All-Star Survivor: Hawaii Episode #7 Welcome to Shark Beach

Keko Tribe (green): Alicia Calaway, Gretchen Cordy, Michael Skupin, Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien
Ahi Tribe (orange): John Carroll, Frank Garrison, Colleen Haskell, Rob Mariano, Vecepia Towery, Tina Wesson

Click here to watch the All-Star Hawaii opening credits!

DAY 19




There was a light breeze blowing across Ni'ihau this morning, and the sound of the Pacific Ocean echoed from one end of the island to the other. Everywhere you looked, all you could see was the blue of the ocean. And all you could hear was the sound of the waves. Even though it was only nine o'clock in the morning, today was already turning out to be one of those perfect days in paradise in Hawaii.

And for a guy named Rob Mariano, the idea that today was going to be perfect was pretty much the icing on the proverbial cake.

Rob, or Boston Rob as he was more casually known, was currently sitting underneath a palm tree off the southern shore of Camp Ahi. And he was giving the first of what he expected to be many interviews over the next forty-eight hours. You see, with the big All-Star merge coming up later today, and the inevitable power struggle that would erupt with so many new alpha wannabe leaders, it was only natural that the producers would want to hear the thoughts of the guy who was really in charge.

So they requested that Rob sit down for an interview, and here he was.

Shirtless, with cap turned backwards, and as excited as a Survivor player could possibly get.

"So today's the day of the big merge," Rob was currently explaining, as he drawled his r's in the way only a New Englander truly knows how to do, "We're gonna be meetin' up with the Kekos. And I imagine we're gonna decide if they're gonna be livin' over here, or if we're gonna be livin' over there."

This part of the interview wasn't really anything earth-shattering. This was what the producers liked to call filler exposition. This was where they went to the more verbal members in the cast and asked them to explain what was happening in the game, as if they were narrators.

Rob, of course, would have liked to be talking about more juicy subjects at the moment-- like, perhaps, the ruse that Colleen was currently pulling over on Tina, or how Mike would be dead meat the minute he walked into this camp, burned hands or not-- but he was wise enough in the ways of production quirks to know that subjects like this needed to be talked about on a daily basis. You had to give the producers what they needed if you wanted them to show you the love down the road in the editing bay. You had to play by their rules if you ever wanted to be the star of the show.

Or, in the famous words of Rob's former partner in crime, Sean Rector, "You havta pay to play if you wanna stay."

"So, with the merge coming up," the producer asked, in response, "Do you think the Ahis will be sticking together? Or do you think it'll be every man for himself once things turn individual?"

And now Rob finally perked up.

Okay, now they were getting to the interesting stuff in this interview.

The exposition was over, and now the Robfather could sit here and dish out some dirt.

"Oh I have no doubt that it'll turn individual," Rob grinned, in that casually disarming way of his. "You'd have to be an idiot to think we're all gonna stay together, just because we've been wearin' the same buff."

"So Ahi is no more?" came the follow-up question.

"There never was an Ahi," explained Rob. "All there ever was was eight people who did what they thought was in their best interest. There were just eight people who lived here, and worked together, because that was best for them... at that time."

Rob reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of taro root. He popped it into his mouth and chewed casually as he explained.

"My plan all along," he said, "Was to take everybody here and give them what they thought they wanted. Like with Colleen. She was lonely back at the start so I gave her a friend."

"Why? Because she didn't have anyone else?"

"Yeah," Rob nodded. "On the first day at camp she was over her head. She had no idea what to do. She had no idea how to play this game. In fact, she still doesn't know how to play this game. All she knows is that she needs somebody to talk to on a daily basis." Rob casually shrugged. "So that's where I stepped in. I gave her what she needed, I gave her an ear. And that's why she's done pretty much everything I've ever asked her to do. She does it because I've always been there for her."

Rob's keen insight into psychology and human behavior had always fascinated the Survivor production crew. Because he really was good at this stuff. He had been good at sizing people up in Marquesas, he was even better at sizing people up in Hawaii, and it had always tickled the producers that a guy who came off like such a meathead the first time you met him was so adept at figuring people out.

In many ways, this unrefined kid from Boston could out-Richard even Richard Hatch when it came to sizing you up.

"So what about Vecepia?" asked the producer. "What's your deal with her? Did she just need a friend too?"

"Nah, Vee doesn't want friends," chuckled Rob. "She plays for herself. She's a mercenary."

"And that doesn't make you nervous?"

"The thing you have to be careful about with Vee," Rob smiled as he chewed, "Is if she starts to get worried. Because you don't want that to happen. The minute Vee gets antsy, she bolts. So your job... well, my job... is to make her feel important. With Vee, you always want to make her feel like she's part of the plan."

As the interview continued, it was clear to the producers that Rob really had thought this whole thing out. He wasn't just some lucky kid who had stumbled into a position of power. Nor was he, as some of the camera crew liked to grumble, just some asshole who liked to mess with peoples' heads. Rob really did have a grip on the pulse of the Ahis at the moment. And the producer who was conducting this interview was legitimately impressed.

Perhaps Mark Burnett had been right when he once called Rob, "One of the most fascinating players we've ever cast."

"So are you looking forward to living with four new people?" asked the producer.

"Yeah, right!" laughed Rob, gleefully. And here came the gleam in his eye. The producers could always recognize it a mile away. Whenever Rob was about to go into assassin mode, the smile came out, and the eyes started to narrow. This was always his favorite part of the interview, and everyone knew it.

"Kathy's an okay girl but, man, you can get sick of her," Rob dished. "Have you ever spent more than ten minutes with her? Dude, she's like the Energizer Bunny. She never stops talkin'! It's ridiculous!"

The producer just held his clipboard over his mouth and chuckled.

Rob was mean, but he wasn't altogether inaccurate, now was he?

"And Alicia, man!" Rob threw back his head and laughed. "I mean, seriously, I never even met the girl, and already I'm sick of livin' with her. She hasn't even come to my beach yet and already I wish she'd shut the hell up."

"And what about Gretchen?"

"Who?" asked Rob.

"Gretchen."

"Yeah, I know," Rob smiled. "That's what I said. "Who?""

"They're all gonna kick your ass when they see this on TV," the producer laughed. "You know that, don't you? All you're doing is digging a hole for yourself again."

"Hey, that's why you pay me the big bucks, right?" Rob joked. "You say you hate it, but I know you love it. You want me to be the big asshole."

The producer just shrugged.

"Besides, I don't care if Alicia kicks my ass," Rob laughed. "It's not like it would be the first time I got punched by some dude. Hey, do you think she's actually got a dick under there?"

Ah, yes.

Interviewing Boston Rob was always an experience in itself.

The producer thanked him for his time, shook his hand, and delivered the footage gleefully back to the editors-- who were going to love it.






^^





Even though the Ahis hadn't been formally notified that a merge was coming today, they could all feel it in the air. And it wasn't even that hard, either. The producers had always been bad at keeping something like this secret.

You could always tell when something big was about to happen on Survivor. You could tell because of all the extra cameramen suddenly around camp. You could tell because everybody on your tribe was suddenly called away to go give an interview.

The big merge was going to happen in the next two or three hours.

And that meant that Tina and Colleen had one final chance to discuss things before the game could really start to get complicated.

"You really aren't allied with Rob?" Tina asked, dubiously, for perhaps the tenth time since last night.

"No! I've been playing him. He just doesn't know it."

Tina glanced dubiously over at her younger teammate. Oh, how she wanted to believe this. But really. Colleen? Playing anyone? Since when?

"Look, I started out with Rob," Colleen said. "I'll admit that. I was with him because he was nice to me."

"Colleen, we were all nice to you," Tina sighed.

She loved Colleen. She always had. But the truth of the matter was that Colleen's early doldrums had been almost entirely self-imposed, and Tina wasn't enough of a bleeding heart to buy all the woe-is-meism. And she never would be, either. Colleen could spare her the pity speech.

