Title: Rosmole (2/10)
Author: Kata
E-mail: Katayla@juno.com
Disclaimer: Neither Roswell nor the Mole belong to be, but if you're offering....
Rating: PG
Couplings: Conventional
Summary: The Mole with, a Roswellian twist.
Author's Notes: First of all, I'm sorry for the delay on this part. My job leaves me with little free time and less energy. On top of that, I have two summer projects and a class to go with my internship. Don't you love growing up? I also must apologize for the length of this author's note. Long one's have always bothered me and here I go rambling on! :-) It was pointed out to me that not everyone knows what the Mole is about. Here's a quick description: It starts with ten players all working together for a group pot. They have a number of tasks (like challenges on Surviver) that will earn them money, if they complete them correctly and in time. The total amount of money possible is one million dollars. It is the Mole's job to sabotage the tasks. At the end of each show, all of the contestants have to indivually answer twenty questions on the identity of the Mole. The one who gets the fewest right is "executed." (kicked off) There's a sepecial guest appearance in this part, suggested by my sister.
******
Ten friends playing for up to one million dollars. Among them a saboteur, a traitor, the mole. The winner? The one who answers the question, who is the mole?
It was the next day, and time for the next challenge. Once again, the group of contestants gathered in the hotel lobby, surrounded by mounds of bags.
"Don't tell me," Maria said. "We have to go to our next hotel before finding out about the challenge."
Anderson smiled at her. "I don't make the rules. Actually, only your bags will go to the next hotel. We're going just outside of Hamburg."
"Should I even ask why?" Isabel asked.
"Well, you could, but it wouldn't do much good," Anderson replied. "Come on out to the van."
"You know, this is becoming like a second home," Michael muttered under his breath.
"Aren't you used to spending hours at a time on the road, Michael?" Maria demanded. "Do I need to remind you of how many times you stole my car to--"
"What?" Amy said. She turned to stare at her daughter.
"Nothing, Mom."
Amy shook her head. "I don't know why I bother."
Jim laughed. "It's our own fault for getting roped into a trip with eight teenagers!"
Despite Alex and Kyle hitting each other everytime they saw a "slug bug," the trip flew by.
"Okay, where are we?" Maria asked, as the van stopped near a wide field.
"Your at the site of your next challenge," Anderson said, as the Roswellians gathered around him.
"Which is...?" Maria asked impatiently.
"Maria! I raised you with better manners than that!" Amy complained.
Maria shrugged. "Okay, then what is the next challenge *please*?"
"We've set up six games for you. Some are athletic, and some are mental. Each task is worth $10,000 for a total of $60,000."
"You don't really have to add it up," Alex remarked. "We're not *that* dumb."
Anderson shrugged. "It's in the script. You'll have a time limit for each challenge. Any questions?"
"Yeah," Michael interjected. "Who's the mole?"
"Can't tell you that one. Any other questions? Okay, then let's get started. Maria, you're the farmer. Michael
you're the grain. Alex is the fox, and Isabel is the chicken."
"A chicken!" Isabel exclaimed. "Do I have to?"
Anderson ignored her. The rest of you are just bystanders for this challenge. This is the river." Anderson
gestured at a blue piece of paper on the ground.
"Low budget?" Alex asked.
"Something like that. Maria, you have to get the chicken, the feed, and the fox across the river, but you can
only take one at a time. If you leave the chicken and the fox alone, the fox will eat the chicken, and if you leave the chicken alone with the grain, the chicken will eat the grain. You have two minutes, starting now."
"There's a simple logic to this," Alex said. "There has to be."
"Okay, so I'll take the chicken first," Maria decided. "Any objections?"
"Yes!" Isabel said. "I don't want to be the chicken."
"But you make such a beautiful one." Alex smiled.
"Thanks, I think."
Maria led Isabel over the 'river.' "I guess I'll come back now," Maria said. "Now what?"
"Take the fox," Tess yelled from the sidelines.
"He'll eat me!" Isabel shouted back.
"The grain, then."
"No, then *I'll* get eaten," Michael complained.
"That might not be a bad idea," Maria muttered under her breath.
"Hey!"
"Wait," Alex interrupted. "No one said we had to do this in a certain number of trips, did they? Why don't you take the fox across and then take the chicken back? Then you can take the grain, and the chicken."
"Good idea. Come on, fox." Maria led Alex across the river and then headed back.
