All-Star Survivor: Hawaii Episode #3 Here There Be Traitors

Keko Tribe (green): Alicia Calaway, Gretchen Cordy, Colby Donaldson, Richard Hatch, Michael Skupin, Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien
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 7

Morning came early to camp Keko.

As dawn broke over the horizon, far off to the east, a serene silence hung over the campsite of the tribe to the north. And this was perfectly normal. After all, mornings on Ni'ihau were always like this. Mornings on Ni'ihau were always peaceful. Mornings on Ni'ihau were always perfect.

At the moment, the only sound at Keko was the waves, as they lapped gently up against the golden sandy beach to the west. And that's all there was. Just lap, lap, lap. Just endless water, cascading slowly towards the island, and then dissipating on the golden brown sand like a ghost. Around here, the waves never stopped. And in the mornings, that's all you heard. Just one wave after another, sliding onto the beach and then sizzling and dissolving in the sand.

*splash* Hisssssssssssssss.

This was the only sound right now at camp Keko.

*splash* Hisssssssssssssss.

Just the morning sound of the waves.

*splash* Hisssssssssssssss.

And the faint smell of smoke, from last night's campfire, which had finally died just hours ago.

As daybreak serenity wrapped its gentle and loving arms around the Keko campsite, a new visitor had suddenly decided to drop by. After all, it's not that often that black-tailed deer see things like campsites on the isolated beaches of Ni'ihau. People aren't supposed to be on this island. Campsites aren't supposed to be sitting here. In fact, it was entirely possible that these were the first human beings this deer had ever seen before in her life.

Curious about her strange new two-legged neighbors, the young deer now wandered about the sleeping campsite, poking her nose into containers, and picking through the sand for any wayward leftover scraps.

Unsatisfied by the food offerings Camp Keko had to offer, the inquisitive deer then poked her head into the bamboo shelter, to get a better look at these strange new creatures who were living so close to her beach. Of course, all she saw were five sleeping forms. She didn't quite know what to make of them. Nor would any deer in her position know what to make of them. After all, since Ni'ihau had basically been untouched by human encroachment throughout the years, the deer, and goats, and other game on this island really had no fear of human beings. In fact, they were more curious about their visitors than anything else. Why would deer be afraid of humans? Why would they have any reason to be?

No, when humans came to Ni'ihau, as the Ahis and the Kekos had a little over a week ago, that generally means lots of scraps thrown away at their camp.

And for a hungry young deer on the go, that was great.

So the deer poked her head into the Keko shelter, and did a quick once-over of the humans inside. And there they were, just the five of them. Nothing exciting. Nothing to be frightened about. Just five people fast asleep. There was no food here. There was no water here. And, frankly, the deer hoped this campsite would have been a little more interesting.

Completely bored with her human neighbors, the deer now wandered away from camp and over towards a nearby patch of sugarcane. Because here was a feast. Those boring humans might have brought the promise of food, but in actuality they hadn't brought squat. All they had brought was disappointment. No, when you needed a real meal on Ni'ihau, you could always turn to sugarcane. All deer knew that. And here it was. Breakfast. She had finally stumbled onto it.

Sugarcane.

The nectar of the gods.

This day was very special indeed.

As the deer lowered her head to the greenish patch of sugarcane, she lost her peripheral vision for just a split second. So she was completely unaware of the fact that, all of a sudden, she was no longer alone. In the flash of an eye, the angel of death suddenly rose up directly behind her.

It was Mike.

And he had a machete.

The deer, who had been so blinded by her naive curiosity, had had absolutely no idea that Mike had been silently stalking her for the last five minutes. But here he was. And now he had her. Trapped in the sugarcane. Just like he'd been hoping to do.

The minute the deer put her head down, the machete came up.

And in one quick flash, the deer's life was done.

Michael Skupin had killed once again.




^^



With the Keko tribe steadily decreasing in numbers, the comfort of their sleeping quarters was definitely getting a little bit better. And even Gretchen would admit that that was a good thing. After all, with only six people here, there were no more knees in her back when she slept. There were no more feet in her face as she breathed.

Six people in the shelter is much better than eight, she found herself thinking.

And, surprisingly, this wasn't even followed by a feeling of guilt.

As the five Kekos laying here tried their best to remain safely encased in their first night of comfortable sleep, a sound outside the shelter suddenly jarred them into attention. All of a sudden, as hard as they were trying to all stay asleep, there was a loud "THUNK" outside that suddenly jarred every one of them awake.

"Noooooooo," moaned a groggy Alicia.

Gretchen, who had already been half-in and half-out of sleep for a while, stifled a small giggle at the pained agony behind Alicia's moan. Because they all knew by now that Alicia was just not a morning person. Never had been. Never would. And that meant that every morning, at five A.M., whenever Mike woke her up doing whatever he did outside, Alicia just laid there and moaned, as if on cue.

And it never failed to strike Gretchen as laugh-out-loud funny.

"Flashbacks of Australia?" Gretchen asked from under her blanket, teasingly.

"I'm gonna fucking kill him," Alicia moaned, groggily, while still completely unseen under a mountain of blanket.

The rest of the Kekos, who were all at least somewhat conscious by this point, now started giggling. Alicia's morning agony was always predictable around here, and always good for a chuckle. Heck, even Richard found himself laughing at the plight of his teammate. Because Alicia and pained morning profanity were pretty much a Keko tradition.

"Hey Alicia," prodded Colby, "Why don't you go out and help Mike with whatever he's doing? I bet he'd love to have a smiling face helping him out."

"Why don't you f..."

Alicia had obviously finished this sentence with some sort of profanity. But considering that she was only about 25% awake, as well as buried under a blanket, completely muffled and unseen, well, none of the other Kekos quite managed to catch it.

THUNK. THUNK THUNK.

Okay, there was more extraneous noise outside from Mike.

THUNK.

What the hell was he cutting out there?

"Kathy," said Colby, finally, "You're closest to the door. Do you think you can peek your head out and at least see what he's doin' out there?"

"Um, I'm not sure I want to," said Kathy.

"Just go out there and tell him to shut the hell up," Alicia moaned again from under her blanket.

"Fine," sighed Kathy.

She didn't want to do it. After all, they all knew Mike was crazy. And if he was cutting something up out there, well, that could only mean he'd probably gone out hunting. Lord knows he'd been threatening to start doing it sooner or later. And if Mike was cutting, that meant that Mike had been killing. That meant that their camp probably looked like a crime scene right about now.

And that was, well, a little bit... "yuck."

So Kathy held her breath as she peeked her eyes out of the shelter, and took in the carnage.

Sure enough, there was Mike Skupin.

He was shirtless, and his hands were smeared with blood.

Just like she had been expecting.

"Uh, morning, Mike," she stammered, awkwardly, still not quite believing what she was seeing. "Um. Having fun?"

Mike looked over and saw her. Then he grinned. Then he let out one his trademark Mike laughs, one of those George McFly-esque hitching little "Heh heh, heh heh" ones. And that's when Kathy saw what he had done.

There was a deer carcass, mostly skinned.

And there was Mike.

Helpfully lifting up the deer's head.

So Kathy could get a better look at what he had killed.

"Um, good job, Mike," was all she could say. "Way to go."

Quickly, Kathy pulled her head back in the shelter. Well that was pretty much the worst thing in her life she'd ever seen. It also happened to be pretty much exactly what she'd expected to see. Why had that grisly picture even surprised her?

"Deer, goat, or shark?" Colby asked. "Which one did he get?"

"Or human." Alicia croaked, from under her blanket.

"Oh no, it was a deer," Kathy confirmed. "A black-tail. Decent-sized, too. Looks like Mike actually caught something to eat."

"Is he actually wearing the skull as a trophy?" Alicia croaked, one last time.

Flustered, Kathy ignored her. She just put her head down, closed her eyes, and tried to go back to sleep.

Living with Mike was an experience, several people had warned her going into this.

And now she was finally seeing it first-hand.

"Mike's a fucking psychopath," Alicia repeated, under her blankets, for about the fifth time this morning. "I told you guys. I told you guys he was crazy."

And Kathy, for the first time ever, was actually starting to see why.



^^



The Keko tribe finally rose from their slumber about an hour later. First Gretchen. Then Kathy. Then Colby. Then Richard. And then finally Alicia.

One by one, they stumbled out of the shelter.

To the most delicious aroma they'd ever smelled before in their lives.

"Oh my god," Colby said, as the sweet smell of deer steak assaulted and invaded his nostrils. "Skupin, what did you do? That's unbelievable!"

It was probably around 6:30 or 7:00 A.M. right now, but the Kekos had no way of knowing that. After all, they didn't have watches or anything. All they did know is that Mike had about ten pounds of meat cooking on a rack over that fire pit. And their mouths were salivating almost instantly the moment they smelled it.

One by one, as the Kekos came over to the firepit, Mike handed them each a small skewer of meat on a stick.

And one by one, Mike made up for all the noise he had caused with his chopping.

Because in the mind of every single player on this tribe, Mike suddenly went from "crazy psycho axe killer" to "benevolent godlike steak maker." And he did it in the blink of an eye.

Heck, even Richard went out of his way to compliment this meal!

"I don't know how you did it," Richard admitted to Mike, once he had devoured another piece of deer meat off the skewer, "But this is fantastic. Good work, Mike."

"Hey, I just wanted to feed you guys today," Mike explained, seemingly right from his heart. "I felt bad I hadn't been able to bring anything in before. I felt like I was letting Keko down by letting everyone go hungry."

"Mike, you make the rice every morning," said Gretchen, as she wolfed down the second of her skewers. "You didn't have to do this. You already feed us pretty well."

Even though she was still groggy, Alicia suddenly shot a quick look at Colby.

And Colby, of course, shot a quick look back at her.

Gretchen was behind Mike as food provider all of a sudden!

This hadn't happened out here before.

Up to this point in the game, Gretchen had always referred to Richard as the Keko food provider. That was the opinion that she'd held, and she'd resisted every attempt by Mike (or anybody but Richard) to convince her otherwise. And how could they? After all, up to this point, Richard Hatch really had been the only player on Keko who'd sated the tribe. He'd brought in fish after fish after fish, day after day after day, and nothing Mike, or Colby, had done had been able to match it.

But all of a sudden now Mike had fed everybody.

With meat!

And all of a sudden Mike was getting enthusiastic praise for it.

So Alicia exchanged one more look with her friend Colby.

And smiled.

Gretchen's sentence was huge!

"Well I just wanted you guys to be happy," Mike responded, to Gretchen. "Because if you guys are fed and happy, then I'm happy. So if you guys like deer meat, well I'll just have to get more."

Mike's methods of providing may have been unconventional. And his style might have left a little bit to be desired. And truth be told, just like in Australia, Alicia really could do without his whole "I just want to feed everybody, I'm just a servant of the tribe" do-gooder bullshit.

But what Mike might have just done is signed the death warrant for a certain player on this tribe named Richard Hatch.

All Mike had wanted to do today was make his tribe strong.

All Mike had wanted to do today was feed Keko.

But instead, he may have just made Richard completely replaceable.

He might have given Keko the best gift they could possibly get.




^^



Even though the Kekos had been excited by Mike's unexpected gift of delicious, succulent steak this morning, the mood around camp was definitely a little bit somber. After all, it wasn't every day that you were down in Survivor All-Stars, eight to six. Things like that just didn't happen to most of the successful, type-A people on this tribe. The Kekos weren't supposed to be the losers. They were supposed to be the winners! And they'd be lying if they told you they weren't feeling just a little concerned over how things thus far had worked out.

"Vote me out, and watch what happens."

That was the warning they'd been given by Ethan Zohn last night at Tribal Council. That was the prophecy that they'd willingly chosen to defy.

"Vote me out, and watch what happens."

Said with that defiant air of unbreakable truth.

Even though the Kekos still thought they had done the right thing in voting out Ethan last night, they'd be damned if those words weren't weighing a little heavily on their minds today. After all, Ethan had been so damned certain when he had kept repeating it, over and over. He had just kept repeating that line, almost in monotone, as if he knew something about the future that the rest of them, for whatever reason, did not.

"Vote me out, and watch what happens."

Damn that Ethan.

Why couldn't he have just gone down without much of a fight?

So was the Keko tribe already out of this game? Was voting out Ethan the straw that had broken the proverbial camel's back. Were things really stacked so heavily against them, down eight to six, that they might as well just give up and go home right about now?

Well as down as they were today, most of the Kekos certainly didn't think so. At least, not the more ambitious, driven members of the tribe.

The Gretchens and Colbys and Alicias of the world certainly didn't think that the fat lady had actually sung yet. Oh, they were definitely starting to hear her warm up. Even someone as competitive as Colby Donaldson would have to admit that, at this point, things weren't really working the way they were supposed to around here.

"But there's still four quarters in a football game," Colby would often repeat in his interviews. "Remember that. Even though we're fallin' behind, there's four damn quarters of football to play. And as near as I can tell, we aint even to halftime yet."

So Colby was trying his best to keep his inner fire alive. In fact so were most of the Kekos. They were trying to stay positive, and trying to stay competitive, despite the somber cloud that hung over their heads for most of the morning. Even though the skies up above them seemed a little bit grayer today, the Kekos were doing everything in their power to keep just a little bit of sunshine poking through.

Just a little sunshine, poking through.

Just a little hope.

As hard as that might be to do.

After all, it couldn't be that bad, could it? Keko still had Mike and Colby on their team. They still had two of the most well-rounded athletes the game of Survivor had ever seen. Not to mention the incredibly capable triumvirate of Gretchen, Alicia, and Kathy. There was no way this group of people was going to be shut down for the first six votes of this game. There was no way they were going to be shut out all the way to the merge.

There was no way the unthinkable like that could possibly happen.

Was there?

"Of course not!" Kathy answered the question in one of her interviews.

