remain a part of Hawaii, and its owners will do anything in their power to keep it natural, pristine, and Hawaiian, in spite of the march of modern technology.

Real estate development? Sorry, not allowed on Ni'ihau.

Fast food chains? Strip malls? Paved highways??

Nope, none of those are allowed here.

To this day, the Hawaiian island of Ni'ihau remains one of the last remaining "untamed" frontiers in North America. In fact the only place that would even be close would be Denali National Park up in Alaska. These are places where humans just do not belong. These are places where nature is in its most natural state. These are places that have remained virtually untouched by the ravages of mankind.

Well, until today, of course.

Because the Survivors were finally here.



^^



Even though Ni'ihau is officially off-limits to outsiders, special permits had been granted for this special day. The Survivor production team had been jumping through hoops for the past few months, just trying to get permission to play the game in this unique, untamed natural place. And today it had finally paid off. Because as the Black Hawk helicopter slowly lowered itself onto the sand, Survivor had officially come to the forbidden island of Hawaii. And this wasn't just any season of Survivor. This was All-Star Survivor.

And that meant it was finally time to answer the question.

Which player was the best of the best?

As the rotors of the Black Hawk finally slowed down and stopped, the door on the side of the helicopter opened. And out came the eight members of the Keko tribe, like warriors ready to go into battle.

The first to step out was Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien, the energetic real estate agent from Vermont. Kathy stepped out onto the golden brown sand, a large smile plastered across her face, as she felt a rush of energy at the prospect of once again living in a tropical island paradise.

Michael Skupin was the next to join her on the beach. And right off the bat, the first thing he did was to take a moment to breathe in the fresh Hawaiian air. For obvious reasons, nobody was more excited to be here than Mike. After all, his previous Survivor experience had ended just about as badly as a Survivor experience possibly could. So Mike, more than anybody, was thrilled and excited just to be standing here. And he showed this by embracing his teammate Kathy in a big hug.

Alicia Calaway stepped out next, and joined Mike and Kathy on the beach. Looking serious and in tip-top shape, as always, Alicia's face barely cracked a smile as she coolly surveyed the landscape before her.

Alicia was soon followed by Gretchen Cordy and Teresa Cooper. The two Southern mothers (who, at first glance, already seemed to have a lot in common) stepped out the helicopter, one after the other, and soon joined their Keko tribesmates on the sand. Like Kathy, both T-Bird and Gretchen looked absolutely thrilled to be back here playing Survivor. In fact, the smile on Teresa's face was so wide, it was almost infectious.

Colby Donaldson was the next player to emerge from the helicopter. The athletic cowboy from Cristoval hoisted himself down to the sand, then pumped his fist once in genuine excitement. Colby was certainly no stranger to competition. But even he would admit that this particular game was a little bit special. After all, this was All-Star Survivor. The best of the best.

"And if you can't get up for that type of contest," Colby had explained in a pre-game interview, "Well then why bother?"

Colby walked over to greet his tribesmates, his ever-present white teeth gleaming behind a joyful smile. And he was quickly followed by Ethan Zohn, who came sprinting across the sand to join his tribe. Ethan, the introverted young soccer player who the women all seemed to love, had intended to remain calm and collected when the Black Hawk had set down on the beach. But he just hadn't been able to contain himself once he saw the Kekos greeting and hugging each other out on the sand. So Ethan hopped out of the helicopter door, he ran over to meet his new tribe, and he was quickly reminded of just why exactly this game was so fun.

As the seven Kekos gathered and bonded on the shore of Ni'ihau, just one player remained seated back in the helicopter.

It was the big man himself, of course.

And it was just about time for him to make his exalted entrance.

Richard Hatch peered out the window of the helicopter, giving a once-over to the people he would soon be living with. Yep, there was Colby's gleaming white smile. And there was Ethan's floppy hair. And there was Alicia's pissed-off "tough girl" scowl. Yes, Richard already knew most of these people fairly well. Hell, he better! After all, this had pretty much been his peer group off and on at Survivor functions for the past three years. So Richard was familiar with most of his tribesmates from past experience. He knew their little quirks, and he knew their little peccadilloes. He knew most everything about them that there was to know.

And that's exactly why he knew he was going to go first.

So Richard stood there, and he took a deep breath.

"Time for the show to begin," he thought. "Might as well get this freak show over with."

It was time for the king to return.

Richard stepped out of the helicopter. And the first thing he did was thrust his fists into the air. The last thing he wanted to do was give off the impression that he knew he was doomed. No way. Richard may have been a lot of things, but he wasn't conciliatory. No way was he going to give these people the satisfaction. So Richard stepped onto the golden brown sand of Ni'ihau, he thrust his fists into the air, and he cheered and bellowed as loud as he could. Richard Hatch entered All-Star Survivor with a Viking roar of confidence that the rest of the players hadn't been expecting. The "King of Survivor" came swaggering over to the group, he slapped Colby confidently on the back like they were long-lost buddies, and he winked at Gretchen like they were sharing some inside joke.

The king had returned to his throne.

And his presence had been noted by everyone.

With the long-awaited appearance of the famous Mr. Hatch, the Keko tribe was now officially here. And all eight of them stood on the beach, sharing hugs, smiles, and high-fives, as the helicopter started its engines and prepared to take off. It took a few minutes for the rotors to get up to speed, and with that the Black Hawk finally lifted off the sand, rose into the air, and headed out to sea. And in less than thirty seconds, the Kekos were alone. There was no more helicopter. There were no more producers asking them for pre-game confessionals. And there was no more chance that All-Star Survivor might just be a dream.

The Kekos were now stranded on the forbidden Hawaiian island of Ni'ihau.

All-Star Survivor had officially begun.



KEKO TRIBE (green):

Alicia Calaway
Teresa Cooper
Gretchen Cordy
Colby Donaldson
Richard Hatch
Mike Skupin
Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien
Ethan Zohn



^^



As the Keko tribe headed north towards their campsite, led by Mike and a very crude map, their opponents were just about to make a dramatic entrance of their own. Because fifteen minutes later, along came a second Black Hawk helicopter, once again approaching Ni'ihau from out over the ocean. This helicopter looked exactly like the first one, and once again contained eight Survivor All-Stars.

This helicopter contained the orange-buffed Ahi tribe.

And they were very much the equals of the Kekos.

As with their opponents, the eight members of Ahi had no idea who they would be competing against out here in Hawaii. They had been kept in the dark, and quarantined, in a completely different hotel on a completely different island. In fact, like the Kekos, most of the people in this helicopter didn't even know they were in Hawaii right now in the first place!

While the mood in the Keko helicopter upon landing had been downright jubilant, the mood here among the Ahis was significantly different. Perhaps this was just a more businesslike group of players. Or maybe perhaps this group was just a little bit more confident. Who knows? But the fact remains that as Ahi's Black Hawk touched down on the golden brown sand of the island, there was little of the screaming and cheering that was heard from the Kekos. Yelling and carrying on just wasn't the style for most of the people in this helicopter. It certainly wasn't in Frank Garrison's nature. And Colleen Haskell sure wasn't much of a screamer either.

No, the Ahis just smiled at one another, and looked around in quiet confidence, as their copter touched down and finally came to a stop.

The door on the side of the Black Hawk opened and out stepped the young man known as "Boston Rob" Mariano. And while most of the Ahis remained businesslike and stoic for the time being, that certainly wasn't the case with the fiery young man from Massachusetts. Boston Rob came bounding out of the Black Hawk with the energy of a hyper five-year old. He yelled as loudly as he could. He pumped his fist wildly in the air. And he surveyed the land that he was confident... no, he knew... would soon be his.

Boston Rob's exuberance was in direct contrast to the next man who came out of the helicopter. Because here came Frank Garrison. And as usual, the military man from New York was as businesslike as you could possibly get. Frank stepped onto the sand of Hawaii, he strolled over to stand next to Boston Rob, and the two men shared an awkward, and perfunctory, hug right there by the beach.

Neither Rob nor Frank knew the first thing about one another at the moment. They had never met before in their lives. Nor had they really cared to. But for now all that mattered was that they were tribesmates. Perched around both of their necks was the orange buff of Ahi. And officially that meant they were friends.

But off the record, Frank already could tell that Rob was going to annoy him.

Vecepia Towery was the third player to emerge from the helicopter. The slim woman from Oregon hopped down onto the sand, then immediately dropped to one knee and said a quick prayer. As always, Vecepia wanted the help of the Lord if she was going to succeed. Since He had come through for her so many times in the past, she definitely wanted His blessing out here in Hawaii. So she prayed. And then, satisfied that God had given His blessing, she stood up and sauntered over to join her new tribe. As always, Vecepia's demeanor was cool, calm, and collected. The only vibe she gave off at all was that of plain confidence.

As Vecepia greeted her old friend Boston Rob, she was quickly joined by the bubbly (yet incredibly intimidated) Colleen Haskell. Colleen became the second female member of the Ahi tribe, and to be honest, she really had no idea what the hell she was doing here. She was somehow going to be expected to compete with these people? The All-Stars?? Colleen was thrilled to be back, of course, but already she felt like she was over her head. One look at Vecepia's quiet confidence was enough to make her feel like a helpless little girl out here. But still, she exchanged hugs with everybody as fast as she could. Colleen Haskell may have been intimidated by the look of her tribesmates, but she certainly wasn't dumb. She was bound to become a part of this odd "family" as quickly as she possibly could.

Tina Wesson was the fifth player to step out onto the golden brown sand. And if Vecepia had oozed quiet confidence, she had nothing compared to the serene former winner of Australia. Because one look at Tina and you knew she was going to go far. The tiny little woman may have only stood about five-foot-nothing. And she couldn't have weighed more than 100 pounds, soaking wet. But, as always, Tina carried herself with the presence of a linebacker. When this tiny little blonde woman entered a room, people just knew it.

Smiling from ear to ear, Tina walked over to embrace the rest of her tribe. But, already, she was a little bit wary. As a former winner, Tina knew that she had her work cut out for her in a game like All-Star Survivor. The winners were basically going to be sitting ducks. But she had already told herself that wasn't going to stop her. Tina Wesson certainly wasn't a quitter. No, with a little positive attitude, and maybe a little help from God along the way, she was going to give All-Star Survivor her best shot.

Besides, Vecepia was here, and Vecepia was a former winner too. So at least she could commiserate with someone along the way.

John Carroll was the sixth member of Ahi to hit the sand. And the nurse from Omaha yelled out excitedly as he joined his tribe over by the shore. Sporting a pair of wire-frame glasses, John may have legitimately been the most excited member of Ahi to be here. More than just about anybody, John was absolutely thrilled he had been invited to play.

Lex van den Berghe was the seventh member of Ahi to emerge from the helicopter. The tall, lanky dad from Santa Cruz ducked his head under the doorway, hopped down to the golden sand, and delighted in the view of a perfect Hawaiian landscape. Ahh, yes. Hawaii. Lex knew where he was almost immediately. As a surfer himself, Lex knew the perfect surfer's paradise when he saw it. The beach, the shore, the waves, all of this could mean only one thing: He was in Hawaii. And that was perfect.

As Lex strolled over to meet his new tribesmates, his mind was already whirring with the thought of alliances. After all, he was Lex. It wouldn't have been in his nature to let this game develop organically without his control. But still, he couldn't get over the fact that he was about to play Survivor in the single best surf locale on Earth. Lex was about to play Survivor with the ultimate home-field advantage. And if that wasn't some sort of sign, then what was?

"I think," he muttered happily, to no one in particular, "This is going to be a lot of fun."

The final Ahi to step onto the sand was Susan Hawk, the tough-as-nails truck driver from Wisconsin.

Susan stepped calmly out from the helicopter.

And she looked around confidently, almost predatorily.

Like a hunter would view a new type of prey.

The rest of the Ahis stopped their chatter as Susan entered the game. Why? Well, she was just one of those people who had that sort of "presence." Like Tina or Richard, you just knew when Susan had entered the room. But unlike Tina or Richard, the vibe coming from Susan was one of pure dominance. When Susan Hawk showed up on your beach, the alpha female had officially arrived. There were just no ifs, ands, or buts about it. When Susan was here, she was officially the woman in charge.

Susan came over to join her new tribe, a faint smile on her face as she walked. To the rest of the people here, she seemed a little distant, and perhaps a little bit unfriendly. In fact, if you had asked Colleen Haskell, she would reply that Susan was just plain flat-out "mean." But Susan was warmly embraced by the rest of the Ahis, and was officially accepted as the alpha of the newly formed bunch. Susan exchanged a hug with Vecepia. Then a handshake with Frank. Then a respectful nod from John Carroll.

The Ahis were finally one.

As Sue and the Ahis cracked into the meager supply crate that had been left for them on the beach, their Black Hawk helicopter started its rotors and eventually rose off the sand. Colleen looked up and waved a quick goodbye to the pilot, and in a matter a minutes the chopper was gone. The Ahis were now alone on the sandy beach of Hawaii.

Once they had their crate open, the first matter of business for Ahi was to get ahold of their map and get directions to their designated campsite. And that was easy enough. Someone handed the map to Frank, Frank easily spotted the route to Camp Ahi to the south, and with that they were ready to go.

Well, almost.

Since this was a much more spiritual group than the Kekos, there was still one more piece of business Ahi had to take care off before they marched off to find their destiny. And that's why Vecepia volunteered to lead the group in prayer, as they waited right there on the beach.

"Dear God," said Vecepia, as she bowed her head and closed her eyes, "Please give us the luck, and the wisdom, to do well out here in Survivor." She paused. "And please give us the strength to come out of this game in the same health that we went in."

The Ahis stood in a tight circle, holding hands, as Vecepia continued her prayer.

"While we know that only one person will be able to win," she added, "We pray to you, Lord, that there will be no injuries, and nobody will be forced to leave the game under circumstances beyond their control. And we thank you, Lord, for once again giving us the chance to play."

Vecepia paused one more time, and most people thought she was done. But then she wrapped up, by adding with a wry smile, "And we pray for an Ahi to win this game."

"Amen!" smiled Tina.

With that, the Ahis were ready to go.



AHI TRIBE (orange)

John Carroll
Frank Garrison
Colleen Haskell
Susan Hawk
Rob Mariano
Vecepia Towery
Lex van den Berghe
Tina Wesson



^^



The Ahi tribe walked briskly along the sandy shoreline, heading south, as they tried their best to reach camp before it got dark.

"Because even though we're in Hawaii," Lex would later explain to a producer, "We're still out here living under the elements. And I don't care if you're in Hawaii, or California, or if you're in Timbuktu. You still want a roof over your head by the time it gets dark."

Even though the Hawaiian weather wasn't likely to be ultra intense, the Ahis were insistent on getting something built by the time the sun went down in about six hours. Frank, in particular, wanted to make sure this got done. And he was backed up by comments from Sue and Lex. All three of them didn't want to go to bed under an open sky tonight, and since these were likely the three biggest alphas on the tribe, what they said pretty much went.

So Ahi walked in a single file line along the southern shore of Ni'ihau.

But walking wasn't all they did. After all, Ahi may have been a businesslike tribe, but they certainly weren't rookies. The players on this tribe were all quite aware that Survivor started immediately upon stepping on that beach. It didn't start when camp was set up. And the game didn't begin the minute they got to Tribal Council. No, Survivor, the most extreme social contest imaginable, had started the minute the players had stepped out of that helicopter.

And that's why the Ahis chatted incessantly throughout the hike.

Were the players talking strategy yet? Of course not. You couldn't very well talk strategy with so many people all clustered together. This was just light, innocent, "getting to know one another" talk. It was as amicable as it could possibly be. After all, you didn't want to talk strategy yet, but you certainly wanted to put your best foot forward. Everybody here knew that the fastest way to Survivor suicide was to make a bad impression on the first day. And that's why, on this walk at least, everyone on Ahi was everyone's best friend.

Vecepia smiled a lot as she spoke.

Colleen giggled at Rob's corny jokes.

Lex came off like everyone's best buddy.

John offered water if people looked thirsty.

Every player on Ahi was trying to put on as pleasant a face as possible, because every player on Ahi had already started to play this game. And they were doing their best to hide this fact from the rest of the tribe. What? Strategize? Not me! I'm just sitting here making small talk with Tina and Sue! So the Ahis did their best to "play the game without actually playing the game," and it was particularly impressive to watch if you were a member of the production crew. In fact, one of the more hardened producers nearly laughed out loud when he suddenly realized, "They all think they're the only one who's doing this!"

So were there alliances yet among the Ahis? No. But the players were definitely getting there. The Ahis were feeling one another out at the moment, and looking for the people they would want to team up with later today. Strategy had already come to the orange-buffed Ahis. And they weren't even a third of the way to their campsite!

There was, however, one member of Ahi who remained silent on the long walk to camp. It might have seemed strange to an outsider, but one member of the tribe didn't partake in the pleasant banter along with the rest of them. Well, it might have seemed strange unless you really knew him. Because if there was one thing you could say about a man like Frank Garrison, it was that he didn't really believe in small talk and banter.

Frank, the thin, gruff ex-military man, preferred to walk alone. He always preferred to walk alone. That was just his style. Frank didn't want to chat. He hated chatting. He preferred to walk by himself, head down, as he trudged his way across the sand in the direction of their camp. Frank wasn't interested in sizing up the competition this damn early in the game. He was only interested in getting to camp. So Frank Garrison just trudged forward ambitiously, like usual, and really didn't interact during the hike with anyone.

"If you ask me how I think this is going to play out," he had explained in a pre-game interview, "I imagine that the more aggressive individuals are all going to go after one another. And that's why I'd rather not worry about it. Let the rest of them fight things out amongst themselves. I'd rather just focus on the work."

As usual, Frank would be completely emotionless when he said things like this. His face never gave away any hint of whether he was joking or not. And with his extra dry sense of humor, most people really had no clue where the hell Frank was coming from most of the time. But in this case, Frank was being dead serious. For all intents and purposes this really was the way he wanted to approach All-Star Survivor. Let the super head-case egoists battle it out and kill each other for the next thirty-nine days. To be honest, Frank just wasn't going to worry about it.

So that's why he walked alone, silently keeping to himself, as the rest of the tribe chatted away happily around him.

And to the people who didn't know him, it looked like he just didn't care.

On the complete opposite end of the social spectrum, you had the king of the social butterflies, Lex van den Berghe. Because while Frank might have been quiet and morose, when Lex got into a group he was downright gregarious. Lex was the center of attention at almost all times in a group like this, and he couldn't have been happier about it. He lived for moments like this, and he made every effort to get to know each and every one of the people around him. Well, except for moody weird Frank. Lex had tried to get to know Frank a few times back in Africa, and it had gone virtually nowhere. So he avoided Frank for the moment, and he stuck to the people he knew would want to chat.

In other words, at this moment, Lex was totally, undeniably, smack dab in the middle of his element.

"What a kickass group," he would later confess, smiling, "I could not be more pleased with my new tribe. This whole thing is just going to be a blast."

The tall tattooed man flitted back and forth between teammates all throughout the walk to camp, as he easily made an "in" with just about every other member of the tribe. It was clear to everyone that Lex was very much interested in being on the inner core of future Ahi politics. But that much should have been obvious. The phrase "in the know" could well have been Lex van den Berghe's definition in Webster's Dictionary.

So Lex chatted, and Lex talked. To most people, it looked like he just wanted to be friends with everybody. But what Lex was really doing was subtly positioning himself to one day be the man at the top. As always, Lex wanted to be the man who would one day be calling the shots around camp. It was just part of his control freak, detail-oriented personality. In fact, it was probably the most important part, if you came right down to it. Lex van den Berghe always needed to be the man at the top. Always had, always would. It was just part of what made the guy "Lex." In just about every social situation imaginable, Lex desperately wanted... some would say needed... to be the man in charge.

But that title, of course, would have to come later.

Leaders aren't elected the first ten minutes of the game.

Right now he just wanted to chat.

As Frank marched, and Lex networked, the youngest member of the group, doe-eyed Colleen Haskell, was just doing her best to try and fit in. And she was having little success. You see, Colleen wasn't as social as the rest of these people. And she sure as heck wasn't as outgoing. No, Colleen might not have been an antisocial nutcase like Frank by himself over there, but she was certainly much closer to "introvert" than "extravert" on the Myers-Briggs scale. Deep down, she was basically just a quiet person. And that's why she always had a hard time when thrust into a group of Type A personalities like this.

"Oh yeah," Colleen would joke in a later interview, "And did I mention I'm also the youngest one here? By like ten years? Well, except for Rob. But he's only like twelve, so I don't think he counts."

Colleen's job this morning was basically to laugh at everybody's jokes, and do her best to seem like she wasn't totally disposable. And really, that was about all she could do. Colleen certainly wasn't going to be strategizing with anybody today. Hell, she'd barely be able to initiate any conversations at all, what with so many enthusiastic talkers. This wasn't the ideal type of tribe for her, and she knew it. And already, she felt terribly out of place. She felt like a child who was trying to hang out among grownups. And she'd be lying if she said it didn't make her a little bit nervous.

"This really isn't my type of crowd, you know?" Colleen would later lament. "I mean, I'm the youngest. And I'm also the smallest. And I'm sure as heck probably the most quiet. So who am I supposed to hang out with? Is it just going to be me and Frank, standing over by the coconuts, while everybody else goes out and plays?"

Colleen would giggle when she said things like this, in that inimitable, Borneo "I'm just a little bit nervous" manner. But it was clear she was a little intimidated. It seemed like the only prospect of having any fun at all was if she could somehow hang out with Boston Rob.

"And that..." she'd say, her voice trailing off, "Is probably not a really good option."

So Colleen walked alongside the "power players" for most of the trek to camp. She didn't do much socialization, other than speaking when spoken to, or laughing at someone's lame joke. She tried to walk next to Lex, since that was where the action tended to be, but Lex moved around so much that it was hard to keep up with him. Instead, she'd inevitably wind up next to Rob. Of course, Rob Mariano wasn't her ideal walking partner, since the two of them had almost nothing in common. But at least he was young and would pay her some attention. So for now, she mostly just hung out with him.

In time, she just hoped the tribe would like her enough to want to keep her.

And so the Ahis continued their hike. Frank was in the front, his head down, buried in the map. Lex and John came next, followed casually by Colleen and her new best friend Rob. And in the back walked the three "older" women of the tribe. First came Vecepia. Then came Tina. And in the back, of course, was Sue Hawk.

Sue, the tough-talking outdoorswoman from Wisconsin, was bringing up the rear of the tribe, as she carried a heavy black cooking pot in both hands. She had volunteered to carry the heaviest item in the crate to show that she was as strong as anybody here. And because of this extra weight, she had wound up walking at the back of the pack. But that wasn't really such a bad thing. After all, if you hung out at the back, you got a chance to bond with Tina and Vecepia.

And considering both of them were probably going to be very important to this tribe, she really didn't mind.

"Chicks stick together," Sue had explained in an earlier confessional. "They stick together in this game more or less because they have to. Because when the guys all go out hunting or pissing or whatever they do, who do you think gets stuck doing all the work back at camp?" She smiled, nodding. "So that's why your best bet is to get in good with the rest of the chicks. They're the ones in Survivor who call all the shots."

And that's why Tina and Vecepia were her two new best friends.

Sue Hawk really had nothing against men, at least not from a sexist point of view. She was just more comfortable hanging around women in a game like this. She knew women, she understood women, and she knew that a group of women could always bond for protection. And that's why she planned to align with the chicks here in Ahi as fast as she could.

Well, except for maybe one of them.

"I could really take or leave Colleen," she had explained, laughing. "Please. I mean, yeah, I plan to team up with the chicks and all, don't get me wrong. But back in Borneo we couldn't stand any of them Pagongs. They were all so lazy and spoiled. We Tagis just hated all of 'em."