"Look, I'm not debating you," Colleen laughed, disarmingly. "Maybe a lot of it was my fault. Heck, it probably was. But the truth of the matter is that I don't want to go to the end with Rob anymore, because he doesn't play nice. And both you know and I know that he doesn't deserve it."

The cynic in Tina knew she shouldn't believe this.

Oh, the player in Tina Wesson knew this was coming from Rob.

But deep down, she loved Colleen. She loved Colleen. As in, America's Sweetheart Colleen Haskell was one of her favorite people in the world. And if there was the slighest chance this was legitimate... even the slightest chance... well, Tina knew that she had to explore it.

"Colleen, you know that I haven't made but one alliance in this entire game," Tina started, cautiously.

"I know," Colleen nodded.

"And I can't promise you anything," Tina continued. "Because I told myself, whenever I go and play All-Stars, I'm only going to make deals I know I can keep."

"That's actually similar to a promise I made," Colleen smiled.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I said that I ever went back and played Survivor, first I'd have to shoot myself in the head."

Tina laughed. It was one of her great big Tina-laughs, the type that she often let out when she was hanging out with Survivor alums, and not competing as one of the players. It was a very genuine laugh. And Colleen felt very comfortable with it.

Like she always did around Tina.

"Well, of course, I don't want anything to do with Rob," Tina said, a little more motherly than she probably should have. "And you know I don't think it's in your best interest either, Miss America's Sweetheart."

"Stop it," Colleen squirmed, uncomfortably.

"Miss I-Was-On-People-Magazine," Tina teased. "Miss America-Loves-Me."

Tina just let out one of her devillish little grins. She knew exactly where Colleen's sensitive areas were, and she liked to exploit them. Because the truth of the matter was that Colleen said she hated being a fan favorite, but that was only because she hadn't ever felt the alternative. All you had to do was float the idea that Colleen might not be universally loved some day, and you could get her to squirm. Colleen Haskell wasn't quite as anti-"America's Sweetheart" as she liked to let on.

"I can't promise you final two, because it might be impossible to keep," Tina said. "And that's nothing against you. It's just... I don't think you can plan for anything that far ahead. There's no way to tell how things are going to work out until we get to the merge."

Colleen nodded.

"But I can promise you I'll try to work with you," Tina said. "I'll work with you, and you work with me. Just like we should."

Colleen smiled. She would like that.

"But for Pete's sake," Tina now scolded, laughingly, "Would you at least keep Rob off my back for as long as you can? Please. He's killing me."

Colleen just laughed.

"Come on," she said, in her little pseudo-French accent, "You think I can do that? Since when did I become Rob's mommy? I can't control anything the guy's gonna do. He's crazy."

Tina just shrugged.

"Rob's gonna do what's he gonna do," Colleen said helplessly. "I mean, I can tell you about it. And I can warn you. But that doesn't stop that fact that he's also got John and Vee, and they'll do what he says..."

"... Well, just so long as he doesn't have you," Tina said, "Then we're fine."

Colleen put on her best Colleen smile and shook her head no.

Rob didn't have her.

At least not at this moment.

But whether she was lying to Rob, or she was lying to Tina, that was a little up in the air.

"Well you're starting to play with fire, little girl," Tina said, as she looked at her friend, optimistically. "I can't say I ever saw it in you before, but I kind of like where we're headed."

"Hey you know me," Colleen shrugged. "If there's one thing they say about me, it's that I'm street smart."

Tina just laughed again.

With a tentative post-merge "working relationship" now in place, Tina and Colleen called it a day and decided they'd have to chat more later once the merge dynamics were better defined. Tina wanted to talk more, but Colleen was a little jumpy about doing this while Rob was so close. After all, this conversation might not have been as one-sided or as malicious as Rob might have liked.

"So, do you think you'll get to see Colby today?" Colleen asked, as she wrapped up the chat.

"I sure hope so," smiled Tina. "I think it would be great to see all the Australians again. But of course, you know that Colby was always my favorite."

Colleen nodded.

Duh.

She hadn't watched a single episode of Survivor in her life, but even she knew about Tina and the wonderful "Coe-bee."

"Well I hope it all turns out well," Colleen smiled.

Tina just smiled back, politely.

She knew she shouldn't be believing anything that came out of Colleen's mouth. After all, jumping into a partnership with Rob's sidekick was just flat-out old fashioned Survivor insanity. And Tina didn't do that. Normally, she was far too smart for that.

But right there is where the mother in Tina Wesson kicked in.

Should she believe Colleen Haskell's story? Of course not. Every bone in her body was telling her this was a trap. And Tina didn't fall for traps.

But at the same time, how could she possibly be Tina if she blew off America's Sweetheart? Shouldn't she at least give Colleen a chance? A tiny chance? Wouldn't Tina, the Sweetheart from Ogakor, team up with her favorite player, Colleen?

Begrudgingly, and against her better nature, Tina finally accepted that she had to do it.

She didn't like it, but she had to.

For now, she had to give America's Sweetheart the benefit of the doubt, and see where it went.

^^

Tree mail finally came to camp Ahi. And sure enough, there was the note. The merge was here.

Today was going to be the last morning of "Keko" and "Ahi."

"Oh, please, there's never been an Ahi," John Carroll complained cynically to the cameras, as he listened to Vecepia read the tree mail aloud to the rest of the tribe. Vee was about two hundred feet away, down by the beach, and John was casually eavesdropping as she read the parchment aloud to the other four Ahis.

Why was John up here all alone?

Well he was cooking breakfast, of course.

John was up here cooking mango patties, while casually providing an informal running commentary for the cameras.

"...Ahi and Keko, today you are officially disbanded...." Vecepia read aloud.

"Yeah, like hell we've ever been one tribe," John scoffed, unknowingly repeating Rob's observation from earlier this morning. "All we've ever been is a collection of three groups of two. We've never been a tribe. We've never even been close to a tribe. In fact, how we got ahead in this game, with this group of people, will one day be the biggest mystery in the history of the game."

John just stood there and flipped his mango patties, while he continued to provide his own heckling rebuttal to the wording of the treemail.

"... You will select one representative..."

"Rob," said John, under his breath. "Ten bucks says Rob picks Rob."

"... and send them on their way. What is their mission?..."

John just sighed when he heard this. Oh well. Guess it's here now. Time to march into battle with the shakiest team he had ever been a part of in his life. Time to march into a Survivor merge with the most eclectic group of players that have ever been a part of the same tribe. Time to go into a merge with Frank, Vecepia and Rob, all working together.

"Do you know what scares me the most about this whole thing?" John turned and offered a semi-interview without any prompting from a producer. "What scares me the most is that none of us have anything in common. None of us have any common goals we're trying to reach. All we're doing is taking a 6-4 lead into the merge, and expecting it to work."

The cameraman just looked at John blankly.

The camera crew weren't allowed to interact with the players. Hell they were barely allowed to even look the players in the eye. So John was committing a highly forbidden breach of protocol by trying to converse with one.

"Ah, sorry," John said, as he suddenly caught the deer-in-the-headlights look in the cameraman's eye. Oops. Experienced players aren't supposed to make that mistake. That was a rookie mistake, to look at the cameras.

"All we have right now is a collection of individuals," John stirred his breakfast while continuing his running commentary. "Tina isn't going to stick with Vecepia. Frank won't want anything to do with Rob. So God only knows what's going to happen."

John just stood there and casually shrugged.

"Oh well. I don't know how we got here, but somehow we did. And the only thing you can really do now is just stay out of the drama."

John smiled.

The mango patties were done.

The cook had done his job.

And he was very much aware of the old adage that "you don't vote out the cook!"

"Hey guys!" he called down to the beach, "Breakfast is ready! Mango patties for everybody!"

He heard a few whoops and hollers from the rest of the Ahis. And that meant it was time for the final culinary touch. So John reached down, he picked up a small pinch of sand, and he dropped it into the patty reserved for Rob. You see, Rob always got a special meal. He always got a little extra crunch.

It's the sort of thing that made the life of the cook a little more fun.