No matter what, Keko was going to claw their way back into this game. And they just knew it. It might not be today. And it might not be tomorrow. But it was going to happen, and soon. After all, this wasn't some flimsy group of crybabies who could be torn apart by the slightest little losing streak. This wasn't a lesser tribe who would fall apart at the first sign of strife. This was the motherbleeping Keko Tribe of All-Star Survivor. This was the strongest tribe that could ever be assembled, and ever would, in the history of the game!

Keko wasn't going to fall apart like Samburu or Maraamu.

They were far too good for that.

And that's exactly what they continued to tell themselves, one after another, when hopelessness touched down, and paranoia and futility began to set in.

Of course, there was one member of the Kekos who couldn't give a rat's ass about any of this. And you can probably guess who it was. Because when Richard Hatch saw the rest of his tribe sitting around today, all mopey and blue, like this was the end of the world, well all he could do was sit there and laugh.

Awwww, poor babies, he thought to himself, the minute he saw the sad little hug that Alicia and Gretchen shared over by the firepit first thing in the morning. Keko's going to lose, and it's such a great big tragedy that I just don't know how I'll be able to make it through the day!

So Richard just sat there, saying nothing, but smirking with amusement, as the Kekos moped around camp today and tried their best to keep everyone's spirits up.

And he did his best not to crack any jokes.

Truth be told, Richard had gotten awfully tired of these people over the last couple of days. Although he had done his best not to show it. He had gone out of his way to keep the old "Richard" face on, and stay predictable, and not give any hint of the level of contempt he held for the rest of the tribe. But there was no denying it was there. Richard was so completely tired of these people, and their smug superiority, and their belief that "Keko is the good and righteous tribe", and their belief that "If Ahi wins, it will be a tragedy", that he almost couldn't hold it in any longer.

In fact it took more work nowadays not to say anything than it would have taken just to open his mouth and tell them all he thought they were ridiculous.

"Oh I would love to just walk up to Gretchen and tell her that this whole "strength in numbers" notion is complete and utter horse crap," Richard had laughed in an interview with a producer this morning. "I mean, I'd love to go up and tell her that. Wouldn't you?"

One of Richard's favorite tactics in interviews was to pose questions to the producers, in an attempt to get them onto his side, like they were co-conspirators in some sort of club. Richard, ever the egoist, tended to do this sort of thing all the time. Of course, most of the producers wouldn't fall for it. But Richard continued to do it anyway. He was constantly trying to get producers' thoughts on the game by posing a series of seemingly innocent questions throughout his interviews. And, being Richard Hatch, it's possible he didn't even realize he was actually doing this.

"Oh I would love to say something about how ridiculous these people are," Richard smiled, with a playful little gleam in his eye. "I'd love to just tell them right to their face. But I can't."

"Why not?" asked the producer.

"Because you know what would happen," Richard explained. "I'd be accused of 'being a troublemaker' by the powers that be." Richard made the little finger quotes as he said this. "The minute I start playing the game, the minute I open my mouth and start talking any strategy at all, they'd get rid of me so fast I wouldn't even know what happened."

"But you talked strategy with Kathy before the first vote," countered the producer. "And then again with Ethan yesterday. You told him how he could stay safe. And you don't consider that 'strategizing'?"

The producer had heard this sort of B.S. from Richard before. In fact, all the producers had. Dealing with Richard meant dealing with all sorts of double talk and sometimes-convenient logic. Talking with Richard meant listening to theories that only sometimes made sense. Ever since Borneo, the producers had dealt with this, and ever since Borneo, the producers had listened to this. And over the past few days, some of the newer, more provocative, producers had actually start to call him on some of it.

"I didn't strategize with Ethan," Richard explained, patiently, as if talking to a child. "That was different. That was me just helping someone out who was looking for help. I didn't come to him. He came to me. And the same thing happened with Kathy."

"But that's still 'playing the game'," said the producer. "Isn't it?"

"No, it's not." explained Richard, in his somewhat condescending, New England project manager way. "When I'm talking about 'playing the game', I'm talking about what Colby does. I'm talking about what Alicia does. I'm talking about going out there and influencing the game. I'm talking about going out there and making the votes happen that you want to happen."

"And you consider this too risky?" asked the producer.

"Well in a perfect world, no," said Richard. "In a perfect world, that's not too risky. But this isn't a perfect world. This is pretty much the opposite of a perfect world." He paused for a second, to let this last sentence sink in. "So yes, it would be too risky for me to go out there and start changing the vote. At least, right now."

In truth, the producers knew that Richard was dying to get out there and start mixing it up. They knew it had been killing him to just sit here, and lay low, and have nothing to do. But the problem was they just couldn't get him to admit it.

No many how many interviews they did, they could never get Richard to flat out say, in his own words, that he wanted to start scheming, and playing the game.

They knew it was true.

It just had to be true.

But they could never get the smug bastard to sit there and actually admit it!

Where was the real Richard Hatch? The one that had once ruled this game in Borneo? Well he was there somewhere under that surface. The producers knew The Stingray was lurking somewhere, waiting to strike. But even they had been surprised by his ability to lay low for so long.

The producers thought they had known Richard Hatch as well as any human being possibly could. They thought they could predict him. And they had been wrong.

Because even out here, in Survivor, in his domain, they had been continually surprised by his patience.

"So what are your plans for today?" asked the producer, really more in an attempt to make small talk than anything else.

"I think I'll go out and catch some more fish," smiled Richard, slyly. "You know, maybe just show my value to the tribe. And not make any waves. And make sure that Mike isn't the only one around here who can actually feed us."

The producer just smiled and nodded.

Old Richard wasn't here yet.

But he was coming.

After all, that snarky little comment about Mike was just the sort of thing old jealous Richard would have probably said.

"Any plans to strategize today?" asked the producer.

"Well if I do," chuckled Richard, as he stood up to walk back to camp, "Well you'll be the first to know, now won't you?"

With that, the cameras went off.

No, old Richard hadn't surfaced yet.

But the producers were confident he would be here quite soon.

After all, the Stingray was coming to Camp Keko.

Oh yes, he was coming.

It was only a matter of time.

There was no way Richard Hatch could lay low and stay passive for more than a week.



^^



Over at Camp Ahi, Susan Hawk was shocked this morning to discover that one of the players she had once thought was useless was actually turning out to be anything but. In fact, if Susan had been asked to name her favorite player on the tribe, at this very moment, she'd be as surprised as anyone when the words "Colleen Haskell" came tumbling out of her mouth.

"I'll admit that I was wrong about Colleen," Sue was currently admitting, in a very candid interview with a producer. And she looked stunned to be actually saying this out loud. "I know I said it. I know I said she was worthless. But I was wrong. And I can admit that."

"What made you change your mind?" asked the female producer.

"Well all along I sort of thought Colleen would be the first one voted out, you know?" Sue explained. "I mean, it's not like she's all that strong. And she don't do nothin' around camp. So right from the start, I figured, well this girl's about as useless as useless can get."

"And also because she was a Pagong," joked the producer. After all, she knew Sue's black-or-white predictable logic quite well. They all did.

"Well yeah, there was that," laughed Sue. "All the Pagongs were lazy pieces of shit. We all hated 'em. So, yeah, the only thing I knew about Colleen goin' in was that she was just one of the bunch."

"So what makes her so valuable now?" came the follow-up question.

"What makes her so valuable now is that she's the only one on Ahi I think I can trust!" came Sue's surprisingly heartfelt answer. "She's the only one here who's guaranteed to be on my side, no matter what!"

Yes, it was true.

And Sue was finally coming around to actually acknowledging it.

Even though Sue Hawk had a perfectly strong foursome lined up for the inevitable showdown with Lex, deep down she had a niggling sensation in her brain that kept screaming at her to be careful. After all, two of the people she was depending on at that first vote were Boston Rob and Vecepia. The deceptive ones. The mistrustful ones.

Sue had somehow placed her life in this game in the hands of two people who were notorious for not only not sticking by their friends, but who actually seemed to get off on jumping between sides.

In other words, even though Sue's interests were aligned with Rob's and Vecepia's at the moment, she knew that someday they might not be. And that's why she suddenly realized that Colleen Haskell was her one Rock of Gibraltar in this alliance.

Colleen, worthless little "I have no business being here" Colleen, was her one real friend in the game.

And the thought came so unexpectedly that Sue's head nearly spun right around.

"So you think that Rob or Vecepia are going to screw you?" asked the producer.

"Oh I know they're going to screw me," laughed Sue. "I just don't think they're going to do it now. For now, they sort of need me to get past Lex and the group. So to take me out now would be dumb. But I know they're going to screw me somewhere down the line. I know that both of them are sitting there, just waitin' for it."

"So why align with them?" came the perfectly appropriate question.

"Because all I need is to get past the first vote with Lex!" Sue answered. "Look, I aint looking for a final four deal with those two. I mean, I was, when I first come here. But this one is just a one-timer. I wouldn't partner up with a douchebag like Rob if I didn't have to."

"So then what are your plans after the Lex vote?" asked the producer. "Just dump Rob and Vecepia before they can dump you?"

"Well my plans are to somehow get the chicks together," said Sue. "That's what I always planned to do. Because the minute the chicks get together, they're usually unstoppable."

"So then you'd need Tina."

"Well yeah," answered Sue. "I need Tina if I'm ever gonna get anywhere. But since she's attached to Lex like a tick that'll just have to wait."

So anyway, that was Sue's plan in the game. She planned to ride this thing with Rob and Vecepia, temporarily, as far as she could. And no, she didn't particularly like either one of them all that much. But she was quite confident that all three of them shared the same interest at the moment, which was getting Lex out. And that was all that was important at this stage of the game, at least as far as Sue was concerned. After all, you didn't really have to like your allies. You just all had to have a common purpose and outcome in mind. Again, another important lesson from Richard back in Borneo. Thanks, Richard.

But despite all that, it was Sue's growing (and unexpected) friendship with Colleen that, today, most weighed on her mind.

This morning, Sue and Colleen had been the first two people up and out of the shelter, and together they had made breakfast for the rest of the tribe. And this wasn't actually all that uncommon an occurrence. Sue and Colleen had been spending a lot of time together lately. And not even strategic time, either. The two women had just been basically hanging out a lot lately, just shooting the breeze.

And much to Sue's surprise, she found that Colleen was actually, in her own way, quite personable.

"I never talked to Colleen much back in Borneo," Sue confessed to the producer. "I know I probably should have. But I never did." Sue looked awfully defensive when she said things like this. "I mean, why would I? The Pagongs were basically our hostages. Why get to know someone right before you vote them out. Right?"

The producer said nothing.

One Sue got into one of her guilty moments, you quickly learned to just let her go and keep talking. In no way were you supposed to interrupt.

"But Colleen is actually pretty funny if you ever talk to her," Sue said, sheepishly. "In fact, I sort of wish I'd known that back on day one, because maybe I would have talked to her sooner. But she is funny, and she is fun. And... you know..." Sue actually sort of struggled to get this next part out. "She's the only one here who doesn't put on a face just to tell you what you want to hear. Colleen's the only one here who's not one hundred percent playing a role."

And there it was.

Even though Sue Hawk liked to pride herself on being a hardcore strategic Survivor player, as tough as the rest of them, deep down she got incredibly burnt out trying to keep up image of being a bad-ass all the time. And she'd even admit it. Yes, Sue was tough. And yes, Sue would kick your ass if you said that she wasn't.

But deep down it drove her crazy to have to "play Survivor" twenty-four hours a day.

"Colleen is the only person here who's sort of civil most of the time," Sue admitted. "I know that sounds silly, and I know it makes me sound like a little girl, but it's actually sort of important."

"Why?" asked the empathetic producer.

"Because Colleen isn't a phony!" Sue blurted out. "Rob and Vecepia, they're as fake as they come. They'll tell you anything they want, just to give off the image that they're on your side. Neither of them cares about lying. And everyone knows it."

"So is everyone on Ahi putting on a mask?" came the next question.

"Well Tina, she's a hypocrite," said Sue. "I mean, I know I like her and all. But she's such a phony that you know she probably talks shit behind your back. And John too. I mean, I think John's great as a tribesmate. But he's a total player who puts on a smile. In fact, I'd probably trust him less than anyone here. Even Rob!"

"What about Lex and Frank?" asked the producer.

"They aren't deceptive," Sue said bluntly. "They're just both assholes. I don't like either one of 'em."

"So then it's pretty much Colleen," summarized the producer. "For an ally."

"Yeah," sighed Sue, "I guess it pretty much is."

Wow.

She hadn't meant to turn this into a "Colleen is my only friend! Boo hoo!" confessional, but apparently that's what had just happened. Sue's only true ally on the tribe was Colleen.

Worthless Colleen.

If you had explained that to Sue six days ago, she probably would have punched you in the face.

Her interview now done, Susan Hawk stood up and walked back to camp, now feeling melancholy and a little bit sad. After all, up until an hour ago, the realization hadn't quite set in that she only had one real friend in this game.

But now it had.

And that wasn't good.

Sue Hawk wasn't the type of person you'd call "manic depressive" or anything like that, but she definitely had ups and downs, depending on her mood. And she had always been one of the more mercurial players for the producers to deal with, for this very reason.

When Sue Hawk was up, she was really up.

When Sue Hawk was down, she was really down.

And now that she realized how alone she was out here, that down part was back.

Sue Hawk still intended on her "all chick alliance" to form one day on Ahi and dominate the end of this game. In fact, she felt so confident in this plan, she knew it was right. After all, like Gretchen over on Keko, Susan Hawk really was the definition of a Survivor feminist. She didn't like voting for chicks, and never would. In fact, even to this day, Sue still felt guilty about what she'd done to Stacey and poor Sonja back on Tagi!

Susan hated voting for women in this game.

Always had.

And that's why her plan was to vote the guys out, and vote them out hard. Starting with Lex. So the women could run away with an easy victory. Just like she had planned at the start back in Borneo.

Now was it going to work out here? Was the idea of an utopian female alliance going to work for the first time in Survivor history? With mask-wearers like Tina and Vecepia to have to deal with? Was an uber-female alliance actually going to work?

For now, Sue didn't know.

