AIO Mole Results Week Three - Who is the Mole?

Water Adventure Challenge Part 1
Tuesday, September 3, 2002

Jason Whittaker and Monica Stone sat on the grass, still wet with dew, outside of their cabin. All ten remaining contestants had been supplied a cabin to spend the night in before the start of their next challenge. With the first two challenges producing sub-par results, Dern had promised them a way to make up for it. "Jason, are you sure we're right?" asked Monica, pouring over a list of data the two had compiled. Jason looked up from adding some new data into the notebook and said, "Yeah, well, as sure as I can be, I guess."

The two of them had formed an alliance and were meeting together often to compile and analyze data on all of the other participants in hopes of quickly determining the mole's identity. "You know, I feel like I'm Eugene", laughed Jason. "It's not a good feeling." Monica giggled. "Jason Whittaker, secret agent, missionary and", her tone changed, "statistical analyst. So, Mr. Whittaker, what do the numbers say today?" They both laughed and Jason pointed down to where he had drawn a diagram in the notebook. "This is the castle we were in yesterday, see?" he said. "I see", said Monica, "but let me be the first to tell you that what you're pointing to is no castle." Jason grinned. "I never professed to being a professional artist." Monica played idly with a pencil as she replied, "Not only that, you must have flunked first grade art."

"Never got that far", said Jason, "but seriously, Monica, take a look. This over here is the barracks and over here is one of the towers. I was with Wooton over here", he said, pointing to a location on the diagram, "and you were over here with, uh, Barry."

"Yeah, but get to the point, Jason. I still don't quite get your little hunch. I mean, a lot of people could have sabotaged the game." Jason smiled. "Ah, but only one actually did. She was the only one who could have-"

His voice trailed off when he heard a noise nearby. A speck of light green was visible between a crack in a pile of logs. "Who's there?" Jason shouted. The eavesdropper ducked down farther and the speck of green disappeared. "Connie, is that you?" Jason asked. "Yeah", she replied, emerging from her hiding spot. "Now don't take this personally or anything. I don't normally listen to conversations that don't involve me - well, yeah, I guess sometimes - but that doesn't mean I'm a snoop! I mean, we're all in this game and spying a bit is a part of the game. Sure, we're friends, but we have to, well, you know, suspect everyone and I thought that, well--"

"Connie, have you run out of things to say yet?" Jason chuckled. "It's over; forget about it." He turned to Monica. "We can talk more about this later."

The other contestants slowly made their ways out of the cabins and into the clearing. As Dern walked up, they were talking excitedly amongst themselves.

"All right, everyone. Here's the deal", shouted Dern above the din of the crowd. "Two of the original group are gone, ten of you are left. Now how many of you like water?" Most in the crowd tentatively raised their hands, unsure of what Bryan Dern had in mind. "Good. Anyways, today you're all going kayaking. We've got the kayaks, the wetsuits and the helmets out by the water of the Shewshupe River, where we're going to send you on your way."

The younger members of the group appeared excited, but Jack Allen and Margaret Faye looked unsure. "Anyways, you've got to go five miles down river in one hour. Not too hard, right? Think you guys can all handle five miles an hour? Now here's how it goes. You can choose one of set-in places. One of the spots gives you a slow river. It will take a longer time to make it, but it'll be relaxing and relatively easy for all you old folks and those of you who are afraid of water. If you make it in time, $2,000 is added to the pot."

Margaret Faye, who was slightly hydrophobic, cringed at his words, but kept quiet. "The other set-in spot", continued Dern, "puts you on a Class VI rafting river. Rapids left and right: you'll be flipping all over the place. It's quite a ride and if you need help, you're disqualified." He scanned the group. "I'd say a lot of you better expect that", he said. "Anyways, if you do make it without us having to rescue you, $10,000 is added to the pot. So how about it?"

"Do we have a choice?" asked Margaret Faye from the back of the group. "No, not really, unless you want to lose $10,000 for the pot and I'm sure that wouldn't be all that popular with the others here, now would it? I can just imagine the kind of things they might do to a person who refuses to help the group."

Several in the group angrily disagreed with Bryan Dern's assessment, but did attempt to persuade Margaret to participate in the challenge. "But I don't really like the water", she complained.

"Mayor, when I worked on your campaign in the last election, I remember you saying that we all had to sacrifice for the greater good. Now, I don't really know that I agree with that for citizens, but you made a good speech about helping others and doing things that are sometimes painful if they are best for all involved. Now we're all in a situation to put that type of thing into action and to do otherwise would be hypocritical, wouldn't it?" said Connie.