^^





The treemail announcing the merge arrived less than twenty minutes later at Camp Keko. Alicia went to retrieve it, and now she was back.

"You guys, we're gonna be sending a representative," she explained, as she held the parchment open for Gretchen to read. "It says pick one representative, and send them on a hike."

Gretchen casually read the full text of the tree mail. It didn't look to her like there were any traps involved in this choice. All they had to do was pick a diplomat, send them off to meet the Ahi diplomat, and from there they'd discuss the details of the upcoming merge.

"So what do we have to do?" she asked, "Just go out there and pick a new tribe name? And what camp we're going to move to?"

"Yeah, and they'll probably give you some food too," Kathy said, as she sat over by the campfire. She looked over and explained the protocol, since she was the only one here who had actually been an ambassador before. In Marquesas, she'd shared a pizza feast with Rob. "The two of you just meet up and you share some gossip and you'll probably get drunk. And then after a couple of hours you'll make up a new tribe name and you'll share a tent and call it a night. It's easy."

"Ooh, I think Kathy wants to go," teased Alicia. "She hasn't had any Rob in a while. And you know he's looking sexy with his shirt off all the time. Hubba hubba."

Mike whistled loudly.

"Come on, Kath, your boy toy is waiting," Alicia needled. "Go out and find him. You two can have sweet lovin' again."

"Oh please," Kathy said, rolling her eyes and laughing. "You wish. One of you can hang out with Rob. I've already put in my time with the guy."

"Well don't look at me," Mike said, holding his hands up.

Mike Skupin might have been a lot of things in life, but a diplomat he was not. Especially if it meant leaving the three Keko women back here to start plotting. So thank you but no thank you. Mike was smart enough to know that you never left women alone once you got close to the merge.

Even though the choice of diplomat was technically down to Gretchen or Alicia, in the end the Kekos knew who would be chosen. After all, they had already been talking to Gretchen as if she were diplomat. That was just the type of implied respect and authority she often had around here. She was their spokesperson. Like it or not.

"So you up for it, Gretch?" Kathy asked, from over at the firepit.

No one had technically nominated her.

But already it was all but decided.

"Yeah, sure," Gretchen nodded, as she she re-read the parchment tree mail one more time. "I don't mind. In fact, I think it will be kind of fun."

"Especially if you get to share a tent with Rob," smiled Alicia. "Right, Kathy?"

Mike whistled one more time.

"Come on," Kathy rolled her eyes one last time. She laughed, but she was also blushing. And she thanked God almighty that Alicia hadn't noticed.

"Well I can't promise any good stories from the tent," Gretchen laughed, as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail for the long hike. "At least none that I'd tell you guys. But I'll see if I can at least get us a good place to live."

"See if you can keep us here," Mike mumbled, as he chewed a mouthful of rice. "I don't want to build another shelter."

"Gotcha," nodded Gretchen.

"If Tina's the diplomat," said Alicia, "Tell her we apologize about Colby."

Gretchen nodded again.

And now the advice came flying at her.

Now the backseat drivers officially came out in full force.

"... Find out what it's like to live with Frank."

"... Ask why Lex got voted out."

"... See if you can get any dirt on their alliances."

"... Find out why Vecepia's still there."

"... See if you can sway the diplomat over to Keko."

"... Find out if the votes were unanimous."

"Look, enough!" Gretchen finally laughed. "Come on, guys. It's not like I have a piece of paper I can write all this stuff down."

She turned and looked back at the rest of her family.

"I'll go there and see what I can find out, and you guys will be the first ones to know. Okay?"





^^

Even though most players would have hated the solitude of a long, lonely walk across the island, Gretchen Cordy really didn't seem to be all that bothered by it. In fact, if anything, she thought it was peaceful. After all, here she was, alone in the paradise that was Hawaii, and there wasn't a single thing she could do right now that could alter the game.

Any other player from Keko? They'd be going mad right now. They'd be going crazy that the game would be going on without them, yet they'd be stuck here, alone in the jungle, alone with their thoughts.

But Gretchen just wasn't like that.

She was perfectly content to just enjoy the walk, enjoy the break, and not dwell on the game.

Gretchen had been walking by herself for a good two hours before she saw any sign at all of a fellow ambassador. It had been just her and nature, her and Hawaii, and she hadn't had the slightest complaint that she had been picked. After all, how on earth can you complain when you get two hours of peacefulness in Survivor? What could possibly be bad about two hours alone with the Earth in its most pristine form?

After all, Gretchen knew she would be leaving the game soon. How could she not be aware of that?

It wasn't like she hadn't been the most prominent member of a minority tribe in Survivor before.

"Of course I know I'm in danger," Gretchen admitted to a producer as she sat down to take a quick water break. "I mean, I know I'm not the most hardcore player out here, and I'm aware of that. But it's not like I'm new to this. I've been here before. There's a very real chance my fate has already been decided, and I'll be going home soon."

The producers had known that Gretchen wasn't really eager to talk about the game right now. They knew how much she had been looking forward to this walk, and the peace it would bring. So they only had one or two questions to ask her right now. They basically just wanted to know how much this reminded her of Borneo, and if she thought things could change.

"Can it change?" Gretchen repeated the producer's question out loud. "Most definitely. But I'm not going to sit here and tell you that this is how we're gonna do it, because I'm not sure we can."

"So you think your situation is hopeless?"

"I didn't say that," Gretchen looked over and smiled. "I just said that if we get back in this game, it won't be because of anything we did. It will be because Ahi did something so stupid that they cut us a break."

As expected, Gretchen really wasn't in the mood to give any extensive elaboration on this thesis. The only reason she had stopped was to drink from her canteen. And now that she was fully quenched, it was back to work. So she stood up, she hiked up her backpack, and she was back on her way.

^^





It was just around lunchtime when Gretchen finally heard the sound of crunching footsteps approaching her. And even though she was enjoying the solitude out here, she couldn't help but brighten a bit at the sound. Because that meant that somebody new was approaching. She was about to converse with somebody she'd probably never met before, and in the ever-so-lonesome game of Survivor, that was always exciting.

So she stopped, she put down her backpack, and she put on a smile.

It was time for the two ambassadors to meet for their summit.

"Gretchen Cordy!" came a somewhat-familiar male voice from behind a pile of bushes.

Out stepped a smiling John Carroll, and Gretchen was extremely surprised.

"John?" she asked, cautiously. Wow, now this was unexpected. Out of all the players on the other tribe, John Carroll, the big question mark from Ahi, was the last person Gretchen had expected to see.

"At your service," John mock-bowed. Then he walked over and embraced her in a hug.

"Wow," smiled Gretchen, once she had a chance to take a step back and wrap her mind around this. None of the Kekos had expected John to be the Ahi ambassador. Hell none of them had even mentioned John as a possible candidate. The Kekos had been absolutely positive that Tina or Rob, or perhaps even Frank, would be coming out to meet them today. The fact that the Ahis had chosen John as their ambassador was mind-boggling, and Gretchen was stunned.

"So, the Kekos decided to pick Gretchen as their ambassador..." John smiled. "At least, I assumed they picked you. Or did you volunteer?"

"Oh no, I volunteered," Gretchen answered, cautiously.

How much did she really know about John? Could she trust him? Had Kathy ever talked about John being a snake? Gretchen rapidly tried to race all these questions through her brain, but she couldn't remember. All she knew about her fellow ambassador right now was that she had spent a few hours with him in that lodge during the fake twist a few days ago, and that he had been the quietest one of the four of them all day. And that was it. That was the extent of her knowledge about John. He was quiet.

"Well in any case it's good to see you again," John said, as he extended a hand. "I always did want to meet the famous Gretchen Cordy walking alone in the woods."

Gretchen extended her right hand and shook, again very cautiously.

She really had no idea what she was supposed to say to the guy, and it made the whole situation a little bit awkward.

"Famous?" she laughed. "Hardly. You're already living with Colleen. You've already met famous. I'm just a blip on the radar compared to her."

"Oh that's not true at all," John said. "You're Gretchen!"