That's right. Colleen Haskell may have been "the sweetheart of Borneo" three years ago, but on this tribe she already had an enemy she didn't even know about. Although enemy may have been too strong a word. Susan didn't really hate Colleen.

"I just find the 'cute' act annoying and stupid."

So Sue was making friends with the two older women of the tribe, Vecepia and Tina. She figured that this trio was where the true power in Ahi was going to be. But at the same time, Sue wasn't dumb. Aside from scouting for allies, she also happened to be scouting for potential enemies. Because that was half of what Survivor was, wasn't it? You had to bond with allies, and you also had to eliminate your foes. And that's why Sue's sharp eyes had been peeled in the back here all morning. All throughout this hike, she had been searching for who would be that potential first obstacle along the way.

Why was Sue so intent on identifying her potential opposition this early in the game? Well, for one, she was still fairly wounded about her defeat back in Borneo. Sue was still quite bitter about the way it had come down at the end with Kelly and Richard. And she wasn't the type of person who tended to forgive. Nor was she a person who tended to forget.

No, Sue Hawk wasn't one to let old grudges and wounds just go away. So her plan this time in All-Stars was simple. She was going to protect herself. She was going to make strong allies early. And she was going to make sure those bonds were as strong as iron. Because there was no way these players were going to make her look like a fool this time around. Not this time, baby. This time she was going to be ready.

This time she was playing for keeps.

Sue's number one mission in All-Star Survivor was to show the world that she knew how to play this game. She would show Richard Hatch. She would show Kelly Wiglesworth. Hell, she would show them all! She would show the world that she was not the fool they had turned her into at the end of Borneo. She was not the "dumb redneck" that Richard had played her for so badly at the end of the game. Susan Hawk was nobody's fool. As the world was soon to find out.

Like a fallen samurai, Susan Hawk had returned to Survivor in an attempt to regain her lost honor. And she would do just about anything to get it back.

And God help the person who might try to betray her this time around.



^^



About an hour later, the first tribe arrived at their camp.

It had taken about two hours of marching through sand, and another hour of gingerly stepping over slippery rocks, but Mike Skupin finally spotted the Keko flag just as the afternoon sun was directly above them.

"Hey guys," he announced loudly and proudly, "I think we're here!"

Mike's keen eyes had first spotted the beautiful little square of green fabric a few minutes ago, but he wanted to be absolutely sure he was seeing what he thought he seeing before he announced it. And now that he was close enough to be sure, he knew they were home. There was the green Keko flag, blowing gently in the warm Hawaiian wind. And there was the word "Keko," emblazoned across the front in bright, almost neon, yellow letters.

The Kekos were finally home.

"Welcome to Keko!" announced Colby. "Check your bags by the door and have a nice stay."

The eight members of the tribe finally reached camp, and set down their load on the sand. And then they started to celebrate. All eight of the Kekos seemed genuinely excited to be standing here. Even Richard! Richard Hatch wasn't always known for participating in things like group hugs. But he did the old meet and greet with his new tribe, as did everybody, and then it was time for the Kekos to get down to business.

"Shelter. And fire." explained Gretchen. "Anything else, we don't need. Anything else, we'll have more than enough time to go get tomorrow."

The rest of the tribe had no objections.

And with that, plans were officially under way. The Kekos split up into small groups to start gathering materials they would need to get through the night. And right from the start it was evident that this was going to be a very hard-working group. The Kekos weren't much for hammering out details. In fact, they hadn't talked things over for more than five minutes before the eight members had scattered to the winds, intent on scouring the area for materials they could use.

This wasn't a group of Survivor novices. Nor was this a group of spoiled teenage Mallrats. No, the Kekos were chock full of veteran outdoor survivalists. They instinctively knew what would have to be done today, and what steps were required in reaching that goal. They all knew that things had to be done now, or they'd be fighting the dreaded sundown. And that's why the Kekos were off and working from virtually the first minute they set foot in camp.

"I'm on firewood," Teresa had volunteered, eagerly. Teresa had been here before. She was certainly no novice at this. And she knew that fire was absolutely the single most important thing the Kekos were going to need tonight.

"I'm with you," nodded Kathy, dropping her pack. "Let's do it."

Teresa and Kathy shared a quick high-five. And then they were off. The two women headed down in the direction of the beach, intent on bringing back some significant pieces of wood.

With firewood being taken care off, the Keko "construction crew" set to work on mapping out the layout of their new shelter. And when you said "construction crew", inevitably you'd be talking about Mike Skupin. After all, planning and delegating were second nature to the self-proclaimed "outdoor expert" of the Keko tribe. And Mike was already talking a-mile-a-minute about how he proposed they were going to build this thing.

"... You just have to build a frame over here," he said, as he pointed to a schematic he had drawn in the sand. "Put the palm fronds here, here, and here," he demonstrated, "And at night you're almost completely waterproof. It's not going to be perfect, but if we seal off the drainage at this point, we should be dry tonight, and then tomorrow we can worry about..."

As always, Mike spoke exceptionally fast when he talked. That was just the way he got when he was excited about something. So the instructions to his shelter came pouring out of his mouth at top speed, as the rest of the Kekos stood by in puzzled bemusement. For a lot of them, this was the first time they'd ever actually had to deal with him.

"Do you think he ever slows down?" Colby murmured to Gretchen, out of the side of his mouth. "At what point do you think he notices the rest of us are even here?"

Gretchen looked down at her feet, laughing. She had already realized that it would take some time to get used to the hyperkinetic whirlwind she knew as Mike Skupin. The guy was like B.B. back in Borneo. Same kinetic energy. Same inhuman work ethic. Same tendency to talk down to people around him. Why, it was like she'd been transported back to the beach of Pagong in the summer of 2000!

"The only difference I see between Mike and B.B.," Gretchen had joked in an earlier confessional, "Is that Mike is just a whole lot happier. Or maybe he's just more self absorbed. He doesn't seem to realize that he gets under a lot of peoples' skin. That concept actually seems to elude him." She then laughed. "Meanwhile, B.B. was out there practically inviting people to hate him. B.B. went out of his way to antagonize people, while Mike just manages to do it organically. Otherwise the two of them don't seem all that different."

Gretchen stared at the ground as Mike talked, trying her best to ignore the fact that he was explaining all this like the rest of the Kekos were small children.

"... You just put the struts here, and here," he continued, "And that's what's called a T-bar. With that there, the roof should stay pretty still..."

Did Mike not realize that a lot of the other people here had some fairly extensive outdoor experience of their own?

Did Mike not realize that Gretchen had taught survival skills for several years in the military?

Did Mike not realize that Gretchen probably knew more about constructing a shelter in the wilderness than anybody here?

Gretchen could already feel herself starting to get worked up by Mike's self-centered obliviousness. But that's when she felt a reassuring hand on her left shoulder. She looked up, and there was Colby. Apparently Colby could already sense her wounded pride.

"Just keep your mouth shut and let him go," Colby advised, as he put an arm around her shoulder. He was speaking very quietly, under his breath. He wanted to make sure that Mike couldn't hear him. "Mike'll probably run out of energy sooner or later," explained Colby. "And when he does, you can go in and fix any mistakes. Cause I know as well as you do you've probably seen some."

Gretchen smiled up at Colby, appreciatively. She had heard he was a good politician. And now she had her first chance to see him in action.

Colby just nodded. Then he flashed her that big Texas smile in response.

Apparently a friendship had already been formed.

"Thanks," whispered Gretchen, "I'll remember that."

So Colby and Gretchen stood next to Mike, offering assistance with whatever he wanted to build. And Gretchen did everything she could not to say anything.

With shelter and firewood now under control, the remaining three Kekos spread out around the campsite, working on the odd, but necessary, jobs that nobody else had offered to do.

Ethan Zohn took it upon himself to go out and gather some palm fronds. Since nobody else was using it, he grabbed the camp machete, walked over towards the nearest clump of date palms, and started hacking away. Without fronds, the Kekos were never going to have a roof tonight. And that certainly wasn't going to happen on Ethan's watch. Time to start hacking.

Alicia Calaway announced that she was going to go find the Keko watering hole. She wasn't thrilled with the idea that she would be wandering away by herself, isolated from the tribe, for the next few hours. But she was enough of a team player to realize this needed to be done. Without water, everybody from Keko would be sick by the end of the day. So Alicia gathered all their canteens, she grabbed the map that showed her the way, and she started walking east. Hopefully she'd be back with fresh water before it got dark.

The last member of the tribe, Richard, had only one task on his mind right about now. And it was really the most important task of them all, if you came right down to it. The only thing Richard cared about was the potential for spear-fishing around Keko Beach. That was his bread and butter. That was the task he was good at. And that was the task that would, hopefully, in a perfect world, one day keep him in this game.

"I'm going to look for food," he told Mike. "Maybe down by the beach I can find something under the rocks."

So Richard left the group, and he took a leisurely Richard-stroll down to the shore. He didn't really intend to gather any food. Richard had no interest at all in searching under rocks or reaching in holes. No, the only reason he came down to the beach was to check out the tide conditions. He wanted to scout out the ocean that he would one day refer to as "his."

Richard Hatch knew that there was only one way he could survive past three days. He would have to start bringing in fish, and he would have to start doing it fast. He would have to establish himself as the provider right from the start. Because if anybody else beat him to the punch, if anybody else staked their claim as "tribe fisherman" before he did, his time here would officially be done.

"You see anything down there?" called Gretchen, from back up at camp, "You see any crabs or mussels or anything? Anything look edible?"

"I'm looking!" said Richard, not really looking.

Truth be told, Richard couldn't have cared less if people back at camp ate crab tonight. Or mussels. All he cared about was fish. And that's why he was staring so intently at the sea.

If he ever wanted to make it to the All-Stars merge, Richard Hatch knew that he needed his beloved spear. He needed to get out in that ocean as quickly as possible. He needed to start bringing in a bounty of fish.

And he needed to start doing it fast.




^^




Right from the start, the Keko tribe possessed an amazing work ethic. Plan and simple, these people knew how to get things done. Well, except for maybe one of them. Richard's effort around camp would normally best be described as "casual." And that would be on a good day. But the rest of the tribe was made up of diligent and responsible worker bees, and they spent most of that first day hard at work. There was no complaining. There wasn't even a single person who sat down to take an extended break. In other words, Keko, which is a Hawaiian word meaning "monkey," already seemed like a perfectly fitting name for this particular tribe. The minute they found their campsite, the Kekos spread out like a bunch of monkeys, diligently working on the tasks they would one day need to survive.

By this point, strategy had not yet begun to rear its ugly head at Camp Keko. At least, not in an overt manner, anyway. Nobody was talking alliances yet. Nobody had said a single word to anybody about voting strategies. In fact, there hadn't even been a single discussion yet over who was likely to get the first boot. Most of the Kekos assumed it would be Richard, just because he was Richard, of course, but it's not like they had put together any sort of conspiracy. Richard Hatch just happened to be an easy first boot in All-Star Survivor. Nothing personal.

But just because Keko wasn't talking strategy didn't mean they weren't thinking strategy. With the sheer number of strategists (and successful Survivor players) on this beach, it was inevitable that people were going to start bringing the subject up, at least in their interviews.

No, the players might not have been ready to talk strategy yet with each other, but they were certainly willing to discuss it with one of the producers. In fact most of them preferred to do it this way. Most of them had verbal diarrhea after a few hours spent on the beach. And by midday, the flood of Keko confessionals had finally begun.

Ethan Zohn was the first player to sit down for a chat with one of the producers. And even though the young soccer player was amicable and friendly, like always, he was also quick to point out how wary he was of two particular people on this tribe.

"Colby, and Richard," Ethan said, as he counted the two of them off on his fingers, "They both make me nervous. And they both gotta go. In fact, if Colby is the first one kicked out of here, I really won't mind."

Ethan Zohn had always been the type of player who was never particularly comfortable around athletes or players more dominant than himself. Perhaps it was because Ethan was an introvert. Or perhaps one could say he just had very low self esteem. Whatever the case, Ethan was always very wary whenever there was another young athlete on his tribe in Survivor. It's why he had wanted Clarence gone on day one back in Africa. It's why he had disliked Silas the minute he arrived after the twist. Ethan was just the type of player who got incredibly nervous if someone else could fill his role on the tribe. He got jumpy whenever another "Ethan" was able to step in.

And it's why his hackles had been raised the minute Colby Donaldson set foot on Keko Beach.

"The rest of the Kekos think that Richard is a major threat," Ethan elaborated, "But not me. Richard isn't winning anything. No, if they want to be worrying about somebody, they should all be worrying about Colby. I know that I am. In my mind, Colby is the favorite out here. He's the one who could be winning this whole thing. And it drives me nuts when I think that no one but me will be able to see that."

So in the eyes of Ethan Zohn, the presence of 'Cowboy' Donaldson was very bad news indeed. But it's not like Colby was the only threat. He just happened to be the biggest one. No, if you asked Ethan, everybody was a threat on this beach. Including Ethan. And that fact already made him feel more than a little bit vulnerable.

"In Africa," he explained, "I knew I was safe at the start, because I was always pretty good in the challenges. But that's not the case out here. No way." He let out a frustrated laugh. "In All-Stars, you're probably at more of a disadvantage if you're young and you're good in the challenges, and that's what I'm most afraid about. Well, that and the fact that I'm a former winner." He laughed again. "The fact that I've already won certainly won't help. But... still... Richard won too, and he has a lot more enemies around camp than I do. So maybe him being here will kind of make them forget about me. At least, that's what I'm hoping will happen. We'll see."

As Ethan went on to explain the need for an early ally, his teammate, Alicia Calaway was sitting down for an interview of her own. And while Ethan seemed a little bit wary of some of his new tribesmates, Alicia showed no such trepidation. At all. In fact, Alicia was feeling downright cocky about Keko's chances right about now.

"The Keko tribe is awesome," she explained, a big happy grin on her face. "I'm absolutely thrilled with how hard everybody is working around camp. And I think that, fairly quickly, we're going to kick some serious All-Star Survivor Hawaiian butt."

Alicia was thrilled that there didn't appear to be any slackers on her new tribe. That fact alone seemed to have tickled her pink. After all, the quickest way to piss off the easily piss-offable Alicia was to not pull your weight around camp. So the fact that every one of the Kekos was a hard worker absolutely delighted her.

But what really delighted Alicia... and the reason she was a little cocky right now... was the fact that the majority of new tribe were fellow Australians.

"Mike and Colby are both on my new tribe," she continued, "All three of us played together in Australia, and we all know each other fairly well out of the game. And I couldn't believe it when they put all three of us on the same tribe." She laughed. "I was like, are you kidding me? We already have an Australia majority, and it's only day one?"

Alicia wasn't best friends with Mike or Colby or anything. They definitely weren't peas in a pod, or a pre-game alliance, or anything like that. But the fact remained that she did know both of them, and she certainly wasn't above using that connection to get something started out here.

"The variables you know," she concluded, "Are always better than the ones that you don't." Then she laughed one more time. "Even if one of them happens to be Mike."

Ethan and Alicia's first confessionals in Hawaii had been particularly insightful. As well as wordy. After all, both of them already had a lot to say. But when it came to the most laid-back member of the Keko tribe, the producers found it far more difficult to extract the soundbytes they were hoping to get.

"I'm serious," Colby explained to one of them, for the third time today. "I really don't have nothin' to say."

The producers had been after Colby all morning, just trying to get a confessional from their golden boy star. But so far Colby hadn't really wanted to oblige. He would either just brush them off altogether, or say as few words as possible in an attempt to make them leave him alone.

Why was Colby being so standoffish? Well, in his mind, he thought it was too early to be talking about things like "strategy" and "alliances" and "boot order." Colby wasn't ready to talk about the game. After all, nothing of significance had even happened yet! He wasn't in the mood to start stressing over things of which he would have little, if any, control.

"The thing that makes me laugh," Colby would finally admit, much later in the day, "Is that people are obviously thinkin' strategy, but nobody's actually flat-out talkin' about it. Alliances and strategies are obviously gonna come to fruition sooner or later, but nobody's willing to be the first one to say anything. And that's what just makes you laugh."

He shrugged, casually.

"People are obviously gonna talk sooner or later. But until they do, just leave me out of it. Just let me enjoy the ride. I aint got nothin' to say until someone comes up and makes the first move. Because you know as well as I do it aint gonna be me."

So Colby wasn't particularly worried about strategy. At least not today. He knew the game would come to him in time. It always did. And when the alliances started flying, he'd be ready. For now, he could just sit here and wait.

"When they come, I'll be here," he concluded, with a typical Colby smirk. "They know where I'll be. I can wait."

Even though most of the Keko confessionals had been fairly candid today, the producers were not surprised when the most honest answers came from their superstar, the big man himself, Richard Hatch.

Sure enough, Richard had not been shy in his first interview about discussing his chances in All-Star Survivor.

"Do you think they're going to let me win again?" he had laughed, somewhat good-naturedly. "Fat chance! The Kekos are probably salivating at the thought of taking me out, just so they can say they were the ones who did it. They all want to tell their grandkids that they were the ones who voted me out. And that's the sort of crap I'm going to be up against."

Why was Richard Hatch convinced that voting him out was the grand prize of Survivor? Well because he was Richard, of course. The king of Survivor. The first winner. The master strategist. And if you didn't somehow acknowledge that, why he'd be the first one to tell you!

"For some reason I have this reputation where some people think I'm a blowhard," Richard continued. "I'm not sure why they think that. But I really don't care." He paused for a second, then worded the next part very deliberately. "I've not tied my happiness in life to any sort of 'success' in games like Survivor. I have a very happy and healthy life outside this game. So what people on my tribe, or the other tribe for that matter, might think of me doesn't really matter."

Richard loved to give off the image that he didn't give a crap about anything, but the producers knew a lot of that was little more than self-protective bluster. Richard cared. Despite what he said, and despite his effort level thus far, Richard did want to do well out here. And he was juuuuust cocky enough to think he might be able to do it.

If anybody was good enough to overcome "the curse of being Richard," it was Richard.

And eventually the producers even got him to open up and talk about it.

"The only way I'm going to survive" he explained, "And I mean the only way, is if nobody is threatened by me at all. And that's it. If people see me making alliances, or they see me playing the game, well I might as well cut my own throat." He rolled his eyes. "The key to Survivor for me is that if I put in the tiniest bit of effort, I'm doomed."

And right there, Richard explained exactly why he had been so quiet and so passive the minute they'd hit camp. It wasn't because Richard just didn't want to be here. Nor was it because he hated these people and wanted nothing to do with them. Sure, part of it was because he was still mostly convinced his experience here would all be for naught. But part of it was strategy too. Laying low, and "playing possum," was the one and only move he could make.

"Making an alliance worked once," concluded Richard, "But there's no way that works again. I guarantee you that the winner of this game will have nothing to do with a big, strong alliance. And that's why I'll just be hiding in my little hole for a while." He laughed. "I'm just a harmless little baby bunny. Don't pay any attention to me!"

The theory behind Richard's strategy was that of evolution. He knew that, no matter what else happened in All-Stars, what had worked with the naïve castaways in Borneo was never going to fly with his seven teammates here in Hawaii. He needed to stay away from the power core, and he needed to stay as far away from it as he possibly could. Like Colby, Richard's main goal right now was to make the alliances all come to him.

"But do you know what would help me the most?" Richard continued, "The thing that would benefit me the most is if some moron made himself a target at the first vote." He laughed, heartily. It was a big jolly laugh that most Survivor players already knew quite well. "If some idiot decided to make himself a scapegoat, and take the fall for me at the first vote, well I'd be okay with that. And, hey, if I see any volunteers maybe I can help!"

"So are you really nervous about the first vote?" asked a producer, as she wrapped up the interview. "Or do you think you can actually win again?"

"Worried?" asked Richard, as he paused to mull over the word. "I don't know if I would say 'worried' is the proper term. I'm definitely a little bit concerned. But it's not like it occupies my every waking thought."

The producer then hit him with one final probing question.

"Do you think you can make it to day four?"

Richard smiled.

Then laughed under his breath.

Well that was the big question, now, wasn't it?

"Piece of cake," he said, as he raised himself up from his seat. He wiped some wet sand off his shorts, then started walking away back towards camp. "Not a problem, my dear," he said with his back to her, "These suckers won't even know what hit 'em."

The old familiar bluster was back.

"I'll give you another interview in a couple of days."



^^



As the day progressed, Keko soon had a growing foundation for their new island home. Mike and Gretchen had worked together on shelter construction, and within two hours they had designed a sturdy frame that would probably hold up relatively well against any sort of weather.

Even though they were almost complete opposites in terms of personality, Gretchen and Mike already seemed to be a formidable duo when it came to being the go-to decision makers of the Keko tribe. Neither one would flat-out admit to being the leader, but in truth they had been in charge of most of the tribe's activities thus far.

But what was most surprising, at least to the rest of the Kekos, was the fact that Mike and Gretchen actually seemed to be getting along. Oh sure, Mike had accidentally rolled his eyes once at Gretchen. And sure, Gretchen had inadvertently snapped once at Mike. But for the most part, so far they had made an excellent construction team.

Even though it was only day one, Gretchen Cordy was already proving herself to be an essential member of the Keko tribe. After all, why wouldn't she be? She was a superstar out here. Not only was Gretchen capable and competent in the outdoors, and not only was she particularly smart, she was also probably the most well-respected member of the tribe, right from the start.

Not a single member of the Kekos had anything bad to say about her in their morning confessionals today.

Not one.

Zero.

Zilch.

Words like "level-headed" and "honest" were most often associated with Gretchen when people talked about her. Everybody seemed to consider her a star. And it was no surprise when the producers voted her the "most popular" player at the end of day one. Nor should it have been a surprise. This was the exact same way the Pagongs had adored Gretchen back in Borneo!

As for Gretchen, of course she was overjoyed to be stranded with such a strong and hard-working group of castaways this time around. This was the exact opposite of the situation she had faced back in Borneo. People actually did work here! And it was obvious Gretchen was loving it.

"I can't believe it," she had confided to Teresa, with an overexcited smile on her face. "I'm actually stranded with grownups this time. Grownups! I'm not babysitting a bunch of kids! I can't believe what a difference it makes!"

As you can imagine, Gretchen Cordy was exceedingly pleased with the situation in which she found herself here in Hawaii. It was like a breath of fresh air compared to the nightmare first three days back in Borneo. But at the same time, she couldn't delude herself into thinking this was a utopian paradise. There were problems on Keko. Well, okay, there was at least one problem.

That problem's name happened to be Richard Hatch.

Why did Gretchen consider Richard to be a significant problem? Well, for starters, because more so than anybody else in this game, Gretchen had firsthand experience of what Richard was capable of if you gave the guy the slightest bit of power. After all, hadn't Richard single-handedly dismantled her old tribe back in Borneo? And hadn't she been blindsided by his Tagi alliance? In a brutal manner that she hadn't seen coming for a second?

"It's pretty hard to forget something like that," Gretchen would sheepishly admit in her first interview. "I mean, you can call yourself good at forgiveness, and you can say you're open-minded, but you really don't forget the person who caused you to be voted out. That's just not the way that human nature works."

So yes, Gretchen was aware that Richard Hatch was on her tribe here in Hawaii. Hell yes, she knew. It was something she hadn't forgotten for a single minute. Her brain just wasn't going to let her.

But much to Gretchen's surprise, Richard had actually proven himself to be a capable team player today. And a quiet one, too. The man hadn't said more than "hello" to pretty much anybody.