"Bravo, Connie. It seems like you did pick up something during my campaign", Margaret replied. "Yeah, it sounds like she picked up socialism", Richard shot back. "Connie, do you really believe that stuff?" Connie thought for a moment. "Well, no, not really. Not in the government and laws and stuff concept, at least, but I mean sure, we should help each other when we can, right? And right now Mayor Faye has a chance to help us out and she ought to do it."

Margaret smiled. "You win", she said.

Thirty minutes later, the groups were gathered at their respective drop-off points. Margaret Faye and Jack Allen chose the easy river, while the rest chose the wilder ride. Eugene was at first leery of the whitewater, but after receiving ridicule from Connie, he conceded. "If you can do it, surely I can, Miss Kendall", he said.

Dern stood at the drop-off point at the second river, staring at his watch. An assistant had taken the first river. "All right, everyone ready?" asked Dern. "Well, you'd better be, because you shove off in 15 seconds - eleven - seven - five - four - three - two - one - GO!"

The contestants paddled feverishly, their double-sided oars dipping into the water over and over, shoving the kayaks forward as fast as they could go. Jason Whittaker, who had kayaked before, was the exception. He stroked smoothly and efficiently, not slamming the oar into the water like many of the others, and, while going at a steady pace, allowed himself to fall behind slightly, saving his strength for the difficult rapids that would surely lie ahead.

Richard Maxwell led the group, digging hard into the calm water in the first, lazy stretch of the river. His kayak moved swiftly through the water, making it look almost effortless. He was, however, tiring himself out long before he reached the difficult part of the river.

Between Jason and Richard, the other six in the whitewater group were clustered close together, none of them showing much skill, but all showing determination. Connie's kayak's heading was too far right, so she leaned over and dug in deep on the left side. The kayak toppled and Connie found herself sitting in the overturned kayak; stuck sitting upside-down underwater. She struggled to turn herself upright, but couldn't swing up far enough. A crew of rafting experts who had been following the race moved in and one of them, standing on a rock towering above, was about to jump in after her, which would have disqualified her from the event before she ever reached a rapid, but Connie, not wanting to be eliminated, quickly unzipped the kayak tarp which connected to her wetsuit, creating a waterproof place inside the kayak that held her in. Once she had unzipped it, she grabbed onto the kayak and pulled herself up above the water level. The others in the group, who had held their collective breaths and prayed for her safety, breathed a sigh of relief and a few burst out laughing. Connie, soaked and annoyed, quickly flipped over her kayak and hurriedly jumped back in. The kayak rocked as she situated herself inside it, but she managed to successfully climb in and zip the sealing tarp back up around her. She was wetter and farther behind than before, but she was still in the race.

Meanwhile, on the other river, Jack Allen and Mayor Margaret Faye lazily paddled their kayaks along the river. The going was easy, but it could take a long time. Still, none of them wanted to start off in a rush, so they slowly paddled down the river. Jack tried twice to strike up a conversation, but Ms. Faye seemed uninterested, only replying Yes or No to his questions.

Back on the other river, the kayakers had finally hit the rapids and were racing through a stretch of fast-moving water leading up to the first major drop: the rooster-tail. Richard hit it first. His small kayak was pulled swiftly towards the first drop and he paddled only enough to keep the craft on track. His kayak lurched down the first drop and he found himself quickly submersed. As the water rushed over him, the others nearing the rapid looked around nervously. "This is crazy", said Barry. "I mean, fun is one thing, but this looks like suicide!" As he finished his sentence, Richard and his craft popped back up to surface level and hit the second part of the rapid, a sliding slope of rushing water which he quickly raced down. At the bottom, the kayak was tossed into the air, riding atop a swell of water forced upwards by the drop-offs. The kayak hit nose-first into the water and tipped sideways, but he kept his balance and began paddling down the next stretch of the river.

Richard looked back at the others and grinned. "Now lets see you guys do that", he shouted.

The others followed shortly after. Most managed the first rapid with little difficulty, but Arthur Dent's kayak hit the water hard and flipped over. As the pounding water slammed against the top of his overturned kayak, he was forced backwards closer towards the rapid, caught in its powerful grip. One of the members of the safety crew dove into the rapid and quickly maneuvered under the swirling water to Dent's overturned craft. He felt for the zipper and quickly pulled the sputtering, gasping Dent free. Another member of the crew tossed Dent a line and pulled him in, while Dent's rescuer swam feverishly towards the kayak, which had rushed downriver after Dent had been rescued.

Twenty minutes later, the kayakers faced a decision. To one side was a relatively calm branch of the river which a guide shouted met back with the main body of water a few hundred yards later and looming directly ahead was a thirteen foot cascading wall of water. "Taking the easy route will add four minutes to your trip", shouted the guide, "but the waterfall won't be easy. It could be your way to try to assure that you make it on time, but it could lead to disaster. You guys are barely going to make it at the current rate, so with that, the choice is yours."