And then, right there on the spot, he went into a ten minute dissertation on why he loved the first season of Survivor. He talked about why he loved the Pagongs. He talked about why he didn't want Rudy to win. And he went on and on about how he would always remember the day the Tagis voted her out, because he had been crushed.

"Wow," said an impressed Gretchen, once John had reeled off a fairly concise summary of those fateful 39 days back in Borneo. "What do you do, study this show or something? How do you remember all that?"

"I'm just a fan," John smiled. "I've always been a big fan. But you have to remember that everyone was a fan. We all watched you guys."

"Yeah, so I'm seeing," admitted a clearly chagrined Gretchen. She hated to admit that since Borneo, she'd barely even watched the show.

"So I'm not just kissing your ass when I say I'm honored to be playing with you," John smiled. "You were always one of my favorites. You guys were the trail blazers. In fact, it's too bad we never got to talk much back at the twist. You and Colleen were having such a good time that I never reallyhad a chance to say hi."

And now Gretchen felt bad.

Had her reunion with Colleen really been that annoying to everyone else?

"Yeah I'm sorry about that," she apologized. "I think we were just so relieved that we weren't switching tribes that we sort of fell into giggle mode."

"Nah, it's okay," John shrugged. "It's not like I said much either, so it wasn't that big a deal."

Gretchen just smiled and stood there, awkwardly. She wasn't sure where this conversation was supposed to be going. And even though John was clearly excited to be standing here talking to her, she wasn't sure that he felt any less awkward about the whole dynamic of their little encounter either. After all, even though he was a fan of Gretchen, she was technically the enemy.

"So why did they pick you as ambassador?" Gretchen asked, politely, but still a little bit cautiously.

"Well it was me or Frank," John joked. "And we didn't want to send Frank because you'd all be afraid of him."

"And you're less scary?"

John just smiled and reached into his backpack. He pulled out his luxury item-- two bottles of massage oil-- and handed them over.

"They told me to come over to Keko, give some massages, and make some new friends. So I figure I'll be popular."

Gretchen just laughed.

Okay, now she officially liked John Carroll. She still had no idea what type of player he was, or if he was trustworthy. But so far he was funny and personable, and she vaguely remembered his dry, quiet wit from back at the twist. So if nothing else, he was proving to be a good conversation. And as expected, in a game like Survivor, that's always a start.

"Oh, by the way," John asked, "Weren't we supposed to read some sort of second parchment once we met up?"

"Oh, crap, you're right."

In her awkwardness and surprise, Gretchen had forgotten all about it. They still had some things they had to discuss before the merge could take place.

She reached back into her backpack and dug out a sealed piece of tree mail. This was one she had been forbidden to read until she met up with the Ahi ambassador. John had a similar one in his backpack as well.

Gretchen took hers out and broke open the wax seal.

And was stunned to find out that there was still a lot of walking that would have to take place.

"My paper says I'm supposed to walk all the way to Keko, and meet the rest of your tribe," John said, crestfallen. "Does yours say the same thing?"

"Yup."

Gretchen held up her piece of paper.

Sure enough, there it was: "Keep on walking all the way to Ahi, and say goodbye to your friend."

"Well, shoot," sighed John. "And here I was thinking we were doing something important today."

Gretchen just shrugged.

"Ah well," said John.

He reached down and put on his backpack. Then he said his goodbyes. He knew that he and Gretchen would be meeting up again in the future. And he wanted to make sure that the stage would be set for a friendship if his tribe fell apart. So he looked over at Gretchen, as she strapped on her backpack.

"Well you be careful around those guys, okay?" he said, seriously.

"Huh?" Gretchen hadn't quite caught that.

"Just watch yourself. Watch what you say. Don't name any names."

He didn't elaborate.

Gretchen wanted to ask more, but she knew this was neither the time nor the place. John wasn't going to give her any information. He was just going to give her a respectful warning. Because he knew the type of snake pit this woman was going to be entering. And that the Gretchen he knew from Borneo would be over her head.

"Okay thanks," smiled Gretchen. "Thanks for the warning. And you have fun with the bad guys too."

She grinned over at him, mischievously, but John didn't look concerned.

He didn't look concerned at all.

He just stood there, he nodded, and he set off on his trek.

And Gretchen was now a little bit scared.





^^





John Carroll had greatly enjoyed his liaison with the Keko ambassador. He really had. After all, it's not every day that you meet one of your Survivor heroes out in the woods. Gretchen had always been one of John's favorites, that hadn't been a lie. He had been an enormous fan of the show that first season, he had been an enormous fan of Gretchen, and he thought she was great.

Of course John wasn't prepared to sell his soul just to team up with Gretchen. Hell, he wasn't going to go that far, even if he had already met her before. He wasn't that big a geek knee-jerk Survivor fanboy. But, still, he liked her. And he respected her enough to give her a warning-- a fellow soldier's warning-- just so she'd know what was up.

So John continued on his trek.

Alone.

Off towards the site of Camp Keko, which was up to the north.

Why had John Carroll been selected as the Ahi representative? Well even John himself couldn't quite explain it. All he knew was that one minute they were taking a tribe vote, and the next minute his name had been tossed out as a likely ambassador. One minute it had seemed like Rob was going to go, and the next minute John was packing his bag and being handed a piece of sealed parchment. He hadn't even had time to give an interview before he took off.

John suspected that he had been chosen because he was the one ally that Rob considered the slightest bit responsible.

He was the one member of Ahi who wouldn't do something stupid, like join a counter-alliance.

The more John thought about it, the more he realized this was probably the case. Rob must have chosen him because he was responsible. There could be no other logical explanation.

After all, there was no way Rob would have sent Colleen. She was far too naive for his liking, and far too careless around someone like Gretchen. Rob wouldn't have trusted Colleen as an ambassador as far as he could throw her. And of course, it went without saying that Rob never would have sent Vecepia, Frank, or Tina. All three of them could do a lot of damage if you put them in the wrong hands at the wrong point in the game, and Rob was certainly aware of this. The last thing the guy would have wanted to do was send Frank off to Keko to spill all their secrets.

So of course John had been the only viable option.

Rob didn't want to go himself, because he had to stay back at camp and keep an eye on his minions. And that left John. And John decided he was at least a little flattered that Rob trusted him enough not to do something dumb.

"Hey guys, I think I hear somebody coming!"

John heard the female voice calling out over the trees, and he knew that he had to be close. Because that sure sounded like Alicia. That sounded like the other player on Keko he was dying to meet: Miss sassy Alicia.

So John smiled from ear to ear as he stepped through the brush.

"Girrrrrl," he said, mimicking a famous quote from Amber, "You are strong, both inside and out."

Alicia heard this, she saw John, and she busted out laughing.

"John Carroll, you old backstabber, you!"

John sure recognized that voice. Oh yes he did. Who else could have that big booming voice other than Kathy? He looked over and he saw his fellow Rotu alumnus standing next to the fire. Kathy still had the big wild blonde hair and the big wide googly eyes, just like he remembered. In fact, she looked exactly as he did the last time they'd shared a beach, a few months before.

"Johnny Pots and Pans," she smiled, warmly. "How ya doin', man?"

She jogged over to embrace him.

"Kathy," he smiled, "Long time no see."

Kathy and John had their little reunion. And then John had a chance to meet Alicia. Even though she was just a tiny little person in stature, he was impressed at the strength in her embrace as he hugged the Kucha powerhouse for the first time in his life. Apparently Alicia's physical strength had not been a myth.

"So who did you guys vote off last night?" John asked, curiously. He looked up and around the campsite, quickly noticing that both Colby and Mike were apparently gone. "I know it wasn't Gretchen. We met in the woods."

"We voted out Colby," Alicia admitted.

"Really?" John was surprised.

"Yeah," nodded Kathy. "And it was a bummer, too. We were all sort of down about it."

John just nodded and took it all in.

Because what this meant was that Tina, Colby's best friend in the world, was now in for a shock.

"Well should we wait for Mike to get here?" John asked, "Or do you want me to open this last piece of tree mail? Because I think we have some stuff to do before we merge. I still have to read something."