"He even carried a bunch of rocks back to camp," she continued, "Rocks! I didn't see anybody else carrying that much. And we didn't even ask! Richard just went down to the ocean and started lugging all these big, huge boulders back to camp."

Gretchen had been amazed when she had seen how strong Richard truly was, at least when he wanted to be. That wasn't a skill she had noticed in the few days they had lived together back in Borneo. Yes, Richard had been a good leader back then, and a capable fisherman too. But she'd never seen him really put his strength on display like that. But then again, why would he have needed to? Back in Borneo, Rich had the alliance. He hadn't had to impress anybody!

"Richard tends to be a lot of things to a lot of people," Gretchen continued, "But a lot of people forget that the guy is enormous. I mean, he's six and a half feet tall. He's nearly three hundred pounds. He used to be a cadet at West Point! He could probably lift more than Colby or Mike if he really wanted to. And when I saw him carrying rocks today, it really sort of drove that point home."

Gretchen shook her head now, still moderately amazed. And it underscored the fact that, so far, Richard had impressed her.

"He hasn't talked alliances with anybody," she recapped. "He hasn't said a word about strategy. He even volunteered to go out and catch us some fish."

"Are you surprised by Richard's actions out here so far?" asked a producer.

"Well, yeah," answered Gretchen. "I've been pleasantly surprised. Because either he's changed... which I somehow doubt... or he's smart. But yeah, in either case he's sort of impressed me."

Even though Gretchen had never much been interested in the strategy of Survivor, work ethic was something she had always placed on a pedestal. It happened in Borneo, and it was already happening out here in Hawaii. When a person was working, that meant he was striving for the good of the team. And that was a trait that Gretchen respected in anybody.

"Do I wish that Richard Hatch wasn't on my tribe?" Gretchen asked, in a confessional at the end of the day. "Well my knee-jerk answer is, of course, yes. I wish he was anywhere but on my team." She stopped, and then shrugged, almost bashfully. "But at the same time he worked his butt off today, as did pretty much everybody else on the tribe. And at this stage of the game that's all I really care about. Alliances, and voting, and numbers, well that's just not all that important to me."

Was Gretchen going to give Richard a fair shake in All-Star Survivor? She didn't quite know yet. She knew that she had always sort of liked the guy, at least outside the game. Richard may have been a scoundrel on the beaches of Borneo, but in real life he had always treated her with utmost respect.

"But that doesn't change what I know about him from before," she would finally sigh. "I... I don't know. Survivor's just complicated."

She sighed again.

"If you really want to know my opinion of Richard," she finally concluded, "I guess I'll have to leave it at this. If he carries his weight around camp... and if I think he's going to be valuable in the challenges... then I'll give him a fair shake when it comes to the vote."

"But do you think the rest of the tribe will give him a fair shake?" asked a producer.

"I really don't think so," said Gretchen. "Would you?"



^^



Nighttime finally came to Camp Keko. And with it came the end of a productive, and happy, first day.

After the shelter had been completed, Teresa and Kathy had worked together to start the first Keko fire. Using the magnifying glass that had been provided to them in their supply crate, the two women had harnessed the golden Hawaiian sun, just as it started to set, and directed the rays onto a small pile of kindling.

Kathy directed the beam.

Teresa was in charge of blowing air.

Within an hour the Kekos had a nice warm roaring fire. And that meant the tribe had no problem whatsoever in boiling the first pot of rice.

Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien and Teresa Cooper had become friends in Hawaii almost instantly. The two outgoing moms had realized right off the bat that they shared a lot of personality traits, and for this reason they had developed a chummy interaction right from the start.

In fact, it would probably be safe to say that the woman they called "Kat" and the woman they called "T-Bird" were probably the closest pair on Keko. At least up to this point. The two of them seemed to do just about everything together.

But even though Kathy and Teresa were close, it wasn't as if they were the only two capable females on this tribe. After all, the Kekos also had Gretchen. And Alicia too, for that matter. And when Alicia Calaway is considered the weakest female player on your team, well that's really saying something.

"I don't know how this game is going to play out," Teresa would admit, very quietly, in an end-of-the-day confessional. "And I don't know who's going to win the game. But I do know this. This is no Samburu. This is the single strongest tribe I think the game has ever seen. And I'm just thrilled to be a part of it." She smiled. "So thank you, all, for this time puttin' me on the strong tribe."

If you had asked Teresa, she would have told you that she expected that the Keko women were probably going to stick together out here. No, they hadn't actually talked about this yet. Nor were there any specific plans for an all-female alliance. At least not yet. But if you had asked Teresa, she would tell you she knew. Somehow, she could just feel it.

"This is a very female-heavy tribe," she whispered, as the producer interviewed her in the dark. "You have four very strong women on Keko. And I just can't see any of us not wantin' to stick together and stay in a group. That's just not the way that women out here think."

Yes, Teresa knew.

Somehow she just knew.

The men here in All-Stars were doomed.

As day turned slowly to night, the Keko tribe sat around their glowing campfire, snacking on the rice that Teresa had prepared with much love.

They sat around in a circle.

They told stories.

They laughed at each other's jokes.

The highlight of the evening came towards the end, when Ethan let his feet get too close to the fire and nearly burned off one of his shoelaces. The rest of the Kekos had a good time making fun of him, and his now virtually laceless left shoe. Then Mike said it was a good time to call it a night.

As the Kekos drifted off to sleep for the first time in Hawaii, they reflected happily on the wonderful gifts they'd been allotted thus far. After all, at this point in the game, it seemed like they already had everything they'd need.

They had fire.

They had shelter.

They had workers.

They had athletes.

They had leaders.

They had camaraderie.

And, of course, they had an easy first boot choice in Richard.

In fact, when you got right down to it, if the Kekos had anything else, they might have started to feel a little bit spoiled.




^^ AHI - earlier that day ^^

John Carroll stared at Lex van den Berghe intently, watching as Lex dominated every tribal conversation.

And John studied.

And then he began to take notes.

At camp Ahi, it was already apparent to everybody that Lex was the leader of this tribe. It had started about ten minutes after they had set foot in Hawaii, and it had been driven home by the fact that Lex was best friends with everybody here by the time they eventually reached camp. Ahi had been Lex van den Berghe's tribe from the very first minute of this game. And as John Carroll could already tell, that detail was probably not going to change.

Why was Lex such a natural and obvious leader?

Well, for one, because the man had tons of charisma. Lex was funny. Lex was smart. Authority dripped from his pores. Whenever Lex opened his mouth and started talking, people around him tended to listen. And it was this innate skill that inexorably drew him to lead. When Lex started talking about strategy, inevitably you wanted to be on board. And that was just the way it was.

Lex van den Berghe might not have looked like a conventional leader, what with the black spiky hair and the overload of tattoos, but one hour spent with the guy told John Carroll that everything he thought he knew about Lex had been wrong. Lex wasn't just some spiky haired counter-culture freak. Lex van den Berghe was the very definition of a natural born leader.

And in John's mind, that leader was trouble.

John Carroll was a perceptive player. But he was also a little late to the game in figuring out that Lex was the ultimate "people person." After all, any Survivor alum who had ever met Lex would have been able to tell you that. Heck, Boston Rob and Tina had already mentioned it in interviews.

Among Survivor alums, and at Survivor social gatherings, Lex van den Berghe was known as "a rock star." And this label was essentially true.

"Whenever Lex walks into a room," Tina had explained in an earlier interview, "The energy just changes. I don't really know what it is, but something just changes when he's there. And the first time I saw it, I was impressed. I was like... my God... it's like the rest of us are just here to see him."

Yes, even among Survivor All-Stars, Lex was considered a minor celebrity. A celebrity among celebrities, if you will. He just had that sort of charisma. And that's why, without question, he was the leader of the newly formed Ahis. From the start.

And currently, that leader was setting up camp tasks.

"Colleen," said Lex, as he directed his attention towards the youngest player in the game, "Do you think you'll have time to weave some palm fronds tonight? Cause I think we're gonna need them."

"I can do that," smiled Colleen.

"We'll probably need about twenty or so," estimated Lex, as he looked over the shelter schematics. "See if you can find the really thick ones. Not the skinny little leafy ones, like over there." He pointed. "We need some of the fat ones. Like maybe some of those..."

John watched as Lex single-handedly organized the camp.

And John was impressed.

John watched as Lex made friends with every single member of the tribe, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

And John was impressed.

John Carroll spent most of the morning trying to study the leader of his tribe. He was more or less trying to size Lex up, and figure out what made this uniquely fascinating man tick. You see, John was a brilliant player in his own right. He was even a pretty good leader, all things considered. He just didn't happen to be as outgoing as Lex. But then again, who was?

Compared to Lex, John Carroll was a lot more private and reserved. He wasn't a social butterfly. Never had been, either. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he had grown up homosexual in a conservative state like Nebraska. Maybe he laid back because he just didn't know when to trust people. Who knew? All John knew was that he was a lot more reserved than Lex. He preferred to listen, rather than talk. Although he did try his best not to come off as too standoffish.

John had spent most of the day today trying to carefully straddle the line between "friendly" and "mute." Because truth be told, he didn't know most of these people here all that well. Most of the players on his tribe were essentially strangers to him. And if there's one thing a gay man in Omaha learns very early in life, it's to figure out who people are before you confide in them. And that's why most of John's day today was spent taking notes.

"The only person I have any sort of history with is Boston Rob," John had laughed, somewhat bitterly, in an early morning confessional. "Yeah, great. I get to live with that creep again. Thanks a lot, guys."

When a producer brought up the fact that John had also played against Vecepia before, John just shook his head, almost angrily.

"Nobody knows Vecepia," he rebutted. "I'm serious. Nobody. You could hang out with that woman for two weeks and you wouldn't know the first thing about her. And in my opinion, that's what makes her a little bit dangerous."

"Even as a former winner?" asked the producer.

"Doesn't matter," retorted John. "She could have won Survivor twenty times before and it wouldn't make a difference." He paused. "The fact remains that Vee has no definable personality. She's like an eel. You can talk to her for half an hour and later have no clue what she just said." He looked pained. "And that's why on Rotu we all just forgot about her."

"So you think she's dangerous?" came the follow-up.

"Fucking dangerous," spat John. "She's the most dangerous one here."

John's goal today had been to learn his new teammates as well as he could. And that's why he had spent most of the morning working quietly, just listening. John really hadn't initiated conversations with too many people. Lex had been the one doing that. No, John had just sat back in the weeds most of the morning, taking notes.

You never could take too many notes.

"I don't really plan to be a part of Cult Lex anytime soon," John had quipped in one of his many interviews today, "At least I don't hope so. But it would be awfully easy to do it if I wasn't careful. He's awfully good at this type of leadership. I've been watching him all day and he never lets up. Living with Lex is like living in a fricking cult."

Was John already bitter towards the newly-anointed Ahi leader? Not really. John may have come off that way in most of his interviews, but deep down he had a begrudging respect for the way Lex took over a group. After all, even if you were annoyed by the guy, you couldn't really hate him. Hating Lex just didn't actually seem to be an option.

"He's just too good," John had concluded by the end of the day. "Just too well-liked, too powerful, and too good."

John paused, then uttered a somber prediction.

"Remember when I said that Vecepia is the most dangerous one out here?"

He shook his head.

"Well I was wrong. Lex will destroy her."

^^

The Ahi tribe had arrived at camp around 1:00 in the afternoon today, or about 30 minutes later than their rivals at Keko.

Rob Mariano had been the first person to spot the bright orange Ahi flag. He had been hiking off to the side of group, about fifty feet to the east, and he had caught the glimmer of something orange over on the beach to his left.

"Hey guys," he announced, "I think we're here!"

And just like that, the Ahis were home.

Ahi, which is a Hawaiian word that means "sun," was a perfectly fitting name for this camp. After all, this was the much warmer end of Ni'ihau Island. Camp Ahi was located on the southern shore of Ni'ihau, which happened to be treeless, unprotected, and directly under the warm, ever-present sun. Unlike Keko's beach, there was no ring of palm trees with which to provide shade when it started to get hot. When it got hot at Ahi, the players would feel it. All they had for a home was a bright orange flag in the middle of a hot golden sandy beach. And that's why shelter, in particular a roof over their head, was going to be the number one priority, and fast.

There was a reason that Ahi's flag had a bright orange sun on it, you know.

So Ahi reached the sun beach, and that's when they started to mobilize into action. Frank and Rob unloaded the big supply crate they had been given, and the tribe took a moment to look over their new supplies and see what tools they'd have at their disposal. And within about twenty minutes, Lex had the rest of them fanning out across the beach, to gather supplies they would need to build a sturdy new shelter.

As the rest of the tribe explored the island, looking for wood to build some sort of roof, Lex stayed back at camp with Frank. The two men had decided to work on shelter design, so that's what they were doing now. They were currently working on a picture in the sand. And even though Lex was no slouch when it came to things like construction, and pretty much could have done this on his own if he had really wanted to, in this case he had wisely deferred planning to Frank.

Why?

"Because Frank is the type of guy who lives for this stuff," Lex would admit in an interview. "Building shelters is pretty much what the guy was born to do."

So Frank was making a drawing the sand, and Lex was offering comments as needed. Although it was obvious to anyone who was watching that the strong, silent Frank was the foreman in charge.

"We put the struts here," Frank said, as he showed Lex on his picture. "Here, here, here, and here. You put four of those up, you tie off the ends with some sort of vine-type object, and you got yourself a roof. And I don't think you'll get any sun in there."

"Sounds good," said Lex. He was impressed. Frank really did know his stuff.

"I don't know if eight people will be able to sleep comfortably in there," Frank added, "But in any case we'll be rid of a few of them soon, so that will probably help."

Lex chuckled under his breath. Frank's dry, deadpan sense of humor never failed to somehow amuse him.

After about ten minutes of brainstorming, the two Ahi planners had finished their design and went out to join the rest of the tribe in gathering supplies. Frank took it upon himself to go find some palm fronds. He knew they'd need at least ten or twelve big ones to make a decent roof. And Lex went off to go do some more social networking.

Within half an hour of reaching camp, the entire Ahi tribe was gone. All eight of them had scattered to the winds.

John and Rob had gone off to find wood.

Tina and Sue had gone off to find fresh water.

Vecepia had gone off to find food.

And Colleen, not knowing what to do, had decided to trail after Vecepia.

Ahi had reached their flag about thirty minutes ago, and at the moment there wasn't a single person left back at camp. All that sat in the sand was one big opened wooden supply crate. And the lonely orange Ahi flag. That was it. There were no people here, there were only supplies. All the players had paired off and left.

And this, of course, is when alliances started to form.



^^



On the surface, Ahi appeared to be a happy group of campers. To the untrained observer, they appeared to be a happy little family of eight. But in truth this was a much different tribe than Keko. This was a far more conniving group of players, and they had come here ready to play. They weren't going to sit around and wait for alliances to come to them, as the perhaps-naive Kekos were trying to do. No, the Ahis were far too proactive for that. They were much more ambitious and driven.

The players on Ahi were going to leave nothing to chance when it came to alliances in All-Stars. And that's why, from nearly the very first moment of the game, aggressive strategy... and paranoid suspicion... were going to rule the day here at Camp Ahi.

And nobody was more suspicious than Susan Hawk.

In the broadest sense of the word possible, Sue just did not like Lex van den Berghe. In fact, she hadn't been able to stand the guy from the moment they had stepped onto the beach. She didn't like the way he talked to everybody like he was their best friend. She didn't like the way he had appointed himself leader, without the slightest bit of input from the rest of the tribe. And she was absolutely mystified that everybody else seemed to think he was some sort of god. Lex van den Berghe? That spiky-haired freak was some sort of rock star? Sorry but Sue wasn't buying it.

And her contempt for the man had certainly not lessened as the day went on.

"Lex is an idiot," Sue was currently snarking to a producer, "He talks out of his ass, and he thinks he knows everything about everything. Everybody does whatever he says, and he gets on my nerves 'cause he aint shut up since we got here. It's ridiculous."

Why was Sue so turned off by the Ahi leader? Well for starters, she just didn't like him. And in Sue Hawk land, that was usually reason enough to go off on the guy. But even beyond that, there was a strategic reason for wanting to get rid of him. Sue really wasn't driven completely by her emotions. She really was far more intelligent than she liked to let on. And that's why she knew Lex was a dangerous threat out here. She knew he'd grow powerful very soon.

So it wasn't completely ego-driven that Sue wanted Lex out of the game. Sure, part of it was because he was annoying. But part of it was also because he would soon be unstoppable. Lex van den Berghe happened to posess the two traits that drove Sue absolutely crazy in the game of Survivor. He was annoying, and he was powerful. And that's why he'd been on her shit list right from the start.

"Do you just not like Lex because he's the alpha male?" asked a particularly-insightful producer.

Sue just laughed in response. She wasn't going to answer that. Like hell she'd go anywhere near that subject. She knew what the producers were trying to do. They wanted to portray her as sexist. They wanted to portray Susan Hawk as some man-hating, venom-spewing she-harpy. The type of person who would hate all alpha males just because they weren't females. Was that what they were trying to do? Did they really expect her to walk into that obvious trap?

In truth, yes, Sue often did have a problem with condescending alpha males. And she always had. After all, as a woman who worked in the trucking industry with mostly men, she came into contact with this sort of attitude on a daily basis. But she didn't think that defined her as a person. Yes, Sue Hawk hated when some guy came along and talked down to her like she was an idiot. And yes, that was exactly what Richard had done for most of the first few days back in Borneo. And yes, she had already seen a lot of the same "Daddy knows best" condescending advice come out of the mouth of Lex van den Berghe.

"But that don't make me sexist," she would explain in her interviews. "Just because I hate people talkin' down to me, don't mean it has nothin' to do with them bein' men."

So yes, Sue saw that Lex would soon be unstoppable.

And yes, she would admit that she really didn't like him all that much to begin with.

But what was the factor that really drove Sue over the top when she came to the idea of Lex being in control of things?

"Lex is just waaaaay too close to bein' Richard," she would admit. "I mean, the two of them got the same type of speeches, and the same condescending attitude. They both walk and talk the same way, like they're a rooster walkin' around a bunch of hens. And I been through that already. I lived with Richard once before. And I aint playin' the little hillbilly sidekick a second time around. Thanks but no thanks." She looked incredibly embarrassed to have to admit this. "I already been humiliated by some dick know-it-all asshole once before."

So Sue's mission in All-Star Survivor was already clear.

She had to stop Lex.

She had to break apart his little harem before it grew into something that would one day become unstoppable.

And the sooner she did it, the better.

"I didn't come out here to start buttin' heads with people, ya know?" she now confessed, laughing softly in her distinctive northern drawl. "I really didn't want to make trouble. But sometimes there's just times in life when you know that you have to; when you know that you'll be in trouble down the road if you don't. And Lex, man, that guy is just trouble."

Sue shook her head now, frustrated.

"Aint nobody supposed to have that much power right when we come out here," she continued. "It's just not good for anybody, least of all someone like me. So no, I don't like it at all. I don't like him and I don't like his game. And I'm plannin' to do somethin' about it, too. Soon as I can."

Sue Hawk hadn't come to Hawaii with the intention of stirring things up. No, her original plan had been to just hang around in the background, do lots of hard work, and keep her mouth shut. But it had only been about fifteen minutes into the game before her strategy had shifted into a different direction. All of a sudden, it seemed like she had a new mission. And that mission was to stop Lex before he had a chance to rise to the head of the monarchy.

Would Sue be able to form an alliance, and then lead it into power? She wasn't entirely sure. She knew it couldn't be that difficult. After all, Richard had done it, and he had done it seemingly with ease. So how hard could it actually be? Because despite what he said, Sue still didn't think Richard had been all that brilliant. More than anything, she thought he had just been lucky. She considered him to have been little more than the right guy in the right place at the right time.

"It's not like Richard was a god or anything," she had said many times in recent years. "It didn't take a genius to figure out you'd need to stack votes."

But even though she considered Richard to have basically been lucky, that didn't mean that Sue Hawk hadn't been diligently taking notes. Far from it. Even though she hadn't really liked or respected Richard all that much, and never had, she had still been smart enough to know a good strategy when she saw it. And that's why she remembered almost everything he had done with the Tagi Alliance back in Borneo. Sue Hawk might have liked to play the "dumb redneck" card, in life, as well as in Survivor, but she was a very attentive student when she wanted to be.

And she had been taking notes from Richard in Borneo right from the start.

Sue Hawk was one of the more unique contestants in Survivor history. This was something the producers had noticed a long time ago, and it was why they had been overjoyed to have her in their inaugural cast. The reason why Sue was so unique was because she was sharp. She was very sharp. She also happened to be an especially quick learner when it came to learning new concepts. But what the producers had loved about her was that she hid this talent behind a rough, "redneck" persona. And nobody ever figured out it was an act. Nobody ever figured out it was all a big scam. That was how Sue could outwit people, and outplay people, without ever drawing suspicion. If Sue ever managed to outsmart someone, the general consensus would be that this "hillbilly redneck" had just gotten "lucky."

And that was the sort of scenario that Susan Hawk lived for.

It was why the producers had been dying to cast her the first time around.

Nothing made her happier... in all the world... than to make a condescending suburbanite look like a fool.

So now Sue knew what needed to be done here in All-Stars. She needed to stop Lex before he rose to power, and she knew that she was the only one who would be able to do it. She was the only one with the hunter's mentality. She was the only one who knew to "shoot to kill" before the bear had a chance to react. And that meant it was time to go gather some troops. As she had learned from Richard Hatch back in Borneo, the first thing she needed to do was surround herself with a powerful, and reliable, bloc of votes.

Sue's plan for Ahi domination seemed like it was going to be foolproof. After all, on paper, winning Survivor was as easy as that. But, alas, as with most great plans, there was still one small speed bump she had to overcome before she began.

The hitch in Sue's plan was that she just didn't trust any of these people yet!

Right off the bat, there wasn't a single player on Ahi that she considered one hundred percent solidly reliable, and that was already starting to annoy her. For starters, most of the people on this tribe were almost complete strangers to her. Three of them (Frank, John, and Boston Rob) she had only met for the first time today.

"There are only two players who I know a little bit," Sue continued in her confessional. "I know Tina and Vee a little bit, and I know I'll probably end up with 'em. Pretty much only cause we're three chicks. Although, come to think of it, why I'd choose to deal with that bible-beating shit all day, God only knows." She laughed. "So yeah, Tina and Vee, at least I know a little bit. Can't say I like 'em all that much. But they're reliable."

So those were Sue's options if she wanted to take down Lex. She could either align with three people she'd never met before today, or she could take her chances with two "bible beaters" she didn't respect. Or, worst case scenario, she could team up with Colleen, who in her nicest of confessionals she'd simply call "worthless." These were Sue's only three options at the moment, so obviously, there was still a bit of fine-tuning to do with her plan.

At the moment, Sue Hawk wasn't quite ready to put her trust in any other player on Ahi. At least, not yet. She wasn't fully prepared to start shaking hands, and cutting deals, until she'd done a little bit of bonding first. She sure as hell wasn't ready to start making lifelong pacts with people she had met for the first time today.

Would Sue have confidence in a few of her teammates in the upcoming days?

She hoped so.

Because if not, she'd have to pull this thing off on her own.



^^



Lex, for his part, already knew that his position on Ahi was quite solid. After all, it was only day one, and he was already the central figure of the tribe. And he would have had to be an idiot not to realize this.