All she did know was that she'd have to rely on her only true friend in this game... young Colleen... for as long as it took.

^^

As Sue came back to camp and stewed in the misery of being alone, two of her Ahi rivals were currently retrieving tree mail from out in the jungle.

And as Lex palmed the small piece of parchment in his hand, he turned to John and continued his thought.

"I think we were extremely lucky that we stayed away from Tribal for the first six days," Lex said. "Because you know as well as I do that something was up. Something was up, and I don't think I even realized it."

"It was," John confirmed. "And I warned you. I told you Rob wouldn't wait. I knew he'd be coming for your head the moment he thought it would work."

Lex nodded, silently.

Sure enough, John's warnings had come to be true.

Even though Lex had thought he might have been in danger the first six days of the game, deep down, he'd chalked most of that up to just being a paranoid person. After all, Lex often sensed danger when there really was none to be found. And that was just the way that he was. Because both in life, as well as in Survivor, "paranoid" and "Lex van den Berghe" were essentially synonyms.

So of course Lex had felt like he had been in danger. Oh yes, you better believe it. He had felt a sense of ominous danger hovering over him since the very first minute of the game. And of course John's repeated warnings about Rob hadn't helped, either. In fact, John's warnings had lately been growing steadily more and more insistent.

But it was only this morning that Lex finally got a confirmation that the enemy was definitely after him.

It was only this morning that he suddenly realized how realistic the danger had actually been.

"Rob and Sue are working together," came the ominous warning he'd received about thirty minutes ago . "Rob and Sue are together, and Colleen says she's willing to help take you out too. So I'd watch yourself Lex. They're coming for you at the vote, and they think they have four strong. So watch out."

Who had warned Lex about this very real attempt to snuff out his life?

Well, it had been Tina, of course.

His spy!

Tina, who, through her friendship with Vecepia, had been warned about the attempted coup d'etat.

"So Vee just came up and told you this?" Lex had asked, concerned, when Tina finally tipped him off to the attack that was waiting in the wings.

"Vee and I sort of have a gentleman's agreement," Tina had confessed, "Or at least, whatever the female version is, anyway." She had laughed. "We're not really aligned or anything, but I tell her things, and she tells me. It's sort of a 'winner's agreement' we've had from the start."

"And you believe her?" Lex asked.

Tina thought about this question for a minute.

And Lex, of course, didn't like that.

"Yes," Tina finally admitted. "I don't think Vecepia is a hundred percent honest, Lex, and you know that. But she'd have no reason to lie about this particular incident, because there's no way she could actually benefit."

"You think?" asked Lex.

"Think about it," Tina had said. "Lex, if Vee tips you off to an attack, and you survive it, then what does that do for her? It just makes you more likely to want to keep her around afterwards. Because she's proven to you, the man in charge, that she'll watch your back when you aren't around."

"So there's no way she's lying," Lex surmised.

"I sincerely doubt it," Tina agreed. "If she's lying, well, it just wouldn't make sense."

"Well shit," Lex had cursed softly, under his breath. "Thanks, Tina." Then he laughed. It sounded somewhat forced. "Well I guess it was a good thing we haven't been to Tribal Council!"

That warning from Tina had come about half an hour ago.

And now Lex was repeating it to John.

And John, of course, jumped to the exact same question that Lex had asked Tina thirty minutes ago.

"So what is Vee planning to do?" he asked Lex. "Did she say?"

"Tina says Vee won't vote for me."

That wasn't exactly what Vecepia had said. But then again, Lex didn't need to know that. Lex really had no business knowing that both Tina and Vecepia were a little closer to "free agent" than they liked to let on.

All Tina had told Lex was that Vee wasn't voting for him.

Now what the truth might really be, well, perhaps negotiations still had yet to take place.

"Well that's good then," smiled John. "Without Vee, it can't possibly work. Vee doesn't vote for you, and you got a walk in the park."

"Yeah, but..." Lex bit his lip, as he appeared to be deep in thought. "Without four, it can't possibly work. But that doesn't necessarily mean Vee has to be that fourth."

"Well don't look at me," John protested. "I told you I'd be with you, and I am."

"I know," nodded Lex.

"And I'd say Tina is still pretty solid," added John, "At least according to Frank."

"Mmm-hmmm," Lex nodded.

Lex knew all this. Lex believed all this. And Lex trusted all this.

But still, something still niggled at the back of his mind.

Something... and he didn't know exactly what... just didn't seem right.

"Well just take your mind off it for a while," said John, as he slung an arm over his friend's shoulder. "Look, we've got a reward challenge in half an hour." He pointed to the piece of paper in Lex's hand. "So what say we go and kick the crap out of the Kekos for a while, and then you can come back and worry, if it eases your mind."

"Yeah," said Lex. He looked distracted.

So John gave up.

Oh well.

It was time for the challenge.

Lex's paranoia, which apparently was never-ending, would just have to wait.



^^



As the two teams approached challenge beach for today's reward challenge, they were greeted by Jeff Probst, who held a mango in each hand. Apparently these mangoes would be part of the contest today.

"Hey guys," smiled Jeff, "Welcome back."

He tossed one of the mangoes to Kathy, over on the Keko mat.

The other one went to Frank, over on the Ahis.

Then he went on to explain the rules of the challenge.

"Constructed behind me in the water," Jeff pointed out towards the ocean, "Are two platforms. Each of them attached to five bullseyes. And your job today is to hit all five bullseyes of the other team's platform, thus knocking it in the water." He smiled. "Because what we have built, out in the ocean, is essentially a pair of giant dunk tanks."

There were assorted laughs and giggles from the opposing tribes.

"For our challenge today," Jeff continued. "Keko, you'll be trying to dunk Ahi. And Ahi, you'll be trying to dunk Keko."

"Can we all just dunk Richard?" joked Tina.

A few players laughed, but Jeff ignored it.

"Ahi," he continued, "You will send one player out to stand on your platform. And Keko, you will send out one player to stand on yours. And they'll stand out there, all alone, while the rest of you toss mangoes out towards the bullseyes."

"Sweet!" Colby laughed.

"There are five bullseyes leading up to each platform," Jeff explained. "The first one is floating fifty feet away from shore. Then they get further and further out until you get to the last one, which is a hundred and fifty feet away."

Mike whistled. That would be a heck of a throw to hit that one.

"Once your tribe has hit all five targets," Jeff finished, "The other tribe's platform will collapse. You'll have dunked the other tribe's dunk tank, and somebody from the other tribe will now be incredibly wet. And you'll also have won the reward."

He paused, then added.

"Wanna know what you're playing for?"

They did.

"Blankets and pillows," Jeff explained. "Just like you guys have back at home."

Of course both tribes already had rudimentary makeshift blankets, which were made out of clothes they weren't wearing, along with coats and other scraps of cloth. But real blankets? Soft blankets? Blankets from home? Well that was a reward both tribes could definitely use.

"Let's do it," said Lex.

And the challenge was on.



^^

A few minutes later, both tribes had eagerly chosen their throwers and dunkees. Gretchen swam out to stand on the Keko platform. And Tina swam out to stand there for Ahi.

The two women, the unlucky dunkees, were now standing way out on the ocean.

And the game was about to begin.

"This is for reward!" announced Jeff, as he stood between the first two throwers on the beach. The rules of the challenge required each team to alternate between male-female-male-female. Each player would get one toss out at a target, and then, hit or miss, the next player behind them would rotate in. Ahi and Keko would alternate, male-female, until one tribe had hit all five floating targets.

Jeff looked to his left. And there stood Colby, the first thrower from Keko. Colby stood on the beach, poised and ready. Behind him was the rest of his tribe.

To Jeff's right stood the first Ahi thrower, Boston Rob. The young hockey coach stood at the front of the Ahi line, ready to face off against Colby. The rest of the orange-buffed Ahis waited patiently in a single-file line behind him.

"Survivors ready!" announced Jeff.

Colby and Rob set themselves in the sand.

"Go!"

On Jeff's go, both Colby and Rob went sprinting down the sand, towards a basket of mangoes by the shore. Both of them reached in and grabbed one. Both of them wound up and threw. And the Keko tribe erupted into cheers as Colby's mango smashed through the third Keko target floating way out on the water.

"Keko has hit their first target!" Jeff announced. "Rob's throw was a little to the left, and Ahi has none!"

Colby and Rob went back to their respective lines, and were soon replaced by the next two throwers. And the Kekos cheered excitedly as first Alicia, and then Mike, hit targets with each of their throws.

"Keko is up, three to nothing!" Jeff announced. "Just two more hits, and Tina's dunked in the water!"

"Come on, Ahi!" Tina implored, from way out on her platform. But she was completely powerless out here, and she knew it. Standing on the platform, she wasn't able to affect the outcome of this challenge one iota. All she could do was stand here, completely helpless, and wait.

The first three members of Ahi had missed their targets altogether. First Rob. And then Sue. And then Lex.

Then came a fourth miss, from Colleen.

But then came Frank.

And he pulled his tribe to within two with the first Ahi hit.

"Ahi is on the board!" Jeff announced. "Keko now leads, three targets to one!"

Frank's toss was quickly followed by another hit, this time from Vecepia. Vecepia's mango smashed into the target closest to shore. And the loud cheer from Tina on the platform told the world that the Ahis were back.

"Keko's lead has been cut to three to two!" Jeff announced.

As the two tribes continued to alternate throws between men and women, the once-confident Kekos were now having trouble hitting either of the two remaining floating targets. They had now missed seven consecutive attempts. And their frustration at not being able to finish off the Ahis was suddenly beginning to show.

"Come on, Keko!" implored Gretchen, through cupped hands, from way out on her platform. "Don't let me sink out here!"

But she could only watch, helplessly, as Richard's football-style throw, and then Alicia's two-handed overhead throw, both fell a little bit short.

And then came the smash she hadn't wanted to hear.

"Boston Rob has just hit the third Ahi target!" Jeff announced from shore, which Gretchen could barely hear over the cheer of Rob's excited tribesmates. "Ahi and Keko are now tied at three apiece! Whoever can hit the furthest two targets will win reward!"

"Come on, Keko!" screamed Gretchen.

"Let's go, Ahi!" Tina screamed from about twenty feet away.

The tribes were now tied three to three. And they continued to exchange throws, male against male, and female against female, as they aimed for small circular targets that floated well over one hundred feet away.

And then, after about five minutes of futility, one of the Kekos finally hit.

Crack!

"Kathy has just smashed the fourth Keko target!" Jeff loudly announced. "One more hit, and the Kekos win reward!"

Kathy, who had been as surprised as anybody that she had actually hit something, leapt up into the air in joyous surprise, and was met with hugs and cheers from the rest of the tribe.

That left just one target separating Tina from a watery fate.

And as her friend Colby stepped up to deliver, all Tina could do from the platform was implore him to stop.

"Don't sink me, Colby!" she called out to her friend, playfully. As always, thanks to her accent, Tina pronounced his name more like "Coebee" than "Colby." But she knew it was going to be futile. Right now, even with their friendship and history, she knew that nothing she could say would make her dear "Coebee" pause, for even a second, before sending her down.

"Don't do it, Coebee!!"

Colby just smiled and laughed, as he picked up a mango and launched it in a beautiful arc nearly one hundred fifty feet into the blue Pacific Ocean. And, of course, as Tina had known it would, it hit the fifth Keko target smack dab in the middle.

Colby's throw obliterated the final Keko target.

Which, in turn, sent Tina's platform crashing into the cold ocean water.

Tina had officially been dunked.

And with that, the challenge was won.

"Keko!" announced Jeff, "Wins reward!"

"Yeah, baby!" screamed Colby, as he pumped his fist once, and was then embraced by the rest of his tribe. The Kekos swarmed around their hero and congratulated him, as Gretchen jumped up and down, excitedly, way out on her platform.

"Congratulations, Keko," said Jeff, as he came over to deliver the basket of goodies to the victors. And there they were. Blankets. And Pillows. All in a basket, ready to go.

The Kekos were going to be bathed in warmth tonight, while the Ahis would be going back to the same cold shelter they'd slept in before.

It was a good day to be a Keko today.

Hopefully tomorrow would be another good day to be a Keko, as well.



^^



Keko returned to camp about an hour later, heartened by their latest victory, and loving their warm new blankets and pillows. In fact, this was probably the most excited the tribe had been in the last seven days.

After all, defeating Ahi in a big challenge, and Colby sending Tina plummeting into the sea, were just about the two most satisfying things that could have happened today.

"Did you see Tina's face when she swam back to shore?" laughed Kathy, as she stood near the shelter and chewed on some coconut, "Man, she was pissed. Colby, you really ticked her off by sinking her like that."

"Aw, she wasn't pissed," defended Colby. "She was just joking. She knew it was just part of the game."

"I don't know, man," Kathy teased him. "If I were you, I think I'd sleep with one eye open around her for a while."

"Colby, you better hope you don't run into Tina after the merge," Alicia added, "'Cause you know girlfriend's gonna be out for revenge."

"Coebee! Don't sink me!" Mike now jumped in, with an unexpectedly pitch perfect imitation of Tina's chirpy accent. "Coebee! Tina is talking to you!"

"Coebee," teased Alicia, "Swim on out here and rub your mother Tina's sore feet."

Okay, now they finally got Colby to actually blush.

"Aww, come on guys," he said, sheepishly.

Haw haw haw haw, laughed Kathy.

The Kekos just stood around their campfire, and laughed and joked about Colby and Tina for nearly half an hour. And it wouldn't have been that funny, except they realized that they had actually hit a nerve by doing this. Once the rest of the Kekos realized that Colby would react if you started teasing him about Tina being "his mommy," well, at that point, pretty much all bets were off. Because once they had realized that Colby was actually embarrassed by this, it would be open season on "Tina jokes" from now to the merge.

And with that being decided, all thoughts of strategy were now gone from the tribe, as they sat around, and laughed, and enjoyed just hanging out for the rest of the day.

Nobody was thinking about Tribal Council today.