"Pffft, forget Mike," Alicia said, dismissively. "Who knows what he's off hunting. He won't be back for hours."

John just laughed.

Then he opened the last piece of parchment and looked over the contents.

"Oh, man..." he said, worriedly, as he read over the producers' instructions.

"What?" asked Kathy.

"It's bad," said John. "Real bad."

He handed the paper to Alicia, who looked it over nervously.

"It says," explained John, "That I need Kathy to pee on me."

Kathy, of course, burst out into embarrassed laughter. Oh God. She was never going to live down that famous moment, now was she? The image of her urinating onto John's urchin sting would likely haunt her for life. And what an embarrassing legacy.

"Hey, I saved your life, buddy," Kathy said, between giggles.

John just shrugged.

Alicia didn't get it.

"So what does it really say?" asked Kathy, once her laughter had died down.

Alicia took the initiative and read the parchment out loud...

^^

"It says we have to be down by the beach in ten minutes," Gretchen said, as she read her final instructions out loud to the Ahis. "Grab everything you can and meet down by the water, because a boat is coming to pick us up. And don't be late."

She turned and looked over at Tina and Vecepia.

"Guys," she smiled happily, "I think we're officially merging."

Gretchen expected this announcement to be met with much cheering and fanfare, but the only audible reaction she heard was a small whoop from Colleen. And then of course Tina appeared to be saying a small prayer of thanks under her breath. But other than that, any sort of raucous cheer of joy from the Ahis just simply wasn't there. And Gretchen was shocked.

"We need to bring all the cooking supplies," Frank said, as he instinctively snapped into hockey dad mode. "The cooking pots, the pans, the fishing line, all of it. If we can use it, we need to take it. Bring everything."

Gretchen just stood there and watched as the enemy tribe snapped into action around her. Because to her, this type of thing was fascinating. How often do you get to watch the opposing tribe in Survivor go about doing their chores? How often do you get to see the tribe from the other side of the tracks play out their now-defined social roles right in front of your eyes?

"Vecepia, make sure you grab the tarp off the roof," Frank dictated, as he gathered up a batch of mangoes and papayas into a fishing net.

Gretchen had been here a little less than ten minutes, and already she had learned everything she needed to know about Frank Garrison. Good lord, the man appeared to be a stick in the mud. It was as if he made no attempt at all to get to know the people around him. All the guy did was stand there, off to the side, and bark out orders. Gretchen had known the man for only about eight minutes, and even though she had a military background herself, already she could tell he was probably going to drive her insane.

"Is Frank always like this?" she turned and whispered to her friend, Colleen.

Colleen just opened her eyes wide and nodded.

Oh yes. This was Frank.

And the sad thing was, Gretchen was only getting the introductory version.

"Man, it's like living with B.B.," Gretchen smirked.

Colleen just laughed and went back to her work.

Gretchen wanted to help out with the packing, but all she would really do at this point was get in the way. After all, she didn't know who was in charge here. She didn't know who was teamed up with whom. She didn't even know where the Ahis kept most of their stuff. In fact, the only thing that Gretchen could tell about this tribe right now was that they lived in squalor and their camp was a pig sty. She was so horrified by the disarray around their living quarters that she couldn't believe it. Camp Ahi reminded her of a bachelor pad.

"I know it's not very pretty," smiled Vecepia, as she sidled up to Gretchen, "But we get by."

Vecepia had clearly seen Gretchen staring at the clothes strewn across the camp. So she came over to make small talk

"How is your guys' camp?" Vee asked, curiously. "It's a lot cleaner, isn't it?"

"Oh yeah, tons," Gretchen said, a little less diplomatically than she would have liked. "But hey, we've got a couple of soccer moms. So what are we gonna do? Moms tend to pick up. We can't help it, it's why we were born."





^^

Ten minutes later, Gretchen and the Ahis were standing down by the beach, ready to go. Their supplies had all been packed up, their food had all been stashed away, and now they were just standing here, waiting for a boat.

Of course the boat wasn't really here yet, due to some bad weather off the coast.

And that meant the Ahis could finally get a chance to talk to the Keko ambassador, and catch up on some dirt.

"So did Mike really kill a shark?" Tina asked, curiously.

"What?" Gretchen laughed out loud.

"We heard a rumor that Mike went out and caught a shark," Tina explained. "Was it true?"

"No!" Gretchen laughed. "You know, Mike's a good hunter and all, but he's not that good. Where did you guys hear that?"

Tina shrugged. It was just a rumor. They'd heard tons of them.

"Is Mike even still there?" asked Vecepia.

"Oh yeah," Gretchen nodded. "He's still there. And still as crazy as ever. He wakes up before dawn. You guys are going to love him."

"So then who got voted out last night?" Rob suddenly asked.

Gretchen looked over at him, surprised. Because up to this point in the day, Rob had been exceptionally quiet. He had barely said a peep about anything, other than giving his name. He had been so quiet, and so inconspicuous, that until this moment Gretchen had almost forgotten about him.

But now she definitely recognized his presence.

Because without so much as a segue, without the slightest transition, this quiet young man named Rob had jumped right to the important question, like a lion pouncing in for the kill.

"We voted out Colby," Gretchen sighed.

She didn't even look over at Tina to see the reaction.

"Oh, man!" protested Colleen. "You voted out the cute one! You guys are just sick!"

Gretchen just stood there and shrugged. She didn't add anything else. After all, she didn't want to give away too many details, thanks to John's warning in the woods. As much as she had liked John Carroll as a person, he had gotten her spooked.

"Man, I bet Colby was mad," whistled Vecepia. She turned and looked at Rob. "Can you imagine? Being voted off before all the individual challenges?"

Rob said nothing.

But deep down, Vee knew he was thrilled.

The Ahis continued to pepper Gretchen with questions for a while, and she did her best to respond. Of course she couldn't answer everything. She apologized when she had to hold back information, but of course the Ahis understood because they were doing it too. Gretchen wasn't the only person at the moment who was biting her tongue.

"Hey, I have a question," Tina finally asked.

Gretchen looked over at her. This was the first time that Tina had spoken since the shocking news that her beloved Colby was no longer around. Tina had just been standing there in stunned silence for the last fifteen minutes, and Gretchen was growing worried that Tina might need some time to really process this news.

"Let me guess. Is it a question about Mike?" Gretchen smiled.

She guessed that probably 75% of the questions so far had been rumors someone had heard about Mike.

"Oh no," smiled Tina. "I just want to know what it was like to vote out Richard Hatch? Did you guys throw a party afterwards? What was it like?"

Gretchen just threw her head back and laughed.

"Oh man," she replied. "I wish all of you could have been there. It was awesome! You guys have no idea."

Gretchen looked around the circle and saw five very envious people smiling with her. Tina was grinning. Vecepia was grinning. Colleen was grinning. Hell, even Frank had a smile on his face. The five Ahis were standing here, envisioning the look on Richard's face after he got evicted, and it was like they were sharing that moment, as if they'd been there.

"Seriously," said Gretchen. "I know only one of us can win a million dollars out here, but I'm not lying when I tell you that the Kekos already feel like winners. Because we voted out Richard." She turned and smiled at Colleen. "We voted out Richard!"

She wanted to explain it further, but that's all she had needed to say.

The Ahis understood.

Even if they had the numbers right now, they'd already missed out on the biggest and best part of the game.

"Hey, I think our boat's coming," said Gretchen, as she caught a small speck of movement off the southern horizon. Sure enough, there it was. Their ride. Their ride to destiny.

"Make sure we take all our stuff," Frank said to no one in particular. "Don't forget anything. We're not coming back."

So the boat came.

The Ahis climbed aboard.

And they left the southern shore of Ni'ihau forever.

^^

It was just after dusk when a pair of boats arrived at the shore of Kahelelani Beach. Located on the eastern shore of Ni'ihau, this beach was far away from either the Keko or Ahi campsites. In fact, it was virtually inaccessible. The lava rock was so bumpy around this beach, and so jagged, that the players would have had to have been suicidal to try and hike over here at any point in the past. One fall on these rocks and they could have been killed.