"Don't forget me!" Isabel called. "I don't want to get eaten!"
"Oops." Maria grabbed Isabel, and took her over the river. "Now the grain-- and don't get fresh."
"Would I do that?" Maria led Michael across the river, but before she could go back for Isabel, Anderson yelled "time!"
"You had the right solution, guys. You were just a little too slow. This next challenge is all about trust."
"Believe me, we trust each other!" Maria exclaimed.
Anderson smiled. "Then you should have no trouble with this next challenge. Follow me." He led them to a small set of stairs, leading to nowhere. "It's simple. Each of you will have to fall backwards from the staircase and be caught by the rest of the group. You have five minutes, starting now."
"I've done this before," Tess said. "Strongest people in the front and middle. Weakest in the back. Hold you arms out, palms up." Tess quickly organized the group until they formed a kind of bed with their arms. "I'll go first since I'm the lightest." She ran up the stairs and fell without hesitation.
"Liz, you're next," Tess urged. Liz didn't look very enthusiastic about the matter, but she did as Tess instructed. By following Tess' instructions, they managed to finish in under four minutes.
"You didn't even drop me," Kyle exclaimed.
"That's because we're strong women!" Maria showed her biceps to Kyle.
"Good job, everyone," Anderson said. "This next one is a bit harder. Come here."
"Does anyone else think we spend more time going to challenges then action *doing* the challenge?" Liz grumbled.
Maria laughed. "Don't be such a wet blanket, Lizzie. We're here to have fun, remember?"
"No," Liz said sharply. "I *don't* remember."
Maria sighed, then turned her attention to Anderson, who was now standing by a square foot block of wood.
"Next challenge. Balance on this block of wood one minute. You'll have five minutes for this one. You start now."
Isabel stared doubtfully at the block. "All of us? On that little piece of wood. I don't think so!"
Jim shrugged. "We have to give it a try."
"So how are we going to do this?" Kyle asked.
"Let's just climb on," Amy suggested. "It might work." Her voice was doubtful, but they agreed to her suggestion. One by one, they climbed onto the block, clinging on to each other with all their strength, shouting various remarks to each other.
"Hey! That was my foot!"
"Don't me there!"
"Your squashing me! I can't breathe!"
Yet somehow they all managed to get on the block, and stay up: for five seconds.
After they had untangled themselves from the each other, Jim spoke up. "Do we all actually have to be touching the block?" At the others' blank looks, he continued. "Maybe the girls can climb on the guys backs. We might be able to fit better that way." He turned to Amy. "Want a piggy back ride?"
Amy laughed. "Okay, but if you drop me, I'm never speaking to you again!"
Meanwhile, Michael had turned to Maria, Isabel climbed onto Alex's back, and Tess tried to jump on Kyle's back.
"You're too tall!" Tess complained.
"You're too short!" Kyle retorted.
"At least kneel down a little," Tess suggested. "There, that's better." She climbed onto his back.
"Oof! You're heavy. Ouch! What was that for?" Kyle asked, rubbing the spot on his head where Tess had
hit him.
Liz was standing nearby watching all the action with a sad expression on her face. Even though she knew
she couldn't be with Max, right then she missed him more than she cared to admit.
"Get in the middle, Liz!" Maria called, from high on Michael's back. "You can sort of be our balancing pole."
Liz gave her a strange look. "Sometimes you make absolutely no sense, Maria."
"Sometimes?" Michael asked, then groaned as Maria dug her heel into his side.
With Liz standing in the middle, the other couples one by one stepped onto the block-- and one by one, fell off again.
"It's not working." Alex needlessly pointed out.
"We all realize that," Isabel said. "Although of course, none of us know how to fix it."
"It's not exactly our fault, Izzy," Michael broke in. "We're trying."
"If you were trying, you wouldn't have nearly dropped me!" Maria yelled.
"If they hadn't pushed into me, I wouldn't have!" Michael yelled back, gesturing at Alex and Isabel.
"It's not my fault Kyle stepped on my foot!" Alex shouted.
"Shut up!" The group all turned to stare at Tess, who had an expression of anger on her tiny face. "It's all of your faults! If we worked together, we could do this! Instead, all you want to do is yell at each other. We're going to lose the task-- just like the Mole wants!"