Nobody was thinking about the vote.

The Kekos were going to just sit around, tease Colby as often as they could, and enjoy the fact that, for once, they had embarrassed and humiliated their hated opponents.

So Gretchen put on a fresh pot of rice.

Kathy went into the shelter to take a quick nap.

And that's when Richard made the move the producers had hoped he would for most of the week.

You see, as the rest of the tribe chilled out and slacked off around him, Richard Hatch suddenly realized that if he had any chance to start influencing the outcome of this game, it had to be now. After all, with the Kekos' guard down for a while, and the players actually taking the day off for a change, the opening that Richard had been waiting for... just like the producers had anticipated... was finally here.

Nobody was actually paying any attention to him at the moment!

Smiling, Richard calmly excused himself from camp.

And entered the woods.

And then in one quick motion, he turned and beckoned to the one player here who he thought would play ball.

Colby.

Richard silently beckoned for Colby to come join him in the woods. And without the slightest bit of hesitation, Colby stood up, attempting to look as inconspicuous as possible, and walked towards Richard to find out what the big man was trying to do.

The cameras hadn't caught any of this, of course.

Indeed, the camera crew had been lulled into sleep by Richard just like everyone else.

But the moment that the producers had been waiting for, and jonesing for, was finally here.

Richard Hatch was about to start cutting deals.

And if Colby had any idea of what was good for him, Richard knew he'd be on board with this plan in a heartbeat.

DAY 8

Frank Garrison stood in the knee-deep water just off Ahi's beach, and watched, with fascination, as a small harmless sand shark swam in lazy circles around and around his ankles.

Even though most people would have been unnerved by the sight of a shark swimming in slow circles around them, Frank certainly wasn't. After all, nature always tended to fascinate him. And he loved watching curious animals.

So Frank just stood here, and watched, a look of quiet serenity on his face, as the shark did whatever it had to do to figure out if Frank's legs were a friend or a foe.

To the untrained observer, it would probably look like "crazy loner" Frank was just standing here, away from the game. After all, that's what he tended to do on a fairly regular basis. Frank Garrison was notorious among the Ahis for his ability to just wander off, away from camp, to do whatever he felt like doing, whenever the hell he felt like it.

In fact, for many of the Ahis, that was just the Frank way. Silent exclusion. And you didn't even question it after a while. If you hung around Ahi long enough, sooner or later, Frank would wander away. You more or less had to get used to it.

So Frank was now standing here out in the ocean, and to the untrained observer it would look like he was just checking out. To many of his tribemates, it would look like Frank was just standing here all alone, thinking Frank-thoughts, while the rest of the humans back at camp plotted strategy and did things that actually mattered.

But, oh, how wrong they would be.

Frank Garrison wasn't checking out at the moment.

Nor was he standing here, just watching a shark.

No, what Frank Garrison was doing at the moment was actually contemplating.

He was contemplating the many conversations he'd had in the past two hours with the rest of his tribe.

You see, even though it was only 10:00 in the morning, this had already been an eventful day. Because as of 10:00 A.M., Frank had already been approached by not one, or two, but three members of his tribe. All three of them had come to him, wanting to talk strategy, and all three of them had engaged in amazingly heartfelt conversations about why they needed him on board for the good of the tribe.

Yes, it was only 10:00 in the morning, and already the strategists of Ahi were off and running, as they did whenever Tribal Council was looming nearby. Apparently yesterday's loss in the reward challenge had spooked them into an unprecedented flurry of action. Because today things were moving faster than ever before.

So Frank stood here, and contemplated the three conversations he'd had already today.

The first player to approach Frank this morning had been the king of the paranoids, Lex van den Berghe. Of course it had been Lex. After all, who else would pull you aside at 8:00 in the morning and ask you to reaffirm a handshake deal that you'd already reaffirmed three or four times before. Pulling an ally aside to repeatedly "renew their vows", so to speak, was a total Lex move out here in Survivor.

It had happened again today.

And Frank had long ago stopped being surprised.

"I just wanted you to know that I am a man of integrity," Lex had explained, as he tried to once again sell Frank on a pact that had already been sold, "When I tell you we're going to the end, Frank, you can believe that. I do what I say. And with me, you know I'll have your back."

"Lex, I have no plans to ever vote for you," Frank had explained, for seemingly the twentieth time in a week. "You don't have to worry. I have your back, and you have mine. I only vote for people who deserve to go."

Lex, of course, knew that Frank was on board. After all, he was Frank. The man didn't lie! But still, with all the talk of a Rob/Sue takeover on the horizon, Lex just couldn't help going to his allies today and "renewing their vows." Above all else, Lex just wanted to remind Tina, John, and Frank that they needed to stay strong in the next few days, and not to believe anything anyone said about Lex "wanting them gone."

Lex wanted to remind everyone who was important to him that he needed their vote.

Even though he'd already known, with 99% certainty, that Frank would stick by his word until the end of the game.

So that had been the first important conversation Frank had had today. The daily "come to Jesus" meeting with Lex, where the two men of honor shook on a deal they made back on day one, and reaffirmed a handshake that never would have been broken in a million years.

Was dealing with Lex annoying?

Of course it was, Frank would admit.

But Lex was still a leader he respected, and a man he liked.

So Frank could easily put up with the man's paranoia, at least for thirty-nine days.

The first conversation Frank had had today, well of course that one hadn't surprised him. That particular conversation happened all the time. But the second conversation Frank had had today, well this one had been more of a shocker. This one had been a conversation he hadn't been expecting. Because when's the last time Sue Hawk ever came to him and wanted to talk shop?

Sure enough, Sue had come to Frank this morning, in an attempt to chat the man up, and feel him out. Everybody on the tribe had expected that Frank would already be in Lex's pocket, which of course was pretty much true. But Sue wanted to come out and chat with the man, nevertheless. Just for research sake, if nothing else.

After all, with a showdown with Lex looming in the very near future, Sue wanted to know just how solidly Lex's three allies were standing behind him.

And Frank, as the most glaring example, she came to ask first.

"If we went to Tribal Council tomorrow," Frank had admitted to Sue, quite honestly, "The individual I would vote for is probably Rob."

"Why Rob?" Sue had asked.

"Because I don't think he brings anything to the tribe whatsoever."

Of course, Frank's rationale for wanting Rob gone went a little beyond that. But he was too much of diplomat to ever admit it. Well, at least he was trying to be a diplomat out here. Frank wasn't just going to blurt out that he found Rob annoying, and that Rob's carefree nature and wisecracking style grated his nerves, and that he just didn't want Rob Mariano around. Because that was the truth. Living with Rob was like living with those spoiled brats back in Samburu. But Frank wasn't going to actually admit that. No, Frank wasn't going to come right out and tell Sue any of that at all.

Old Frank would have said that, of course.

Africa Frank would have said that Rob was a loser and Frank didn't want him around.

But this wasn't Africa Frank anymore, now was it?

This was All-Star Frank.

And All-Star Frank was trying to be a diplomat.

Even when asked about as asshole like Rob.

"Well I don't like Rob none either," Sue had shared, "But are you sure he really should go first? I mean, with Rob here at least we can win some challenges. He's young."

"I'm not going to vote for Lex," Frank said.

And, well, for Sue, apparently that answer had been clear enough.

After the Lex and Sue conversations, of course Frank had later been approached by a third player. Because about twenty minutes after the Sue conversation, now Frank found himself talking to John. All of a sudden, now John Carroll had come over and wanted to get Frank's take on strategy. Which was odd.

Frank Garrison was so popular today he couldn't believe it!

Why had John come to Frank today, when he could have come to talk to anybody else? Well for the same reason they all came to talk to Frank. They came to Frank because he was incredibly straightforward. If you wanted to know where you stood on the tribe, or where you stood with Frank in particular, all you had to do was come up and talk to the man. All any player on Ahi had to do was come up and ask Frank what his plans were for the vote, and they'd get a pretty straight answer. And Frank was the only player they could say that about.

With Frank you got the truth.

Good, bad, or ugly, you always got the truth.

And people loved that.

At least, at this point.

Was Frank just a truth-telling machine who would spit out his future plans if anybody so much as asked him to name his alliance? Well, not really. After all, Frank might have been honest, but he wasn't stupidly honest. Frank didn't make deals just for the sake of making deals. No, when he made deals in this game, he did them for a reason.

Loner act or not, Frank Garrison was a player here just as much as anyone.

So, now, after all these conversations, Frank just stood in the ocean, and watched as the shark lazily swam around him in larger and larger circles. He watched, and he studied. And he contemplated.

Frank contemplated his place in the game at this moment.

He contemplated the fact that a showdown was coming soon, and it was no secret.

He contemplated the fact that, if Lex lost, and Sue and Rob took over this tribe, his time here would be short indeed.

But mostly he just stood here and watched.

Frank Garrison might not have been the most dynamic player in All-Star Survivor, but he sure was one of the more respected ones. Oh sure, the other players might not have realized this. In fact many of the people back at camp referred to him as a "crazy loner" when he wasn't around.

But if Frank really was a crazy loner, and if he really was that unpopular, would he really have this many people wanting to talk to him on a regular basis?

No, Frank Garrison wasn't a crazy psychopath.

In many ways, he was the wise man of the Ahi tribe.

After all, people came to him, one after another, on a daily basis, to get his thoughts on the game, and see where he stood. And if that's not the wise man of the tribe, than what is? Frank was the Oracle! Frank was the one they all came to when they wanted the truth!

And Frank found this whole development quite funny.

All this sudden attention, all this sudden respect, for a man whose favorite part of the day was when he came down here to the ocean, and studied the sharks.

He studied the sharks, as they studied his feet.

And if this somehow made him the Oracle... well that's just what he was going to be.

^^

While Frank was embracing his new role as the "wise man" of the Ahi tribe, his younger counterpart, Colleen Haskell, was having an entirely different experience. Because Colleen was also finding herself in a new role this morning.

And it was one that she wanted absolutely no part of, whatsoever.

Just after breakfast this morning, Lex van den Berghe had pulled young Colleen aside, and told her that he wanted her on board in the new Ahi alliance. He had come right up to her, without any pretext or preamble or strategic foreplay at all, and come right out with a deal he suspected she'd be willing to take.

"You come with us," Lex had said, "And you'll be sitting pretty all the way to the merge. You stick with me, and Frank, and Tina, and John, and the five us will pretty much punch our tickets all the way to the end of the game."

And bam. There it was.

Just like that, Colleen was offered the role as the fifth vote Lex knew he would desperately need.

"Wow," Colleen had said, more or less because she hadn't known how else to react. After all, how often does someone like Lex just walk up to you and offer you a ticket to the end of the game? In fact, Colleen had been floored that Lex had even come here to talk to her at all. Aligning with players as passive as Colleen wasn't normally Lex's modus operandi in the slightest.

"Why me?" was all she could really come up with.

"Because if you tell me you're on board, I know I can trust you," Lex had explained. "I know it in my gut. You're one of the only people here who does what she says she is going to do."

Colleen just smiled, sweetly.

Well that was certainly nice and all.

On one hand, she was flattered that Lex apparently thought so highly of her that he was willing to punch her ticket all the way to what was probably the final four. In fact, the idea that Lex thought of her as much of an ally as all was probably going to put a spring in her step the entire rest of the day. And she couldn't help it. She was Colleen. When people flattered her integrity, that was like going up to a narcissist and telling them you thought they were hot.

But, of course, Lex's offer also placed her into a tricky gray area of loyalty.

And she didn't like that.

Because if she took Lex's deal, if she really aligned with the powers that be, well there were bound to be objections from people like Susan and Rob.

"Um..." she stammered nervously, as if Lex's deal had caught her completely off guard. Which, of course, it had.

"Don't think about it," Lex said, "Just take it. Just say, 'Lex I'm in to the final five.' Tell me, 'I'm on board with taking Sue out at the very first vote.'" He smiled down, benevolently, at her. "Look, Colleen. This is the best deal you're going to get the entire game."

"I'm not sure I can!"

Whoops.

Colleen hadn't meant to say that.

But then again, she was Colleen. She was a Pagong. Pagongs weren't born to do things like stab their friends in the back. So pardon her if she'd had a brain fart and a very silly thing had come out of her unscheming and childlike mouth.

"Look," explained Lex one more time, "I know Sue is coming after me. And I know Rob is coming after me. And I know you're not coming after me. So what's in it for you to stick with those creeps?"

"I don't..." Colleen was still struggling to get out an argument. Damnit. Why did she all of a sudden sound like a silly little girl around the Ahi leader? Why wasn't she better at talking about things like this? "I'm not sure if I can..."

"Final five," Lex repeated. "You dump Sue. You dump Rob. You dump all that baggage. And you stick with the group that will win."

Colleen finally just shut her mouth and said nothing.

She wasn't ready for this.

Lex had completely intimidated her.

"Okay how about this?" Lex smiled, as he decided to change his tactic. "When we finish taping, and they start editing this bad boy down, who do you think are going to be the villains of the story? Who do you think the editors are going to pick?"

Damnit.

Now he was going for the jugular.

"Do you think someone like Tina is going to be the villain?" Lex continued. "Or someone like Frank? Or someone like you? Hell no! Colleen, the villains are going to be the people that you, and you alone, are trying to beat!"

"Oh come on," Colleen finally managed to retort, with a laugh. "You make me sound like I'm Sleeping Beauty, locked away in a castle, or something."

"Well in many ways, you are," Lex said. "Look, I'm not the one who started calling you America's Sweetheart..."

"Oh God," Colleen rolled her eyes. She hated that name.

"... but people do call you that," Lex continued. "So don't you think it made more sense if you ditched the villains on Ahi?"

"But I made promises!" Colleen finally protested. "Lex, it's not that easy! I can't just say, 'Oh hey, sorry Rob, but I decided Lex made a better offer than you.'"

"Why not?" Lex asked. "Rob won't be on the jury. How would it hurt?"

"I just can't!" Colleen said.