Eugene, Richard, Jason and Mitch chose to give the waterfall a try, while the rest decided on the easier route and rowed towards the left bank of the river from which they could enter the short branch. "You guys ready for this thing?" Jason asked just before his kayak was caught by the heavy current and shoved out under an outcropping of rocks towards the small falls. His kayak slammed a rock and spun backwards and he dug the paddle back hard trying to set the proper course, but he only managed to obtain a position horizontal to the flow of the river before plunging downwards. His kayak free fell for a few feet, but as he tried to adjust himself mid-fall, the back of the craft nudged up against the torrents of water pouring downwards and the kayak turned downwards. He slammed nose-first into the water and disappeared momentarily under the foam, only to re-emerge twenty yards downriver, somewhat dazed. "Now that's a ride", he called out wearily to the others.

Richard and Eugene looked at each other nervously, then Richard nodded slightly and the two headed for the falls together. Richard managed to maintain his balance above the falls and when he reached them, he gave one final hard shove and sailed out above the raging water, completely clearing the falls. The kayak hit down hard on the water below and flipped over, but he righted himself in time to see Eugene in the air, his kayak tumbling downwards. "Help!" screamed Eugene as his kayak slammed into the water, but to his surprise, he landed successfully. Mitch was last and shouted with excitement as his craft hit the air. "Look out, Eugene!" yelled Jason. Eugene saw the danger and managed two strokes of his oars before Mitch hit the water almost exactly where Eugene had been moments before.

The four continued on and the rest emerged a few minutes later. In the distance, they could see their more daring counterparts. "They all made it", said Connie. "And we're a little over halfway there and have used quite a bit more than half our time. Maybe we made a mistake."

The trip continued without incident until the final major rapid, when Robert Mitchell, who had worked his way to second place behind Jason, who had surged forward as others had difficulties braving several of the rapids, slammed into a large outcropping of rock and spun sideways towards a rapid. Eugene, who was also off course, had difficulty maneuvering his kayak away from where Mitch struggled with his craft and slammed into the back of it. Both of them slid sideways towards the rapids. They had lost control and, while going at a slower pace due to the position of their kayaks, were nevertheless headed sideways over the drop. Monica Stone, who had managed to catch up with the leading group, and Richard Maxwell, who was directly behind her, could not stop in time and rammed into the kayaks of the other two and the foursome slid over the rapids in a tangled crash. All four of the kayaks were overturned, with Monica's overlapping that of Robert Mitchell. Two rescue workers on shore jumped in and another who was following behind with a kayak pulled off before the rapid and jumped in after them as well. Eugene and Monica managed to rectify their situations, but Monica had swallowed a large amount of water and was desperately out of breath, so she opted-out of finishing the challenge.

Eugene surged ahead, trying hard to catch up to Jason, while Monica was helped to shore and Mitch and Richard were helped out of their kayaks.

Jason crossed the finish line a few minutes later, with Eugene following two minutes afterwards. Connie Kendall and Barry Muntz were far behind, still nearly a quarter-mile from the finish line, but had avoided the dangerous collision that had occurred on the final rapid. A team of two rescue workers followed the group and Connie called up to them asking for the time. "Two and one half minutes left!" shouted one of them. One-quarter mile. Four and a half minutes. It should have been easy, but they had crossed the last four miles in forty-nine minutes, an average of over twelve minutes per mile. Still, the first mile had been still water, so they still had a chance. Almost two minutes later, they rounded a bend and could see others waiting for them in the distance. They paddled harder. "One minute left!" came the cry shortly after the bend. The others seemed close, but they didn't appear to be closing in on them. Harder, harder. They paddled as hard as they dared to and still, it seemed like they gained little ground. With forty-five seconds left, they were only about one hundred yards away, but exhausted. Their paddling had slowed, their breathing labored. "Ten seconds". Connie was only fifteen feet away from the finish line. "Three seconds". Two feet. "Two seconds". She crossed the line and slumped forwards, completely exhausted. Just as Dern, who was waiting for them at the finish line, was about to call the race finished, Barry's craft nosed across the line. "Time!" shouted Dern and Barry grinned and held up his hands, fists clenched in celebration of victory. Eight had decided on the difficult whitewater river. Four of them - Jason Whittaker, Eugene Meltsner, Connie Kendall, and Barry Muntz - had completed the challenge and added a total of $40,000 to the pot and four had been disqualified after requiring assistance.

On the other river, Jack Allen had finished the challenge with a little over two minutes to go and Margaret, who was still almost a half-mile away when time was called, was helped out of the water and taken on shore to meet the others. $2,000 was added to the pot.