Kahelelani Beach was known for its colorful shells and its jagged, inhospitable coastline.

And now, it was to be known as the new home for the merged tribe in All-Star Survivor.

"Welcome, guys," said Jeff Probst, as the first boat arrived and the first six players stepped onto the black, unstable lava rock. These were the Ahis and Gretchen. They were the first ones to arrive at their new home. And Jeff greeted each one, in turn, with a lei placed around the neck, per Hawaiian tradition.

"Aloha," he smiled, as he placed the first lei around Vecepia's neck. "E Komo Mai. Welcome to Kahelelani."

"Thank you, Jeff," Vee smiled.

Jeff repeated the ritual with Tina, and then with Frank. Soon, all six of them had leis around their neck. And that's when their four new teammates from Keko arrived.

"Come on up, guys," called Jeff.

Kathy was the first member of Keko to come bounding up the lava rock, and she couldn't help but grin as Jeff placed a lei around her neck and repeated his greeting.

"E Komo Mai. Welcome to Kahelelani."

Grinning from ear to ear, Kathy walked over to her new teammates and hugged each one of them, one after another, in a warm embrace. She even embraced Vecepia. And both Kathy and Vee would tell you that that would probably be the last time that would be happening until the end of the game.

"How you doin', Vee?" Kathy smiled.

Vecepia just smiled and nodded, politely.

For the first time since Marquesas, she stared into the cold, dark eyes of the price of betrayal.

After Kathy came the rest of the Keko contingent. One by one they walked up from the beach and received their leis. And then they took their place at the end of the line. First came John. Then came Mike. Then Alicia rounded out the tribe and took her place at the end.

The final ten players in All-Star Survivor were officially here.

The second half of this game was about to begin.





^^





The day was already growing dark, so there wasn't going to be much time tonight to sit around and do icebreakers. The players would have loved to just sit here and meet all their new tribesmates around the campfire, but unfortunately nature doesn't always play by the rules you might like.

It was dark, and they had no shelter.

Something would have to be thrown together, just so they'd have a roof over their heads in case it started to rain.

"You want to go cut down some bamboo?" Frank turned and asked Mike, who was standing next to him.

But Frank hadn't even had to ask.

Mike already had the other machete, and was scouting for trees.

"Colleen, can you and Tina go gather palm fronds?" Frank asked casually. He turned and looked at the smallest Ahi. He wasn't trying to sound bossy. This was just what he tended to do. When palm fronds needed to be woven, that called for Colleen.

"No problem," she smiled.

Then she looked over at Gretchen and rolled her eyes.

It looked like the spirit of B.B. had officially arrived.

So that was the way it went for most of the first night at Kahelelani. The players would have loved to just sit around and chat, but stuff simply needed to be done tonight. The gossip and stories and dirt-dishing would just have to wait.

Frank and Mike spent most of the night building a very rudimentary A-frame. It wasn't the best shelter in the world, and it certainly wouldn't have passed inspection in Gretchen world, but Mike and Frank worked so effortlessly together, and were such peas in a pod, that it seemed cruel to let anyone else do the work. The two of them were just meant to build together. So Gretchen, in her wisdom, stayed back.

As Frank and Mike built the shelter, Colleen, Tina and Gretchen went off to get palm fronds. It wasn't the most glamorous job in the world, but hey, somebody had to do it. They needed a roof.

Finally, after about three hours of intensive chopping and weaving, the new tribe finally had a roof over their head. It wasn't quite big enough to hold ten people, and it was definitely going to have to be overhauled tomorrow in the daylight, but for now, it was home, and it was dry.

And that was when Alicia finally stumbled across the piece of tree mail that they'd been waiting to read.

"Welcome to your new tribe!" she read proudly to her new tribesmates, "And welcome to the second part of your adventure..."

Now the cheers started to come.

Now the ten players could finally relax.

"... Of course you are probably expecting some sort of a feast..." Alicia read.

"Food!" screamed John.

"... And of course, being Survivor, that's what you're going to get. Your tray of food is located down by the beach, on a large wooden table..."

Alicia didn't even read the rest of the message.

She was now up and out the door, running after the rest of her tribe.

"Mike!" she yelled, "If you eat all that food, I am so going to kill you. And you know it!"

Mike, who could already smell the barbecue pork ribs, just laughed gleefully as he scampered down to the beach.

And now, finally, at just after ten o'clock in the evening, the new merge tribe got their chance to hang out. It wasn't the most optimal time to meet your new tribesmates. And it certainly wasn't the most graceful way to make first impressions. But still, even if you had barbecue sauce slathered all over your face, it was fun.

The Ahis finally had a chance to meet the Kekos, and the Kekos finally had a chance to meet the Ahis. All strategy and scheming was put aside, all grudges and alliances were forgotten for the night, and the players just relaxed by the beach, sat here and talked, and pigged out.

In fact, by the end of the night, they weren't even two separate tribes anymore.

They had decided on a new merge name.

This was no longer Keko and Ahi.

This newly-formed tribe was now known as Manakai.

DAY 20

Manakai Tribe (white): Alicia Calaway, John Carroll, Gretchen Cordy, Frank Garrison, Colleen Haskell, Rob Mariano, Mike Skupin, Vecepia Towery, Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien, Tina Wesson

Vecepia Towery was walking along the beach, looking for shells, and that's when she noticed that the new Manakai flag had fallen down.

"Oh, that's too bad," she thought.

Vee, who had been one of the artists of their new tribal banner, walked over and retrieved the now-dingy white flag from its spot in the dirt. Sure enough, it looked like the wind had blown it over sometime during the night. So she picked it up, she wiped it off, and she smoothed it out. Then she drove the bamboo pole firmly down into the mud.

"That should do it," she said, quietly.

Vee took a step back now to admire the new symbol of their newly-formed tribe. It was a white flag, of course. The same color as their buffs. And splashed across it was the name of the tribe in seven big bold green letters: "MANAKAI."

Vecepia had been the main artist in charge of flag duty last night, and she had worked diligently with Alicia and John to make sure that the names of all ten players had been included on their banner. Way up in the upper left corner was "Colleen", way down in the lower right corner was "Mike", and the other eight names were scattered across the flag in various styles.

And Vecepia was very proud of how it had turned out, especially now that she could see it for the first time in the daylight.

"But the best part is the shark," she said aimlessly towards the camera, as if speaking directly to the viewers at home. "I painted that myself. Check it out."

Vecepia pointed to the middle of the banner, directing the cameraman to focus on a blue-and-green shark that dominated most of the background. That was Vecepia's baby. That was her great white shark. That was the symbol of the Manakais. And she couldn't help but grin with pride as she looked over at the cameraman.

"Pretty cool, huh?"

Why had Vecepia painted a shark on the middle of the Manakai flag? Well because that was their name, of course. In Hawaiian, the word "mano" means "shark." And in Hawaiian, the word "kahakai" means "beach." So all you had to do was put the two words together and you had the new name of the tribe.

Manohakai.

Or "Manakai" for short.

The name of the new merge tribe meant "Shark Beach."

Vecepia stood and admired the new Manakai flag for a few moments, and then continued on her stroll along the beach. After all, she hadn't come out here to pick up her flag. That had just been a curious coincidence. No, the real reason she had come out here was to pick up some shells. She came out here to gather supplies so she could build a shell necklace.

So Vecepia walked along the beach, looking for anything bright she could pick up.

While she reflected upon a troubling conversation she'd had with Rob in the jungle last night.

The problem Vecepia had been having with Rob over the past twenty-four hours was that Rob was adamant that Mike was going to be the first member of Keko they were going to vote out. Rob seemed to be dead set against voting for anybody other than Mike, and he was so zealous in this ridiculous crusade that Vecepia was starting to get worried that Rob might be missing the bigger picture.

She, more than anybody, knew that Rob could sometimes put personal rivalries over the good of the team.