Ashamed, the rest of the group fell silent, casting suspicious glances at each other. Which of them was the mole, secretly working to sabotage the group? Silently, they once again climbed onto the block of wood. They had managed to stay on for almost thirty seconds, when Anderson called, "Time."
He walked up to join them. "You lost the challenge, but I suspect you learned a valuable lesson about getting along. Let's see you put this to use in the next challenge. I'm sure many of you have done this before. Stand in a circle, reach your hands forward, and grab someone else's hand. Not of the same person or anyone standing next to you." Anderson waited until they had followed his instructions. "Now, untangle yourselves. You have two minutes. Don't let go of anyone's hands or you'll lose the task."
"And to think I used to love this game," Maria murmured to herself.
Valenti took control immediately. "Let's see... Michael you need to cross under, and Tess needs to come over."
"This isn't working," Liz complained. She was stuck between Tess and Maria, with her arm twisted around her.
"Yes it is," Amy put in. "Kyle and I just need to come around you."
Within a minute, they were standing in a circle.
"All right!" Maria cheered. "We did it!"
Across from here, Michael was shaking out his hand. "Barely. Did you have to twist my arm around like that?" he asked Kyle.
"At least you're facing the right way," Liz grumbled. She had ended up turned backwards, facing away from the rest of the group.
"Good job!" Anderson walked up to them, clapping his hands. "Are you ready for your next task?"
Isabel groaned. "No, but I'm ready for bed."
"Not yet, Isabel." Anderson led the contestants to yet another part of the field, where a circle had been painted on the ground. About ten feet away from the circle was a black line with a bucket next to it. "It's simple. Each of you will have to wear a blindfold and toss a frog into the circle."
"A frog!" Maria exclaimed.
"It's fake," Anderson reassured her. "The rest of you can help guide the person throwing, but you can't touch them. You have ten minutes for each of you to get one frog in the circle. Begin now." He stepped back to watch the fun.
"I"ll start," Alex volunteered. Isabel tied a blindfold around his eyes and handed him a frog. "Okay, where am I throwing?"
"You're facing the right direction, but step maybe one foot to your right," Isabel said. "Now throw. Alex threw the frog. It landed a couple of feet away from the circle. "Just a little harder."
"Yes!" Maria cried, as the thrown frog landed in the center of the circle.
Alex pushed down his blindfold. "Wow. I've never thrown that well before. Thanks, Iz." He leaned down and kissed Isabel's cheek. Isabel blushed, but didn't protest.
"My turn," she said quickly, and tied the blindfold herself. Her first throw was way off target.
Tess burst out laughing. "I hope you never tried out for baseball, Isabel!"
"That bad, huh?"
"Throw to the left about ten feet and about ten times harder!" Michael called out helpfully.
Isabel's second shot was closer, but still off mark. "It didn't make it, did it?" Isabel asked.
"Not quite," Alex told her. "Just a little more to the left, and a little harder. Too hard!" he added, when her third shot flew over the circle.
"Okay." Isabel straightened up. "I *will* make this one." She took a deep breath and threw the frog.
"You made it!" Maria shrieked.
Isabel pulled the blindfold down. "I did?" Her mouth dropped open, and she let out a very un-Isabel like squeal and hugged the nearest person, who just happened to be Alex.
"Who's next?" Michael asked, dangling the blindfold from his hands.
"You are Spaceboy," Maria said sweetly, as she tied the blindfold for him.
Michael sighed. "I should have known that was coming." He grabbed a frog and threw it, seemingly randomly.
Maria's jaw dropped. "I don't believe it."
"What?" Michael demanded. "It couldn't have been that bad."
"You made it."
"I did?" Michael asked, a tone of complete bafflement in his voice, as he took off the blindfold and stared at the frog.
The sheriff was up next. "You know, this reminds me of a training exercise," he said conversationally. "We practice shooting at targets in the dark. I got quite good at it," he finished as the frog landed in the exact center of the circle.
Kyle stepped up next. "If Dad can do it, anyone can, right?" Apparently good throwing genes ran in the Valenti family, because Kyle also made it on the first try.
Maria wasn't nearly as lucky. "There's a reason I don't play sports!" she declared, after she missed the circle for the fifth time. She threw it again, half-heatedly and finally made the target. Michael moved up to her.
"Good job." She moved away from him. "What?" he asked, moving out of the way of Tess, who stepped up to take her turn.
"You cheated, Michael." Her voice sounded disappointed. "I thought we all agreed not to do that."