The ten contestants gathered around and congratulated each other on their winnings for the day. Dern then looked the contestants over and motioned for them to be silent. "Now Barry," Dern began, "As much as I hate to do it, it's part of the game. It's senseless, but that's how it goes. For being the last to cross the finish line in this game, finishing with less than a second left, you get an exemption. Not someone who finished with flying colors, but you - the guy too afraid to brave something a little difficult like that waterfall a ways back. You're completely exempt from having your answers on this week's test force you out of the game. Of course, you still have to complete it and you obviously still have to participate in the second leg of this challenge."

"What did you say?" asked Margaret. "We just finished the challenge!" Dern smiled. "No you didn't", he said. "Just the first half. Tomorrow, you have a second, more relaxing task before you. It's all part of the third challenge. You see, we had to let you guys earn a little more money, so we figured we'd put two events into one challenge and let you win cash for both. You guys just earned $44 000, which is almost double your previous earnings. And just think, there's more for the taking tomorrow."

"How can you have two challenges in one?" asked Barry. "But it isn't two challenges, just two parts of one challenge, the Water Adventure challenge", said Dern. "I hope you guys aren't too tired. Not that I care or anything, mind you, but a bunch of tired contestants doesn't make for good primetime television."

Water Adventure Challenge Part 2
Wednesday, September 4, 2002

Eugene reached into his suitcase and pulled out his laptop computer, a phone cord and a power cord. He quietly set it on the table in the corner of the motel room in which he and Jason Whittaker were spending the night in Berlin. He turned the screen towards the window and silently moved a chair in towards the table, keeping a watchful eye on Jason to make sure he wasn't awakened.

The hall floor creaked and someone stopped not far from the door to their room. Then, there was a sound of scratching against the door as someone apparently leaned against it. Was someone listening in? Eugene quickly flipped down the display of his laptop and spread his arms out over it. It felt as if he was doing something illegal, as if he had something to hide. And in a way, he did. He had broken the rules smuggling his computer in with him, but there were many things to consider. He plugged in the phone cord to the motel room's phone jack and let the motel phone's cord dangle by his bed. He held his phone card up to the light and typed in the digits. It was so much cheaper that way.

Soon, the computer began dialing. He accessed his email and scanned over them quickly. Cheap automobiles on sale, an online auction special, the new way to make $10,000 per week… and a message from his wife, Katrina.

Katrina had opposed his decision to be on the game, as they had long been in hiding, but, considering he was currently unemployed and desperately needed money, he had decided to take the risk after hearing about the game at McAlister Park. He originally went there thinking one of his contacts needed a face-to-face meeting and was surprised to see a crowd gathered, but things had gone well. Everyone in the game went home with $5,000 and the winner could easily take home a small fortune, so Eugene took a chance. Nothing could happen at the game with all the security and all the cameras, he reasoned. And the broadcasts of the event wouldn't air until long after the game was completed. Still, Katrina was worried.

He scrolled through the list of emails and found one from a contact inside Novacom. A mole that the Novacommies would have loved to ferret out had they known of his existence, much as the contestants would love to discover their own mole. "Something big's going on here," the email stated. "Since the failed launch, everything's been low key, but the brass here is gearing up for something now. Lots of meetings, lots of talk, and a lot of activity has been going on in the Odyssey branch. I don't know what it means, but if I learn anything, I'll let you know. I don't know if they're on to your whereabouts, but I'd suggest moving around often. Don't give them time to find you. Word around the office is they've sent someone after you. I don't have his name yet, but when I get it, I'll send all the info. Be careful, friend."

Eugene chucked softly. Move around a lot? Well, he and his group were hopping across the entire European continent. He'd be safe. He was sure of it. He powered down the computer, slipped it inside a concealed pouch in his oversized briefcase and slid under the covers of his motel bed.

------------

"Okay, everyone, listen up" said Cryin' Brian Dern as the group stood on a fishing wharf in the Baltic country of Estonia. The group had traveled by bus to the area the previous afternoon after completing the first part of the Water Adventure challenge, kayaking down a whitewater rafting river. The group had earned $42,000 in the kayaking half of the challenge, which was added to the $28,000 they had earned previously, bringing them up to a total of $70,000 in the pot with the chance of earning more before the third challenge was over. "I hope you all like fishing, because that's what you'll be doing all day long. The producer apparently thought you guys deserved a break after yesterday's kayaking. You're being split up into two groups and each groups going to get a boat to take out on the Baltic Sea for the day. The crew will take care of everything but the fishing. Your job is to catch fish – and lots of them. You'll each be given five hours… if your boat comes back with more than seventy pounds of fish on board within five hours, $30,000 is added to the pot. That means that if both boats come back with more than seventy pounds of fish, you guys could earn $60,000."