Lex had been involved in just about every important conversation thus far on Ahi. He was also as hard a worker as anybody else on the tribe. He and Frank had created and built the shelter today, largely on their own. He had also squeezed in enough time to go out and catch the tribe's first fish. Add that to the fact that Lex was always one of the better athletes in the challenges, and you had yourself one heck of a powerful player, right from the start. In fact, among the production staff and camera crew, Lex van den Berghe was probably the early favorite as the eventual winner of All-Star Survivor. Because of his charisma, skill, and general well-roundedness as a player, the producers knew that he would be going exceptionally far.

So Lex knew he was in a very solid position at the moment. His work ethic around camp was impeccable. The rest of the players seemed to like him a lot. The only other athlete among the men was Boston Rob. In other words, Lex knew it was in Ahi's best interest to keep him around. Basically because he was irreplaceable. And that meant that as long as the Ahis kept working together as a tribe, and as long as they didn't have to start turning on one another for self-preservation, his future out here would continue to look bright.

And that was good, because Lex desperately didn't want to "cut someone's throat" out here if he didn't have to.

Especially not early.

And especially not in All-Star Survivor, where "cutting someone's throat" was bound to be personal.

As most of the world had learned in Survivor: Africa, Lex was pretty much the definition of the term "paranoid player." He was always on the lookout for perceived danger. He was always on high alert for weeding out threats. And this hyper-sensitivity kept him safe for most of the time in Survivor. But the unsavory flip side is that Lex often "played scared" when it wasn't really necessary. Lex was constantly trying to give himself an advantage in Survivor, even if he didn't really need one. And that's why Lex was already thinking about a protective alliance out here. Even if he had no reason to be worried at the moment, Lex still wanted a wall of protection around him.

So was the leader of the Ahis safe from the vote on day one? Absolutely. To the rest of the tribe, he was irreplaceable.

But deep down Lex was also a player. A big one.

And that's why he was looking to give himself a little insurance.

Lex sat down for an interview just before dinner, to discuss the players with whom he wanted to align. Lex was always willing to sit down and share his thoughts with a producer; it was one of the reasons the production staff always liked him so much. He was always one of the most honest and direct players to deal with, and it made editing his character that much easier down the road. Unlike a lot of hardened Survivor players, what you saw with Lex was pretty much what you got. So the producers were more than happy to sit down and chat with him, whenever he got the urge to talk about what was going on.

And that's exactly what he was doing right now.

"Loyalty," explained Lex, as he sat down and talked with a producer, "Is the only thing you can rely on in a game like Survivor. That's the only thing you can trust out here. It's the only thing you can rely on. And it's the only trait I care about when I start looking for any sort of alliance. When I'm looking around camp, I'm looking for who do I trust, and how sure am I that they'll stick by my side to the end."

Lex was always very intense when he spoke. And his eyes blazed with fervent determination as he continued his interview.

"My number one man out here is Frank," Lex explained. "He and I have already started to step up as quote-unquote 'leaders' of the tribe, and I know I can trust the man with my life. If Frank tells you he's going to stand by your side, he's going to do it. I mean, we saw that about the man back in Africa, and I'm sure as hell going to take advantage of it now that he's on my tribe this time around. With Frank, no matter what, you know you'll always have an ally to cover your back."

As for a second ally, Lex also saw a good deal of potential in John Carroll. The nurse from Omaha was still somewhat of a stranger to most of the players here, but Lex had already ascertained that John was cautious, mature, and responsible. He wasn't prone to fits of spontaneity; John appeared to think things out before he acted or spoke. And Lex liked that. Lex treasured allies that he knew would be stable. He treasured allies that he knew he wouldn't have to worry about rocking the boat. And that's why Frank and John were the two allies he knew he had to have.

Without question, Frank and John would have to be in.

It was day one, and Lex was already finding himself drawn to the older, more mature males of his tribe. Those were the players he felt he could trust. Although this really wasn't all that surprising. After all, it was the exact same thing that had happened to Lex back in Africa! Frank and John were his new Tom and Ethan. And that was just fine if you asked Lex. Things had worked out pretty well the last time around, hadn't they? Well, up until day 38. But Lex had done just fine with his "mature male alliance" in Africa, and he was pretty sure he could do the exact same thing here in Hawaii. After all, aren't older males were the most predictable players in this game? Aren't they the most stable? Aren't they the players least prone to sudden, unexplained fits of spontaneity?

In other words, why on earth wouldn't you want to align with them??

"Yeah, there's probably some truth to that," Lex would sheepishly admit, when a producer asked him about it, "I do find myself more comfortable around players like that. I like people whose word is their bond, and who know the meaning of the word 'honor.' So maybe that's why I always end up with the same type of ally." He laughed. "Maybe on some level I'm just hoping to ally with myself!"

Lex might have sounded a little self-absorbed with this statement, but deep down he was actually telling the truth. Frank, John and Lex were all very similar types of players, despite their vast political and personality differences. After all, none of the three of them liked to lie. At least, not if they didn't have to. Lex van den Berghe, Frank Garrison, and John Carroll all tried to be very straightforward with people around them. In fact, all three of them were known for sometimes being a little too honest with their opinions, even on occasions when they really shouldn't be. Each one of them had occasionally been burned by this brutal and unflinching honesty.

But Lex didn't care. Hell, Lex loved people who were brutally honest. In the game of Survivor, that brutal "way too honest" truthfulness was juuuuuust the trait he was looking for in an ally.

And that's why John and Frank were the allies he was hoping to have.

"So if you want to come right down to it," Lex concluded, "I'm really hoping to align with all the guys on my tribe, except for Boston Rob. He's the only one I don't really care about."

The producer asked why, and Lex gave a little laugh under his breath.

"Because Rob is the type of player that I don't trust. And I don't think anybody would trust. He's just a little bit different. In fact, I don't think he's all there. To me, something is seriously wrong with that kid."

"Does anybody trust him?" asked the producer.

Lex laughed.

"Hell, anybody who would would have to be an idiot!"



^^



As day turned to mid-afternoon, it was evident to everybody on the production crew that the alliances had already begun at Camp Ahi. The "sun tribe" in orange was proving to be light years ahead of their green-buffed Keko counterparts, at least in the scheming and strategy departments. The game was on in Ahi, and the game was on hard. And a few tribal lines were already starting to be drawn.

Rob Mariano spent a good chunk of the day away from the tribe, as he spent most of the afternoon collecting wood. This had always been Rob's job of choice. After all, collecting wood allowed him to show off his physical strength, which, this early on, was something he was more than happy to do.

"Because if nothing else," Rob would confess, "It'll just show these people how much they need me."

As the youngest and strongest male on Ahi, Rob knew he'd be important in the All-Star challenges. In fact, that logic pretty much just went without saying. After all, Rob might not be the best athlete in the world, but he was certainly a lot better than Frank or John. Compared to teammates like Frank Garrison and John Carroll, Rob was a challenge god. And right from the start, he wanted his tribe to acknowledge this. Right from the start, Rob Mariano wanted to make it clear that Lex, and the rest of the Ahis, were going to need him.

So Rob had spent most of the morning gathering wood, all by himself. But eventually he had been joined by the lamb without a home, Colleen Haskell. Colleen came wandering over to help him around noon, and that's when the two of them struck up a casual relationship.

Where had Colleen been before she came over to join Rob?

Well most of the time she had been off gathering food with Vecepia. Colleen had originally trailed off after Vee for morning chores. But after about an hour of working side by side with her older female teammate, Colleen came to a realization that hadn't surprised her.

Vecepia was boring.

"Vee seems like a very nice person," Colleen would explain in a later interview, "So don't get me wrong. I don't want to say I don't like her. But she just isn't my type, you know?" Colleen then let loose one of her trademark Colleen giggles. "For lack of a better phrase, Vee and I just don't have that certain spark. We just never made that love connection."

While Vecepia had been pleasant enough to talk to, in time Colleen realized that Vee didn't really like to joke around. She tended to take things rather seriously. And that wasn't Colleen Haskell's style at all. Colleen required humor and interesting conversation in the people she dealt with, which was true both in Survivor and back in "real life." She couldn't stand boring people. They literally drove her insane. No, all Colleen Haskell wanted in life was to hang around people that could entertain her. All she wanted was for life to be fun.

And that's how Colleen Haskell, the sweetheart of Survivor: Borneo, ended up gathering firewood with the bad boy of Marquesas.

"Do you need some help?" she came up and asked Rob. And sure enough, he did. Well, that, and he was thrilled with the idea of having the only cute twenty-something chick on the tribe to hang out with for a while.

Rob Mariano didn't know Colleen all that well yet, but he was aware that she was pretty much the only cute girl on the tribe. And truth be told, he was a big fan of the ladies, as anybody who knew him in real life would be able to tell you.

So right from the start, he turned on the Mariano charm.

Right from the get-go, he did his best to try and woo her.

It was now three hours later, and Rob was now officially working without his shirt. He also had his cap turned backwards. And on top of that, he had that big Boston smile. You know the one. The charming one. It was the smile that most of the women he knew found adorable. And the shy young ingenue from Miami was getting it with every sentence.

And as much as she hated herself for it, Colleen knew she was sort of enjoying it.

"Rob's not my type at all," she would later explain. "And in the real world I probably wouldn't even give him the time of day." She shrugged. "But there's also something to be said for companionship out here. Since Rob and I are the only two people under the age of thirty on this tribe, it's probably natural that we'd end up hanging around together."

She paused, then quickly added, "Even if I do still think he's a bit of a putz."

So Colleen and Rob spent most of the day hanging out. And just chatting away. And, most importantly for Colleen, cracking jokes. That was the key. If you could entertain Colleen Haskell, she would adore you for life. And luckily for Rob, he could. And that's how Colleen soon found herself in cahoots. She was in cahoots with the scoundrel the rest of the tribe called "Boston Rob."

Why was Colleen attracted to a person like Rob Mariano? Well it certainly wasn't a romantic attraction, as she would be the first to point out. It was more or less a necessity attraction. Truth be told, Colleen had been exceptionally lonely for most of the day today. She just hadn't felt like she fit in with this tribe at all. In fact, things had been so bad that she'd had flashbacks of her first day back in Borneo.

Most people weren't aware of this, but Colleen had spent most of her first day on Pagong just sitting on the beach, all alone. She had been far too shy to just walk up and talk with the group. So she had just sat there for most of the day, alone, until eventually the Pagongs took pity on her and asked her to join. That had been Colleen's previous introduction to the world of Survivor. She was the cheese who had stood all alone. So it was no wonder she'd felt exceptionally lonely the first few hours in Hawaii.

Joining groups, and making new friends, just did not come very natural to some types of people.

Colleen Haskell liked to portray herself as a fun, witty, energetic person. But deep down, she was basically just a shy, meek, little girl. She didn't take well to being around new groups of people. And she especially didn't take well to a group of people who were all much older than her. Colleen tended to end up as the outsider in any large group of people, no matter what, and that was exactly what had happened here for most of the day.

Colleen had been an outsider on Pagong.

And now Colleen was an outsider on Ahi.

And, quite frankly, she hadn't been all that surprised in either case. You see, Colleen Haskell was used to being left on the outside. It had been happening to her for most of her life. And over time, as sad as it was, eventually you just had to get used to it.

But here was Boston Rob. And here was Boston Rob's notorious charm. And already Colleen knew they were going to be close. She knew they were going to be friends. Especially when Rob started making fun of Vecepia. The minute he started mimicking Vee's religious patter, and started imitating her numerous prayers to God, well, Colleen knew she had found her new best friend.

"And it's like, if God's so important to her," Rob continued, "Then why does she even need to play? Why doesn't God just tell her who's going to win, and she can sit on her ass at home and place a bet?" Rob was laughing and smiling as he said this. As usual, his humor was charming, but somewhat malicious. "And besides, why does Vee think that prayin' to God's going to make her win ovah someone like Tina? Does God love Vecepia more? Did Tina eat too much meat on Friday? Is there some sort of sliding scale we need to take a look at ovah heah?"

Colleen was laughing again. Now she was lost in a fit of giggles.

"I bet Tina's gonna be pissed when she hears that God doesn't love her the most," Rob continued. "Tina's gonna be pissed that God's trying to two-time her."

"Stop," laughed Colleen. "Just stop. You're bad."

"Do you think Vee will physically be able to lean back and kiss her own ass this time around?" Rob now asked. "Do you think that's physically possible? Even with help from the Lord?"

Right from the start, Rob could make her laugh. And right from the start she knew he was trouble. After all, "Boston" Rob Mariano had a reputation that preceded him, and even the most casual Survivor fan knew he was a bit of a scoundrel. But you know what? Colleen didn't care. To Colleen, Rob's nasty reputation didn't matter to her in the slightest. All she cared about was that he was fun.

And she knew that they were going to be close.

How close?

Well she supposed that remained to be seen.

"Oh man," Colleen bemoaned, as she later sat down for a pained, end of the day confessional, "So I spent most of the afternoon with Rob. Uh, Boston Rob. You know, the guy that everybody told me to watch out for."

Colleen shook her head, somewhat embarrassed, as she recounted the various warnings she had received this morning from the rest of the Ahis.

"Lex says that Rob's a snake," She explained. "John says that Rob is a creep. Vee says that Rob's a pathological liar."

Colleen laughed.

"But we're the only two young ones here!" she protested. "Who else am I supposed to talk to? I mean, no matter who you put on a tribe in this game, the kids are going to go hang out together. Isn't that just common sense? Isn't that just the way that people work?"

Colleen hadn't expected to come out here and make friends with the "bad boy" of Survivor, but somehow that was exactly what had happened. And despite every instinct in her body, despite every warning that was screaming she needed to watch out, Colleen knew she would be continuing this friendship in the future.

Even if she knew it was probably wrong.

"Because he's funny!" she explained, as if trying to convince herself. "He's funny, and he's interesting. And that's more I can say for the rest of my tribe." Then she sobered up. "But don't worry, I know exactly what he's doing. I know he's trying to charm me. And I see right through it. I mean, who wouldn't? It's not like he's exactly subtle about it."

Colleen paused for a second, seemingly trying to gather her thoughts.

Then she buried her head in her hands, as if in anguish.

"Oh, man," she moaned once again. "Oh man, oh man, oh man. Just what am I getting myself into...?"



^^

Yes, the bonds were popping up all over Camp Ahi today. First it had been Lex and Frank. Then it had been Rob and Colleen. These pairings weren't necessarily alliances yet, but they were definitely headed in that general direction. Defining them as actual "alliances" was really little more than a matter of time.

And then a third bond popped up later in the afternoon. Although, really, this wouldn't have surprised anyone. After all, since Tina and Vecepia were the only two "Survivor champions" on the Ahi tribe, of course they were going to pair up with one another sooner or later.

Tina and Vee ran into one another gathering rocks by the beach shortly after lunch.

They started talking about their respective outlooks on coming back to play.

And... voila... another instant bond on Ahi had been formed.

"Well what do you expect?" Tina later explained in an interview, "Vee and I are the only former winners here. It's only natural that we'd want to look out for one another."

"Did the fact that it was Vecepia make a difference?" asked a young female producer. "Or would you have aligned with any former winner, no matter what?"

"Well, I always told myself this," mused Tina, as she took a minute to think over the question. "I always said that whenever I go out and play Survivor again, the first thing I would do is look for someone who needs me just as much as I need them. So in truth I probably would have aligned with any winner, just out of sheer necessity."

"Do you trust Vecepia?" came the follow-up.

"Trust is a little early to establish this early on," explained Tina. "I do like Vecepia a good deal. I also happen to think she's an extraordinary person. But whether it comes down to do I trust her, I don't know." She paused, then quickly added. "We do sort of need each other, though, so I'm not sure 'trusting her' is really the right way to look at it."

For now, Tina had found a kindred spirit in Vecepia, a fellow Christian winner of Survivor.

And Vecepia had found a kindred spirit in Tina, another fellow Christian winner of Survivor.

On paper, this was easily the most obvious alliance on the tribe.

Did Tina and Vecepia trust each other a hundred percent? Bah. Not even close. The two former winners were both incredibly wary of one another, and perhaps rightly so. After all, both Tina and Vecepia were known to be strategists. They were both known as deliberate, calculating chess players. Neither one of them were here to make friends. No, if Tina or Vecepia teamed up with you, it was because they needed an ally. Tina knew this about Vecepia, and Vecepia knew this about Tina. They both recognized a fellow strategist when they saw one.

And that's why this bond would never be one hundred percent solid.

"Like Tina said, we do need each other," Vecepia would confirm in an interview of her own. "As much as I'm scared to death of her, I know that we have to stick together. At least... for now. For now we'll be best friends in the world."

And then she'd smile. Sweetly.

So no, neither Tina nor Vecepia expected this bond to last to the very end. But they did enjoy each other's company. They enjoyed their conversations about family, and Survivor, and religion, and philosophy, very much. When it came right down to it, Vecepia Towery and Tina Wesson were basically two peas in a pod. You couldn't find a more similar pair of tribesmates out here if you had tried.

"But once again, 'like' really doesn't have anything to do with Survivor," Tina would later explain. "At least not in the big picture. Liking someone just means you enjoy their company."

For now, all that mattered was that Tina and Vecepia had bonded. As friends. For now, all that mattered was that the two of them were both on the same team.

But Tina's camaraderie with Vee was nothing compared to the player she really liked. After all, there was one person on this tribe who she knew she would be able to trust. Far more than Vecepia. All the way to the end of the game. And it wouldn't have surprised Tina at all to find out that Lex had already decided to go down that road with the guy.

"Frank comes off like a big anti-social loner," Tina was currently explaining to a producer. "So far, he hasn't really said but a few words to anybody. And to be honest, I don't think he has a whole lot of friends. But he's definitely someone I'd want to team up with down the road. Because if you have Frank's word, you know you have someone to trust."

Tina, like Lex, had already figured out that Frank was exceedingly honest.

And Tina, like Lex, had already deduced that Frank would be incredibly loyal.

And that meant that Tina, like Lex, had already figured out that Frank would be the perfect ally in All-Star Survivor!

"I think Frank turns off a lot of people," Tina explained. "Either he scares them off, or they just don't know what to make of him. And most of them won't even care to try. For example...," she laughed, "I don't think little Colleen would have the first thing to say if she were stuck with Frank back at camp. I really can't think of what they'd even talk about."

Tina laughed again.

"But Frank is just a big ol' teddy bear," she continued. "And to tell you the truth, I actually find his anti-socialness kind of endearing. I think that all he really wants in life is for people to just leave him alone." Tina now paused, and then cocked her head coyly to one side. "But do you know what else I think? I think that if you somehow got the man to trust you, I have no doubt he'd stick by his word. If one person opened up and actually talked to him, I think Frank would have that person's back all the way to the end of the game."

She paused.

"So, my gosh, why wouldn't I want somebody like Frank on my side? Doesn't that just seem like perfect common sense?"

Tina was enamored with the idea that Frank would one day be her alliance partner. Her final two. Her ace in the hole. She could already picture the scenario in her head. And Frank, for his part, probably wasn't going to put up much resistance. After all, up to this point, Tina Wesson had been one of his favorite players out here.

Oh sure, he probably wouldn't come right out and admit it. Frank Garrison didn't do things like rave about his teammates for no good reason.

But if the producers talked him into an interview, and if they poked and prodded him into answering a direct question about someone, Frank would begrudgingly admit that, yes, Tina was a solid person to have around camp.

"I find her optimism to be commendable," he would say.

That was about as complimentary as the man ever got.



^^



So that's where the Ahi Tribe stood at the end of day one.

Lex and Frank were already joined at the hip. The two alpha males had bonded over a gentleman's handshake early in the afternoon, and by the end of the evening, now they were tight.

Frank, even though he didn't realize it yet, was also being courted by Tina.

Tina, even though she didn't trust her, was in secret cahoots with the only other winner, Vecepia.

And then off to the side you had the misfit "young person" team of Rob and Colleen.

At the moment, these were the most prominent members of the Ahi tribe. Between these six, you had players already teaming up for strategic purposes. You had players already playing the proverbial "game."

And then there was one player on the tribe, Sue Hawk, who had not teamed up with anyone. And this had come as a shock to most of the production crew. You see, it was no secret that Sue was aching to topple Lex off of his high perch. Her dislike for the man hadn't dissipated one bit as the day went on. In fact, she seemed to hate the guy now as much as ever.

Yet, much to the surprise of the production crew, Sue hadn't made a single power move at any point today.

She hadn't said a word about alliances to anyone.

Why had Susan Hawk laid low today, when so many other players were teaming up and forming strategic bonds? Well mainly because she still hadn't decided who to team up with. Sue wasn't about to jump the gun out here in Hawaii. She wasn't going to make any stupid, rash decisions, just to do something. No, she was going to bide her time, and weigh all her options, until it was time for the hunter to strike. So that's why Sue hadn't made a move against Lex yet. For now, she was still stalking her prey. The time to attack hadn't come.

So that accounted for seven members of Ahi. Three paired-up teammates plus Sue. But there was still one person left to discuss. There was still one member of Ahi who remained very much outside the "alliance" game, and was doing so specifically on purpose.

That's right, the only member of Ahi who hadn't wanted to discuss alliances today was John Carroll. John had stayed far away from the pairing-off couples most of the day, and he had stayed far away from the machinations of the rest of the tribe. And he had done all of this for a deliberate reason.

Mainly because this time, he didn't want to get burned.

"Last time, in Marquesas, I fell into the oldest trap in the Survivor book," John had explained in a nighttime confessional. "On Rotu, I started scheming too soon. I drew lines in the sand before it really was necessary." He rolled his eyes, sarcastically. "And of course it came back to bitchslap me right in the face."

To this day, John still kicked himself over how he had overplayed his hand back on Rotu. It was something he never forgave. It was something he never forgot. And it was something he knew he would never outlive. After all, how many players in Survivor history have had a guaranteed final four berth, an ironclad spot in the alliance in power, and then thrown it away just because they got a little too cocky about how they were going to win?

That's right, there was only one. His name was John. And he knew he would never outlive it. In fact, that was probably going to be what they would one day write on his tombstone:

JOHN CARROLL
THREW AWAY AN EASY WIN IN SURVIVOR.

And John was damned if that was what he was going to be remembered for.

"There's no way I'm gonna waltz in here and do the exact same thing," John continued his interview. "You think I'm stupid enough to walk in here and ally myself with three other people, right off the bat, just to get numbers? Hell no! That's what everybody's going to do! And I'm not going to be any part of it." He shook his head. "No way! I've made that mistake before. And that's why I'd rather just sit here... and watch them all implode... because that's what they're going to do."

So that had been John's plan today.

Just sit here and relax.

And wait until somebody cut him a deal.

Right from the start, John suspected that person was going to be Lex. After all, Lex was clearly the most gung-ho and aggressive of the early power grabbers. And he made no pretensions about it, either. Lex was clearly the leader of the Ahis, and John knew that, inevitably, Lex would come to him and make him a gentleman's handshake. After all, "Johnny Pots and Pans" was just the type of player Lex was looking for. He was a mature, older male who was helpful around camp, and extremely dependable. He was a calm, confident strategist who wanted to win, and knew how to get there. And that was the type of player Lex always wanted by his side in the game of Survivor.

"If Lex doesn't come and talk to me soon," John joked, "Then the guy's an idiot."

So that's why John sat back for most of the day today, just doing his chores around camp. And watching. Above all, John mostly did a whole lot of watching.

Right now he saw Tina and Frank, as they wandered over out the forest to gather some fruit.

He saw Lex and Rob, as they talked and laughed together by the fire.

He saw Colleen and Sue, as they worked together to finish the carefully woven roof of the Ahi shelter.

He saw Vecepia, who was serenely walking along the shore of Ahi Beach.

And he saw Lex.

John always saw Lex.