"But Mike isn't particularly good at talking to people," Vecepia had argued, as she had stood there with John and Rob in the woods. "He isn't all that charming. He isn't even all that likable."

"So then who do you suggest we vote for?" Rob had asked, his hands folded across his chest.

"Kathy."

It was the one name that struck a little bit of fear into Vecepia, because it was the one person that she saw as being a little bit dangerous. Kathy. Her old rival from Marquesas. The one who more than likely had a very personal grudge about evening the score.

"Kathy?" Rob asked, incredulously. "Over someone like Gretchen or Mike?"

"I'm serious," Vee insisted.

"Please," Rob scoffed at her. "Vee, Mike is six and a half feet tall. He's bigger than Colby. If he starts winnin' a bunch of challenges, we're not gonna stop him."

"I know that," said Vee, "But sometimes there are more important things than immunity."

"Like what?"

"Like the fact that people like Kathy a lot more than they like Mike! She's much more dangerous!"

Vecepia wasn't normally the type of person who got worked up over things, but already John and Rob could see that she was sweating over this decision. And that was so out-of-character for her, they were visibly stunned. When on Earth did Vecepia Towery ever lose her cool? When on Earth did she ever get into a debate?

Just who was this much-more-vocal Vecepia, and why was she here?

"What ever happened to Miss 'I don't care who gets voted out, as long as it aint me'?" Rob smirked down at her, teasing her. "Jeez, Vee. What's up your butt tonight?"

"I'm not upset," she said, lying. "It's just that... I don't think we need to vote for Mike just because he's a guy."

But John knew where she was going with this.

John knew all about Vecepia and Kathy, and knew why she was scared.

"Vee's just worried that she has an enemy out here," John would admit in a later interview. "She's worried because she's not the type of player who ever gets enemies. She's worried because there's no way she can be effective if someone's after her butt."

John knew all about Vecepia's angst over this subject, but he wasn't going to say anything about it to Rob. After all, why on Earth would he? Hell, if Vee and Rob were suddenly going to have a falling out, he wasn't going to step in and mediate it. He much preferred to see Rob figure things out for himself. It's what made this game fun.

Besides, John knew that if Rob and Vecepia ever did have a falling out, the much weaker of the two players would find themself up shit creek without a paddle. They'd be doomed.

And in the personal opinion of John Carroll, that moron was Rob.

"Look guys," John now said, quietly, once Vecepia had reached the point where she could simply admit no more. She wasn't going to tell Rob she was scared and that was that. Vecepia just didn't do that. "Why don't we just talk about this tomorrow? After some sleep."

Gratefully, Vecepia had looked over at John and nodded her head.

Rob, reluctantly, had done the same.

And that was where things stood as Vecepia now walked along the beach, looking for shells.

Was Rob dead-set that Mike had to go first, despite the advice from his alliance to consider other alternatives? Was Rob really that single-minded that the alpha male from Keko had to go first, just because that's what you did? Or could Vee actually convince him that Kathy not only posed a danger to her, but a danger to Ahi?

After all, if Vecepia were somehow voted out, they'd be down to five.

And in Vecepia's opinion, that was not only a worst-case scenario for her, that was worst-case for them all.

So yes, Vee was actually sweating a little bit today, and it was a feeling she wasn't accustomed to. She wasn't meant to have enemies out here. She wasn't meant to have threats. Like John had deduced, her entire game depended on the fact that she could have multiple ties and multiple angles, and she could switch on a whim. But now, the fact that Kathy was living here was driving her nuts.

So Vecepia walked.

And she picked up shells.

And, already, she was starting to resent the fact that Rob was controlling her game.

^^





While Vecepia took a reflective stroll along the beach by herself, the rest of the Manakais had woken up and were sharing their first breakfast together as a tribe. Mike had brought a couple of fish over from Keko, John decided to saute it in some guava juice he had brought over from Ahi, and... voila... they now had teriyaki fish to start off the morning.

"This is really good!" Gretchen said, as she bit into her breakfast and looked over at John in surprise. "Man, John, where did you learn to cook like this?"

"Oh you know," he shrugged, "You pick a little up here, you pick a little up there."

"Yeah but this is just a fluke," Rob joked from over by the shelter. "Usually his breakfast isn't all that good. Usually it has like, sand and shit in it. You guys are just getting his 'A' game today."

John just stared down at his feet and started to laugh.

So that was how the morning started for the newly formed members of the Manakai tribe. John cooked up his best breakfast for his new Keko teammates, and Gretchen and the rest of them were impressed by the sort of cooking they hadn't even realized they had been missing. Because yeah, sure Richard and Mike were excellent hunters and all. But there was a big difference between throwing some meat down on a grill, and actually spicing that meat up into something creative. The Kekos had been eating well, but Gretchen had never really been that much of a cook.

But now they had John, they had an artist, and that meant their meals were bound to be a little bit different.

"So does anybody have any plans for what we need to do today?" Gretchen asked tentatively. She looked around at the sea of white buffs around her. Most of the other Manakais were just sitting here, eating their fish. "Anybody have any priorities we need to get done?"

"First off, we need to fix the roof," Frank stated. "We need something permanent. 'Cause that aint gonna hold if we get any rain."

Gretchen nodded.

"You on top of that?" she asked him.

"No problem."

Gretchen didn't like that she was sort of taking a bit of a leadership role here. She didn't like it at all, but she couldn't help it. That was just what she did. "Survival" and "Gretchen Cordy" had always gone together like peanut butter and chocolate.

His task now having been assigned to him, Frank finished up his bowl of fish and put it down next to the firepit. And then he was off. Just like that. And Gretchen smiled. Because even though Frank was a bit rough, she was already starting to appreciate his dutiful work ethic. You could always identify a military man when he set off to work.

With Frank off building a new shelter, and a few other tasks having been doled out to various people, Gretchen stepped back for a moment to reassess what needed to be done.

Did they need water?

Were they going to need a bigger firepit?

And what should they do with the scraps from breakfast that now littered the ground?

Gretchen was so preoccupied with the chore list for her new home that she didn't even notice that Mike and Alicia had stepped away from camp and were now walking away. Two of her Keko brethren had stolen away for camp for a moment, out of sight of just about everybody, and Gretchen hadn't even noticed that Mike was now trying to catch her attention.

Mike was signaling for Gretchen to come take a walk with them.

Because there were some other things that had to be done, and they didn't involve chores.





^^





Ten minutes later, Kathy came bouncing down the trail and joined the rest of her allies in the woods. Now all four Kekos were here. Gretchen. Mike. Alicia. And Kathy.

They had finally gotten a chance to meet up.

"So how does it look?" Mike asked, once Kathy had given the report from her spy mission. "Will anyone switch over?"

"It's hard to say," Kathy said. "For a while I thought Tina might be up for it, but it's hard to get a read on her because Rob isn't leaving her alone."

Mike nodded.

He had also noticed that Rob was acting a little bit odd this morning. Rather than the talkative chatterbox they were used to from the challenges, Rob was acting very quiet, very observant, and very suspicious. All he had been doing all day was just floating around from task to task, just watching and listening.

"Rob's creepin' me out, you guys," Kathy now added. "I have to admit it. There's just somethin' a little bit off about him today. He's way too quiet. It's not like him. And it's creepin' me out."

Alicia now nodded, because she had noticed this too.

"So where do we stand?" Gretchen asked.

She looked over at Kathy. Kathy had been the all-important fact-finder all morning. She had been the scout. She had been the one making inquiries. And if there were any chance of pulling over an Ahi, then Kathy would know.

Kathy said nothing. She just stared at the ground for a moment, as she thought over the possibilities in her head.

"My only gut feeling," she said, quietly, while still staring at the ground, "Is that a lot of them won't want to put up with Rob for too much longer. Nobody's come right out and told me, but I can tell that he's made some enemies, and they might want him gone."

"Let me guess," said Alicia. "Frank?"

"Oh yeah," Kathy nodded. "Big time. Frank hates his guts."

Not like that was much of a surprise. The Kekos had assumed that Frank and Rob were already enemies way back on day one.