He then went on to give more detailed instructions and told them that fishing tackle was already on board waiting for them. They could only fish with rods and artificial lures that were provided, they were told. The teams were divided up, with Connie, Jack, Richard, Arthur and Jason on the first team and Margaret, Barry, Eugene, Mitch and Monica on the second. The first team was then guided to a boat, which they promptly boarded and checked out their tackle. After a few minutes, they wandered around the small vessel as they waited for the contest to start. Shortly before they were to head off for open sea, Dern raced up to the boat and shouted for them to return to the docks. "The captain here says this boat's not quite ready, so I need you guys to get off it and board the other one. And bring along your tackle boxes," Dern shouted after them. "The second boat doesn't have any on board yet."

They got off, carrying their tackle and wearing the life vests they had picked up on the boat. "Okay, get on this one," motioning to the second boat, which was docked nearby." The other one's got to fill up the tanks or something." In five minutes they were heading out to sea.

The first boat was ready within a few minutes and the second group boarded and followed close behind.

------------

There was a gentle tug on Jack's line and he jerked the pole slightly. There was a pull on the hook, so he began reeling the line in. As the line neared the boat, the fish gave a violent tug and began tearing the line off the spool as it speed away from the boat. Jack began reeling it in as fast as he could, but the fish fought hard, spinning in the water and tangling the line, squirting away faster than Jack could reel it in. He locked the line and began kept reeling it in, slowly getting it back towards the shore. "That thing must way a hundred pounds the way it pulls," commented Richard Maxwell, whose line dangled loosely in the water nearby. "Whatcha use for bait anyways?"

"One of those black artificial worms," Jack answered as he continued to reel. The pole was arching high and he was having difficulty getting the fish any farther. "Here, let me help you," Richard said, snatching the pole from Jack's hands. Within a minute, he landed a decent-sized flatfish. Jack and Richard looked at it as it flopped about on the ship's deck. "Big one," said Jack, and Richard agreed. "That one catch will get us a long ways towards our seventy pounds." One of the ship hands walked up to see what the excitement was about. "Ah, jusht a dab," he said. "A dab?" Richard asked. "I'll have you know this is no dab. I dab is like a spot of mustard or ketchup or something. This is big," he said.

The man laughed. "No, no, a dab. Type of flatfeesh, no, how you say, fish? Like, uh, flounder." He picked up the fish and threw it on a scale. "Fourteen pounds," he said as he tossed the dab into the tank with the other fish that had been caught. "Well, that gets us up to twenty pounds in the first hour, then," Connie noted. "Yeah, but without this flounder-thing, we'd be in trouble," said Richard. "We really need to start catching a lot more if we want to meet our goal."

He then took a walk around the boat. At the opposite side of the boat, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell-phone. He whipped it open and dialed quickly. "This is Richard… yeah, got it… Yes, I'm on it. I know what I have to do." He waited as the voice on the other line finished. "You can count on me!" he said, then paused again. "No, nothing yet. I'll call you again as soon as I get a chance. Gotta run." He flipped down the phone top and slid it back into his pocket. Thirty seconds later, he was again lounging in his chair, lazily watching his line.

Later in the afternoon, the other boat's captain radioed in that one of the contestants onboard had tripped over a two tackle boxes and sent them flying under the railing and into the water below. The contents of the boxes had spilled out and could not be recovered. The captain asked if there was an extra box on board the first boat that could be spared. The answer was in the affirmative, so the second boat pulled alongside the first. Jack ran to the engine room to find their spare tackle box and returned with it about five minutes later. "It took me a while to find it," he said.

Richard Maxwell offered to take the box aboard the other ship, but his offer was declined. Never one to like being turned down, he grabbed the tackle box and jumped overboard with it. The boat deck was low, only about 8 feet above the water surface, and the other boat was only twenty yards away, so moments later he grabbed onto a rope thrown out by the crew of the other boat and pulled himself aboard. He grinned as he held up the tackle box and proceeded to the opposite side of the boat with it, setting it down near the spot where their chairs were set up. He then walked back and jumped in the water. Moments later, on board his original boat, he wrapped up in a towel and shivered. "How can that water be so cold this time of year?" he inquired.

On the other boat, the contestants slowly returned to their seats and cast their lines back in the water. Margaret Faye, who had launched the two boxes into the sea a short while ago, sheepishly handed the new box to Eugene and placed the one spare box on board beside herself. "What's that gas can doing over there?" she asked as she sat down. "It wasn't there before."