Lex van den Berghe was pretty much the center of everything around here. He seemed to be friends with everyone on Ahi. He seemed to be good at everything, and respected by all. He was going to quickly become the single most powerful player in All-Star Survivor. Somehow, without even talking to the man, John instinctively just knew. Without a shadow of a doubt, Lex van den Berghe was going to be important around here.

Lex, who was standing over by the fire pit, suddenly turned and saw John sitting alone. John just nodded at the Ahi leader, and smiled. How you doing?

John knew the moment of contact was coming soon. It was really only a matter of time. Because if there was one thing Lex wasn't, it was subtle. Lex knew what he wanted, and Lex went for it when he saw it. And John knew it wouldn't take all that long. Lex wanted the perfect ally. John was that perfect ally. So now all John had to do was wait. He'd wait, and he'd wait, and he'd wait.

And the minute the subject came up, he'd say yes.



^^



It was time for the Ahis to go to sleep.

Like the Kekos, Ahi had one big group campfire to finish off their first night on Ni'ihau. They sat around in a circle, and Lex and Vecepia and Tina sang some songs. And then it was time for bed. The sun had already set, the day had officially ended, so Frank tamped out the dying embers with his boot. And then they were done for the night.

Vecepia then asked if she could lead the tribe in one last short prayer for the night. Standing under the glowing Hawaiian moonlight, the tall slender woman closed her eyes, and asked the Lord for Ahi's success in the days to come.

"... and I pray to you, Lord," she finished, "For health and good fortune in the game of Survivor. Please watch over all of us. And thank you again for giving us this wonderful chance to be here again. Amen."

Then they finished it off with a group hug.

Satisfied, the eight members of the orange tribe headed off to sleep. They bundled up and cuddled up inside Frank and Lex's sturdy new shelter. And they thought about tomorrow's big immunity challenge. Would Ahi win? Would Ahi lose? They didn't know. But, to a man, each of them were excited to find out.

Thirty minutes later, all was quiet in Ahi's sturdy wooden home on the beach.

All was quiet under the dark Hawaiian sky.

At least, it was quiet, up until the point that a microphone picked up a female voice. It was just one microphone, which the producers had imbedded into the wall of the shelter, and it was just one sentence, which had been spoken in hushed tones by a deliberately quiet Susan Hawk. But it was enough to signal the official start to the game for the Ahis.

This was the first shot fired across the bow.

This was the starter's pistol at the start of the race.

And it would soon lead to everything that would happen in the upcoming days.

What was Sue's infamous, game-starting sentence?

"Lex needs to go," she had whispered to an unknown someone, "And we need to get rid of him first..."





DAY 2

It was early in the morning, and the eight members of the Keko tribe were gathered around the campfire, eating breakfast. With their green flag flapping lightly in the Hawaiian breeze, the Kekos assembled themselves in a semi-circle, and started in on the meal that Teresa had lovingly created for them.

"Mmmm, papaya," said Colby, as he dug in to the first bite of papaya-and-rice-surprise, "Good stuff, T. This is great."

Teresa just smiled, sweetly.

The eight members of Keko sat around the campfire, chewing in silence, as they scarfed down their first full meal on Ni'ihau. Even though the tribe had been able to eat a quick lunch and a quick dinner yesterday during chores, neither one of them really would have been considered a full "meal" by normal person standards. No, this was the first meal that the Kekos had been able to enjoy thus far in Hawaii. And the fact that Teresa had actually managed to scavenge papaya was just icing on the proverbial cake.

"Great stuff, Teresa," added Ethan. "I love it."

"Well you guys just be sure to win immunity for us today," Teresa said, as she reached down to pat Ethan on his right shoulder. "You guys win immunity, and you can count on all the papaya you can eat. I promise."

So the Kekos sat around and finished their breakfast. They weren't talking much. This was just sitting time. This was just eating time. Nobody was really saying anything about strategy, or alliances, or tribal gossip. The Kekos were content to just sit here for now and just be.

"So," said Alicia, a few minutes later, as breakfast was finally winding down, "Anybody want to go check for tree mail with me?" She put down her bowl and looked around. "Colby? Mike? Anybody up for a walk?"

"I'll go," volunteered Mike, as he wolfed down one final bite of rice. He put down his coconut bowl. He licked his stick-spoon clean. And then he stood up to join her.

Alicia and Mike walked over to prepare for the long, lonely hike. And as they laced on their boots by the shelter, Richard happened to catch a curious phrase come out of the mouth of Mike Skupin. It had just been one little innocent comment, just one little request, but the well-trained ears of Richard Hatch picked it up, and his strategy radar immediately went into overdrive.

"My hands are a little sore this morning," Mike had mentioned to Alicia. "Do you think you can you help me tighten my laces?"

DING DING DING DING DING!

Richard's innate sense of radar starting going berserk the minute that phrase came out of Mike's mouth. You see, Richard Hatch had one of the best built-in bullshit detectors the game had ever seen. He knew steaming B.S. when he heard it. And that's why Mike's question to Alicia had immediately signaled alarm bells inside of his head.

Why was Richard so well-trained in identifying bullshit?

Well, the reason Richard knew bullshit was because he was the type of person who dealt in bullshit. Richard knew a B.S. answer almost immediately. In fact, he was so good at this skill, he probably could have been a police detective. And that's why the minute Richard heard Mike complain about having "sore hands" to Alicia, he immediately knew what the sneaky little bastard was trying to do.

He's playing up the fact that he burned off his hands!, Richard suddenly realized. He's using his injury as a way to get sympathy!

And suddenly, Richard had a whole lot more respect for Mike Skupin. Much more than he had ever had for the guy before.

"I saw him do it last night," Richard would later confess, "And at first I thought he was just whiny. I mean, he's Mike. You don't really expect him to be the sneakiest player on your tribe." Richard then laughed. "But this morning I saw him do it again, at least twice. And both times when he was talking to one of the women." Richard now raised the pitch of his voice a little, as if trying to imitate Mike. "My hands. It's just... my hands. They just hurt sometimes. Can one of my mommies come help me?"

Richard had been amazed the first time he had seen Mike do this. But the second and third time, he had really been nothing but impressed. Mike Skupin? That guy? A strategic mastermind? Him??

"The guy is amazing," Richard would later explain. "Plain and simple, he's a genius. Because if he can pull it off, if he can really get these women to think of him as some sort of wounded cripple, he's going to be untouchable. They're going to rally around him, because people like Gretchen and Teresa can really be awfully maternal."

So Richard sat back and watched, as Alicia helped Mike with the laces of his boot.

And Richard could only sit there and laugh, as the man he considered "the sneakiest man in Hawaii" had Alicia in the palm of his hand. After all, of course Alicia was going to help him. She was the only person on Keko who had been there to witness Mike's accident back in Australia. Of course she was going to fall for it!

"Alicia loves to talk about how Mike always drove her insane," Richard went on to explain. "She loves to talk about how craaazy he is, and how none of the Kuchas were able to stand him. But she's full of crap. Because if Mike has a boo-boo, Alicia is the first person to go over and help him. She looks out for him. She's like his mother." He looked astounded. "And the fact that she doesn't even realize she's doing this just boggles my mind!"

So Richard sat back and watched, as the great badass Alicia leaned down and tightened Michael's shoe.

"You just take care of yourself out here," he heard Alicia murmur under her breath, to Mike. "Just take it easy today. Don't try to do everything all at once just to impress people."

And Richard shook his head in amazement.

Mike Skupin is officially my hero, he thought. He's the best damn Survivor player I've ever seen.



^^



Boston Rob and Colleen came running back to camp Ahi, together. And they had details of the first All-Star challenge. Rob clutched the small piece of treemail in his right hand.

"It's today!" Rob said, excitedly, as he panted to catch his breath. "In two hours. Check it out."

Rob handed the piece of brown parchment to Tina, who carefully read it aloud to the rest of the tribe.

"If it's All-Stars you crave," she started, in her thick Tennessee accent, "Then it's All-Stars you'll find. But which ones will you face in the game? With immunity at stake, you best pull your own weight. Or tomorrow..."

She paused, smiling.

"... you might read your name."

"Ooooh," said Lex, as he peered over Tina's shoulder, "That's nasty, guys."

"Only if we lose," smiled Vecepia, as she put her arm around Sue's shoulder. "It's only nasty if we lose."

"You got that right," agreed Sue.

And just like that, the orange tribe prepared to do battle. They didn't know who they would be up against. They didn't know what the challenge would be. But the Ahis did know one thing as they prepared for the inevitable showdown.

In two short hours, this sucker was on!

^^

The Kekos were the first to arrive at the inaugural All-Star immunity challenge.

Led by Colby Donaldson, who held the green tribal flag in his right hand, the Kekos crested a grassy green hill, and now they were here. This was "Challenge Valley." And there was Jeff Probst waiting for them. And there was the obstacle course where they would be facing the Ahis.

Alicia and the Australian players recognized it almost instantly.

"Alright Keko," Alicia said out loud, "We're gonna be doin' lots of runnin' on this one. So get ready."

The first All-Star challenge was called "Quest for Fire." And, as Alicia had already figured out, it was the exact same challenge they'd dealt with on day three back in Australia. There was the same obstacle course. There was the same broken bridge. And there were the same two wooden pyres standing at the end. It was "Quest for Fire." This challenge could not have been mistaken for anything else.

The Kekos marched down towards Jeff in a single-file line. Colby walked in front, holding the flag. Alicia walked behind him, scanning for Ahi. Ethan came third, as he surveyed the course. One by one, the confident Keko tribe marched down the hill, and marched into Challenge Valley.

Keko walked slowly, like champions.

They were in no hurry to get things started.

They had no desire to look anxious, or nervous.

No, Keko just held their heads high and marched down to meet Jeff Probst, as slowly and deliberately as they possibly could. After all, this may not have been a cocky bunch, but they sure as hell were a confident bunch. Keko wasn't obnoxious about it. They just knew they were good. And why wouldn't they know that? After all, no matter who the Ahis managed to throw up against them today, the Kekos knew they'd have the horses to compete.

For starters, the Keko tribe had an outstanding trio of athletes. Ethan, Mike, and Colby were among the most athletic players the game of Survivor had ever seen. And here they were, one after another, together on the very same tribe. Would Ahi really be able to match that? And then on top of that the Kekos also had the big man. No, Richard Hatch wasn't the best challenge performer of all time. But, as Gretchen had repeatedly pointed out to the rest of the tribe today, he sure was big and strong if he really wanted to be.

So those were the four Keko male athletes. Ethan, Mike, Colby, and Richard. All-Star Survivor or not, that foursome was going to be tough for any tribe to try and match up against.

But on the flip side, it's not like Keko was just an overwhelmingly male-dominated tribe. Sure, the men of Keko might have been gods in a game among men, but the women of this tribe were certainly no slouches in the challenge department either. After all, the women of Keko were some of the most capable challenge performers from their respective seasons, too. One look at Alicia, Gretchen, Kathy, and Teresa would be enough to tell you that the women of Keko could easily hold their own in the challenges department as well. No matter how you looked at it, Keko was simply stacked in athletic prowess from top to bottom. There just wasn't a weak link on this tribe to be found.

So the Kekos marched confidently down into Challenge Valley, led by Colby in his ever-present cowboy hat.

They reached their green mat, and arranged themselves on top of it in an orderly double-file line.

And that's when they finally got a glimpse of their Ahi opponents.



^^



In the game of All-Star Survivor, there was one moment that the players would always remember as the single most exciting time in the game. There was one moment that sent shivers down every single player's spine, and would one day be remembered as the moment that All-Star Survivor was finally real.

It was the moment that Ahi and Keko finally got a glimpse of one another.

And that moment was officially now.

"Richard Hatch!" exclaimed Tina, as she spotted the most identifiable player on Keko. She turned to address the rest of her tribe. "I knew they'd have Richard!"

Tina led the orange-buffed Ahis as they crested a hill and came marching down into Challenge Valley from the south. Right behind Tina came Frank, who was carrying the orange Ahi flag, and the rest of the tribe filed in tightly behind.

The Ahis and the Kekos met up.

And the suspense was officially over.

Keko and Ahi lined up on their respective mats, as a few players exchanged waves and small winks with their All-Star opponents. And sure enough, most of the Ahi eyes were directed at Richard. There he was. The big man. The big prize. The one they all wanted desperately to beat. Richard Hatch was officially a member of Keko, just like the Ahis had hoped and predicted. And that meant that the game just got a whole lot more exciting, for everybody.

"That's right," Richard teased, smiling, "Which one of you jackals is going to take me down first? Come on, let me have it. Step up and take your best shot."

Richard raised his hands in the air in mock triumph, and most of the Ahis laughed. But not Sue. The gleam in Sue's eye when she saw Richard could not have been mistaken for anything else. That gleam said that all she was looking for at the moment, was payback.

"Well at least we got the good-looking tribe," Boston Rob joked out loud.

There were a few more jokes and giggles as the two tribes lined up side by side. But for the most part the players were just sizing one another up. Because yeah, sure it was exciting to see Richard Hatch standing here, but it wasn't like he was the only All-Star in this game. There were fifteen other Survivor legends standing here too. And it was hard to pick out who was the biggest threat right now among the bunch.

And that's when Lex suddenly realized something.

"They've got all the athletes," he leaned over and whispered into Frank's ear. "Check it out. They're going to be tough for us to beat."

Frank just silently nodded in response. He had noticed the same thing. And apparently so had Tina and Vecepia. The four players on the front of the Ahi mat turned and exchanged quick nervous glances.

Jeff Probst just stood there and let the two tribes size each other up for a moment. His hands behind his back, and a great big smile on his face, Jeff had been as excited to see the big All-Star reunion as anybody. He had known this would be one of the defining moments of the All-Star season. So he just stood there and watched as the players silently greeted each other from opposite mats. And then he decided to finally let them take that final step they wanted to take.

"Oh okay," he said, "Go ahead. You guys can say hi. I'll give you one minute and then you need to get back on your mats."

And with that, the two tribes finally greeted each other. Sixteen players converged into one big mass of players, as old friends met up in Hawaii, and new people met for the first time. And it was a surprisingly emotional moment for everyone here.

Tina and Colby exchanged a big hug to the left of the group. The two friends from Australia may have now been soldiers on opposite sides of the battle, but they still took a moment to wish each other good luck.

Teresa and Frank also exchanged a great big happy hug. Like Tina and Colby, they were now friends stuck on opposite sides of the fence. So they shared a happy hug, and then it was back to the game.

Lex and Ethan met in the front and exchanged an enthusiastic handshake. The two friends from Africa fell back into "best buddy" mode almost instantly, even though they were on opposite tribes. Lex even leaned forward and whispered something into his young friend's ear. Ethan listened, then nodded and smiled.

Most of the reunions on the beach were that of the happy variety. But then again there were also a few that were noticeably cold. For example, Sue had wanted nothing to do with Richard Hatch. All throughout the greeting, she stayed as far away from him as was humanly possible. And then there were Kathy and Vecepia, who exchanged a cool, impersonal handshake and that was about it. Did Kathy still hold a grudge about the way Vee had backstabbed her a few short months ago in Marquesas? You're damn right she did. Kathy Vavrick O'Brien was a lot of things in life, but she wasn't a forgetter. She just exchanged a limp fish handshake with Vecepia and then moved on to find someone she liked.

"Okay, okay," said Jeff, as he corralled them back to their mats, "Time's up, guys. Remember, we still have a challenge to take care of today."

The Survivors begrudgingly went back to join their All-Star tribes. After all, Jeff was right. This was Survivor. The Kekos and Ahis weren't friends at the moment. There were no Borneans standing here. There were no Australians. And there certainly weren't any Africans or Marquesans. There was only Keko against Ahi. New tribes. Mortal enemies.

It was time to get down to business.

It was time to get ready to rumble.



^^



Jeff lined the two tribes up at the starting line and took a moment to explain the rules of today's immunity challenge. And sure enough, as Alicia had noted, this was the exact same challenge that had kicked off the first episode of Australia. It was "Quest for Fire." An Ogakor favorite.

Tina and Colby were probably thrilled.

"You'll be carrying a torch over the entire course of the race," explained Jeff, as he pointed out the general layout of the challenge. "From start to finish you must keep this torch lit. Because if it goes out at any point during the race, your tribe is disqualified. And the other tribe wins immunity."

Alicia nodded. Been there, done that. And last time it sort of sucked hard.

"First tribe to finish the race," Jeff continued, "And light their pyre at the end, wins immunity." He paused, then added, "And not only will the winning tribe win immunity, you'll also win a box of waterproof matches. So in essence you'll also be winning fire, and you can take that back to camp right after the challenge."

All sixteen players nodded. They were focused. Well, not so much on the matches. What the players really wanted today was that wooden immunity idol. They all just wanted to be safe from that first vote. After all, nobody wanted to be the first player to go home in Survivor. And they especially didn't want to be the first one to go home in All-Star Survivor.

To be gone so early, from something as exciting as this, was enough to rip a Survivor player's veritable heart out.

The Keko tribe lined up on the left, and they all looked supremely confident. From Colby's smug grin, to Alicia's stern glare, to Ethan's focused gaze, the Kekos looked like they were ready for the kill. They looked like there was no way they could possibly lose to the hopelessly outmanned and overmatched Ahis. After all, Keko had Ethan, Mike, and Colby. Keko had Gretchen. Keko had Alicia. How on earth would they ever be expected to lose?

Over on Ahi, Lex saw this Keko confidence and he turned to confer one more time with Frank. Lex had hoped to get some sort of wonderful strategic advice on how to win this thing, but Frank had nothing to offer. Frank was more or less thinking about what he was going to say when he wrote down Rob's name at Tribal Council tomorrow. He just wasn't confident they could beat Keko at the moment at all.

"Let's go, Keko," Alicia said one last time, as the one-time motivational trainer tried to pump up her tribe at the very last minute. "This is our time, guys. This is Keko's time" She clapped her hands together loudly. Her brow furrowed in focused aggression. "Time to kick this game into high gear, baby..."

"This is for immunity!" announced Jeff.

The players tensed.

"... and waterproof matches," Jeff added.

He raised his right hand in the air.

"Survivors ready....!"

There was one big long pregnant pause. And then Jeff dropped his right hand and brought up his left. The first immunity challenge had officially begun.

"GO!!!!!!!!"

The Kekos and the Ahis scampered off at top speed towards the first obstacle of the race, the broken bridge. They were expected to cross this bridge using assorted pieces of wood, and a little bit of strategy. The first tribe that could solve the puzzle would cross the bridge, would jump out to an early lead, and would have a huge advantage in finishing the rest of the race. And the Ahis, of course, knew this was the only place in the challenge they'd be able to win this thing.

"Use that big board," Tina screamed, as she pointed out one of the planks to Frank and Sue. "Use that one to cover the hole, and we can walk across it over to there." Tina's tiny voice was suddenly the loudest voice of the bunch, as she frantically pointed out the holes Ahi would need to cover before they could walk anywhere.

"We need this board, too," Vecepia said, helping out. "We need to save the big one for the end, or else we'll never be able to get across."

The Ahis worked together to patch the holes in their bridge, as Colleen stood to one side, holding their torch. To Colleen's left, the Kekos were also trying to patch the holes in their bridge. Although, surprisingly, the powerhouse green tribe was apparently having some trouble. At the moment, the Kekos weren't really patching their bridge. At the moment, they were basically just yelling at each other. And as Colleen looked over in amazement, all of a sudden the big, bad Kekos didn't look as unstoppable as they'd wanted to think.

"Damnit, it fell in!" shouted Colby, as Gretchen's support board had cracked and broken in two. "The board fell in, and we lost it!"

It was early in the challenge, and the Kekos were already scrambling to keep up with the undermanned Ahis. And Jeff Probst could only watch in amazement as the unflappable tribe in green was suddenly snapping at one another out of frustration and a little bit of anger.

"It won't work there!" Mike shouted at Kathy. "Stop moving everything around!"

"Well just put somethin' down!" snapped Colby. "We're losin'!"

Sure enough, the Kekos were losing. Because just like that, the Ahis were done. Ahi had finally solved the briken bridge puzzle. Vecepia and Sue placed the last board across the last hole, the orange tribe scurried across it like mice fleeing a sinking ship, and all of a sudden the Ahis had jumped out to a sizable lead.

Ethan, the Keko torch-bearer, watched in frustration as the Ahis ran off to face the next obstacle. There went Boston Rob, in the front, as he pushed his way into a thicket of trees. And there was their torch-bearer, Colleen, as she disappeared behind a cluster of bushes. Ahi had officially moved on. And instinctively, Ethan knew this challenge was over. There was no way, short of a miracle, Keko would be solving this bridge puzzle in the immediate future. Right now they were much too busy trying to talk and scream over one another.

"Let's go, Keko," Ethan helplessly implored them.

Sure enough, as Ethan had feared, the challenge was now effectively over. Because Ahi wasn't some challenge pushover like most of the production crew had predicted. Oh sure, on paper, Ahi may not have been as dominant as their green-buffed counterparts.

But, then again, the Kekos weren't the only ones who came here to play.

Ahi soon came to the second obstacle in the challenge, the floating raft. The eight of them were now supposed to board a raft, and pull it across the water, using a rope. And since Ahi's lead over Keko was amazingly huge, why this task was going to be a piece of cake. The Ahis just plopped Colleen down in the middle of the raft, Sue and John bunched beside her to protect the valuable flame, and Frank and Rob pulled the raft across the water via rope, as slowly and carefully as they possibly could.

"Yeah baby!" cheered Vecepia, her fists both raised in the air. "Go Ahi!"

"Wooooooo!" cheered Colleen.

The smaller and younger Ahi tribe was now cheering and hollering at the top of their lungs. And why not? After all, at this moment in the game, they were officially kicking Keko's pathetic ass.

"Immunity, baby!" screamed Boston Rob.

By now the Kekos had finally crossed the bridge. And they had officially reached their own raft. But there was no way they were going to catch the Ahis. Mike and Colby put in a Herculean effort to try and pull the raft across the water, but it was too little, too late for all of them. Keko was going to lose.

The Ahis had now reached the final portion of the challenge, the footrace. And Colleen Haskell beamed with pride as she carried Ahi's torch all the way to the finish line. Young, shy Colleen had protected the flame from start to finish, and now she was done. She was standing at the giant wooden pyre that marked the end of the challenge. And that meant there was just one more thing to do to make this official.

"Go up and light that bad boy," Rob screamed excitedly at her. "Light it up!"

With Ahi's torch in her right hand, Colleen scampered up the metal ladder on the side of the pyre. And as her tribe erupted in cheers beneath her, she lowered the torch into the middle of the wood. And watched as it burst into flame. Just like that, this challenge was over.

"Ahi!" announced Jeff, loudly. "Wins immunity!"

Colleen shrieked and raised her fists into the air.

Vecepia and Tina were leaping and screaming with joy.

Boston Rob and Lex exchanged an exuberant high-five, which quickly morphed into a hug.

Jeff walked over and handed the immunity idol to a surprisingly-smiling Frank Garrison. And just like that, the Ahis were safe. They wouldn't be going anywhere tomorrow. All eight of them would be here a couple more days. Then out-of-breath Frank shared the idol with his teammates, and they erupted in cheers.

The Keko tribe arrived at their pyre about five minutes later.

Led by Mike, the Kekos looked disheveled and more than a little bit annoyed as they crossed the finish line. A few of them weren't even talking. After all, they had completely fallen apart when it came to crunch time. There had been way too many leaders out there on that puzzle today, and that was what had messed them up and cost them the win. The leaders on Keko had been screaming and giving orders to one another, while nobody had been listening and actually doing the work. It was no wonder they all looked annoyed.

Gretchen walked with her head down, looking dejected.

Alicia was so mad, she looked like she could spit nails.