A little surprised, Lex now took a step back and fixed his young tribemate with a stare. But it wasn't an angry stare. It was just a confused stare. It was more or less a "How the hell can you turn down this deal when you know as well as I do that you're down the wrong path?"

Lex affixed her with this stare for about fifteen seconds. And he wasn't surprised at all when she was the first to break eye contact and turn to the side.

"Final five," he now repeated softly. "You're not breaking anybody's heart. You're not stabbing anybody in the back. You're just taking the deal that is best for you. And anybody who faults you for that has no business playing this game in the first place."

Colleen just stood there and grumbled.

"I'll think about it," she finally admitted.

Lex decided not to press the young girl too much at this very moment. After all, he'd said his piece. And he'd extended the offer that he desperately needed her to take. But that was enough for now. All he had to do was to get Colleen to think about this for a while, and then when push came to shove, he could exert a little more pressure if need be when they got a little closer to a vote.

So Lex bid Colleen farewell, and he retreated back to the safety of the rest of the tribe.

And that left one new valuable new free agent, who was already feeling overwhelmed by the choice she knew she would soon have to make.

"Did I mention how much I hate being a pawn?" she joked out loud, to seemingly nobody in particular.

Because that's what she was now.

A pawn.

As much as Colleen had enjoyed the first carefree week here in Hawaii, she knew that all that was rapidly coming to a end. Things had been heating up around camp in the past twenty-four hours. And Lex's sudden deal had pretty much confirmed that.

Ever since the Ahis had lost that reward challenge yesterday, the power brokers on this tribe had seemingly flipped a switch that changed their personalities.

All of a sudden, the Lexes and Sues of the world had gone from "strategic" to "aggressive."

And Colleen didn't like this new development on Ahi one tiny bit.

"Better get ready for World War Three," she mused silently, once again to no one but herself.

Colleen Haskell had somehow found herself caught in the crossfire between two very powerful factions on a powerful tribe. She didn't like it, but she was realistic enough to understand this was just how it was going to be for a while.

Until Lex took Sue and Rob out of the game, Lex was going to be on Colleen like a blanket to join his alliance.

And until Sue and Rob took Lex out of the game, they were going to be on her like a dirty shirt, wanting her to stick to the plan.

Colleen Haskell, Sleeping Beauty herself, was suddenly becoming the single most powerful member in All-Star Survivor.

And, already, she knew she was going to hate it.



^^



As Frank and Colleen found themselves in new roles as "powerful pawns" over at Ahi, another interesting conversation was taking place to the north, just outside Keko.

Because it was here that Kathy and Alicia found themselves talking alliances, as they walked together along a dirt path.

In a conversation that would have important ramifications for just about every single player in this game, if it would actually come to fruition.

"Look, I've been after an all-female thing since the start," Alicia said quietly. "You know that. I've been pushing for it ever since day one, but I knew Gretchen was never going to go for it."

"I know," Kathy muttered, also very quietly. "But look, I've gone just about as far as I can with Richard. At the next vote, he's dead meat! You know that as well as anybody. And after Richard goes, I'm gone."

Alicia nodded.

"So just toss me a bone here," Kathy continued. "Look, Alicia, I know you say the all-woman thing isn't going to work. But this is my only play. If I don't team up with you guys soon, then I'm done."

"Gretchen will have no part of an alliance," Alicia repeated, for probably the third time in this conversation. "Do you think that's suddenly going to change? Do you think I can actually walk up to Gretchen and say, "Hey Gretch, let's all band together and take out the guys?" Alicia looked over at Kathy now, as if her wild-haired teammate was somehow on something like crack. "Do you think I'd get anywhere if I actually did that?"

"Well who would you rather be competing against after the merge?" Kathy asked, quietly. "Me and Gretchen? Or Colby and Mike?"

"Well you and Gretchen, obviously."

"So help me get rid of the guys!" Kathy practically shouted. "Look, we all know that Keko is going down the toilet, and going there fast."

"Boy, you got that right," Alicia muttered.

"So just give up on this all-Australia thing," Kathy implored. "Just dump Colby and Mike. They aren't taking us anywhere. We're not going to beat Ahi going into the merge. So just forget about it."

"...said the woman who's next on the chopping block," Alicia laughed.

"I'm serious!" Kathy put her hand on Alicia's shoulder to get her to stop. "Look, Alicia, I know it looks bad since it looks like I'm just trying to save my own neck. But this would help both of us if we ended up making it happen."

Alicia said nothing. She decided to just let Kathy continue.

"Today," Kathy said, as she pointed back up towards camp, "We go to Gretchen and we tell her the facts. We say, 'Keko is a sinking ship. And the only survivors are the ones who grab the life rafts and take off for shore."

"Gretchen will never buy it," Alicia rebutted.

"She will if she wants to actually win!" Kathy argued. "Look, Gretchen doesn't want to vote out any of the chicks for a while. She's so much as told me. She said that Teresa shouldn't have gone home when she did. And she owes it to herself to make up for it for a while by keeping the girls."

Alicia, of course, nodded. She had heard Gretchen say this as well.

"So we just explain it to her like that!" Kathy continued. "Don't refer to it as an alliance. Just call it "the chicks sticking together."" She laughed. "Call it whatever you want. But I guarantee you that Gretchen will want to do it if we sell it the right way."

While Alicia was still rightfully skeptical, Kathy had actually managed to pique her interest a little bit with this latest argument. After all, an all-female trio would be a lot more realistic to compete against than Colby or Mike.

Against Kathy and Gretchen, well, Alicia had a chance to actually dominate.

But, of course, that scenario was well down the road.

In the future.

Right now, she couldn't allow herself to get tempted by it.

After all, those dreams were nice and all, and it was fun to have delusions of grandeur, but Alicia was far too realistic to plan that far ahead when the Gretchen variable still loomed like a six hundred foot skyscraper.

"We'll talk to Gretchen," Alicia finally said. "Okay? We'll go talk to her. But I'm not gonna go strongarm her. I'm not gonna go force shit to happen when I have a perfectly good alliance already sitting there, backing me up."

When she heard this, Kathy almost squealed aloud with delight.

"We can make this work," she said, excitedly. "Alicia, I know we can do it."

"Just take it easy, fireball," Alicia said, cautiously. "Now we talk. That's all we do. We're having a chat."

Alicia still didn't think it was going to work.

Alliances involving Gretchen never worked.

But if it did?

Oh brother... if it did...

Well, at this point, Alicia wouldn't let her mind actually go there.

Because if she thought this might work, she'd explode.



^^



As Kathy and Alicia started their trek to rid the Keko tribe of all things male, Colby Donaldson was currently sitting for an interview with a producer, and talking about the deal he'd been offered yesterday by Richard Hatch.

Colby had no idea yet that his lifeline with Alicia had the possibility of actually being severed.

For now, all he cared about was his conversation with Richard, and the possibility that it would actually go down.

So he sat down to give a very honest interview.

In the thoughtful and insightful manner the producers had come to expect.

"What you really have to do is weigh your priorities in this type of game," Colby explained. "You have to ask yourself, do I really think it's a good deal to pair up with someone like Richard Hatch? Would I really feel good about myself in the morning, if I teamed up with him just to get myself a little bit further?"

And what was the offer that Colby was referring to? What was the offer that Richard had extended to him yesterday evening after the challenge?

Well that's easy.

Richard had proposed that he, Colby, and Mike stick together right up to the merge.

Richard had suggested that they team up to get rid of the women, and fast.

Because, as he had warned Colby over and over again, "The minute I'm gone from this tribe, the women will outnumber you and Mike, three to two."

"Oh, come on!" Colby had laughed at Richard, at first. "You really think Gretchen will dump me and Mike right before the merge, just 'cause we're guys? You really think she'd be stupid enough to do that?"

"Have you ever met Gretchen?" Richard answered, simply.

And damnit, if the bastard didn't make an interesting point.

So now Colby was sitting down for his afternoon interview, as he mulled over if he really wanted to take Richard's offer, and if he thought it would actually work.

"Do you really think he's telling the truth?" asked the producer. "Do you think what Richard is saying might actually come true, here on Keko?"

"I don't know, man," Colby confessed. "I mean, come on. He's Richard! He'd say anything just to pull his neck out of the noose."

"But if he's gone, the women really will outnumber you, three to two," pointed out the producer.

"Well yeah, but only if you think that's a big deal," Colby countered. "I mean, after Richard's gone, there'll be three parents left, and two without kids. So does that mean me and Alicia are screwed?"

The producer simply shook his head. It was hard to trap Colby in a corner during his interviews. He was good with his words and his logic. In fact, the general consensus among the production crew was that Colby would have made a very, very good politician, if he'd ever really wanted to. Trapping him in a corner was like trying to punch the air.

"Do you think an all-female alliance is a possibility?" the producer finally asked. "Does that sort of thing ever worry you?"

"It should," Colby shrugged, "But I don't lose sleep over it. I'm too old to be worrying about things I'm not able to control."

Of course Colby probably would have been worried, if he knew who Alicia and Kathy were talking to right about now.

But he didn't.

So he continued with his thoughts about Richard.

Not realizing this was a deal he probably would soon want to take.

"To tell you the truth," he concluded his interview, "I really don't know if I'd take a deal with Richard, even if it did take me further in this game. I'm not sure I'd ever really be able to sleep at night, if I knew that I'd let him get further."

"Because he's Richard Hatch," added the producer.

"Damn right," Colby laughed. "That's exactly who he is. He's the guy you don't want to let win. Richard's the guy we all came here to beat."




^^




As Colby weighed the options of "saving Richard" versus "dumping Richard" in his interview, the big man in question was actually having his own little conversation with Mike.

Well, maybe it wasn't his "own" little conversation.

After all, this was almost the exact same conversation Richard had had yesterday with Colby!

Word for word, it was almost exactly the same.

"Because you know Gretchen won't want you or Colby to win," Richard continued.

"But the plan is to keep Gretchen from having a chance to not want us to win," Mike rebutted.

"You don't think Kathy and Alicia will team up with her?" Richard scoffed. "You honestly don't think that's ever going to happen? You think Alicia will just ride into the merge with two athletes to beat in the challenges?"

"Forget it, Richard," Mike dismissed.

And Richard was shocked.

Even though Richard had seemingly had a fair bit of luck with Colby last night, he was finding Mike to be a little more obstinate, and a little less flexible. When Mike set a plan in motion in his mind, he didn't like to deviate. And Richard was finding that out the hard way. Because Mike wasn't giving his alliance idea the respect it should probably deserve.

"Why can't you listen to logic like Colby?" Richard lamented.

"Excuse me?"

"At least Colby can see that you guys are in trouble," Richard continued. "He can see that, and he's willing to think about it. But you? You just shoot me down, as if I'm a leper and I'll telling you to eat your own foot. You don't realize that if you vote me out, you're done. If one guy is gone, we're all gone. We'll topple to the ground like a house of cards."

"Fine," sighed Mike. He looked annoyed by this whole conversation. "I'll go talk to Colby and we'll think about it. Would that make you happy? If we talked about it?"

"Oh, immensely," Richard replied, sarcastically.

He realized he really didn't like talking strategy with Mike.

So Mike went off his way.

And Richard went off his way.

Thinking that Survivor was awfully hard when your allies weren't smart.

DAY 9

As All-Star Survivor crossed over into its ninth day, both the Ahi and the Keko tribes found themselves in an unnerving state of disarray. After all, a lot had happened on both tribes in the past forty-eight hours. A lot of important conversations had taken place, a lot of intriguing deals had been offered, and a lot of power plays had been discussed with unexpected allies. In fact, both Ahi and Keko now seemed to be in the highest state of disarray as they'd seen since the opening moments of the game.

Deals and conversations were flying all over the place at the moment, as players and enemies jockeyed for important position.

And that's exactly where things stood, when Gretchen found the treemail for this morning's immunity challenge.

Gretchen and Kathy had come out for a walk to check tree mail for Keko. And, maybe, to talk strategy just a little bit. But they hadn't gotten very far before Gretchen had spotted a small brown square of fabric sticking out of their treemail box.

There it was, just a small brownish square spilling over the side.

It was time to do battle with the Ahis once again.

And that meant that strategy, and alliances, and discussions, would just have to wait.

Gretchen scurried over to retrieve the treemail, and then she and Kathy read it over, excitedly. Then they hustled back to camp to spread the good word.

Immunity was once again on.

And that was very big news.

Because it was time to get Keko right back in this game.



^^



One hour later, both tribes stood before Jeff Probst, on the shores of Mahi'il'u beach. They stood here, and they waited, as he explained the rules of today's unique immunity challenge.

"It's called 'Hands Across Hawaii'," smiled their host, "And basically it's a relay race with a bit of a twist."

Jeff now took his left hand and linked it in with his right.

"This is how you guys will be running," he explained. "As a tribe, all six of you will be holding hands. You'll be running together in a big, long horizontal line. And you'll be staying together, too, because if just one person lets go of the chain, you all have to stop."

Jeff unclasped his hands to demonstrate.

"If just one person lets go of their tribesmate's hand," he continued, "The entire tribe must stop until you're all linked up once again. So basically, the twist with this challenge is that you'll only be able to go as fast as your slowest runner."

"Where are we running?" asked Gretchen.

"Well, I'm glad you asked," smiled Jeff.

He turned and pointed down the beach, where the players saw five flagged checkpoints standing at varying distances along the stretch of the coastline.

"You'll be running through each of those checkpoints," Jeff explained. "While you are still linked, your tribe must pass through the middle of each checkpoint. And that's where the challenge starts to get fun. Because once you pass through a checkpoint, you get to lose a member of your chain."

"We get to lose anybody?" asked Lex.

"Well, not quite," smiled Jeff. "The catch here is that the other tribe gets to pick who you get rid of. So Ahi, you get to pick who the Kekos lose at each checkpoint. And Keko, you get to pick who Ahi loses at each checkpoint. So there's a bit of strategy involved in this challenge as well. It's not just as simple as 'the fastest team will win immunity today.'"

"How do we win?" asked Mike.