"What gas can?" asked Barry, getting up. "Oh… uh, I don't know." Those three words, "I don't know," turned out to be the answer each person on board gave. No one admitted to placing it there and it hadn't been setting there for long. "Maybe that Maxwell guy brought it on board," suggested Monica, but Eugene shot the idea down: "No, he was only carrying the tackle box." "Well, there's a lot of empty space in these boxes," said Margaret, the conversation having gone full circle. "Maybe he had it stashed in the box and took it out when he set the box down." "I guess he could have," agreed Monica. "But why?"

"Beats me," Mitch said.

By the time four of their five hours had expired, both groups had caught in excess of the seventy pounds required. The motors on both boats were started and the two fishing vessels began heading back to the dock, which was less than forty minutes away, placing them safely inside their time limits. But after ten minutes, disaster struck on the first boat. The engine sputtered, then died.

The captain and small crew rushed to the engine room to discover the cause of the problem. The solution was only too easy. The tiny puddle of gas on the floor, the greasy ring where a gas can had been set earlier, and, most convincingly, the completely empty gas tank. "Someone siphoned the gas out of this tank," muttered the captain as he reached for the radio.

The other boat in the contest was the first recipient of the radio call, but it was determined that the boats were too far away and for the boat to return at this point would mean that neither group could make it in time. The operating boat continued on course for the docks, while the other boat made radio contact with the team back at the wharf. A boat carrying enough gas to get them home was dispatched, but it took thirty minutes to arrive. By the time the gas tank was filled, the five hours had nearly expired. The group had to go back in defeat, but not without trying to learn something. The group split up, looking each part of the ship over twice for the missing gas can that had apparently been used to siphon the ship's gasoline into. A thorough search brought no results and by the time they tied up at the wharf, each had their own idea of who the mole might be, some of which were called into question as they met the waiting members of the other group at the wharf.

"We caught almost eighty pounds of fish and all for nothing," Connie muttered. "We caught seventy-two pounds worth," Margaret Faye said. "And we got back in time," she smirked. "Oh, be quiet," Richard told her. "We would have been back in time if someone hadn't siphoned out all our gas." The other group expressed their surprise and Barry Muntz asked how it had been done. Connie told him and included the fact that the gas can apparently used was missing. The members of the other boat exchanged glances. "A full can of gas turned up on our boat," said Eugene.

Before anything else could be said, Dern called the contestants over. "Well, it looks like nothing will be added to the pot today," he told them. "What?" several yelled in unison. They then began talking over each other until Dern silenced them. "One boat didn't make it in time. That disqualifies them. The other boat only had sixty-eight pounds of fish." The contestants from that boat began yelling. "But I know we had seventy-two pounds of fish. We weighed them twice each after we reeled them in. I know we didn't make a mistake," shouted Barry. "Yeah," added Monica Stone. "I distinctly remember there being thirteen fish weighing seventy-two pounds."

"Well, we checked it three times and you have twelve fish weighing sixty-eight pounds," Dern replied.

"That can't be right," sputtered Mitch, but unfortunately, it was.

Speculation part 1, Week 3
Thursday, September 5, 2002

Cryin' Bryan Dern and his cameramen waited impatiently as the contestants slowly trickled in to a local gym. "We're going to take you one by one into this little corner room and let you give your thoughts on who the mole is," said Dern. We're going to go through the line twice, actually. The first time through, you tell us what was suspicious to you from the kayaking part of the challenge and the next time through, we'll be asking you about your botched fishing expedition."

Connie: "I'm like, just so glad I made it. After almost losing it before I ever got to fast water, I thought I'd be out in a flash, but, well, I made it! And with, what, a few seconds left? But if I had to guess who was the mole, I'd say it's probably Mr. Dent. That first rapid wasn't too hard. Even I handled it fine, so he shouldn't have had any trouble. And surely he could have gotten out of there without waiting for help to arrive. He was just trying to make us lose, I think."

Eugene: "I am at a loss for words to express my amazement at attaining this goal and coming in second among the many here who are more physically fit than I. It still seems nearly impossible that the incident on the final rapid was resolved in such a way that I was loosed from the others and was able to finish the race. It's unfortunate that the others could not have done likewise. I really couldn't say for sure who the mole is, but that Mitchell fellow acted as if his crash was not accidental. Perhaps it was his successful attempt to eliminate several members from the competition."

Mitch: "Eugene. There's no way that was an accident, no matter what he says. When I hit that rock and tried to spin around and get headed the right way again, he came out of nowhere and slammed into me. He was clearly trying to eliminate me – and the others."

Jason: "From my vantage point, it looked like Richard Maxwell could have avoided the big collision but chose not to. In fact, I think he nudged Monica into it as well. Plus, he just seems like the mole to me. His action, everything."