"Come on, Maria. It doesn't really matter."
"Yes it does!" She spun around to stare at him. "I wanted to do it for myself! I want to do this game for myself."
"Okay, okay." Michael held his hands up. "No more cheating."
"Do you *promise*?" Maria stressed the word.
"I promise."
"If you break that promise, Michael Guerin, I swear I will never talk to you again. I don't care if you're the Mole or how badly you won't to win that money."
"I promise," Michael said solemnly. "I can vouch for the others, too. No cheating."
"Thank you," Maria said. "I don't want to deal with any of that stuff during the game."
They were interrupted by a yell from Tess. "I did it, I did it!" She jumped up and down excitedly.
Nearby, Amy laughed. "Okay, now hand me that blindfold!" But before she could put the blindfold on,
Anderson Cooper once again interrupted.
"Sorry everyone. Time's up."
Maria groaned. "How much do you get paid for saying that? Because you sure have said that to us a lot."
Anderson laughed. "Don't you know it's rude to ask someone how much money they make? Okay, lie down everyone."
"What?" Isabel asked.
"Lie down in a circle," Anderson repeated. "For the next challenge." They groaned, but followed his
instructions. "Now put all your feet towards the middle, so you form a platform."
"I assume there's a good reason for this," Maria said. "Right?"
Anderson leaned down and picked up a large ball from the ground. "I will put this ball on your feet, and one by one, you each will have to take off your shoes. You get three minutes, and if the ball drops, you lose."
Isabel groaned. "I knew I shouldn't have worn heels today! I'll take my shoes off first." She took her feet from the ball, the spiky heel nearly knocking the ball down.
"Careful!" Kyle warned.
"My turn," Amy said. She was wearing slip on sandals that came off easily. Jim didn't have it as easy.
"Double knots," he explained. "I guess they weren't a good idea."
Michael and Maria's shoes came off easily, but Tess managed to hit her head with one of her sandals.
"Are you okay?" Kyle asked, as he began to pull off his own shoes.
"I thinks so," Tess called back.
Liz and Alex both managed to get their shoes off in record time, and they finished the task with thirty seconds spare."
"Good job," Anderson congratulated him. "You won thirty thousand on these challenges, giving you a pot of--"
"Seventy thousand," Alex interrupted. "I told you. We can do the math ourselves."
Anderson laughed. "Are you sure you don't want to be the host?" Alex blushed and shook his head. "The rest of the day is yours," he told the group. "The van's will take you back to the hotel. Be ready for your next challenge tomorrow morning."
Within minutes, the group was arriving at an elegant hotel, located in downtown Hamburg. They were met by a valet and several bellhops. Maria shook her head as her bags were taken out of her hands. "I could used to this." A sudden thought crossed her mind. "Michael, do you still paint?"
Michael was surprised and a little guarded. "Why?"
"Artists can make good money, right? I want to live in style."
Amy came up behind them. "Did I miss the wedding?" she asked dryly. "Last time I checked, I was the one supporting you, Maria."
Maria frowned. "True. *You* can become a famous artist then."
Nearby Tess and Kyle were in deep conversation.
"Come on, Tess, you must have *some* idea who the Mole is," he persisted. "Couldn't you just--?" Kyle waved his hand around, trying to indicate the alien powers.
"We promised not to do that. Besides, I'd rather figure it out on my own."
Kyle frowned. "Does that mean I have figure it out on my own, too?"
"Sorry, Buddha boy, but if I won't do your homework for you, then I definitely won't do this for you either."
Tess gave him one last smile and then headed to her room. Kyle sighed and headed back downstairs to the bar that seemed an obligatory part of every German hotel. He found an empty table and ordered a Pepsi.
"Hey, Kyle." Alex came up to him. "Hope that isn't a beer."
"No, I just haven't had much taste for alcohol after what happened the last time I drank." He looked down at his Pepsi and sighed. "Too bad. Germany's legal drinking age is 16."
"I feel your pain." Alex sympathized. "Me, I prefer to be in complete control of myself, so no drinking.
Besides, I have to be alert to catch signs of the Mole."
Kyle brightened. "Any clues to share? Tess won't discuss it with me."
"She won't?" Alex took a small notebook out of his pocket and wrote it down.
"What are you doing?" Kyle asked curiously.
Alex grinned. "Anytime anyone does or says anything suspicious I write it down."