"Well at each checkpoint, your tribe will be dwindling in numbers," said Jeff. "You'll start with six. Then you'll go down to five. And then four, and then so on."

He paused, and then added dramatically, "At the very end, after the last checkpoint, we'll have just two players racing across the sand. One from Keko, and one from Ahi. And the first one to cross the finish line wins immunity."

He smiled and shrugged at them.

"Simple as that."

With the rules of the challenge now laid out before them, the two tribes took a moment to confer on how they wanted to play this thing, and how they wanted to pick off the other tribe's members. Obviously the strategy here was to get rid of the other tribe's strongest runners at the start of the race, and leave the weaker ones for the end. That pretty much went without saying.

So the Kekos and Ahis put together a list of who they wanted the other tribe to lose at each particular checkpoint, and they presented it to Jeff for him to use throughout the race.

And now the challenge was ready to begin.

"Survivors, ready!"

The Ahis, minus Sue and Frank (who had been selected to sit out), lined up on their mat to Jeff's left. They all linked hands, and stood together in one long line of orange-buffed Survivor All-Stars.

"Set!"

The Kekos, clad in their green buffs, and feeling for all the world like they needed to win this, linked hands and stood in one long line on their mat to Jeff's right.

Two tribes.

Who both wanted to win today.

And the minute Jeff dropped that hand, the great race, "Hands Across Hawaii", had officially begun.

"Go!!!!"

Both tribes burst out of the starting gate and ran across the sand, trying their best to jump out to an early lead and pour on some immunity pressure. And both tribes figured out, relatively quickly, that this challenge was going to be hard.

"Let's go, guys!" screamed Colby, as he did his best to pull his beloved Kekos across the sand.

"Move it! Move it!" screamed Lex, seemingly unconsciously, as he implored his faithful Ahis to break out and into a lead.

Both tribes ran as fast as they could, or at least as fast as their slowest members were able to, as they loped across the sand, hands linked, towards that first flagged checkpoint that seemed so very far away.

And then finally, after 200 yards of trudging through wet sand, the Kekos pull out to a bit of a lead.

And then they were here.

"Keko has reached the first checkpoint!" Jeff announced loudly. Then he looked down to read off the list that Ahi had provided. "Keko, you lose Colby!"

As expected, the Ahis had selected Keko's best athlete to be eliminated from the race. So Colby sat down, the Kekos took off without him, and that was when Ahi arrived, seconds later, at the first elimination checkpoint.

"Ahi, you will be losing Rob!"

With both tribes now down to five runners, the Kekos held a slight lead as they raced up a sandy hill, and down the other side.

Now they were to checkpoint two.

With Ahi just two or three seconds behind.

"Keko, you lose Mike!" announced Jeff. "And Ahi, you lose Lex!"

Mike and Lex separated themselves from their tribe chain, and sat down. And then the rest of the players were off. Both Keko and Ahi had just four players left in the contest.

And now the Ahis suddenly took their first lead of the race.

"Guys! Stop! Stop!!" That was Kathy from Keko.

Kathy, who had been winded by that last hill, had suddenly lost her grip on Gretchen's hand, and let go. And now they had to go back and get her. The Kekos lost precious seconds in going back to get Kathy, and now the Ahis surged ahead.

The foursome of John-Tina-Vecepia-Colleen triumphantly took their first lead of the day, with Tina screaming victoriously at the top of her lungs. And they reached checkpoint three a good five seconds before the suddenly-now-struggling Kekos.

"Ahi, you lose John!"

The Ahis dropped their last male from the race, and now it was just the three of them. Tina, Vecepia, and Colleen. The final three.

They took off down the sand, hands linked, and heard, just seconds behind them, Jeff announce that the Kekos would be losing Richard Hatch.

Now it was just three against three.

"Let's go, Keko!" screamed Mike, from the sand back at checkpoint two.

"Keep running, Ahi!" screamed Sue, from way back at the starting line.

The Ahis still held a modest lead, but it was evident that it wasn't going to last for long. Tina-Vecepia-Colleen were trying their best to maintain their pace, but the Kekos were just coming up a little bit faster. The trio of Kathy-Gretchen-Alicia was just a little hungrier for this win at the moment.

And the Keko women finally caught the Ahi women just as both tribes crossed under the flag at checkpoint four.

"Ahi loses Vecepia!" Jeff announced. "Keko, you lose Alicia!"

Now it was two against two.

Even though Ahi appeared to have this win wrapped up a moment ago, now they found themselves struggling just to keep up. Both Tina and Colleen were completely winded and out of breath. And worst of all, Kathy and Gretchen from Keko just simply were not. So the Ahi women could do little more at this point than watch Kathy and Gretchen surge into Keko's new lead.

"Goooo Keko!" Alicia called loudly, from back the sand. "Keep it up, ladies!"

"Let's go, Keko!" cheered a clearly excited Colby.

And now Kathy and Gretchen had it. They had Tina and Colleen on the ropes. They had their first immunity win in sight. They had all things finally going their way.

And that's when Kathy slipped and fell just short of the fifth elimination checkpoint.

"No!" screamed a horrified Gretchen, as Kathy took a nasty spill on the sand and fell to one knee.

Gretchen tried to pull Kathy back to her feet, but all of a sudden now the Ahis were here. Tina and Colleen had seen Kathy start to wobble just moments ago, and that had been just enough incentive for both of them to kick their effort up into the red zone of gears.

"Ahi has caught Keko!" announced Jeff, to assorted whoops and hollers from the Ahis around him. "Ahi has reached checkpoint five!"

And now he looked down, at the final name his list.

"Ahi, you'll be losing Tina!"

Colleen would be finishing the race.

"Go get 'em, kiddo," Tina panted, as she released her hand from Colleen's, and collapsed in sheer exhaustion down on the sand.

It was Colleen's race now for the Ahis.

And she also now had an opponent, when Gretchen and Kathy finally stumbled under the checkpoint as well.

"Keko loses Gretchen!"

That just left Kathy. Keko's last chance. Indeed, Keko's only chance, if they wanted immunity.

Colleen raced out of checkpoint five towards the finish line.

Kathy steamed across the sand about four steps behind her.

Both women were completely exhausted.

But now adrenaline had kicked in, and they were running on fumes.

"Let's go, Colleen!!" screamed Tina.

"Go, Kathy!" implored Gretchen.

The finish line loomed about 200 feet ahead, and Colleen Haskell ran with all of her might. Her skinny little arms pumping, her legs pounding up and down like pistons, the youngest member of Ahi did everything she could to stay ahead of her older counterpart from Keko.

But sadly, Colleen just wasn't much of a sprinter.

She tried her best, and God knows she wanted this more then anything, but Colleen's stamina was starting to fade, just when she needed it the most. She tried reaching down for any reserves she might have had left, but sadly there was just nothing there. Panting, her body screaming at her to just slow down, Colleen suddenly found herself unable to run even one more step.

She had to slow down to a walk.

And Kathy didn't.

And this was a moment that would haunt Colleen for the rest of her life.

Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien wasn't any more of a sprinter than Colleen was. But she had been pacing herself a little bit better. And when she saw Colleen suddenly hit the wall, that was when she decided to turn up the juice.

Colleen all of a sudden slowed down.

Kathy surged triumphantly ahead.

And she stayed there, about four steps ahead, for the last hundred feet of the race.

"Keko!" announced Jeff, as Kathy came barreling across the finish line, "For the first time! Wins immunity!"

Kathy really didn't hear anything that happened after that. For all she knew, she might have blacked out. All she remembered was that she crossed the finish line about two seconds ahead of Colleen. And then the Kekos screamed their heads off and ran over to pile onto her. And that was pretty much it for the next fifteen minutes.

Kathy collapsed to the beach in exhaustion.

The Kekos swarmed around her and screamed wildly.

Jeff presented the immunity idol to Colby.

And for the first time ever, the Kekos would be safe from the dreaded ravages of Tribal Council.




^^




Back at Keko, of course Kathy was now being treated like the queen for a day.

Oh sure, she could barely walk at the moment. And truth be told, she still didn't feel right when she decided to stand up.

But this was Kathy's day, and Kathy's day forever it would be.

In fact, the homemade lei around her neck pretty much said everything that needed to be said.

"You guys didn't have to do this!" she laughed, embarrassed, as Mike placed the gift around her neck just after lunch. "I didn't do anything special!"

"Let's hear it for our favorite modest superhero," Mike announced, teasing her, "The one and only super sprinter, Kathy!"

"Guys!" Kathy protested.

"Ka-thy! Ka-thy!" Now Colby was leading a chant. "Ka-thy! Ka-thy!"

"Ka-thy!" joined in Gretchen. "Ka-thy!"

"You guys are ridiculous," said Kathy.

Then, of course, she finally broke into one of the HAW-HAW laughs.

Mission accomplished.

As day settled down into night, the Kekos sat around their campfire, laughed and joked with one another, and relaxed in their first true night of peace in Hawaii. And it was really nice. After all, this was the first time in nine days that the vote was going to be Ahi's problem, instead of their own.

And to tell you the truth, a lot of the Kekos had sort of forgotten what that actually felt like.

A night on Survivor, where the other tribe goes to Tribal Council?

Where Keko is safe? And Ahi has to vote out one of their own?

Well some things just didn't happen around here.

So the Kekos chilled around their campfire all night. And they reveled in the heroics of their reluctant blonde-haired hero. And they theorized about who, on Ahi, would be meeting an unfortunate fate tonight.

"Hey Colby," joked Alicia, "Do you think they'll vote out Tina tonight? Do you think your mommy's going to be safe from the vote?"

Colby just shook his head, sadly, and looked at the sand.

He'd be damned if this joke was ever going to die around here.

"Coe-bee," mimicked Mike, "Don't let them vote me out! Coe-bee!"

Another round of "Colby and Tina" jokes followed for a while, and then the Kekos decided to be serious and get down to business. Who was going to go home over at Ahi tonight? Well they decided to take a poll. One by one, the Kekos went around in a circle, and discussed who they thought would be in jeopardy at Tribal Council tonight.

And the only two names that came up were "Rob" and "Colleen."

"The way I look at it," Mike theorized, "Lex and Frank won't have anything to do with someone like Colleen. Those two guys want business. And they want workers. And I think they have to keep someone like Rob, just because they need athletes."

"Colleen's not a slacker," Gretchen jumped in. "Look, I know she looks weak, and I know she looks tiny. But she always held her weight back on Pagong. I never even once would have called her a slacker."

Gretchen hated how she often found herself defending Colleen around here, but, alas, that's just the way it tended to be. Pagongs just stuck together. And Colleen had an undeserved reputation as a bit of a flake. Gretchen knew this, and Gretchen rebutted it. Even though she knew that a smart Survivor player should probably ditch Colleen, and leave her for dead.

"Gretchen's right," came a surprising assist from Richard, "Colleen's young, but she's not a liability. Never once did we feel like we wanted to get rid of her."

Richard hadn't needed to do that.

But he had. He had defended Colleen.

And his opinion carried weight.

And Gretchen, of course, in her own motherly way, was a little bit touched.

"So who do you say goes, Hatch?" asked Colby. "I mean, if it's not Colleen."

"Rob," said Richard.

He hadn't even stopped to think about it for even a second.

"You think they'd vote out an athlete?" Mike asked, skeptically. "That'd be suicide!"

"Rob doesn't fit in," Richard explained. "That's not his tribe, and those aren't his people. So he just doesn't fit in. In fact, the idea that Rob even made it to day nine at all, in that group, pretty much boggles my mind."

"I change my vote to Rob," said Kathy. She turned and looked at Richard, as if he had suddenly convinced her. "Strike my Colleen vote. Richard's right. I say Rob goes tonight, seven to one."

"I vote Rob too," announced Gretchen.

But they weren't all on board with this idea.

"I'm sticking with Colleen," said Mike. "I say no way they lose an athlete. I think they'd vote Tina out before they'd ever lose someone like Rob."

"Coe-bee!" mimicked Alicia, "Coe-bee! They voted me out!"

"Come on," said a slightly annoyed Colby, "That's enough."

The fact that Colby actually reacted, of course, just made the whole thing even funnier.

"I'm on board with Mike," Colby said, "My vote is for Colleen tonight. I say they dump her tonight, and then they dump Vecepia next. One after another. Bam, bam."

"And I agree with Colby," Alicia piped in. "Colleen goes, and it's unanimous."

"No way," Gretchen shook her head.

"Gretchen," said Mike, "Who do you think just lost that challenge for them today? It was Colleen. And don't you think that's gonna happen again, if they keep her around? And don't you think Lex is going to know that?"

"In fact, sorry Kathy," Colby looked over at their queen for the day, "But we really shouldn't be chanting Kathy's name today. By all rights, we really should be chanting Colleen's. Because she won that challenge for us as much as anybody." He turned and looked at Kathy again. "No offense, Kath."

So the Kekos sat around and argued the merits of Rob versus Colleen tonight.

They were so sure that it would be one of the two of them going home, that they refused to talk about anybody else.

Of course the Kekos were wrong.

Neither Rob nor Colleen were going home tonight.

But the Kekos wouldn't find that out until the next time they met.




^^

As she straggled back into camp after the first Ahi immunity loss, Colleen Haskell did the only thing that felt natural under the completely horrific circumstances.

She walked over to the shelter.

She laid down inside.

And she wanted to cry.

After all, it wasn't every day that you single-handedly cost your tribe immunity. And it wasn't every day that your lack of athletic prowess would be a direct cause of World War Three between members of your tribe.

No, if you asked Colleen, she would tell you that days like this just didn't happen very much when you played Survivor.

Colleen Haskell, and more importantly, Colleen Haskell's loss, was going to be directly responsible for every single bad thing that would inevitably happen later tonight. Her failure would be responsible for all of it. Colleen knew this. And Colleen hated it.

So she just laid down in the shelter.

And closed her eyes.

And tried not to cry.