Richard: "It's gotta be Arthur Dent. The guy had virtually tipped before he went over the rapid the way he leaned. Completely the wrong way. And how in the world was he not able to get out of that thing? It's not that hard! I'm starting to think that the ‘I'm the mole' speech is to make us think he's not the mole when he really is!"

Jack: "I don't want to accuse, but it seemed to me that Margaret purposely lagged behind in the end. She was leading the group most of the way; after all, she's a lot more fit that I am. And yet, as we neared the end, she slowed down, then stopped completely last I saw her. It seems odd that she'd need such long a rest as to be almost exactly where we had left her ten minutes before the race ended. Maybe she just was really tired, but I tend to think she didn't want to earn money for the team."

Monica: "Did you see what, uh, Mitchell did over there? He was aiming for that rock and slammed right into Meltsner. No accident there. And that little collision cost a lot of us the race."

Speculation part 2, Week 3
Friday, September 6, 2002

"Okay, now, you folks need to come back through again and tell all about your more recent adventure in the Baltic Sea," Dern said as the second round of speculation, which covered the fishing expedition, began.

Jack: "The mole got away with a lot this time. Our gas was siphoned out and ended up on the other boat and they ended up with one less fish than they thought. I suppose the mole secretly threw one fish back or something. The only person I can think of is Richard Maxwell. There's only one way I can think of that the gas can could have ended up on the other boat and that is if Richard took it there inside that tackle box he brought over. He sure was anxious to be the one to bring it over. And he probably would have had time to toss a fish in the water too. Although it does seem surprising that the one fish he threw in would be the one that made the difference. That one thing makes me think it would be someone on their boat, but I can't see how it could be. And it's likely that they'd stop fishing once they caught over seventy pounds, I suppose, so they could get back in time. So maybe he just guessed that four or five pounds would throw them off. If so, his hunch paid off."

Richard: "Believe me, I'm no mole. Sure, I took the tackle box over there. So? I just wanted a bit of excitement. I didn't siphon the gas out of that tank and I didn't bring it over to that other boat. Intentionally, at least, for the second part. I mean, Jack was the one who got the box from the engine room and he took a long time in doing so. He could have stuffed it in the bag before he gave it to me to frame me as the mole. It doesn't really explain how the can ended up on the deck, as they told me it did, unless someone on that boat found it and placed it there to cast some doubt on who was really the mole. I guess the fewer who know – or in this case, think they know, since I'm not the mole – the better, or something like that. But that doesn't really answer the fish problem, unless they really did count a fish twice or something."

Margaret: "It had to be that Richard Maxwell, the guy who brought us the extra tackle box. He did have the time to take it out of the bag, set it down on the deck nearby and get back before we got back to that side of the boat. He must have tossed a fish overboard as well."

Barry: "I think Margaret Faye's the mole. After all, that box would never have been sent over here if she hadn't knocked over those two tackle boxes into the sea. I have a feeling that she siphoned the gas out earlier when we were on the other boat for those few minutes. While she was there, maybe she placed the gas can in the spare box on that boat or maybe even in her own box that she carried off the boat with her. Then she tossed those boxes overboard, making one of the other boat's men have to come with a box. The can appears shortly afterwards – she was the one who pointed it out, actually - and it seems like it must have been Richard. A clever frame, if you ask me. And as for the fact that we were a fish short, she was the first to get back to her seat after the new box was brought over. She had time to place the can on the deck, throw one of the fish back in, then sit down before we arrived."

Connie: "Jason was pretty quiet most of the time, but he couldn't stand sitting still and was pacing the deck half the time. I can't help but wonder if he pulled the siphon trick, but I can't quite figure out how he could have assured that the entire thing would work. Until I can figure something better out, I'll have to go with Richard as top suspect. I just can't understand why the mole would be so obvious, so I kind of doubt that he's really the mole. You know, I think this game is driving me crazy!"

Elimination, Week 3
Sunday, September 8, 2002

"Well, here we are again!" Dern told the group. "The setting changes but the rules don't. Whether we're in a conference room, a castle or now a cabin, the object is simple: to send one of you people home."

"Dern, can we please move on?" said Jason. "Every week we have to hear you go on and on about the elimination and how great it is. Well, we don't all see it that way. It's kind of, well, good in a way, if we're not the ones voted out. But we don't really enjoy seeing our friends have to leave. So can you please skip the dramatics and just tell us who has to go?"

"A little edgy today, aren't you, Jason?" laughed Dern. "Oh, I won't exactly be Shakespearean, but this is the best part of the game, so what's wrong with building up a little suspense?" He set his laptop on the table and booted it up. There were no outlets in the cabin, so he was running the machine off of its battery. "Why can't they make a computer that turns on with no long startup time?" asked Dern.