Colby, for his part, wouldn't look at or talk to anybody. He was somewhere in the pissed-off Colby Zone at the moment. And he didn't look like he'd be returning anytime soon.

"I'm sorry, Keko," said Jeff, as he walked over to join them. "But I think you know what this means. Tribal Council tomorrow."

"Whatever," murmured Alicia, under her breath.

The Kekos, to a man, all looked dejected. They also looked a little banged up. In fact, two of the players, Teresa and Ethan, were hobbling a bit as if they'd been injured. Jeff made a quick mental note to ask them tomorrow at Tribal what had happened.

Then he tossed the Ahis their waterproof matches.

"Congratulations, Ahi. You guys got immunity. You guys got fire. And all of you will be staying in Hawaii a couple more days. Congratulations."

Colleen cheered.

And with that, the carnage was over.

^^

The orange Ahi tribe returned to their camp, victorious. But for their green-buffed opponents to the north, the long hike back to camp had been anything but pleasant and cheerful.

It had taken the Kekos two hours to walk back to camp, and now all the players were cranky and starving. After all, they had just competed in their first Hawaiian triathalon after 24 hours of subsisting on little but rice. It was no wonder they were tired and hungry. There was no way to take in that little protein, and then use that much energy, and not feel the effects. The same thing had happened to all of them the first time they had played Survivor, and it was happening to all of them again now. Just because they had done this once before didn't mean their bodies were going to be happy about it.

So the Kekos came back and Teresa threw on a pot of boiling rice.

Her tribe may have been angry and frustrated right now, but that didn't mean they also had to be starving.

So Teresa put on a pot of rice and the Kekos sat around, listless and bummed. They hadn't expected to lose today. No way had they expected to lose. And they sure as hell hadn't expected to be demolished like that. The totality of Keko's loss today, at the hands of a much weaker tribe like the Ahis, had been astounding. In fact, at the moment, most of the formerly-confident Kekos seemed to be in a minor state of shock.

"So is that our destiny out here?" asked a clearly-stunned Ethan to the rest of his tribe. "Are we supposed to be the Samburus? Are we going to be the loser tribe out here in Hawaii?"

"No way," said Colby, angrily. Even though he was frustrated... Colby was always frustrated after a loss... he was still trying to rally his tribe. "Today was just a fluke, guys. That's not the way that whole thing was supposed to play out." He clenched his jaw, angrily. "I know it's a little woulda, coulda, shoulda, guys, but in the real world, we beat those clowns nine times out of ten in that challenge."

"Amen," said Alicia.

So the Kekos sat around, and stewed in their loss. And truth be told, most of them felt humiliated. This wasn't a tribe of losers. This wasn't a tribe of Maraamus. This was the best tribe that had ever been assembled in Survivor history. These were the best of the best, the All-Stars. But then again, what good was that title when they'd just had their asses handed to them by Frank and Colleen? Keko wasn't supposed to lose to people like Colleen Haskell. Keko was supposed to destroy people like Colleen Haskell! So what good were Keko's supposed "All-Stars" now? Were they really as powerful and strong as they'd honestly thought hours before?

Yes, Keko had built a magnificent shelter.

And yes, they had a wonderful tribe made up of mature survivalists who knew their way out here in the bush.

"But even with all that," Colby would later explain in an interview, "There's still somethin' missin'. There's just something about Keko that don't feel right. But I'll be damned if I can tell you what it is."

So the Kekos sat around and they sulked.

The game would be coming to camp very soon. The alliances and the backstabbing would be invading their peaceful home in the next hour or so, and all of them knew it. Of course some of the players, like Richard Hatch, were quite excited about this. After all, Richard lived for machinations in the game of Survivor. And he was thrilled that "these phony balonies," as he called his tribesmates, would finally have to start plotting and scheming. Because as you can imagine, up to this point in the game, Richard Hatch considered the naive "Survivor" being played at Camp Keko to be utterly and completely ridiculous.

"Yes, let's all be friends," he would say in one of his more mocking confessionals of the day. "Nope, we don't want to scheme and plot. Might hurt somebody's feelings. Why don't we just give everybody a million dollars and call it a day." Then he would laugh, condescendingly. "Hey, I know, why don't we all play Survivor Keko style? No alliances! Everybody wins!"

Deep down, Richard was thrilled that "the game" would finally be coming to the people around him. He thought it was funny that, finally, the Kekos would have to get dirty and actually play. But he was definitely in the minority around here. Most of the Kekos really had believed that strength in numbers was going to be the key to victory out here. And that's the sole reason there hadn't been much planning at Camp Keko. People like Gretchen, and Mike, and Colby, had been strongly behind the mindset that the fastest way to defeat was through self-implosion. They didn't want to eat their own if it wasn't required. They hadn't wanted to turn Keko against itself until it was necessary.

But guess what?

Now it was necessary.

And that's why the mood around camp was overwhelmingly down.

"Well I'll tell you what," said Richard, as he stood up and broke the uncomfortable silence. "I'm going to go out and go for a walk." He paused, then looked around at the rest of his tribe. His subliminal invitation to strategize could not possibly be more transparent. "And if any of you care to join me," he drew out the word 'join' quite deliberately, "Well, you know where I'll be. On the beach."

And just like that, he was off. Richard Hatch strolled out of camp and down the sand. He knew it was an extraordinarily ballsy move to just walk off like this. But then again, fuck it. Who cares? If Richard was going to be voted out tomorrow, he was going to be voted out. Might as well have some fun with his remaining time here if he could help it.

So Richard walked away. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Alicia turned and shrugged softly to Colby. The Ethan turned and whispered something to Mike..

Survivor had finally come to the Kekos.

Death had officially come to their tiny little town.

And the politics were followed were about to get crazy.



^^



As the oldest woman on the tribe, one person who felt extremely vulnerable at the moment was Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien. After all, Kathy was no stranger to Survivor. And she was certainly no stranger to "natural selection." So she was quite conscious of the fact that the oldest woman was often a "freebie" vote at the start of every Survivor game.

And, quite frankly, this logic made her sick to her stomach.

"Come on, man!" She had protested in an afternoon interview. "I'm not the old chick here! I'm not the feeble one! They can't get rid of me just because I've had the most birthdays!"

Kathy, who was certainly as vibrant and energetic as any other player on Keko, had been appalled when she had put two and two together and suddenly realized that she was the official "old chick" out of the group. Well, old if you went by age, that is. Kathy certainly didn't feel like the oldest one here. Hell, deep down at times she felt like she was still in her twenties. So for it to be her voted out tomorrow night? Just because she was technically "oldest"?

That, my friends, was frankly ridiculous.

"So I screwed up in the challenge," Kathy went on to explain in her interview, "So I put down a few wrong boards and everyone get annoyed with me. Big deal!" She looked exasperated. "We're all going to screw up a few challenges in Hawaii. And if those guys get rid of me because I'm the oldest, or if they get rid of me because I screwed up, then I don't know what I can tell them."

She paused.

"If Keko gets rid of me for no reason, I'll be pissed."

So today Kathy's mission was to somehow find some reassurance. She wanted to go around and talk to the rest of the tribe, and somehow make sure that "Kathy" wasn't going to come up at the first Keko vote. Above all else, all she needed at the moment was some info.

Yes, Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien was known to be a little paranoid in nature. And, yes, she would freely fess up to it if you asked. She just happened to have a paranoid mind sometimes, and was known to make a big deal out of nothing far more than she cared to admit. But Kathy didn't think she was being paranoid about this particular topic. Deep down, even if nobody had said anything to her, she knew she was in legitimate danger.

"This game favors the young," she lamented, as she shook her head sadly at the end of her interview. "I know it's crazy, and I know it's ridiculous, but if you're not twenty, you're always in danger at the start of the game."

Kathy didn't want to be the first person voted out of All-Star Survivor. Kathy wanted sombody else to be the first casualty of All-Star Survivor. And she wanted it desperately, with all of her soul.

"I'm not here to make enemies," she concluded in her interview. "I'm not here to backstab and I'm not here to rock the boat. But, man, when your back's to the wall out here, sometimes that's all you can do. Sometimes you just have to go out and go talk to people."

So Kathy went off to go gather some info.

And by the end of tonight, hopefully she'd hear the news that she wanted to hear.



^^

Gretchen Cordy spent most of the afternoon far away from the plotting of the rest of the tribe. Because to be honest, she didn't want any part of it. At the moment, all Gretchen wanted to do was stand here by the fire and clean and gut a small pile of fish.

"Because if I don't do it," she murmured to a producer, "Then we all know it's not gonna get done. So here I am."

"Are you interested in talking about tomorrow's vote at all?" asked the producer. "Or do you just plan on staying back here alone by yourself right now?"

Gretchen glanced warily over at him.

"Well, I'd sort of like to talk strategy," Gretchen explained, "I mean, I know the game is being played around me. I'm not an idiot. But at the same time I'm trying to stay away from the really cutthroat stuff that isn't necessary." She paused for a moment. "As you probably know, this was never my favorite part of the game. I hate voting people off. Always have."

The producer nodded. Yes, they knew. Lord knows they all knew. Everybody back at the production camp was curious if Gretchen would ever be able to overcome her "I hate alliances" mindset she'd had in Pagong. Would Gretchen ever really be able to adapt to this stuff? Would she ever fully embrace the idea of voting her enemies out? The odds were currently 2:1 against her.

The producers may have loved Gretchen's personality, but they also knew she was stubborn and righteous. If she didn't want to play Survivor, she just wasn't going to. And that was just that. Some things, either in Hawaii or in Borneo, just didn't change.

So Gretchen stayed back at camp today, and tried to stay away from the more "seedy" aspect of Survivor that she'd never much liked. As the Kekos plotted and pleaded around her, instead she stayed back at camp and gutted fish.

And that's when she was approached by someone looking for info.

"So, what's going on with the vote?" Kathy asked her friend casually, once greetings had been made, and she had determined no prying ears were listening in. Kathy deliberately kept her voice very low as she spoke. "Have you even thought about it much yet?"

"I really haven't decided," Gretchen responded. And for the most part that was true. Gretchen really hadn't made up her mind yet. And even if she had, she certainly wasn't going to talk about it. Not even with her good friend Kathy. Gretchen's knee-jerk reaction to all strategy questions today was simply to say she "hadn't decided." So that's what she told Kathy.

And Kathy didn't buy it.

"Look, Grech," Kathy said quietly, "All I really care about at the moment is finding out if it's going to be me. I'm not here to negotiate. And I'm not here to twist your arm." Kathy was coming awfully close to begging, and deep down she hated herself for it. "I just want to know if it's going to be me." She paused and looked over at her friend. "Do you think there's any chance of me going home tomorrow?"

"No," said Gretchen, as she shook her head quickly. She didn't elaborate.

"Awesome," smiled Kathy. That was the news she had been waiting to hear. Although how Gretchen was so sure of that fact certainly struck her as a little intriguing.

Her paranoia alleviated for the time being, Kathy now pitched in to help Gretchen with cleaning the fish. She grabbed a knife, she grabbed a fish, and she worked side by side with the den mother of the Keko tribe. The two women worked in a silence for a couple of minutes.

And then, unable to resist, Kathy finally asked the question that had been bouncing around inside of her head since the start of the game.

"Is it going to be Richard?"

There it was.

The Richard question.

Now it was officially out.

"Well I'll tell you what," said Gretchen, very quietly, so nobody close would be able to hear, "I don't think we should get rid of Richard. I think that getting rid of Richard Hatch on day three would be a tremendous mistake."

Kathy almost dropped her knife.

"Wait a minute," she said, quite surprised, "You don't want to get rid of Richard? You think it's in our best interests to keep Richard?" She looked stunned. "From Borneo?"

"Yes," answered Gretchen.

"That is craaaazy," Kathy replied, somewhat astonished. She struggled to come up with the right words. "Grech, Richard is a freebie vote. He's a get-out-of-jail-free card! If we vote the guy out, no one will care!"

"But he's valuable," said Gretchen.

"He's also dangerous!" whispered Kathy.

"No, he's not!" Gretchen looked quite offended by this last argument. "Richard may be a lot of things, Kath, but he's not dangerous to anybody. There's not a chance in heck he's going to win!" Gretchen finally turned to look at her. "Do you remember when we talked about this? Back on day one? Do you remember how I said I was going to vote?"

Kathy nodded.

"I said," explained Gretchen, "That I would always vote in the best interests of the tribe. Every vote in this game would be based on who was contributing to my tribe, and who we most would be able to lose."

Kathy nodded. She remembered. Gretchen had given this speech to everybody the first few minutes after they had arrived at their camp. Gretchen wasn't interested in shady alliances. And Gretchen wasn't interested in backstabbing politics. Gretchen's only prerogative at the start of the game was keeping her tribe strong, and keeping the people she thought they would need.

"If you don't pull your weight," Gretchen had told the rest of the Kekos, "Then you'll probably be getting my vote."

It was as easy and as simple as that.

"Richard is one of the few people I don't think we can lose," Gretchen now explained to Kathy. "He's strong as an ox. And pretty soon he'll be bringing in fish."

Gretchen reached down to pick up one of the small white fish that she was currently gutting.

"Mike brought in five of these today," she added. "And at most, this will probably be two bites of fish for everyone on Keko."

Kathy nodded.

"But if we can get Richard a spear," Gretchen continued, "Or if he can find something else, he'll be bringing in twenty times this much fish on a daily basis. And I don't know about you, Kath, but I'd like to be eating out here."

Kathy nodded. Deep down, she sort of agreed.

"So no Richard?" Kathy asked one last time, as if to hear it one more time would somehow make it official.

"I'm not voting for Richard," Gretchen confirmed. "The rest of you can do whatever you want. But I firmly believe that Richard will do more for this tribe than someone like Ethan. Or Alicia."



^^



Just like that, it appeared that Richard Hatch was going to be safe.

Kathy wouldn't have believed it an hour ago. Hell, she wasn't quite sure she even believed it now. But apparently the den mother of Keko was watching his back. The most influential member of the tribe had just said that Richard shouldn't be voted out tomorrow.

And that meant that Richard was probably safe.

"This is nuts," Kathy laughed to herself as she walked.

At the moment, Kathy was the only person who knew that Gretchen was going to protect Richard around here. And not out of loyalty, but out of necessity. Gretchen Cordy saw Richard Hatch as a valuable tribal resource they shouldn't be losing on the third day of the game. And when push came to shove, she was going to protect him.

Of course, Richard didn't know about this yet. Richard probably had no idea that Gretchen was the invaluable ally he was going to need to get past the first vote.

And all Kathy could do when she thought of this was simply to laugh.

"Richard's a creep," she explained in her next interview. "He's a creep, but now he's probably safe. And all because Gretchen's apparently adopted him as some sort of pet project."

"Does that mean Gretchen calls all the shots around camp?" asked a producer.

"Well, I wouldn't really call her the 'shot-caller'", Kathy explained, "But she definitely commands a lot of respect. Her opinion seems to carry more weight around here than anybody else." She paused. "The Kekos listen when she talks. Even Alicia."

"So that means that Richard is safe?"

"Welllll, I wouldn't say he's out of the woods yet," Kathy theorized. "But if Gretchen vouches for you, that's a pretty good step in the right direction. So yes, my guess is that Richard is probably safe."

Kathy finished up her interview.

Then she started back to camp.

She wasn't quite sure how the Kekos were going to react to this news, but she had a pretty good idea that it wasn't going to be popular with the rest of the tribe. At least not with everybody.

Yes, the Kekos did have a lot of respect for Gretchen and for her opinions. And yes this was a tribe that was planning to stick together. But that didn't mean that the rest of the Kekos were a bunch of pushovers. This wasn't a tribe made up of yes-men. There were some stubborn people on this tribe. And some of them could be more than a little outspoken when they didn't agree with you.

Was Colby really going to save Richard tomorrow, just because Gretchen said it was necessary?

Was Alicia going to go along with this too?

Was Mike?

For now, Kathy wasn't sure how the tribe was going to react. She knew they weren't going to be in love with the idea of keeping Richard. But she also knew that Gretchen's judgment had never been questioned before. So for now Kathy was up in the air. She wasn't quite sure how the tribe would react, but she was certainly dying to find out.

And she did, moments later.

When she ran into Alicia on the beach.

^^

"Oh helll no," said Alicia, upon hearing the news that Richard Hatch was going to live to see day four in All-Star Survivor.

"Gretchen doesn't want to lose him," Kathy explained quietly, almost conspiratorially. "She said that losing Richard would hurt the tribe. And she doesn't want to hurt the tribe this early in the game."

"Has she ever actually talked to Richard?" asked Alicia, only half-kidding. "Does she even know who she's trying to protect? Has she ever actually sat down and met the guy??"

Kathy just shrugged.

"Well I think she's delusional," Alicia said. "And I need to go talk to her. 'Cause if girlfriend thinks that keeping Richard is somehow going to make us stronger, maybe she's not fit to be calling the shots on things like this." She turned and looked over at Kathy. "You know?"

Kathy knew. Deep down, she had already been thinking sort of the same thing.

"So who does Gretchen think we can lose?" asked Alicia. "Let me guess. Mike? Because he got in the way of building her precious shelter?"

Kathy winced. Uh oh. Alicia was already starting to fall into angry, sarcastic mode. And once that happened, there was bound to be trouble. Everybody on Keko, including Kathy, had already figured out that when Alicia started to lose her cool, things could get volatile. Whenever Alicia got angry, there was drama.

And Kathy knew that drama was the last thing the Kekos needed this early in the game.

"Look," Kathy implored, "If you're going to go talk to her, just try not to be too confrontational. I already sort of got the sense that Gretchen was anticipating a war over this issue..."

"You think?"

"... So just try not to attack her if you can help it," Kathy finished.

Deep down, Kathy knew that this wasn't the end of this. Alicia was going to go have it out with Gretchen, and the two women were probably going to get into some sort of a tiff over this. Kathy could already see it playing out in her head. Because on one hand, Alicia was stubborn. And on the other hand, well, Gretchen was stubborn too.

The Kekos had two stubborn women who didn't like stupidity, and who had the tendency to point it out quite liberally when they saw it in others.

And Kathy could already tell there were going to be problems around here.



^^



Moments later, Gretchen Cordy was giving an interview by the beach. She was sitting down on a rock, chatting with a producer, and wasn't even aware that Alicia was coming to talk to her. Gretchen wouldn't find out that Alicia was angry at her for a few more minutes. No, all she was doing at the moment was sharing her thoughts about tomorrow night's vote.

"The first vote is going to be tough," she said, answering the producer's last question. "No doubt about it. I don't care who you are, or how many times you play this game. The first vote is always going to be tough."

"Who do you think is the weakest link?" asked the producer.

"Well we really don't have a weakest link," Gretchen laughed. "That's sort of the problem, now, isn't it?" She laughed again. "But honestly, we don't have a single person on Keko who doesn't pull their weight. There's not a single person here who's dragging us down." She paused for a second. "True, Ethan and Teresa sort of got banged up in the challenge today, but at the moment I don't think it's anything that will hurt their chances when it comes to the vote..."

And all of a sudden, Alicia was here.

Gretchen was midway through her thoughts on Ethan and Teresa when she saw Alicia pop out from behind a tree. Alicia had come all the way down to the beach to talk to her, and Alicia looked upset. And that meant that, at this point in time, Gretchen's interview would just have to wait.

"Can you excuse us?" Alicia said to the producer.

Gretchen stood up and wiped off her hands on the seat of her pants. The producer politely excused himself and left, but not before instinctively motioning to his cameraman to get this on film!. Any good Survivor producer knows when an important confrontation is about to take place. And the only thing that matters when that happens is to GET IT ON FILM!

"What's up, Alicia?" asked the suddenly wary Gretchen.

"Honey, we need to talk..."



^^

Richard Hatch had been, in every sense of the word, a strategic leper for the first two days of this game. Nobody on Keko had wanted to strategize with the guy, and nobody on Keko had wanted to deal with him. Most every single member of this tribe had assumed that Richard would be gone at the very first vote. So what was the benefit to actually dealing with him? Why bond with a dead man when there were so many other living ones to talk to instead?

Because of this stigma, because the Keko tribe considered him little more than a "dead man walking", Richard Hatch had been unattached and unapproached for the first two days of the game.

But now all of that was about to change.

Because the minute Kathy heard he wasn't going anywhere, the minute she realized Richard was going to stick around here for a while, she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she needed to go talk to him.

"This is one thing I learned from Boston Rob back in the Marquesa," Kathy now explained, as she made a beeline for Richard's last known location down by the shore, "You know, I never really liked the kid all that much. I always thought he was classless and rude. But he did teach me something about strategy I might not have known."

Kathy continued to walk as she talked. Although she was getting a little out of breath now from walking so fast.

"One of the most effective things you can do in Survivor is to ally with players no one expects. That's what happened with Rob and me on Soliantu. And it's something that I've always remembered as being exceptionally smart."

Kathy was nearing Richard now.

It was just about time to play the game Boston Rob had taught her how to play.

"Rob Mariano was no idiot," she explained. "He may not have won Survivor, but he sure did stir up some things that a lesser player wouldn't have tried." Now she laughed. "Look at me. I'm taking strategy tips from a 22-year old kid. But hey, it was a brilliant plan when he told me, and with Richard here, the scenario is right."

Kathy paused, then turned to face the camera.

"If I learned one thing from Survivor, and... admittedly... I didn't learn a whole lot." She then let out one of her patented Kathy-laughs, a big booming haw-haw-haw-haw-haw. "If I learned one thing out here, it's that an unpredictable ally is potentially a very valuable one. If you team up with somebody no one expects, well you can pretty much do whatever you want and no one can stop you."

She then laughed one more time.

"So thanks, Rob Mariano, for everything you taught this old Vermont girl. I'm about to go talk to Richard Hatch, and I'm only doing it because he's not going home. Richard isn't going anywhere for a while, and that's why he's about to get his first real friend in this game."

And off she went.

With the teachings of the nefarious 'Boston' Rob Mariano dancing in her head, Kathy Vavrick O'Brien marched down the beach, and prepared to make a deal with the devil she wasn't quite sure she knew how to pull off. Would Richard Hatch understand why she was coming to him? Or was the smarmy naked bastard just going to rub it in her face that she needed Richard just as much as he needed her?

"Well, this should be peachy," she murmured, somewhat apprehensively.

Kathy's world was suddenly about to get a lot more interesting.



^^



"Kathy!" Richard smiled.

He greeted her warmly.

He gave her a hug.

And, instinctively, he knew right away why she was here.

"I figured you'd come out and hook up with me sooner or later," he laughed, somewhat sarcastically.

Kathy and Richard spent the better part of an hour walking along the beach, gathering shellfish. And this was a ruse, of course. They didn't want it took like they were actually talking strategy. No, Richard and Kathy wanted to make it look like they were doing something. Anything. If anybody from Keko happened to glance down at them during the next half hour, Kathy and Richard wanted to give off the impression that they were working.

"It doesn't surprise me that Gretchen wants me to stay," Richard confided in her. "She's played the game with me before. And she's practical. Above all, that's all she is. Gretchen is a very practical, and a very predictable person."

Kathy nodded. Yup. That was Gretchen.

"Gretchen knows it would be utter nonsense to get rid of me this early," Richard added. "And of course that's why you're coming to me." He smiled down at her, probingly, looking more than a little bit like Hannibal Lecter. "You're coming to me because you know I can help you."

Damn, thought Kathy, this guy really is pretty good at this!

"It's okay," Richard laughed, as he reached over to tousle her hair. Now he was being somewhat playful. "You just want to use me. And that's fine with me! That's Survivor! That's what you have to do." He put his arm around her shoulder, like a proud older brother, and laughed. "I always knew you were one of the smart ones around here."