"Can I take a look?"
Alex shrugged. "Go ahead."
Kyle took the notebook and began flipping through it. "Sheriff-- long time fixing car. Kyle and Tess-- long time getting oil." He looked up. "Hey!"
Alex laughed. "Come on, Kyle. Everyone's a suspect."
Kyle shook his head and continued reading. "Tess-- only one to understand German. That's suspicious?"
"No, just worth remembering."
"Isabel- got alphabet wrong, Michael- missed room, Michael/Maria- lock problems...." Kyle's voice trailed off as he flipped through the remaining pages. "So does any of this tell you who the mole is?"
Alex sighed. "No. Basically it tells me that everyone's doing suspicious things, even me."
Kyle laughed. "And apparently I am, too." He held the book up.
"Oh, well. At least it will help with those questions. What color of shoes was the mole wearing on the first day? I don't even know what color of shoes I was wearing on the first day! I don't even know what color of shoes I'm wearing today." He glanced under the table. "Oh. White. What a crazy color!"
Kyle shook his head. "I thought for sure I was going to be the one kicked off. I had no idea on most of them, so I started guessing randomly."
"I don't think Max even tried."
Kyle sobered. "He didn't want to be in the game. Liz either." He paused. "You know, I never thought I
would say this, but I wish those two would work things out."
Alex nodded his agreement.
Across the hotel, Liz and Maria were having a similar discussion. "I can't, Maria. I won't be responsible for all that destruction."
"Look, Liz. The future Max came back to *change* the future. Everything's different now."
"You don't know that," Liz protested.
"Come on. How many episodes of Star Trek have I watched? I *know* my time travel."
"Maria, Star Trek isn't even real!"
Maria immediately clamped her hands over her ears and started humming loudly. "I can't hear you!"
"Even if what you're saying is true, Max and I have grown so far apart that I don't know if we'll ever be able
to be close again."
"Look at me and Michael. We fight all the time, but we still lo-- like each other."
Liz sighed. "I just can't, Maria. Not now, when everything's changing. I didn't even want to come."
"Okay, Lizzie. I won't bring it up again. Just promise me to never give up on you and Max."
"I never have," Liz said softly.
Isabel woke up the next day and immediately looked out the window. The sky was overcast with clouds.
"Great," she muttered to herself. "It's going to rain." Her gaze moved to the look at the clock. She gasped. It already 8:30 and the next task was going to start at nine. She groaned as she started frantically rummaging through her suitcase. "Dirty... dirty... wrinkled...aha!" She pulled out a black T-shirt and some black jeans. Isabel looked at them and shrugged. Black was always in fashion, right? She was still trying to pull her hair back in a bun, when she heard a knock at the door. She let out a groan as her hair once again tumbled from the head. "Who said my hair had to be back all the time?" she decided and went over to open the door.
"Hey, you have your hair down. You look great." It was Alex of course.
Isabel permitted herself a small smile. "Don't be ridiculous, Alex. I overslept. I didn't even have time put on any makeup!"
Alex smiled. "Isabel, I don't think you could ever manage to be anything other than drop dead gorgeous."
Isabel smiled again; a real one this time. "Thank you, Alex. That means a lot to me." For an instant their eyes met, but Isabel soon felt her cheeks heating and looked away. "Let's go," she said abruptly.
Alex shrugged. "As you wish."
They were the last to arrive. Maria raised her eyebrows at Alex. "What were you doing up there?"
Alex shot her a look. "Isabel overslept. We're not late, are we?"
"No," Anderson Cooper said. "You're right on time."
"Wait, don't tell me." Alex interrupted. "You can't tell us about the next challenge until we travel somewhere."
Anderson shrugged. "I don't make the rules. Out to the van, everyone."
Maria groaned as she climbed into the van. "Home sweet home."
"Yet it doesn't quite measure up to the Jetta," Michael replied.
Amy shook her head. "Maybe I should just give that car to you, Michael. You spend more time driving it than Maria does."
Michael brightened. "Wow, thanks Ms. DeLuca!"
Maria hit him. "She was joking, idiot!"
Within minutes the group was on the site of their next challenge. They found themselves staring at a huge stone wall.
Maria groaned. "Don't tell me we have to climb that wall!"
