Caribbean Castaways

Three weeks after the forced landing, Andromeda's video is released. With so much publicity, it quickly reaches the top spot on Billboard's Hot 100. And stays in the Top Ten for several weeks, too. Cob finds the commercial release to be more appealing than the tinny-sounding loop of audio they piped over the Bell's intercom, during filming. As for the video, Aki captured some fantastic footage, Cob thinks, but the storyline makes no sense. Andromeda rescues Mark's character from the surf, presumably half-drowned, then just flies him around, randomly - intermixed with beach-dancing at dawn. He decides it isn't supposed to make practical sense. Eduardo was always talking about the 'energy' and the 'vibe' of the scenes they shot, not the meaning, or context.

Andromeda calls Cob every few days. She describes it as 'staying connected with real people,' outside of the show-business circus she lives in. Cob enjoys their chats, mostly they talked about her upcoming tour, the next album, a guy she met, and the like. Father-daughter type stuff.

The cause of the engine failure is attributed to counterfeit parts - a non-genuine big-end bearing that probably would have gone unnoticed, except for the oil-hole being drilled in the wrong location. The mistake starved it of lubrication and led to the failure. Consequently, the overhaul-workshop's insurance paid for the replacement engine, and the recovery costs. The Federal Aviation Administration even got some of their own promotional-mileage, publicizing the problem of counterfeit parts on the back of their misadventure.

After the Bell's repair, Cob is repacking the essential items. He's still finding sand in things, including the first-aid kit. From the bag, he removes the last of the three condoms. He looks at it, with a smile, reminiscing for a bit, then symbolically throws it in the trash bag. His relationship with Andromeda has evolved, they won't be using the third. He'll restock the medical kit with some new condoms.

A few weeks later, and seven flight-hours after the engine replacement, Cob is flying the Bell 47 back to the apron, in front of his company's Nassau hangar. As he turns into the wind to set it down, he spots Andromeda standing next to the hangar door. There's a tall girl with her. Too tall to be one of her dancers - they're all similarly sized. After shutting down, he walks towards Andromeda. They remain in the shade. There's something familiar about the tall girl.

"Hi Cob," Andromeda says, "this is my friend. She entered one of my record label's competitions. Her prize was to hang out with me for the day, so I brought her here. Her name is Alana. Alana Eildon."

Cob looks at the girl.

"Daddy?" she says. Taking a half-step forward, uncertainty in her eyes.

Cob takes a second to recover from the shock, then closes the gap, opening his arms to embrace his daughter for the first time in nearly sixteen years. After a while, he looks over to Andromeda. She is smiling, with tears in her eyes. He opens an arm to her, and she is welcomed into the embrace.

He hasn't cried since the divorce. He nearly cried when they repatriated the bodies of his comrades, as he watched the C-5 being loaded with their coffins and depart for Dover AFB. Mostly, he just felt numb. He doubted every new acquaintance, since Susan had ended their marriage. Now he cries for all of those things. And for joy - his heart is replenished with something he hadn't realized was absent for so long.

His night with Andromeda may have thwarted his chance for a relationship with Millie, but has led to him regaining a relationship with his daughter. No, his two daughters, he corrects himself.