Kathy laughed back.

But she didn't want to.

So under the perfect Hawaiian sunset, Kathy and Richard discussed what was going to happen at tomorrow night's vote, and how it was probably going to go down. And Kathy was more than a little surprised when she heard the name that came out of her new best friend's mouth.

"I think it's going to be T-Bird."

"What?" Kathy was legitimately surprised.

"If it's not me or you," explained Richard, "It's going to be Teresa."

The blank look on Kathy's face pretty much said it all.

"Think about it," Richard started to explain, slowly and carefully. His corporate trainer hat was now on firmly for good. "What you have on Keko are a bunch of wanna-be Tarzans, and then Gretchen at the top who no one can touch."

Kathy nodded. So far, no surprises.

"Mike and Colby, these guys know they have a pretty solid tribe on their hands," Richard continued. "They feel strong because, on paper, we have a bunch of meathead athletes. So they're not going to want to vote out a guy. It's counter-intuitive to them. Voting a quote-unquote 'athlete' out tomorrow is the last thing the two of them would ever want to do."

"Especially after today's challenge," Kathy interjected.

"Right!" Richard looked pleased. "Mike and Colby, those guys got their asses handed to them by the Ahis today. And it was ugly. So the last thing they're going to want to do tomorrow is somehow make the Kekos weaker. Mike and Colby, they just don't think like that. If you don't have a penis, they see you as a weakness."

Kathy chortled. And out came another one of the Kathy-laughs.

"If Gretchen really has as much power as you say she does," Richard added, "And by all rights I think that she probably does... well, that means that she and I are going to be perfectly safe. And that means the only people who could be voted out tomorrow are you, Alicia, or Teresa."

Kathy nodded again. Richard sure did make a good case when he was trying to.

"So here's where we stand," Richard concluded. "If Gretchen truly can keep the attack dogs off my back for the first vote..."

"I think she can," said Kathy.

"... Well then by default it's one of you three."

Kathy and Richard continued their conversation for some time down by the beach. And it actually wasn't that hard to talk strategy with the guy, Kathy quickly deduced. Sure, he could be a little condescending sometimes. And Richard could be awfully wordy when he started off on one of his little "theories." But deep down she found him an interesting person to hang out with.

True, he was Richard Hatch. And that was a little uncomfortable. But Kathy had known what she was getting into when she came down here. She already knew the side effects that came with this particular medication.

"But on the plus side," she would joke in a later confessional, "At the very least he was wearing pants. Richard actually had pants on when were talking today. And I know I might not always have that luxury in the future. Haw haw haw haw haw."

So that was where Kathy and Richard ended their conversation.

Kathy told Richard he was going to be safe tomorrow. And Richard told Kathy the vote could still possibly be directed at her.

"Even if Gretchen said I wasn't a target?" Kathy asked.

"I wouldn't rely on that," Richard explained. "If you look like a weakness, you could still be in danger. Mike and Colby's only priority right now is to keep the tribe strong. And by strong," he made sarcastic little finger quotes in the air, "I mean they want everybody on Keko to have a Y chromosome."

Kathy chuckled.

"Would they ever get rid of Alicia?" Richard asked.

"God no," laughed Kathy. "I think they're all scared of her."

"Well then there's your answer." Richard stood back and looked pleased. "It's going to be you or Teresa tomorrow. And if you know what's best for you..." Out come his sinister little smile. "Well, I'd start targeting Teresa."

"I can't do that!" Kathy looked horrified. Out of all the Kekos, Teresa Cooper was easily her closest friend.

"Awwww," Richard reached over and gave her a little half-hug, He sounded fatherly. "That's cute. And here I was thinking you were one of the smart ones."

Kathy glowered at him for a moment. Man that condescension could be awfully annoying.

"I hate you, Hatch," she teased, only half-kidding.

"Hate me all you want," Richard shrugged. "But if you get Teresa out of here instead of you, we can finish this chat in a couple of days." He shrugged one more time. "I know friends can be fun. God knows I love my friends back home. But in Survivor, they tend to just get in the way."

"But Teresa isn't the weakest one here," Kathy protested. "She... she... she's a workhorse. And she runs marathons back home!"

"Well you and I may know that," Richard explained patiently, "But I'm not necessarily sure that Mike or Colby would agree. And if they don't start thinking about T-Bird, they just might start thinking about Kathy." He turned and looked over at her. "Do you catch my drift?"

"I got it. I got it." Kathy nodded. "I don't like it, but I know where you're coming from." She shook her head now, violently. "God this feels icky."

"Eh," Richard said, dismissively, "You'll get over it."

So now Kathy and Richard were aligned. Well, not aligned aligned, as in a final two deal or anything. For now they were just working together. For now they were just in cahoots. And that was exactly as far as Kathy wanted to go at the moment. She didn't want to get too far with Richard if she didn't have to. Because like him or not, she still felt a little slimy doing this. Richard Hatch just had an emotionless way of talking that really sort of creeped her out. Talking strategy with the guy for only half an hour honestly dehumanized you just a little bit.

"Nah, I wouldn't want a final two deal even if you asked," laughed Richard when the subject finally came up. "It's too early to be talking about stuff like that. That isn't remotely realistic on day two."

"I agree."

"But if we keep our interests in common down the road," Richard began, "And if it appears to be both of our best option... then maybe... who knows... ?"

"That's enough, Richard." Kathy smiled. "Just shut up, we're done."

Richard laughed.

So that was that. Kathy wasn't necessarily thrilled with the plan she and Richard had come up with, but she had to admit it did make a lot of strategic sense. After all, if Teresa went home tomorrow night, it wouldn't be Kathy. And wasn't that what Survivor was all about, in the end?

"But still," Kathy would later confess, "It feels slimy to go after one of my friends at the first vote. Wouldn't a normal person feel bad about that? I mean, a normal person besides Richard? Wouldn't a normal person actually have some regrets about this?"

So was the vote tomorrow going to work out exactly like Richard had predicted?

Would the Keko tribe really vote out someone as likable, and reliable, and competent, as Teresa "The T-Bird" Cooper?

"Everybody loves Teresa!" Kathy continued her confessional. "But you know, man, you know what they say about Survivor. This is a weird, wild game. Stuff happens when you least expect it. And until this moment I thought T-Bird was safe."

She shook her head one last time.

"I don't want to vote for Teresa tomorrow," she continued, "But you have to remind yourself that the only person you owe anything out here is yourself. You're not playing for two. And you're not playing for friendship. The only thing you're playing for is survival. And if aligning myself with Richard helps me survive..."

She grimaced slightly, out of distaste more than anything.

"Well maybe that's just what you have to do."

Kathy wrapped up her interview, and prepared to join the rest of the Kekos back at camp. But before she could walk away, an observant producer had one last comment he couldn't resist.

"Hey Kathy," he asked, "First you aligned with Boston Rob. And now you're aligned with Richard Hatch. That's quite a track record you've developed out here."

"Yeah, I know, huh?" Kathy smirked. Then she rolled her eyes, theatrically, and laughed. "Way to go, Kath. Haw haw haw haw haw."

"So who's next?" teased the producer.

"I don't know, man," joked Kathy. "Maybe someone can invent a time machine so I can go back and team up with Jack the Ripper."



^^



So that was where the tribes stood as day two came to an end.

Ahi, of course, was having the time of their life. They had won the immunity challenge today, they had made fools out of the enemy Kekos, and then... to top it all off... Frank had gone out and caught some sort of wild game bird that they'd cooked up and shared and enjoyed for dinner.

Life was very very good for the tribe in orange tonight. And why not? They weren't going to Tribal Council tomorrow, so why worry? They just sat around camp, and feasted on game bird, and then went to bed fat and happy.

And that's exactly how the Ahis drifted off to sleep. Fat and happy. Under the peaceful nighttime sky of Ni'ihau, Hawaii.

But over on the other side of the island, things were a little bit different.

The Kekos turned in for the evening much later than the Ahis, and did so after a rousing debate of "Gretchen can't do this!/Yes she can!" Well, actually, it hadn't been quite that bad. The only person who had really had it out with Gretchen tonight had been Alicia. And, truth be told, it hadn't been much of an argument. Alicia had been much less accusatory than she might have been back in Australia.

Alicia had simply gone to Gretchen and summarized her grievances with sparing Richard.

And Gretchen, for her part, had just listened to Alicia, then stated her case.

The two women hadn't had that much of a blowout. Indeed, the maturity shown by both of them had surprised virtually everyone. Maybe it was possible that Gretchen and Alicia could both possibly co-exist. Sure, nobody expected the two of them to be braiding hair and acting like best friends in the future, but for now they still got along. For now they were still "alpha female" and "alpha female the lesser."

"There's no way that lasts," Colby had predicted. But for now Gretchen was still at the top of the pack.

So the Kekos went to bed as one big, basically happy group. They curled up into a big ball of eight people, and huddled together under Mike's shelter in an attempt to stay warm. After all, the Kekos still didn't have much of a fire. All they had was that little magnifying glass that had come in their supply crate. Which was virtually worthless once the sun went down if the fire went out. No, the Kekos weren't going to get real fire until they picked up their torches at Tribal Council tomorrow. But for now they were warm enough. All you had to do was cuddle up with the rest of your tribe, and the communal body heat was just good enough to last through the night.

As the Kekos drifted off to sleep, most of them were relatively happy. Even Teresa was happy. Although to be fair, that was probably because she had no idea she might be a target. You see, "Project Kathy" wouldn't start until tomorrow morning. Kathy hadn't yet begun to target her best Hawaiian friend.

And for that reason, Teresa went to bed happy.

Sure, her left knee was still a little banged up from the raft landing on it during this morning's immunity challenge.

And sure, she was a little worried that, as one the two "older females" on Keko, her position might not be as secure as she'd been led to believe.

But so far Teresa hadn't seen any of the warning signs that the Kekos might be coming after her tomorrow. So far she hadn't seen any of the "red flag danger areas" she was always so careful to spot. So with that in mind, she went to bed happy. She soon zonked out into complete, and peaceful, unconsciousness.

Even with her left knee throbbing and bothering her, Teresa Cooper spent night two in Hawaii sleeping like a baby.

While Kathy, cuddled up next to her, stayed awake and feeling icky most of the night.





DAY 3

Day three broke early over the peaceful Keko camp on the north end of Ni'ihau island.

Even though this was technically Tribal Council day, the mood around camp was still relatively happy this morning. And most importantly, it all seemed relatively normal. Even though the tribe would be down to seven by the end of the night, for all intents and purposes, day three at Keko Beach had started like every other day.

Mike Skupin had been the first one out of the shelter this morning, as usual, as he went out to start the fire and go gather some fruit the tribe would need for breakfast. Mike's preference most mornings was to wake up at the crack of dawn, as early as possible, so he could get working around camp and get the day started. Mike's day tended to start "somewhere around the five o'clockish range," if you asked an always-groggy-in-the-morning Alicia. You see, Alicia had been here before. Alicia had dealt with Mike and Mike's obscenely early schedule once already back in Australia. So the fact that Mike had been the first one up this morning had been nothing short of completely normal around here.

The second person out of the shelter this morning had been Richard. The big man ambled out of the shelter and strolled down to the beach about two hours after Mike. He said something about going to look for shellfish, and then he was off.

So Mike and Richard were the first two Kekos to get going today, and they were soon followed by Gretchen and Alicia. And then Kathy. It was just like any other day around Camp Keko. Well, unless you took into account the fact that they'd be sacrificing and eating one of their own in about fifteen hours. If you were able to overlook that tiny little detail, it was just like every other day around here.

Teresa Cooper yawned and sat up just as breakfast was bring dished out by Gretchen. Meals were generally Teresa's domain around here, but Gretchen had been up and out the door before her today, so Gretchen had essentially given her the morning off. And that was nice.

But now Teresa was awake.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes, sleepily. She stretched her neck from side to side, trying to work out the kinks caused by sleeping on wood. And then she tried to stand up.

And that's when her left knee screamed out in pain.

Uh oh, Teresa thought, as she closed her eyes and winced painfully, That can't be good.

Teresa sat back down and took a look at her banged-up left knee. Sure enough, it was the same knee that she'd injured yesterday in that brutal immunity challenge. It was the same knee that had been sore and throbbing when she'd gone to sleep. Well unfortunately for Teresa, apparently it had swelled up significantly during the night. Because, yes, it had been sore and uncomfortable last night. But today it was purple and looked a lot worse. And all that could flash through Teresa's mind at the moment were the two simple words, "Uh oh."

Teresa rolled over to the side and started rubbing her knee, in an attempt to diagnose just how bad the damage had been. Luckily, nothing was broken. She could tell that she hadn't taken any permanent damage when that heavy raft had fallen down onto her knee. But she did have some pretty nasty swelling right about now. And she could tell by the looks of it, it was probably going to get a lot worse.

"Man, yours looks worse than mine," Ethan said quietly.

Panicked, Teresa looked around. For a moment she hadn't realized that she wasn't the only one still laying in the shelter. But there was Ethan, and he had a sympathetic look on his face. Ethan had seen the color of Teresa's kneecap and now he looked genuinely sorry for her.

"I thought it would get better last night," Teresa whispered quickly. "I was hoping if I stayed off it and slept for a while, the swelling would go down."

"Does it hurt?" whispered Ethan.

"A little," Teresa admitted. "I can stand up on it but I don't think I'd want to run."

Teresa rose to her feet now, in an attempt to show Ethan she at least could stand up. And she did. Mostly. Teresa winced a little as she straightened her leg, but for now at least it wasn't too bad. For now it was just swelling and a bruise.

"Does anybody else know about your leg yet?" Ethan asked. "I mean, other than me?"

Teresa shook her head.

"They know the raft fell on me during the challenge," she whispered, "Gretchen and Mike saw it. But they don't know it stiffened up last night. And they definitely don't know I can barely stand up at the moment."

"Man, that sucks," said Ethan. "Look, I barely got bruised at all." He rolled to his side and lifted up his right knee so she could see it. And Teresa's heart fell. Even though the raft had fallen on both of their legs during the challenge, all Ethan had to show for his trouble was a minor scrape and a couple of bruises. His knee certainly wasn't discolored and purple like hers was. In fact Ethan didn't look like he'd really been injured at all.

"This isn't good, Ethan." Teresa looked a little pained to finally say it out loud. But it was the truth, wasn't it? If you were injured and female on day three, it just wasn't good. Not in Survivor it wasn't.

"They wouldn't vote you tonight out just for that," Ethan said, standing up. He reached over and gave her an empathetic hug. "You can still run. You can still work."

"And I'm still not Richard," Teresa tried her best to laugh.

Ethan held Teresa in a hug for a second, as he did his best to console his old friend from Africa. But he could tell that she was concerned. Even for a woman as proud and as strong as Teresa "The T-Bird" Cooper, he knew she was worried at the moment. Deep down, he could tell Teresa thought she was doomed.

"I still think we can get Richard out of here," Ethan said under his breath.

Teresa shook her head.

"It's not happening, Ethan."

She pulled back to look at him.

"Gretchen won't vote for him," she explained. "And Alicia told me she wants to keep the tribe together. She won't go against Gretchen this early. She said it's not worth it. Even though she does think keeping Richard is a huge mistake."

Ethan nodded, as he quickly ran through the possible voting scenarios in his head.

"Mike even told me he sort of likes having Richard around," Teresa continued. "So that's three people who won't vote for Richard for sure." She paused. "And then of course Richard can't vote for himself. So that's four 'no' votes for Richard no matter what."

"What about Colby or Kathy?" Ethan asked.

Teresa shrugged. She didn't know. Colby and Kathy tended to keep their cards very close to the vest when it came time to talk voting strategy. Neither one of them would ever come right out and admit anything, even if you asked them to sit down to talk. On a tribe full of Survivor strategists, Colby Donaldson and Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien happened to be the two best poker players of the entire bunch. Nobody knew what either one of them were thinking most of the time. And yes, that even included Teresa, who was allegedly Kathy's best friend on the tribe. Teresa had no clue what Kathy was going to do tonight. As far as Teresa Cooper was concerned, Colby and Kathy's plans for tonight's vote were an absolute mystery.

"Well Colby's sitting right out there," Ethan whispered, as he motioned towards a log out by the campfire. Colby was sitting on the log all alone, trying to clean mud out of the soles of his hiking boots. Nobody else was within a hundred feet of the guy.

"I think we need to go have a chat with him," Teresa whispered. "Maybe find out if there's some way we can get this vote turned back towards Richard."

Teresa took a step in that direction and then winced.

Her knee buckled.

She stumbled.

But Ethan caught her before she could fall back down.

"Just take it easy," Ethan whispered to his friend. "One step at a time. Your knee just needs to get stretched out a little bit today." Ethan had definitely played through injuries before. As a professional soccer player back home, he had been playing his way through assorted injuries for what seemed to be most of his life. "Just start slow this morning and try to build your flexibility up. Don't do it all at once."

Teresa nodded.

"But whatever you do," Ethan implored, "Don't give up. Don't take yourself out of this game just because it hurts too bad."

Teresa turned around and looked aghast.

"I would never give up!" She scolded him. "Ethan Zohn, you know me better than that! You take that comment back!"

Ethan laughed, and just smiled at her.

"Let's go talk to Colby," Teresa said.

Ethan helped her up as Teresa rose to her feet one more time. And this time she had a little more success. True, she was still a little wobbly when she got all the way upright, and it was still awfully sore if she moved in the wrong direction. But for now she was up. And for now she was playing.

Now it was just a matter of if Colby wanted to play too.



^^



"I don't want to lie to you guys," Colby said, once Ethan had asked him the question. "So I'll tell you both flat out. No I don't want to go against the rest of the tribe. Not this early anyway. Doing that would just be considered suicide."

"But this is your best chance to finally take out Richard!" Ethan explained. "Look, you don't want the guy here any more than I do..."

"But that don't have nothin' to do with it!" Colby shot back.

"Colby," started Teresa, "Do you seriously want Richard Hatch to get his hooks into the rest of the tribe? Do you really want to be a part of him taking over a second game in a row? Because he'll do it, you know."

"Richard won't do nothin'", Colby replied. "Look, guys, I don't like the guy any more than you do. You have to believe me. But he's not goin' home tonight and there's not much anybody can do about it."

"You can!" Ethan protested.

"I'm just one vote, guy," Colby was starting to look a little annoyed. "Look, if I say I'm gonna swing the vote towards Richard, what does that buy me? Let's say with me, you have three votes. Now we have three votes against four. And possibly three against five?" He looked amused by the idea. "Where's the strategic advantage for me in doing that?"

"The advantage," Ethan added, "Is that you can get rid of one of the biggest threats in this game. And you have my word that no matter what happens..."

Colby just rolled his eyes.

"Biggest threats?" He was nearly laughing. "I'm not sure what tribe you're on, E, but Richard aint even close to the biggest threat. He's disposable. He's a get out of jail free card."

"He's dangerous..." Ethan continued.

"No he's not," Colby wasn't kidding around anymore. "And I'll tell you why. Anybody on Keko can take out Richard Hatch any time we want to. He's only gonna get us far as the rest of the people here want him to go."

"But..." Ethan started.

"'But' nothin'," Colby snapped. "Gretchen don't want Richard gone tonight. Mike don't want Richard gone tonight. And I certainly don't want Richard gone tonight either. He's not going home tonight. So spare me the drama."

"Who are you voting for tonight?" Teresa asked softly.

Teresa had been quiet for most of this conversation. At least once Colby and Ethan had started going at it. Once the two boys had started arguing with one another, each one seemingly more frustrated than the other, Teresa had just sat back and shut her mouth. But now that Colby had mentioned he wasn't going to vote for Richard, she suddenly got a very bad feeling in her stomach that maybe they'd come and asked the wrong person. Maybe this door had been strategically shut a long time ago.

"You really want my honest answer?" Colby asked.

"Please," Teresa said softly.

"It's going to be Kathy or you," Colby admitted. He looked sheepish. "And if you want the honest truth, T, I already told most of them I'm votin' for you."

"Colby!" Teresa looked pained.

"Look," explained Colby, "It's not like there are that many options."

"There are plenty of options," Ethan started. "Just because the rest of the tribe wants to spare Richard, you're willing to just go along with it? You're going to take out one of our best workers, for no reason, and save a guy who you yourself have told me you want voted out? What kind of strategic nobility is that?"

Colby ignored him. Truth be told, he had been tired of Ethan's Arthurian chivalry about twelve hours ago.

"The vote tonight," Colby explained to Teresa, "Is probably going to come down to you or Kathy. That's the way it's shaping up. And the thing you have working against you is that you're the one who's injured."

"It's not as bad as it looks!" Teresa lied.

"Well injured or not," Colby added, "The powers that be have pretty much said it's down to you or Kathy. And Kathy's been lobbying hard to get the vote pushed to you."

Teresa was quite surprised by this piece of news.

"Now I'll tell you the truth," Colby suddenly lowered his voice. "T-Bird, I always liked you more than Kathy. To be quite honest, she sort of gets on my nerves." He paused. "But even looking at you right now, I can see that your leg's giving you problems. You can tell me it's better all you want, but I can see you weaving and wobbling just to stay up."

"It is better," Teresa protested.

Colby just looked at her, flatly. He had nothing else he wanted to say.

Ethan, off to the side, looked angry and frustrated. Although, to be honest, it had nothing to do with Colby's attitude. Ethan had always been annoyed by Colby's annoying self-righteous benevolence. That much wasn't a surprise at all. But Colby's attitude at the moment wasn't the reason Ethan was so frustrated by this whole conversation. It wasn't the reason he was lashing out. No, the real reason Ethan was losing his cool was that apparently Keko had decided on this course of action already, and nobody had bothered to tell him. Apparently Ethan Zohn was no longer a part of the Keko decision team. And for a competitor as intense and as driven as Ethan, that fact was infuriating.

"So that's it then?" Ethan sarcastically mused.

"That's it," Colby confirmed.

"It's going to be Teresa tonight at Tribal Council?" Ethan asked, bitterly. "And the two of us should just sit here and deal with it? What kind of bullshit is that?"

"Look, there are battles in life you can fight, guy," Colby said, "And there are some battles you have to concede. And I'm sorry, E, but people a lot more powerful than me have already decided about this."

"This is ridiculous," Ethan muttered.

"Call it what you want," Colby shrugged. "I mean, I'd prefer Richard was gone too, but it is what it is."

Ethan just stared at the ground. He felt totally powerless. Losing Teresa Cooper at the first vote was the stupidest thing in his life he'd ever heard!

"Well, Colby, I do thank you for your honesty," Teresa finally said. "I wish you would have gone the other way with this, but at least you didn't try to lie to me. At least you just came out and told me."

"I wouldn't lie to you, T-Bird. You know that."

"I know. Thank you, Colby." She leaned over, took his head in both hands, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Although I hope you'll understand that I still have to try to get this vote turned around. So don't take it personally if I ignore your advice and still try to swing it around to somebody else."

Colby laughed.

"You do that, T-Bird." He reached over and shook her hand. "You do that. And best of luck to you, too."



^^



As Keko went through their first full day of intra-tribal politics, their opponents to the south were enjoying a peaceful "day off" from the game of Survivor. In fact, the biggest highlight at Camp Ahi for most of the day today was that Frank went out and caught another wild bird.

Frank Garrison, the newly-anointed hunter of the Ahi tribe, came back a little after breakfast with the corpse of some sort of pheasant dangling from his right hand. It was the second bird Frank had caught in as many days, and the Ahis cheered at the sight of their hero walking back to camp with a full meal's worth of real food.