"Well, Mr. Dern," began Eugene, "it takes a moment for several of the electronic units inside of the system to become ready for operation and when your computer first loads, there are many startup functions that must be started before you can operate your system. It is unlikely this problem will be solved until computer systems operate on plasma instead of silicon, which is still many years away from being feasible on a large scale."

"Thanks for the lecture, Eugene," said Dern, "but I really didn't need to know all that techno-stuff." The computer had completed startup and Dern ran the Mole program. The screen went black, with only a small box where a contestant's name could be typed. "Barry Muntz," called out Dern as he laboriously typed out the name and clicked Enter. The screen turned green. "Jason Whittaker," he said, and once again, green. "Richard Maxwell," he said, searching for the "x" key. "I hate computers," he said. After a moment, he found it, finished typing the name and hit enter. Green again.

Richard, who had been pacing the room nervously stopped, a grin spreading over his face. "Connie Kendall," Dern announced and Connie looked up. Green. "Monica Stone, Eugene Meltsner, Robert Mitchell." Three greens.

"Arthur Dent," Dern said in his most dramatic voice. "Is it he?" Suddenly, the computer beeped and read, "Low battery. Please save your work." Dern frowned and quickly closed the alert window, hoping to get the elimination over with before the computer died. "I messed something else up," said Dent. "I am the mole! I cannot be eliminated!" And, at least for the moment, he was not. The screen turned green.

"Only two people left," said Dern, finding Jack Allen and Margaret Faye in the crowd. "Which one of you two will go?" He typed the name Margaret Faye into the computer and paused for effect. "Ms. Faye," he said, "Is it you?" He hit enter and the screen turned red. "Well, guess so!" he said, sounding elated. "I suppose it's been so long since you've been in school that you couldn't figure out how to take the test, right?"

A few in the crowd mildly protested Dern's comment, but they were becoming used to his antics and had come to realize that protesting them made him only more likely to be rude to everyone. "I don't understand it," Margaret said, visibly upset. "I was so sure about this game." She looked down. "Well, I guess it's my time to go," she said, walking out of the cabin.

Reactions, Week 3
Monday, September 8, 2002

The remaining contestants filed into the cabin one by one and spoke into the camera, telling future viewers their thoughts about the ousting of Margaret Faye.

Jack: "Margaret just seemed perfectly cut out for this game. She was shrewd, a great judge of character, quiet and composed most of the time but a woman who liked to get her own way and usually did. She was always secretive and always up to something. Some of the others thought she was the mole and I can definitely understand why, although I always considered her a bright competitor and not a suspect. She had a knowing look on her face and I think she was quite sure in her guess of who the mole was. I would have never expected her to be out this quickly."

Jason: "I think Margaret leaving is probably for the best. She wasn't very social and in this game, we've got to help each other out. She just stayed away, kind of oblivious to what was going on. Guess that's why she failed the test. Overall, she was probably one of the best candidates to leave the game."

Connie: "I can't really say I feel sorry for Mayor Faye, even though I know I should. I mean, she always bossed everyone around back in Odyssey and always seemed to make the wrong decisions. She was rather quiet while here and I guess that surprised me some. I thought she'd be yelling at everyone for the entire game, but you know, I guess this game can have an effect on people. I don't think anyone's particularly sad over Margaret leaving."

Barry: "Well, I'm glad the woman left. She was always getting in the way but never getting anything done. She was a real problem the whole time."

Arthur: "I struck again. Another contestant had to leave because she refused to believe that I could really be the mole. But I am! I am the mole!"

Mitch: "I'm a little surprised that Ms. Faye was the one to leave next, but I'm not very disappointed. I expected that little Dent fellow to be gone long before Faye, but things didn't work out that way. With his, uh, problems, I never imagined he'd make it far. As for Ms. Faye, as I said, I don't really care one way or the other. I just hope that either Connie or I can be around at the end."

Richard: "So far, everyone who's left has been rather useless. Mary Hopkins was afraid to do anything, Wooton was completely clueless and now Margaret Faye, the completely useless one, is given the boot. It's like those three monkeys people all talk about. You know, see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil or whatever it is. I don't know about speak no evil, but they definitely tried to look the other way and avoid doing anything during the different challenges. So far, so good."

Below are the results of Week Three's "Who is the Mole?" Poll:

Who is the Mole?

Margaret Faye	26%
Richard Maxwell	13%
Jack Allen	13%
Barry Muntz	10%
Robert Mitchell	10%
Eugene Meltsner	10%
Monica Stone	6%
Arthur Dent	6%
Jason Whittaker	3%
Connie Kendall	3%