^^




Colleen laid there, inside the shelter, hiding from the world, for a good ninety minutes. Mainly because she didn't want to be any part of the machinations today. Because she knew they would happen. Hell, you would have had to be blind not to realize that a big old atomic bomb was going to be dropped at Tribal Council tonight. Rob and Sue were coming after Lex, and Lex was coming after Rob and Sue. This had been a foregone conclusion all the way back on day one, and now it was finally here.

Judgment Day was coming to the players who called themselves Ahi.

Tonight.

And Colleen wanted to stay as far away from that crap as she possibly could.

"Hey, Colleen, can I talk to you?"

Colleen looked up, and there was Lex, peeking his head into the door of the shelter.

Of course.

Lex.

Here to talk about how he needed her on board for tonight's all-important vote against Sue.

"Aww, I don't want to talk about the vote," Colleen tried to explain, as honestly as she possibly could. "Please, Lex. We've gone over this enough. I just don't want to talk about it anymore."

"But I sort of need to know if you're on board," Lex said.

"I told you, I don't know," said a clearly exhausted Colleen, "I don't know what I'm going to do tonight, Lex. And that's the truth! Please stop asking me about it!"

Lex, instead of saying anything, just affixed her with a curious stare. Just like he had done yesterday. It wasn't accusatory. Nor was it really empathetic. It was just the stare of a man who wasn't exactly hearing what he'd been expecting to hear.

"You know," he finally said, under his breath, "It isn't going to look good if you wind up with Rob. And you know that as well as I do. If you team up with Rob, you know it's going to wind up badly for you." He paused and looked at her. "Don't you realize that, Colleen? Do you think America really wants to see you with a slimeball like Rob?"

"I don't care about any of that!" Colleen protested. "Lex, would you just stop it?! Stop badgering me!"

"America's sweetheart," Lex reminded her. "You sure you want to throw that all away?"

"I'm not even with Rob!" Colleen was now a little bit pissed. "Why do you guys think I am? We're not a couple, Lex! We're never going to be, either! Stop making this a bigger deal than it actually is!"

"Yeah, but the editing..." Lex began.

"Lex!"

Lex now realized he had probably pushed a little bit too hard. He hadn't meant to. All he had been trying to do was to guilt Colleen into accepting her role as "the hero" and joining his side. That was all. But he realized now that he had baited her and he felt sort of bad.

"I'm sorry, Colleen," he apologized, sincerely.

"It's okay," she muttered, as she looked off in the distance, hurt.

"All I'm trying to say," continued Lex, "Is that we could really use your vote tonight. Just team up with us, help us vote out Sue..."

He made a quick little thumb-across-the-throat motion as he said this.

"... And you'll be sitting pretty all the way to the final five. And you know it."

"I know," Colleen muttered.

And she did.

He was probably right.

At this point in the conversation, Lex decided enough was enough. So he left Colleen alone, to stew in her thoughts, and he wandered off to talk with John to see where things stood.

And once again, that left Colleen.

All alone.

Just a pawn, on the chessboard of Ahi.

"This sucks," she complained.

No sooner had the words come out of her mouth than the flap covering the shelter door opened again, and now she had another visitor. Was it Lex? Was Lex coming back to give her another father-daughter America's Sweetheart guilt trip?

Nope.

It was Tina.

Here to talk about the exact same thing Lex had asked about only moments before.

"Tina," sighed a completely exasperated Colleen, "I know what you're here for. But do we really have to discuss...."




^^




So Lex and Tina had come to talk to Colleen.

And then Rob had stopped by.

And then after that had come Sue.

Four people, in total, came to talk to her today, and all four of them did it for the exact same reason. They all wanted to make sure Colleen was on board for the fateful vote tonight. They all wanted to make sure that Colleen was part of "the good guys" when whoever they were squared off against their mortal enemies tonight.

None of them had cared that Colleen was down in the dumps at the moment.

None of them had cared one iota that Colleen was still shattered about the fact that she had single-handedly cost her tribe immunity.

They had simply come here for business.

And to get her on board.

That was it.

Lex wanted Colleen on board tonight so that there wouldn't be a 4-4 tie.

Tina wanted Colleen on board tonight so that the "good guys" could stick together, and ride this game to the end.

Rob wanted Colleen on board tonight because he would swear, on a Bible, that Tina was going to crack tonight, and switch her vote when faced with a tie. And if Colleen stood firm, she and Rob would be able to take over the tribe.

And of course, Sue wanted Colleen on board tonight because, well, Colleen was pretty much her only friend on this tribe. Sue, as she had done so many times before, tried to use this fact to guilt Colleen into sticking to her word tonight, and sticking with her friends.

And by the time Sue left, Colleen was so fed up that she was honestly ready to snap.

"I'm not your stupid pawn, people!!" she found herself wanting to scream out loud to the world. "I don't want to play your stupid games if all I am is a piece on a board. So stop treating me like a chess piece! Stop trying to move me across your board! AND THAT GOES FOR ALL OF YOU, TOO, NOT JUST FOR LEX!!"

Of course, Colleen wasn't quite the type of person who would stand up and scream this out loud.

But she wanted to.

Oh, brother, did she want to.

Because she knew this crap was going to continue all day.

These people, these "allies," were going to be knocking at her door all day long, probably all the way up to the merge. They were going to make her promises. They were going to offer her friendship. They were going to talk about loyalty.

But all they really cared about was that Colleen did what she was told, like a good girl. And that she was on board, and loyal, when they needed her vote.

And hell, if Colleen was just a bit more assertive, well, she'd probably tell them all to fuck off.

"Hey Colleen..."

Great.

More from Sue.

"You remember what Lex done to Kelly back in Africa," Sue said, as she peeked her head into the shelter. "You remember that, right?"

"Of course," Colleen tried her best to smile.

"Well don't think he won't do the same to you," Sue warned. "Just remember, Colleen, Lex don't care about nobody but himself out here. If he's tellin' you he needs you, he's lying. All you are is another Kelly to him. All you are, to Lex, is another pawn."

"Thanks," Colleen smiled again.

Whatever.

The sooner this day ended, she'd be thrilled.

^^

The negotiations on the tribe continued for most of the day, as the Ahi power brokers did their best to line up their votes, and prepare for the actual war.

Deep down, Sue knew she was going to be Lex's target tonight. She wasn't exactly thrilled with this idea, but she had come to accept the fact that she had probably brought it all on herself. After all, you didn't go after someone as powerful as Lex and not expect some sort of retribution. So Lex was going to come after Sue tonight, and she knew it.

But she also knew that she had three solid votes backing her up.

Behind Sue were the combined firepower of Rob, Vecepia, and Colleen.

Rob, because he wanted Lex gone.

Vecepia, because she believed this would work.

And Colleen, because she had promised Rob and Sue, repeatedly, that she would stick by their side.

So that was four.

Four solid votes.

The best Lex could do was hope for a tie.

"You know what my best case scenario is?" Sue now asked, as she sat down for one final interview before the big vote. ""My best case scenario is that Tina jumps ship tonight and comes over with us. My hopes are that she really does want to do the "all chick alliance" thing, and she finally figures that out."

"How likely do you think that would be?" asked the producer.

"For Tina to flip?" asked Sue.

"Yeah."

"I don't know," shrugged Sue. "I don't think it's super likely. But Rob seems to think she'll crumble and switch votes if we have a tie at the start. So you never know." Sue then laughed. "Frankly, I never know what the hell Tina's gonna do. She's like Vecepia. If a plan looks like it will work, I think she'll jump sides."

So Sue had four solid votes on her side, with a possible fifth.

Which, interestingly enough, was the exact same way Lex viewed his situation at the moment, as well.

As he explained, in a final pre-vote interview of his own.

"I said at the start of the game that loyalty was my number one factor," Lex explained, to a receptive producer. "I only wanted allies who were loyal, and I only wanted people I knew I could trust. And that's why I lined up the people that I did, in preparation for the vote I knew was coming way back at the start."

As usual, Lex's intense eyes burned a hole in the producer as he spoke. Lex just got so intense when he was talking about things like this, and so focused, that if you weren't used to it, it could be fairly uncomfortable. But, luckily, this producer had already taken graduate courses in Lex Interviews 101. So Lex's death stare wasn't the least bit uncomfortable for him. He knew it just meant that Lex was passionate about this subject.

"Do you anticipate a tie tonight?" asked the producer.

"Anticipate?" asked Lex. "Probably. Do I want there to be a tie tonight? No way."

"Why not?"

Lex didn't have to come right out and say that he didn't trust his allies one hundred percent. After all, he was Lex. Lex never trusted anybody one hundred percent! But the implication was there, as the producer's question hung in the air, without an answer. Lex didn't want a tie tonight. No way. Because he was, quite honestly, terrified that John, or more likely, Tina, would sell him right out.

"What about Colleen?" the producer tried to change the subject. "Do you think she's going to vote against Sue tonight?"

"That's in her hands," Lex shrugged. "I tried my best. I tried to get her to listen to reason. But you never know what players like her are going to do."

"Players like her...," came the follow-up, "Meaning what?"

"Young," explained Lex. "Impulsive. Unpredictable."

Then he shuddered.

Because Lex knew that if Rob really had that much of a hold on Colleen, this vote could be rough.

"Well good luck tonight," said the producer, once the cameras were off, and the interview had concluded. The producers really did like Lex van den Berghe. He'd always been one of their favorites. And they knew as well as he did that tonight's vote was literally a game of Russian Roulette.

Either Lex was going to go.

Or Sue was going to go.

It was only a matter now of which side would blink first.

"Hey, thanks, man," said Lex, as he shook the producer's hand. "And hey, save me some of that pizza you got out in the catering truck. I can smell it all the way out here, you rotten sons of bitches."

The producer laughed.

And Lex laughed.

Although moments later, when no one was watching, he actually got down to one knee and he prayed.




^^

Two hours later, the Ahis found themselves at their first Tribal Council. Where, under the soft glow of synthetic volcano light, they answered Jeff's questions as honestly, as candidly, and as carefully, as they possibly could.

"So Vecepia," Jeff asked, from his seat, "What has been the mood around camp Ahi lately? Are you guys a cocky tribe? Are you a confident tribe?"

"Well, I wouldn't say we're a cocky tribe, Jeff," Vee answered. "We definitely think we're doing something right so far. But I wouldn't say we're cocky, by any stretch of the imagination."

"Success breeds confidence, Jeff," piped up John, from way at the back of the tribe. "Because if you keep winning, that's all you think you're ever going to do."

"Well then it must have been a shock to actually lose immunity today," Jeff said.

"It was," nodded Lex, from the front.

A few of the Ahis nodded their heads in assent.

They really hadn't expected to lose that race today.

"Lex," Jeff followed up, "You seem to me like you're sort of the go-to guy on this tribe. Do you think it would be fair to make that assessment?"

Lex smiled softly and paused before answering.

He was far too savvy to blindly fall for obvious little Probst-traps like that.

"Do I help lead the tribe in the direction I think we should go?" Lex asked, rhetorically. "Of course I do. But that's something we all do, Jeff. I don't think I do that any more than any other player here."

"It's not like Lex is a dictator, Jeff," Tina added. "I don't see him in that role at all. I think he's just a solid teammate more than anything."

Frank nodded from over in the corner.

"Well is there anybody here who would be considered the leader?" Jeff asked, a little helplessly.

He knew that nobody was going to answer. Nobody on Ahi was going to stick their neck out and say anything even slightly substantial tonight. It was apparently just one of those nights. Jeff could feel it. And the producers could feel it, too. Whatever tension there was on Ahi was going to stay buried, and remain buried, until they got up to cast those votes.

None of these players were going to say anything that could come back and haunt them tonight.

They were all keeping their cards tight close to their vest.

"Well, since apparently there are no leaders on this tribe..." Jeff joked, sarcastically, "Let's try a little different tactic. Is there anybody who feels especially vulnerable tonight?"

He waited.

But nobody raised their hand.

"Colleen," said the clearly exasperated host, "You can't tell me you don't feel a little bit vulnerable tonight? After what happened this morning in the immunity challenge?"

"Mistakes happen, Jeff," shrugged a very uncomfortable Colleen. "I mean, sure, I feel horrible for what happened during the challenge. But I don't know if it makes me any more vulnerable tonight."

"Anybody can slip and fall," added Tina.

And that was it.

Just the facts.

Neither Tina nor Colleen were prepared to elaborate the tiniest bit.

"You know, guys," said Jeff, as he stood up and sighed a little morosely, "I've been here for a lot of Tribal Councils. And I've seen a lot of players sit here and stall. But you guys..." He sighed again. "You guys must have something big going on tonight. Because I can see it in your eyes."

He turned and looked at Tina, who just returned his stare with a grin and a bit of a smirk.

Jeff turned to look at Rob, and there was that exact same look. Mischievous giddiness. The look of anticipation.

All the Ahis had it.

And it was driving Jeff crazy trying to get them to sit here and talk.

"Do you guys just want to get to the vote?" Jeff now asked. "Is that it? Has everything that's going to happen tonight already been decided? Am I just standing in your way by getting your thoughts?"

No one answered.

In the front, Lex put his head down and stifled a laugh.

In the back, Sue grinned from ear to ear, as if hearing a joke.

Nobody was going to give Jeff anything tonight.

Nobody was going to say an inappropriate word.

The Ahis were here to have a showdown tonight, and that was about it. They were here to find out who was taking control of this tribe, and which side would crumble under the pressure of the purple rock. They were here to see if Sue was going to take out Lex, or if Lex was going to take out Sue.

Because the showdown had been brewing, and that moment was now.

Jeff didn't quite know all these details yet. He didn't quite realize that a battle nine days in the making was about to take place. But he was close enough to the truth to know what needed to be done. He had been doing this long enough, as host, that he knew when he was needed, and when he was not.

Right now, it was time to step aside as host, and let the gladiators into the arena to put on a show.

So that's what he did.

Jeff wished all the members of Ahi good luck.

And he stepped back.

An important game of "Chicken" was about to take place.

^^



One by one, the eight members of Ahi walked up to that voting booth, and wrote down a name.