Frank, a man of few words, as always, had simply plopped the skinned bird down onto a stump and said, "breakfast is here."

That was it.

That sentence was the extent of Frank Garrison's small talk for the day. Well, other than the moment about a half hour later, when he suddenly got diarrhea of the mouth and regaled the tribe with the tales of his exciting hunt.

"Birds don't seem to be afraid of you out here," Frank had explained to his tribe, almost as a non sequitur. Nobody had really asked. So the Ahis weren't really sure why he was suddenly telling them all this. "Since they don't see many humans on this island, they really aren't sure about what to do."

So that had finally been the end of Frank Garrison's small talk for the day.

One dead bird.

One comment about breakfast.

And one fascinating glimpse into avian psychology.

Just another day in the life of the safest player in All-Star Survivor.

Just another day in the life of the guy who wasn't in the slightest bit of danger of ever being voted out around here.



^^

As Frank was basking in his comfortable role as "provider" for the Ahis, one of his tribesmates was doing her best to start a little providing of her own. You see, even though Sue Hawk hadn't done a whole lot in the game up to this point, day three was the day where she finally started to feel comfortable with the hand she'd been dealt in All-Star Survivor.

Day three was the first time that Sue really had a handle on the allies she needed to have. And that's how she found herself on the beach talking with Rob Mariano. In a conversation she never thought she'd be having just two short days ago.

"You know, all along I thought that Rob was just some doofus kid," Sue had admitted in an early morning interview today. "I didn't want nothin' to do with him at the start of the game." She laughed. "I guess I just thought he was an idiot."

Sure enough, Sue had thought Rob was just some moronic kid for the first two days of the game. And why wouldn't she? After all, he never shut up. He never took anything seriously.

"All he did for the first few days," Sue explained, "Was clown around down in the water with that dimwit Colleen. The two of 'em would splash around in the water all day and and play grabass. It was the dumbest thing I ever seen in my life."

So for the first two days of the game, Sue didn't want anything to do with the kid that was better known by his nickname of "Boston Rob." In fact, if you had asked Sue who the most unlikely person was that she'd ever align with out here, she would have answered "Boston Rob" in a nanosecond. There was no way these two ever would have aligned because there was not a single thing these two ever would have had in common.

Sue Hawk aligning with some kid named Boston Rob?

Fat chance that was ever going to happen.

"For the first two days of the game," Sue added, "I thought that my best bet out here was with the chicks. I thought that me, Tina, and Vee could all join up, and we'd all take this game to the end. And the guys wouldn't be able to do nothin' to stop us."

Sure enough, that had been Sue's intentions for the first two days of the game. Team up with Tina. Then team up with Vecepia. It was an alliance that absolutely made the most sense on paper. And up until this morning, that's exactly the way that Sue had planned it.

"But then I noticed something," she explained. "First off, I noticed today that Tina and Frank are close. Real close. Like brother and sister close. And since Frank and Lex are buddies already, I started to worry. I started to think, how well do I really know Tina? And why do I just assume she'd want to take out Lex just because she's one of the chicks?"

The minute that Sue realized that Tina might somehow be in with Lex, that changed things a little bit. That meant that, all of a sudden, Tina was no longer an option. She was just way too close to the enemy. Sue and Tina were never going to be part of some unstoppable "chick alliance" out here in the game.

With Tina now out of the picture, and Sue's proposed "chick alliance" now dead in the water, Sue had had to scramble to cobble together some sort of backup plan instead. After all, she couldn't take Lex out without any help. So she had started looking around at some of the more unconventional options instead, and that's when she found it. All of a sudden, about twenty minutes ago, Sue Hawk had suddenly... and unexpectedly... stumbled upon the ally she hadn't paid the least bit of attention to just two days before.

His name was "Boston Rob" Mariano.

And he was the perfect guy to assist in what she was planning to do.

"I started watching Rob today," Sue explained, "I don't know why but I just did. And once I started paying attention, I noticed something right away." She smiled out of the corner of her mouth, looking very much like a person who had just discovered the key to a mystery. "Rob doesn't want to be the village idiot on Ahi. He wants to be the leader. He wants to be Lex. And you can tell it in his eyes just by lookin' at him."

She paused.

"I bet you a hundred dollars that Rob wants Lex out of here just as bad as I do."

So that was Sue Hawk's revelation this morning, and that's what led to her meeting on the beach with Boston Rob. Sue desperately wanted Lex out of here. And she had a pretty good idea that Rob wanted the exact same thing. Even though she didn't know this for a fact, she somehow knew that he was just that type of player. Rob's aspirations of glory and leadership were glaringly obvious if you just knew where to look.

And that's how the two unlikeliest allies on Ahi somehow met up.

"Sure, maybe I'd be interested," Rob now slurred, slowly, after Sue had mentioned her plans to knock the Ahi leader off his perch. "But why me?" He looked suspicious.

"Because you want him gone as bad as I do," Sue explained.

"Maybe I do," Rob shrugged. "Maybe I don't."

"Oh bullshit," Sue laughed at him. "Rob, don't play your innocent dumbass act on me. I seen you. I watched you all day today. You're just sitting back, waiting for Lex to make a mistake." She laughed at him. "You're not subtle at all, dude."

Rob just looked down and smirked. Well okay, cross Sue off the list of people he knew would be controllable sheep out here. Apparently the redneck was a lot more intelligent than she liked to let on.

"We don't have to do nothin' permanent," Sue continued. "But since you want the same thing that I do, then why not? Why not work together since we both want Lex to fall on his ass?"

Rob continued to just look down at the ground. He said nothing.

"Look," Sue now tried to strongarm him, "Either you're with me, Rob, or you're not. But Lex is goin' down. I'm takin' him down. The wheels are already in motion." She glared directly at him. "So you're either in or you're out when it happens. It's your choice."

"I can get Colleen," Rob said, very quietly, still looking down.

"What?"

"I said," Rob looked up, and spoke a little louder now, "I can get Colleen. All I have to do is tell her which way to vote, and you got two of us."

Sue smiled.

"But Lex is almost untouchable," Rob quickly added. "He's already circlin' the wagons because he suspects somethin' is up. So be careful."

A-ha!, thought Sue. Rob had been thinking about this already. Her instincts had been right!

"You know Lex has Frank in his back pocket," Rob explained in his syrupy Boston accent. "And Frank's got Tina. And you better believe Lex has already started in on gettin' John."

Sue nodded. Most of this was common knowledge already.

"But I got Colleen," Rob had a little sparkle in his eye. It was the same sparkle that had sent Sue down here to the beach in the first place. "And I can get Vee. A lot of people don't realize this, but Vee and I still have a pretty tight relationship from Maaahquesas. And I can tell you right now she'd definitely be up for this. As long as she knows it will work, she'll be in."

"Good," smiled Sue.

"Vee is a cherry picker," Rob explained, "She won't do anything if it's dangerous, but if she knows it will work, she's in. Most of the time she's completely predictable."

"You can get her for sure?" Sue asked.

"No problem," Rob nodded. "Vee's pretty much the biggest coward in the world, but she's also a pretty good ally, if you know how to talk to her. You just have to get her to realize she'll never get caught."

Sue laughed.

So that was how Sue Hawk and Rob Mariano teamed up on the southern beach of Ni'ihau. It wasn't a bond of friendship. Nor was it really a bond of trust. No, this was the simplest bond in the game of life: unification against a common enemy. Sue and Rob had already figured out that the enemy of your enemy was inevitably your friend.

Sue certainly didn't trust Rob.

And Rob, for his part, didn't really trust Sue.

But their goals at the moment were in tune.

So for now, just for now, they were partners.

"Don't fuck me on this, Rob," said Sue, as the two of them tapped secret fists. "Just whatever you do, please don't fuck me. This is too important to be screwing up right now."

Rob simply smiled.

Because for once, maybe for the first time in Survivor, he wasn't planning to.



^^



Rob Mariano knew that Vecepia Towery was the riskiest alliance partner in the world. After all, he'd played the game with her before back on Maraamu. They'd been in cahoots before anyone ever realized it. He probably knew her style as well as anybody in the history of Survivor ever could.

Rob knew that Vecepia was a notorious alliance-hopper.

Oh brother, he knew it as well as the back of his hand.

But he also knew that he understood her. Not a lot of people understood Vecepia Towery out here, but Rob had always prided himself that he did. He knew Vecepia. Hell, he'd played with Vecepia. The two of them had taken out Hunter together! And when two players have worked together on the single most impressive blindside in Survivor history, well, that's pretty much a bond they will share for the rest of their life.

So that's why Rob turned to Vecepia.

For a deal, and a scheme, he knew she was willing to take.

"It'll be just like Huntah," Rob explained softly, once he had pulled Vecepia off into the forest. "You me, and Sue. We bring in Colleen." He counted the four names off on his fingers. "The four of us team up at the next vote, and we blindside the bastard before he even knows what hit him."

Rob grinned at her once he had finished explained it.

It was exactly like taking out Hunter.

The two of them had done this before!

"It'll be awesome," Rob laughed.

Vecepia, surprisingly, was very non-committal after Rob's plan come tumbling out of his mouth. Because, to be quite honest, she wasn't sure she wanted to be playing like that. Sure, blindsiding Hunter and overthrowing the Maraamus had been fun at the time. And she'd had a blast taking part in all of Rob's schemes and his machinations the first time around. Heck, those first few days back on Maraamu had been some of the most enjoyable experiences she'd ever had in her life. But then again, that was Marquesas. Sure it was fun. But it wasn't Hawaii.

Deep down, she wasn't sure she wanted to be part of all of that again.

"Taking Lex out will be a lot harder than Hunter was," Vecepia finally whispered, softly. "Lex has a lot more protection around him. Lex is just a much better player."

"Aw, come on, Vee," Rob baited her. "You and me together, we can really have some fun with this game. It's not like we haven't done this before."

Vecepia shrugged. And she smiled a little. Oh, it was just so tempting to start playing the Mariano game once again, wasn't it? Wouldn't it be just be so fun to start knocking off leaders one by one. Starting with Lex?

But still, Vecepia paused. To do it this early? On day three? Against Lex?? Were they crazy?

Vecepia weighed the options in her head.

She listened to Rob's persuasive charm.

And then, against all her better judgement, she finally decided she couldn't resist.

Damn you, Rob Mariano!

"I don't want to commit to anything," Vecepia finally whispered, softly. "But for now, I like the idea. Because you're right. The longer Lex sticks around, the more dangerous he's going to get."

"That's my girl," smiled Rob. "That's the old Vee."

"Hey, I didn't say I was in for sure," Vecepia clarified.

Rob held up his hands, innocently.

"And you're sure you can get Colleen?" Vecepia asked. She looked a little unsure about this. After all, Colleen Haskell was no Sarah Jones. Sarah might have a been a perfect sidekick for Rob back in Marquesas, but Colleen seemed a little bit, well, smarter. Vecepia wasn't convinced that Rob, and his charm, would be able to control this one quite as well.

"Colleen's with me," Rob promised. "Trust me. She's in."

"Okay," Vecepia sighed. She reached over and shook Rob's hand. "I'm in with you guys and Sue. I'm in to help you take out Lex."

"Awesome."

"But I'm warning you," Vecepia quickly added. "If this falls apart, or if Lex finds out, then I'm the first one out of there." She looked deadly serious. "Don't think I won't bolt if the heat is on."

"Hey, I wouldn't expect anything else!" Rob laughed, teasing her. "What fun is Survivor if Vee isn't jumping ship and kissing somebody's ass?"

"Shut up," she glowered at him.

She tried to look hurt, but then she smiled and she laughed. Deep down, it was good to be teamed up with Rob Mariano one more time. Sure, he could be a pain in the butt sometimes, but deep down she enjoyed Rob's schemes because he was fun.

Now whether she was actually going to go through with this deal, well that was an entirely different matter altogether. After all, a few people at camp would pay very handsomely for this type of information. A few of them would be very interested to find out that Sue and Rob were trying to take over the game. For now, Vecepia didn't know what she was going to do.

At the moment, all Vecepia Towery could do was smile, and mull over her two new interesting options.

Start up the old Maraamu games again, and help Rob take over the tribe? Or ditch Rob and Sue, sell them out, and gain favor with Lex? On one hand, with Lex out, this game would get chaotic and a lot more fun. But on the other hand, with Lex still here, it would be awfully good to be known as the one who saved him against an impending attack.

For now, Vecepia just didn't know what she wanted to do with this yet.

She probably wouldn't decide for sure for a couple of days.

^^




It was dinnertime. And the Kekos were preparing for their first sojourn to the dreaded Hawaiian Tribal Council.

As the tribe sat around their campfire, sharing small talk, Teresa Cooper looked anxiously from face to face, trying to read her tribesmates' body language as to what they were planning to do.

And at the moment, she didn't like what she was seeing.

Teresa Cooper had tried her best to get the vote swung around towards Richard today. Lord knows she had done everything she could. She had gone around most all of the afternoon, talking to person after person on Keko, as she tried to explain the logic of why Richard should go instead of her.

"But no matter how hard I tried," she would later lament in an interview, "Gretchen wasn't going to budge. I tried to change her mind. Alicia tried to change her mind. Even Ethan tried to change her mind. But Gretchen has it set in her head that Richard is going to help us out here." She shrugged, sadly. "And without Gretchen on board, it looks like no one is going to change. Nobody on Keko is really all that interested in rocking the boat so early in this game."

So Teresa had ended her quest to get Richard out of here.

Instead, she'd tried to get Kathy voted out of here.

And as with before, she'd hit a brick wall.

As Colby had warned her, the problem facing Teresa was that she was injured, while Kathy was not. And also, Kathy had already spoken to everyone first. Once those two factors had reared their ugly head in the world of Teresa Cooper, well there just wasn't all that much she could do about it.

"Dangit!" she exclaimed, in her last interview of the day. And that was just about the last thing she would say in this game. That phrase would be her final quote in All-Star Survivor, because this was about to be her final day in All-Star Survivor. Teresa Cooper was about to become the first eviction of the first season of All-Stars, and she hated it.

She hated it, hated it, hated it, hated it, hated it.

So Teresa sat there in silence, sulking, as the rest of the tribe sat around the campfire and shared their memories of their special three days in the game. This would be the last night that the Kekos would be a tribe of eight, and they wanted to reminisce about what a wonderful time they'd had so far the second time around in Survivor.

Gretchen went on to praise the work ethic of her new tribe. And how she loved it. And how this was so much different than Pagong that she was beside herself.

Mike went on to explain how special it had been that God had allowed him to come back and play the game of Survivor again. He even teared up a little bit as he explained that all he had wanted in life was to come back and get a second chance at this game. And now that he was here, how much he appreciated it.

Richard heard this in the dark and said nothing. All he did was just roll his eyes in mock amusement. Puh-leeease, he thought. Like any of these clowns are ever going to vote him out. Why not just hand him the check and get it over with?

After Mike, the rest of the tribe went around in the circle, saying what they were thankful for.

And finally, at the end, they came to Teresa.

Teresa hadn't intended to say anything. Indeed, she had intended to sulk and just stew here in perfect silence. But the minute the tribe came around to her, she decided it just wasn't worth it. Teresa Cooper wasn't a poor sport. Teresa Cooper wasn't a crybaby. No, Teresa Cooper was a proud athlete. She was one of the toughest competitors the game of Survivor had ever seen. And there wasn't a chance in hell she would leave this game sad and crying.

So when the Kekos finally came around to her, Teresa just looked up, sheepishly, and nodded to her friends.

This was no time to sulk.

Sure, she might be leaving the game tonight, but she was going to leave it on her terms, not theirs. Teresa wasn't going out with her tail between her legs. She was going to go out with her head held as high as she could.

"I just want to give thanks," she said to the tribe, in her earnest Georgia accent, "For being able to play the game of Survivor one more time." She paused and looked down. "I know I'm probably going home tonight." Another pause. "And it's okay. I'm not going to hold it against any of you. I know that's just the nature of the game. One of us just had to go, and unfortunately that somebody is probably going to be me."

Teresa stared at the ground for a few more seconds, then looked up once more to face the seven of her friends.

"I'm just glad," she smiled, "That I was on such a great tribe for the time I was here."

A moment of awkward silence followed as Teresa finished her speech. Nobody was really sure how to react. But then Colby broke the ice by reaching over to give her a hug. He reached over with both arms and gave his friend a big Texas hug. Next came Gretchen. And then Alicia. The Kekos wanted to salute Teresa one last time before they voted her out, so they all walked over to hug her and say their goodbyes.

And even though Teresa was touched by this spontaneous show of emotion.... really, she was... deep down she was still a little bit pissed. The southern woman in her might have been touched, but the fierce competitor in her just wasn't able to let it go.

"But why couldn't it have been Richard?" she protested, one last time. "You guys!! It's Richard!!"



^^



The Hawaiian Tribal Council set was an impressive sight. Set off in the woods, about five miles east of Camp Keko, it was essentially a large wooden lodge. Of course, being that this was Survivor, it wasn't just a wooden lodge. No, it had been constructed to look as authentic, and as foreboding, as a building could possibly get. Tribal Council on Ni'ihau wasn't supposed to look like a cabin out in the middle of the woods. It was supposed to look like a 19th century war lodge, where Hawaiian kings would have met before they went off to battle.

So it was this lodge that the Keko tribe was entering now, as they prepared to face their first vote, and thin their once-unstoppable herd.

"My god," whispered an impressed Ethan, as he finally got to see the inside of their Hawaiian war lodge, "We're in the Enchanted Tiki Room!"

"No kidding," joked Alicia.

The Kekos entered through a large palm frond archway. Then they ducked under a tropical, bamboo-frame doorway. And then they were inside. Then they were facing the most impressive part of the Tribal Council set.

"No... way...," stared an open-mouthed Mike.

Sitting in the middle of the Tribal Council lodge was a large black volcano. Well, not exactly a volcano volcano. It was only about five feet wide, and only stood about two feet high. But still, it was a most impressive sight. The volcano sat smack dab in the middle of the floor, between where the players would sit, and where Jeff Probst would sit. It was the centerpiece of the entire room.

"That's incredible," said Kathy.

The most impressive part of the volcano, and the part that really awed the Kekos as they first saw it, was the fact that some sort of glowing orangish-red liquid was currently oozing out of the top. The players really didn't know what it was... it certainly wasn't lava... but it was a close enough approximation to make the Kekos fairly impressed. It was also an amazing visual that, quite frankly, none of the players had expected to see.

So the Kekos sat down in their seats.

They arranged themselves in two rows, four in front, and four in the back.

And they sat there, waiting

Even though there were no lights in the lodge, the glowing liquid coming out of the volcano provided more than enough illumination for the players to see what was going on. And it also made the proceedings a little bit creepy. You see, when you have a glowing liquid that's slowly traveling down a sloped plane, you get lots of funky shadows as the light bounces crazily at random angles. And that's the effect the volcano had on the proceedings here at Tribal Council. When that pseudo glowing "lava" was flowing, everything in the room looked a little bit creepy.

And that's just the effect the producers had been looking for when they designed it.

So the Kekos sat here in silence. They really didn't have anything to say. It was just the eight of them in this crazy little wooden lodge, along with that volcano lighting up the room with its ever-pouring "lava."

No one said a word.

Shadows danced off every wall.

There was not a peep to be heard, out of anyone.

And that's when their host finally entered and joined them.

"Welcome," smiled Jeff Probst, as he seemingly appeared out of nowhere. All of a sudden, he was just standing there, in one of the dark, dancing-shadowed corners of the room. "Welcome to your first All-Star Tribal Council."

Jeff walked over and took his seat, on a wooden stump across from the Kekos.

He nodded and smiled at them, over the soft golden glow of the volcano.

It was time for Tribal Council to begin.



^^



Deep down, Teresa Cooper still hoped that the Kekos were going to change their mind tonight. Deep down, even though she knew all was probably lost, she still held on to that list tiny bit of hope. After all, sometimes people change their mind when they stand up there at that ballot box. Sometimes they change their minds up there. Don't they?

So Teresa folded her hands. And she prayed. She prayed for just a little bit of luck that maybe... just maybe... she was going to be spared.

But of course, there were no miracles for Teresa Cooper tonight.

Tonight, there was just no more magic left in the well.

Teresa had hoped and prayed with all of her being. And she had defended herself through nearly two hours of Jeff Probst Tribal Council questions. But when that first vote came up with her name on it, she knew that her All-Star experience was officially over.

"T-Bird," read the first vote that Jeff held up for the tribe.

That was Gretchen's vote. And it wasn't a surprise. True, Gretchen and Teresa had been great friends out here since the start of the game, but Gretchen had always been adamant that the tribe needed Richard because they needed to stay strong. So Gretchen had cast her vote for Teresa instead. She hadn't really wanted to. Deep down, Gretchen hated voting anybody off, if you got right down to it. But then again, Teresa was injured. At the moment, because of her injury, Teresa could barely stand up.

"And that makes the choice pretty easy," Gretchen had shrugged, as she cast a reluctant vote. "Get well soon, T-Bird. We'll miss you."

Teresa had known about Gretchen's vote, and Teresa understood. After all, Gretchen was nothing if not practical. Heck, practicality was probably her middle name. If Gretchen sees a weak player who can't contribute, the first instinct she has is to thin the herd. Teresa wasn't offended, or shocked, by that vote in the slightest.

The second vote Jeff held up came from Mike.

The third vote Jeff held up came from Alicia.

And then came the final two, from Richard and Kathy.

That was five votes for Teresa.

And that was enough.

The Kekos had just been reduced to seven.

Teresa leaned back to reach for her torch, and that's when she locked eyes with her best friend in the game, Kathy. Teresa and Kathy made eye contact for just a split second. And Teresa could immediately tell that Kathy felt horribly guilty about all of this. One look at Kathy's face told the whole story. After all, Kathy's efforts in the past twenty-four hours had almost single-handedly gotten Teresa voted out of the game. And now she felt terrible about it.

"I'm sorry, T," Kathy said to her friend, as the T-Bird reached for her torch. "I had to do it. It was going to be you or me. Please don't take it personally."

Teresa just looked up.

Then she smiled.

"Don't worry," Teresa answered back. "You did what you had to do. Nice work." She paused for a second, then winked at the woman she still very much considered her friend. Then she leaned forward and whispered into Kathy's ear. "Now go out and win this thing, okay?"

Kathy and Teresa smiled.

Then they exchanged a quick hug.

And then it was time for T-Bird to leave.

"Please bring me your torch," said Jeff. And Teresa did exactly that. She brought up her torch, still hobbling a little bit, and she placed herself in front of the host. And she stood there, stoically, as Jeff lowered the snuffer and ended her game for good.

"The tribe has spoken."

Her flame went out.

And with that, the T-Bird was done.

"Bye guys," she turned and addressed her former tribe. She gave a small little friendly wave. "You guys stay in the game. Don't lose any more challenges." She smiled. "Don't let the fat lady sing on you, too!"

"Bye, Teresa," said Colby.

"Bye, T-Bird," said Gretchen.

"Get well soon," smiled Kathy.

Teresa turned one final time and hobbled her way out of Tribal Council. She exited the lodge, she walked down a dark, lonely path into the woods, and in a matter of moments, she was gone.

"Now I remember why I hate this game," Gretchen whispered to Colby. She appeared to be crying. So she dropped her head onto his shoulder in an attempt to hide it. "Now I remember why it sucks out here. I hate it."

Colby, ever the gentleman, put his arm around her shoulder and consoled her.

He didn't have the heart to tell her it was probably going to get worse.

- Read Teresa Cooper's final words

- Read Mario's Episode 1 commentary notes

- Back to the All-Star Hawaii episode archive

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