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Perhaps it was the green eyes. And, not just any shade of green. These were a particular shade, reminiscent of a light, Chinese jade. Dappled with darker sea green, even. Kolchan once held dear a woman with such eyes. That woman's eyes were no longer open; they would never see the sun or the sky or the moon again. Not in this world.

Yet, this other woman, certainly bearing no resemblance to the woman from Kolchan's mysterious past, had seemingly identical eyes. Her long, blonde hair dangled and framed her rather charming face. Kolchan was frozen, as if captivated by a mythical charm or glamour.

The lady speaks, her voice low and urgent, "Hurrreeeeeee. Please."

Kolchan snaps out of his daze and whips out his polished steel Swiss Army knife, a gift given to him from his (once) father-in-law, one of the best things ever given to him, very useful. Kolchan cut the lady free. "Uh, sorry for the delay there for a moment," he whispered. "What's going--"

Once free, she looks past Kolchan, screams, grabs the chair and throws it past Kolchan, toward a hallway leading from this room deeper into the yacht's confines. Kolchan ducks to the side, narrowly missing the tossed folding-chair. He snaps his gaze to the left to see the chair hit a tall, dark-haired man in the chest. The man seems to be straight out of a 1970s mafia movie, pinstriped suit, sunglasses, greased back (and rather fantastic) hair, and a toothpick sticking erect out of the corner of his mouth. He goes down in a fumble as he tries to step past the chair.

Kolchan sees him reaching for something in his jacket, probably a gun. Taking quick action, Kolchan kicks him in the side of the head, causing the man to roll onto his side. The man's arm flings outward, revealing that he indeed had gone for a pistol. Kolchan also sees the bulge caused by a pair of handcuffs in the man's front pocket. Lightning fast, he kneels down, removes the cuffs and locks them into place around the assailant's wrists (hands behind the man's back). The guy is unconscious.

The situation has suddenly escalated in a dangerous fashion. Kolchan knows that the others from Fort Lee will soon return to the yacht. He glances at the hallway leading deeper into the yacht, then to the doorway leading back outside, to freedom and safety.

He knows the lady, who is rather tall since she's wearing fashionable high heels (nice, very nice ankles... STOP IT!! Focus Kolchan, focus), --he knows that she wants to go deeper into the yacht to get "it." Whatever "it" is... Is it worth possibly getting killed by a mafia grunt? Worse... is that the sound of sirens in the distance? It's hard to tell, the sound is faint. There isn't much time!

"Please, everything depends on getting *it* from them!" she insists.

The tension is broken by Kolchan's cell phone. The distinctive ring alerts Kolchan that Berkley is calling him. He hesitates... Then says dryly, "I might have to take this call."

Her eyes widen in disbelief.

NOW IT IS TIME TO VOTE...

He can't stop starring at her eyes, suddenly he hears her speak...in his head.

"You don't need your gun."
"I don't need my gun."
"It's not the 'it' were looking for."
"It's not the 'it' we're looking for."
"You can go into the yacht without it. "
"I can go into the yacht without it"
"Move along"

Kolchan drops his gun and goes into the yacht alone.

I had to make a minor edit to the text of one of the poll questions.

Kolchan doesn't know WHAT to do... he gazes at the mafia "hit man" on the floor, he hears the insistant phone ringer, he shifts a glance to the exit, he glances at the hall leading deeper into the yacht, and then he meets her eyes again...

It was too long and wrapping to a second line which threw off the graphical representations of the poll.

Right now, Kolchan is TORN between the necessity of defense (drawing his pistol) and documentation (discreetly turning on his digital audio recorder). We have a TIE between those two actions! *Someone* please break this tie!!

HOWEVER, Kolchan seems to be leaning toward helping the lady retrieve "it."

BTW: THANKS, Mr. Deific! I'll keep the options shorter in length in the future. Doh!

It's a 3-way tie! Someone break it!!! It's a lot more fun, for me, if I don't have to choose between a tie. I personally LOVE choose-your-own-adventure books, but I guess they just aren't that popular here on this site for BTS fans. But, that's okay. This is a creativity and writing exercise, and the few who are involved might have a little bit of fun. It's been very interesting for me because the story has taken unexpected twists and turns *already.* I don't have a defined story in mind. The decisions voters make really do affect where the story MEANDERS. I am not angling the votes or making all choices lead to the same end. I really have no idea what I'm going to write until something in me says it's time to end voting and begin a new chapter. That's how I run my games ---I have notes, extensive notes sometimes, "what-ifs" and the like, but the players really dictate where the story leads while I try to blend in elements I think might be fun. In the end, their actions chart the course of the overall story, and I'm lucky if I can manifest a grand, epic event for the climax. --It's like a chess game, and it's fun to consider all of the possibilities.

If I were Kolchan, I would have kept out the knife. That weapon is more likely to be useful in close quarters and way more versatile. Then again, I probably would not have been so decisive about which way to go next.

Kolchan is equally divided between the two "sub" actions (turning on the micro-recorder to record the sounds of what is to follow) OR getting out his pistol. What happens if this remains a tie when voting ends, coming soon, is that he FUMBLES. Doh! He can't decide, he chooses BOTH options and attempts BOTH simultaneously for a somewhat disastrous result... Voting will end soon, and if it remains a tie, it could be pretty bad for the die-hard reporter.

Tie votes = dice rolls of natural 1?

Lord Z wrote:Tie votes = dice rolls of natural 1?

Just kidding. Maybe tie votes = rolling dice to see which option he takes.

Great,hope to see part two soon.