One by one, the eight members of Ahi did what needed to be done, or in most cases, what was best for their game.

And one by one they came back, and sat down.

To see which side would blink, when put to the test.

"I'll go tally the votes," said Jeff.

Their host walked over to the voting confessional to retrieve eight pieces of parchment. And at that moment, Lex leaned forward to whisper something into his ally, Tina Wesson's, left ear.

Lex leaned forward and whispered.

Tina shook her head, and smiled, and whispered back.

And when Vecepia saw that exchange, she didn't like it.

She didn't like Tina's smile at all.

"Tina is going to force a tie," Vecepia suddenly leaned over and whispered to Boston Rob.

"Mmm?" Rob looked up, momentarily surprised.

"Look at Tina!" Vecepia hissed, under her breath.

So Rob looked over.

And sure enough, there she was.

Tina Wesson.

With her head up, her chin out, and a determined look on her face that said, "Watch and see."

"Shit!" thought Rob.

"This better be a five to three vote," Rob now leaned over and whispered to Vecepia.

And Vecepia nodded.

If they were expecting Tina to cave tonight, perhaps they might have underestimated how stubborn that little woman would be. Because that look on her face didn't say "Please don't hurt me." That look on Tina's face said, "I bet y'all are gonna be surprised when this vote comes back four to four."

Vecepia saw it.

And she was terrified by it.

But right now there was nothing she could do, but just sit here and wait.



^^



The air in the lodge was thick with tension as Jeff came back with that bamboo container in his hands. And it was even more filled with tension when he said his immortal line.

"The person voted out tonight must leave the Tribal Council area immediately."

With that, the die was cast.

History was about to be made.

And the tribe sat in tension as he pulled the first vote from the box.

"Sue," it read.

That one was from Frank. No surprise.

"Sue," came the next vote.

Another non-surprise, this time courtesy of Lex.

And then, of course, came two more "Sue"s in succession.

One from John.

And one from Tina.

That was four.

Just like Vecepia had feared, Tina had actually been bold enough to force the first tie.

This was bad.

With four "Sue" votes now out in the open, Jeff opened the ballot box again.

And out came a "Lex."

That was one.

Then came a second "Lex."

And then came a third.

Sue, Rob, and Vecepia had all followed through with the plan to vote for Lex tonight. One after another, they had risked the wrath of the big man, and attempted to force a tie, by writing down his name. The vote was now four votes for Sue, and three votes for Lex.

And as long as Colleen had done so too-- as long as Colleen had done as she had repeatedly been told, and voted for Lex-- the vote was going to end in a tie.

With just one vote remaining in that ballot box, Colleen's, the Ahis sat on pins and needles to see what was going to happen.

And as Jeff pulled it out...

... and Sue took a sharp intake of breath...

... it turned out that Colleen was a good, and a loyal soldier, for once and for all.

"Lex," said Jeff, as he held up Colleen's distinct girlish handwriting.

Jeff smiled.

"It looks like we have ourselves our first All-Star tie."



^^



With the battle lines now having clearly been established, Jeff paused for a moment to let things sink in. And he could tell by the look on Lex's face that Lex had not been expecting this. Lex had been absolutely certain that Colleen was going to take his offer tonight, and "vote with the good guys," like he had asked. Lex had gone into that reveal with complete confidence in Colleen, and he had definitely expected nothing short of a 5-3 win over Sue.

But now it was a tie.

And now he was pissed.

"Surprised, Lex?" Jeff couldn't resist asking.

"Well... yeah," was all Lex could say. He was too befuddled to really say any more than that. Had Colleen actually turned down his offer, and tried to take him out tonight? Had she really attempted to do that? And joined with the enemy?

"You'll be okay, Lex," Tina said softly, as she reached back and patted his knee.

But Lex didn't feel all right.

Lex was feeling a little bit queasy.

And with his neck now on the line, he wasn't sure whether to slit Colleen's throat, or just sit here, give up, and pass out.

"Okay Ahi," said Jeff, "It looks like we're gonna have ourselves a little tiebreaker."

He sat down

And pulled out a small bag.

And there it was.

The purple rock.

The dreaded Purple Rock of Doom.

The thing so many of these players never wanted to see.

"We don't like ties around here," Jeff explained, "So you guys are going to break this one. Tonight. Because if you don't..."

He grinned and pulled the ominous little stone out of the bag.

And held it up.

"... If you don't break this tie, you're going to leave tonight's vote up to chance. And I'm sure as most of you would agree, that's an awful thing to have to subject yourself to, especially this early in All-Star Survivor."

Nobody said a word.

Everybody knew what the stakes were.

It was play Chicken, or play Russian Roulette.

It was the exact same scenario they'd gone over a thousand times in their heads.

"If you don't break the tie," continued Jeff, somewhat redundantly, "You'll draw from this bag. And I'm talking all of you. All eight of you will reach in, and pick a rock." He paused. "There are seven yellow stones in here. And one purple one. And if you draw that little purple one, you know what that means."

Several heads nodded.

"So remember that," Jeff finished up. "If you don't break this tie, right now, you will be exposing yourself to the vote. You will be saying, 'I'm going to let fate have a shot at me, when in truth I might not have even been a target the first time around.' Because if you force a second tie, if you expose yourself to the rock, well that hammer might unexpectedly fall down on you."

Lex now shot an angry look at Colleen.

And it was probably best that Colleen didn't notice, as she was staring, quite intently, at the dirt.

"Lex," Jeff now said, "If you'd like to stand up and say a few words as to why the tribe should spare you, and vote out Sue instead, well be my guest. The platform is yours. Go ahead."

Still a little frazzled, the Ahi leader now nodded his head and rose to his feet.

"Listen, you guys," he said, after a short pause. "I'm well aware that Sue has wanted me out of here since day one. And, well, I suppose it's pretty clear that she got three of you to think the same way."

Lex was mostly directing this argument at Colleen. But at the same time, he knew that Vecepia and Rob were just as culpable in this assault as well. So he tried to speak to all three of them, not just Colleen. Although he'd be lying if he said that young Ms. Haskell wasn't the target audience for most of this.

"Look, you guys," Lex finally added, now that his fiery temperament was beginning to kick in, "And I'm especially talking to you, Colleen. I've been a good leader. I've worked hard. I've busted my ass. And you know I have. So I think it's bullshit that you three can just sit there and tell me, to my face, that I should be gone first."

Lex's words hung in the air for a moment, like a cloud. But he wasn't quite finished yet.

"With me on this tribe," he continued, "We've dominated this game. We've kicked the snot out of the Kekos, and I think I've helped in that goal. And if you keep me here, that's exactly what we'll continue to do. We'll continue to dominate Keko, we'll win this game, and one person, in this room, will walk away from this game with a million damn dollars."

Lex now turned and locked eyes with Colleen.

"I haven't done anything to warrant going home first," he said, "And you know it."

And then Lex was done.



^^



Once Lex had finished his little speech, Sue Hawk now had a chance to defend herself as well. So she stood. And she turned.

And she aimed this argument right at the heart, and the mind, of Tina and John.

"You all know how I am," Sue said, quite earnestly. "I come here, I work hard. You seen me. I don't have nothin' to hide from no one. And you know that's the truth."

Out of the corner of her eye, Sue saw Tina nodding her head a little bit.

Heck, even Frank was nodding.

Apparently the tribe was quite eager to agree that she was nothing, if not perfectly blunt.

"Well since you know I tell the truth," Sue continued, "I just wanted to remind all of you of what I know about Lex. And what you know about Lex, as well."

Up in the back corner of the bench, Sue could see Lex visibly bristle.

He knew exactly where she was going with this.

She was going for "Kelly Goldsmith."

And already, she could see Lex was pissed.

"Do you remember," mused Sue, "What Lex done to little Kelly Goldsmith back in Africa? Did you guys actually watch that?"

Lex just exhaled and shut his eyes.

Because he was helpless.

This woman played dirty.

"Back in Africa," Sue continued, "Lex got rid of Kelly for no reason, other than the fact that he was scared of her. He knew she'd be powerful some day, and he didn't like it. So he cut her off before she ever got much of a chance."

Sue now locked eyes with John.

"Well, one day he'll be scared of all of you, too," she added. "John, Tina, Frank, you guys are stronger players than Kelly ever was. And you guys are a hell of a lot more powerful. So do you think Lex will ever let you get to the end of the game? Once he realizes that you, too, can be leaders if he wasn't around?"

Sue turned to lock eyes with Tina.

"Tina," she said, "Lex will betray you. He'll betray you because you're powerful. Because that's the only way he knows how to play. He'll betray you because he's just a scared little kid who doesn't play well with others. He'll betray you because, since you've already won once before, that makes you his enemy. Not his friend."

Sue now looked at Lex.

And the two combatants exchanged an icy glare of enmity as she wrapped up her speech.

"Lex is a player who votes on his whims," Sue added. "He votes whatever way he feels like that day. And I don't know about you, but that makes me nervous. I wouldn't want to be a slave to his gut, so why would anyone else? Because at least with me you know, every day, what you're going to get."

She paused.

Then finished.

With the kicker.

"Look, it's no secret that I don't like Lex. I don't like nothin' about him, and probably never will. But that don't change the fact that at least I will actually say it. If I don't like someone, I'll tell them to their face. I'll say it, and I'll say it out loud."

Sue then turned to look at John.

And then Tina.

One last time.

"With me," she finished, "You know where I stand. Even if it pisses you off, I'll tell you to your face. But do you know where you stand with Lex? Do you really? Would you know it if you were just another little Kelly Goldsmith in his plans? John? Tina? Would he tell you?"

She paused.

"With Lex's whims, and his paranoia, will you ever be a hundred percent safe?"




^^

After the players had a moment to recover, Jeff asked them to walk up and cast their votes again.

Lex wouldn't vote.

And Sue wouldn't vote.

It was now up to the other six players if they wanted that rock.

The first player to walk up to the podium was Lex's sergeant-at-arms, Frank Garrison. And of course he was going to vote for Sue. There was no way Frank would ever turn on an ally this early in the game. Frank was going to stand by Lex, and it was going to be obvious. In fact, why bother having Frank even cast a second vote at all?

As Frank went up to do his business, his teammate and friend, Tina Wesson, sat back on the bench.

And she wasn't alone.

Tina may have thought she was just sitting here, staring at the fire, trying to make up her mind, but in truth there were two pairs of eyes very eagerly watching her. In fact, Rob and Vecepia had been watching her every movement since the very first moment they'd arrived in this lodge.

And now, as Tina stared at the fire, looking confident, they both finally reached the exact same conclusion at about the same time.

It's been nice knowing you, Sue.

Completely independent of one another, and just going by the confidence shown on her face, Rob and Vecepia finally realized that Tina was you-better-believe-it going to force a second tie tonight, and she was going to do it because she was nuts.

Rob hadn't anticipated this.

And Vecepia hadn't anticipated this.

But apparently Tina was a little big tougher than they'd originally thought.

So when Frank came back from the podium, and Vecepia had a chance to change her vote, well, that's exactly what she did.

Vecepia walked up.

She changed her vote.

She tossed Sue aside like a pile of trash.

And she started brainstorming how she'd spin her way out of this with Lex in the aftermath tomorrow.

^^

Were Rob and Vecepia the best allies in the world? Well obviously not. Obviously they were only allies at the time that they shared your same interests. So yeah, they could be great allies sometimes. But not tonight. Because neither Rob nor Vecepia were going to take a purple rock for a player they really cared so little about. That just wasn't in their DNA, and it just wasn't in their characters. When danger loomed over Rob and Vecepia, they were more than happy to jump ship. And to jump fast.

As for Sue Hawk? Well she was doomed the minute she had received those four votes the first time around. Rob and Vecepia weren't going to take a dagger for her. Hell, they could easily live and fight another day without Sue. And they would probably be fine.

After all, Rob was young and an athlete. On Ahi right now, he was irreplaceable.

And Vecepia was the Teflon Queen. She never made enemies. At most times she was practically untouchable.

Both Rob and Vecepia would probably be able to walk away from this failed coup d'etat unscathed and without a scratch. And they knew it. Which is why they switched.

And didn't regret their actions for even a second.

As the fourth "Sue" ballot came up in the revote, Sue Hawk instinctively and immediately knew what had happened. She had been sold out by two people she thought she could trust. She had been sold out by Rob, and Vecepia, the gruesome twosome from Maraamu, who seemed to work together, and think together, as if they were always a team.

And as that last vote came up with her name on it, Sue realized that, all along, she'd truly been right. Her instincts had been correct from the start.

Susan Hawk had had only one real friend in All-Star Survivor.

Her name was Colleen.

Because Colleen was the only one who'd stuck by her side the second time around.

"Sue," announced Jeff, "I need you to bring me your torch."

The Ahis had expected some sort of angry outburst at this point, but the tough-talking truck driver simply shrugged, grabbed her torch, and stood up. Sure, Susan Hawk played hard. And she talked hard. And she fought hard. But she also took her medicine like a grown-up when she lost. Just like now.

"Good luck, guys," was the only thing that Sue said.

She walked up to Jeff.

She smiled, sadly, at her friend, Colleen.

She had her torch snuffed.

And then she was gone.

The Ahi tribe was officially now down to seven.

"You know, Ahi," said Jeff, once the smoke from the torch had cleared, "I think it's clear that you guys need some healing time. Because this was an ugly vote tonight."

A few players nodded.

Lex smiled gratefully down at his friend Tina.

"So go back to camp," Jeff added, "Relax a little bit, and get this thing worked out. Because I don't want to see you guys back here anytime soon."

And with that, they were done.

The Ahis were done.

The vote was done.

Tribal Council was done.

And, of course, a certain young traitorous Colleen Haskell was done.

Because she didn't need to see the angry look in Lex's eyes to know her game here, in Hawaii, was through.

- Read Sue Hawk's final words

- Read Mario's Episode 3 commentary notes

- Back to the All-Star Hawaii episode archive

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