"Okay," Anderson said. "I won't tell you. But you still have to do it." His voice became more authoritative as he went on to describe the task. "This is an obstacle course. As Maria has pointed out, the wall is the first portion. All of you will have to scale it. Next is a large river you must swim across. After the river is a series of underground caves. In the caves is a large chasm that you will have to cross. Don't worry, there's a small footbridge. Once you make it out of the caves, you'll find yourselves back at the river. This time you'll have to swing across on a rope we erected. After that, you'll only have to climb a rope structure to reach the finish line."
"So how do we win?" Michael asked.
"And how much?" Alex added.
Anderson smiled. "This one's worth $50,000 dollars. As for how you win... we decided to make it a little more interesting this time. Instead of running against the clock, you'll have to beat another team."
"Who?" Tess wanted to know.
"The best baseball team in the majors-- the Seattle Mariners!"
Michael choked. "All of them?"
Anderson laughed. "No, not all, Michael." He raised his voice. "Come on out, boys!" One by one, the baseball players filed out. Anderson introduced them in turn. "Bret Boone, Gil Meche, Dan Wilson, Mike Cameron, Scott Podsednic, Mike Cameron, Charles Gipson, David Bell, and the outfielder known simply as Ichiro. As you can see, there are nine of them to match the nine of you. Remember that each team has to stay together throughout the entire challenge or you forfeit. The challenge will begin now!"
The two teams rushed towards the wall. The Seattle Mariners immediately began scaling it, but the Roswellians weren't quite as quick. Isabel hung back a bit.
"I hate heights!" she yelled.
Michael glanced back at her from his perch at the top of the wall. "Come on, Izzy, if Bret Boone can do it, so can you," he said, knowing she found the Mariner's second baseman attractive."
Isabel stuck her tongue out him, but moved over to the wall, anyway. Alex followed her. "Here, I'll give you a boost," he offered. Alex lifted her up to Michael.
"Don't drop me!" Isabel pleaded, as Michael helped her land softly on the other side.
"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Alex asked, as he leaped from the wall.
"Ow!" Maria screamed as she landed from her jump off the wall. "I think I twisted my ankle!"
"Really?" Michael asked.
"No, you idiot! I'm lying!" Maria hopped over to a large rock, to wait for the others to scale the wall.
Finally they were all on the right side.
"On to the river!" Kyle announced leading the way.
"Are you going to be all right?" Michael asked Maria quietly.
She nodded. "I think so. Just help me to the river." Maria put her arm around him and hobbled down to the river.
"Um, guys?" Tess said, as she stared down into the swiftly moving river. "I didn't want to tell you this, but I can't swim."
Alex groaned. "First Maria sprains her ankle, now this!"
"We didn't exactly do it on purpose, Alex," Tess snapped.
"Temper, temper, Tess," Kyle murmured. "Just jump on my back. I can carry you across."
"Are you sure?" Tess asked. "I may be small, but I do weigh something."
"Trust me," was all Kyle said. Within minutes, the two were crossing the river, Tess clinging tightly to Kyle's back. The others followed close behind. On the other side of the bank, they shook out there clothes and wrung out their hair.
"Oh well," Amy said practically. "It's going to rain anyway." She pointed towards the darkened sky.
Isabel shook her head. "I guess it's a good thing I didn't put on any makeup. It wouldn't have lasted!"
Tess was shivering. "Remind me never to do that again! I'm now cold and traumatized."
"Ah, poor baby," Kyle said, as he wrapped his arms around her. Tess looked surprised, but pleased.
"Where are the Mariners?" Michael asked.
Jim pointed down the river, where Ichiro was emerging from the water.. "I guess baseball players aren't used to swimming."
"Then let's go!" Maria said excitedly, pulling Michael to the cave.
"Is your ankle all right?" Amy asked.
"Yes. Believe it or not, all that cold water helped!"
Maria reached the cave first and took a step inside to peer around. "It's big," she announced. "I count three
different passageways."
The others filed in behind her. Liz gave an involuntarily shudder. "I hate caves."
Tess shivered. "It's even colder in here."
Michael shook his head at them. "Come on, cheer up gang. We need to get moving. I hear the Mariners coming now."
"Fine, wise leader," Kyle said. "Which way do we go?"
Michael shrugged. "I don't know. Let's try that one." He pointed to the tunnel on his right."
After walking for a couple of minutes , they came to another division. This time Maria chose their pathway. Unfortunately this one dead ended.
Michael groaned. "We'll never win this way!"
"What's your obsession with winning?" Liz snapped. "Let's just get out of here!" She boldly strode away from him, heading back to the last division. The others exchanged confused glances. Sweet Liz rarely displayed any anger at all.
"Might as well follow her." Alex decided.
Before long, the group came to a wide chasm. The only visible way across was a small footbridge, barely large enough for one person.
Isabel groaned. "More heights!"
Kyle grinned. "Guess you'll have that fear conquered by the time this game is over."
One by one they crossed the footbridge. Despite Isabel's shaking, they all safely reached the other side of the chasm.
"Onward!" Michael shouted, rushing in front of Liz. He soon emerged into the sunlight.
Amy followed behind him. She frowned. "Yuck, it's raining!"
"Come on, come on, come on!" Maria urged. "There's no time to waste."
"River again, right?" Isabel asked.
Tess moaned. "No more water!"
"No, we have that rope to swing across, remember?" Kyle told her.
"Oh, yeah, that makes me feel a lot better," Tess said sarcastically.
Despite her protests, Tess had no trouble crossing the river. Instead it was Amy who fell and twisted her ankle on the muddy ground.
"Ouch," Amy yelled, clutching her ankle.
"You hurt your ankle, too?" Michael asked. "You and Maria really are alike!"
"Please don't joke around, Michael, or I'll never let you see her again!"
"Sorry," Michael said immediately, even though he suspected she was joking.
The Sheriff was helping Amy to her feet. "Are you going to be all right?"
Amy, her face drawn with pain, nodded. "Look, the Mariners are beating us!"
The rest of the group turned to look. The Mariners were climbing the rope structure Anderson described.
"We better hurry!" Alex exclaimed.
Unfortunately, they were too late. Alex hadn't even reached the ground, when the final Mariner crossed the finish line.
Anderson greeted the dejected Roswellians when they finally arrived. "Sorry guys, you don't win the money."
Bret Boone spoke up. "Do we get the money?"
"Sorry, Bret," Anderson replied, "but I don't think an All Star like you needs any extra cash."
He turned his attention back on the contestants. "The next execution is tomorrow night. Be ready."
It was a saddened group that arrived back at the hotel that afternoon.
"They had the advantage." Alex grumbled. "They're *used* to the rain. They're from Seattle!"
Tess laughed at him. "It doesn't rain *that* much there, Alex!"
"Well, it rains more in Seattle than in Roswell."
"Anyone up to some shopping?" Isabel asked.
"I'm too depressed to shop," Maria responded, slumping down on a chair in the hotel lobby and picking up a magazine. She frowned. "It's in German!"
"It is Germany," Michael pointed out.
Maria shrugged. "I didn't feel like reading anyway. Anyone want to go on a walk with me?"
"In that?" Amy asked, pointing at the darkened sky. Amy had her ankle propped on a table. The hotel doctor had told her that it was a very mild sprain and should be fine by the morning.
"It matches my mood."
Liz stood up. "Might as well." The two best friends left the hotel.
"It's really pouring out here," Maria commented.
Liz sighed. "Maria, would you be upset if I left the game?"
"What do you mean?" Maria demanded. "How can you just leave the game?"
"Not answering any of the questions should do the trick."
"Lizzie!" Maria spun to face her, hands on her hips. "You've never deliberately lost anything in your life!"
"This is different. I put so much space between me and the rest of the group this summer that I barely
belong anymore."
"That's not true. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't even *be* a group. Michael would still be that scary guy from the wrong side of town and Max would be the guy who spent all his time staring at you."
"I can't stop thinking about Max," Liz confessed. "It's just ruining this whole game for me. Maybe if I lose, we'll have a chance to talk."
Maria sighed. "I don't agree with it, but I understand. Since you're leaving... any ideas on who the mole is?"
Liz laughed and shook her head. "Maria, my mind is so far from the game that I couldn't tell you who the mole was if my life depended on it!' Maria laughed and dropped the subject. The rest of the walk passed in the friendly silence that only exists between best friends.
True to her word, Liz was the next execution. Before she left, Maria gave her a big hug.
"Promise to try to work things out with Max?" she whispered.
Liz nodded. "I can't live like this anymore."
The eight remaining contestants returned to their hotel rooms to pack for the next days journey. The Mole stayed up late. There were tough challenges coming up tomorrow, and the Mole had to be ready for them.