"I'm sort of getting a weird vibe from John, too," Kathy added. "I mean, I know the guy pretty well and he's definitely holding back. There's something he wants to tell me but he doesn't know if it's time."

"Do you think he would vote for Rob?" asked Mike.

"I would say eventually, yes," Kathy nodded. "John has never wanted anything to do with Rob. He still blames Rob for how ugly things got back in Marquesas."

"But would he vote for Rob tomorrow?"

That was the big question.

Would John, or any of the Ahis, want to switch over and help them vote out Rob Mariano?

Right now, Kathy hated to say it, but the answer was no.

"I don't know what else to tell you," she said apologetically. "I've talked around, and I've put out the feelers. But all I'm getting right now is that there are six of them, and four of us. And even if we got one of them, the best we could do is a tie."

"Would any of them even have the guts to force a tie?" Mike now asked.

The three Keko women turned and looked at him. Because now that was actually an excellent question. Really, what was the issue here? Were they just looking for someone who wanted Rob gone? Or should they be focusing their efforts on the one or two people who would actually have the stones to face a purple rock? What should it be?

"Tina would never force a tie, at least not at ten," Alicia said. "And you can bet your ass Colleen would never have the balls to do it."

"And you can count out Vecepia," Kathy snorted. "The day she takes a rock for someone is the day Mike's hair grows back."

Mike just chuckled.

Okay, one for Kathy.

"So if we count them out," asked Gretchen, "Who does that leave? John and Frank?"

Kathy nodded.

The only two logical choices for forcing a tie were John and Frank. The two most verbal anti-Rob critics. They were the only two people who would have the stones to face a purple rock on Ahi, and they happened to be the two people who probably hated Rob the most. And that, if nothing else, at least gave Kathy the slightest bit of hope that it could possibly work.

"So two of us work on Frank," Mike summarized, "And two of us work on John."

He turned and looked at Kathy.

She just gave a half-hearted shrug and nodded.

That seemed to be all they could do.

^^

So it was official. The Kekos were going to stick together out here on Manakai, no matter what. They weren't going to turn on one another just to get a little further in the game. They weren't going to sell out the family just for a little personal glory at the end. No, the Kekos had come together and decided that they were way too close as a group to start turning on each other at this point in the game.

In the immortal words of Alicia, she'd rather "go down as a foursome than succeed as a onesome."

And that meant it was all for one, and one for all.

Starting now.

"Hey John," smiled Kathy, as she sidled up to her old Rotu buddy down by the beach.

Kathy's mission, of course, was to work on John Carroll today. After all, he had been deemed as one of the few movable links in the Ahi puzzle. John was one of the two members of Ahi who might switch, and Kathy happened to have an excellent working relationship with him from back in Marquesas.

That meant she had been an easy choice to go work on John, and now she was here.

"Oh hey, what's up?" John said, looking over distractedly at her. He had been sitting here scrubbing some pots in the ocean, and hadn't even noticed her coming down to talk to him.

"Good ol' Johnny Pots and Pans, huh?" Kathy laughed. "You still livin' up to that nickname?"

"You can cut the small talk, Kathy," John muttered quietly, in response. He didn't even look up when he said it. "I know why you're here. So you don't have to be coy with me."

Well alrighty then.

Kathy immediately dropped the good humor and went straight into business mode.

"So of course, you know we sort of need a fifth vote if we want to get back in this game," she admitted. "And you know... that I know... that you can't stand Rob. So my guess is that if we all decided to vote for Rob tomorrow, you might find it interesting."

"Interesting, yes," John said. "Tempting, no."

"Not even a little?"

"Look, Kathy," John said, as he lowered his voice and now turned to look over at her. "If my sole purpose was to get Rob out of this game, I could have done it a long time ago. If I was that much of a dick about wanting him gone, he wouldn't be here."

Kathy just stared hard at the man, studying him.

John had always been a complicated player. As always, it seemed like when it came to voting strategy, he was hard to predict.

"Well all I can tell you," she said, "Is that the four Kekos are going to stick together..."

"As you should."

"... And the four of us are going to vote for Rob tomorrow."

John just looked over at Kathy and smiled.

"Kathy," he said, "You know I'd like nothing more than to Rob take a big old fall smack dab on his face. Hell, you know that. Or you wouldn't be here."

"Well then help us," Kathy begged.

"Why?"

John now stared hard at her. What did she think he was? An idiot?

"Look at it from my point of view, Kathy," he added. "I literally have nothing to gain by going with you guys. Seriously. There's not a single advantage to me forcing a tie."

"Well what if I said I'd shake your hand right now and make you a deal?"

"A deal for what?" John tried to look flabbergasted. "That you'd take me to the final two? Over whose dead body? Which one of your friends would you have to backstab to make me that offer?"

Kathy just stood there and looked helpless.

John was right. Any deal she made with him today would be bullshit, and he was obviously aware of that. That was the problem with playing Survivor against people you knew, they could call all your bluffs.

"Well just keep it in mind, okay?" she asked, weakly. "If you want one chance of getting Rob out here, it might have to be now. Because you know how dangerous he can be if you let him slip by."

John just smirked.

"Rob isn't going to win this game," he said, softly.

"Yes but he's also never been in the majority before," Kathy pointed out. "Remember, the last time you saw him, his back was to the wall. He was desperate." She raised an eyebrow at John, ominously. "So just keep that in mind before you start writing him off. This time... the guy knows what he's doing."





^^





Well that was a dud.

Kathy had spent nearly an hour with John down by the beach, and all she had gotten for her trouble was a vague offer that "somewhere down the road," John had every intention of ditching the Ahis "if it made sense at the time."

John simply wasn't going to force a tie tomorrow, and now Kathy was bummed.

"I didn't have any luck with Tina, either," admitted Alicia, as she met up with Kathy back in the jungle.

"None?" asked Kathy.

"Nope," sighed Alicia. "I talked with her, but she basically said the exact same thing John said. Yes she'd love to see Rob gone, but the only reason she'd jump sides is if it strategically made sense. And it doesn't."

"Damn you people and your strategy!" Kathy half-laughed, as she looked up and shook her fist at the sky. "I spit on all of you!"

"There was one thing that Tina said that made me think, though," Alicia now added.

"What?"

"She said she's not entirely sure that a Keko is going home."

"Whaaaaaat?" Kathy's head whipped around when she heard this.

"I'm serious," Alicia shrugged. "She said that we shouldn't necessarily give up hope tomorrow. She told me there are a couple of Ahis who could be targets instead."

"Well she's just lying to you."

Alicia just shook her head, slowly.

She knew Tina pretty well. She knew her from Australia. And she knew that Tina didn't lie just for lying's sake. Unlike just about everyone else out here, Tina tried her very best to take the high road, like a good wholesome Christian. That was just the way she tended to play. She played for the jury.

"Well, bugger," Kathy said, softly, as she stopped to digest this news.

"My gut tells me that one of those targets is Frank," Alicia said.

Kathy looked up, contemplating this info.

"Tina didn't come right out and say it," Alicia added, "But with her everything's sort of in subtext. We already know that Frank and Rob don't get along, and I think she was trying to tell me."

Kathy just stood there and nodded.

Tina was an awfully wily player, and the Kekos were now figuring that out.

"So where does that leave up?" Kathy asked. "Have we struck out with John and Tina? Are they both out for sure?"

"I would say so," Alicia frowned. "Unless something major happens before tomorrow night, I think they're dead ends."

"Well, crap."

"I know," Alicia sighed.

"All I can hope," said Kathy, shaking her head, "Is that Mike is having a little more luck with Frank than we had with ours."

^^

Kathy and Alicia were rapidly losing faith in the old Keko Comeback. After all, here it was, mid-afternoon on day 20, and not one single Ahi had even hinted that they would be willing to switch.

John had told them to piss off. Tina had told them to piss off. Even Colleen, in the most polite way she knew how to do, had implied that the Kekos should really piss off.

Every one of the Ahis they talked to had been closed to the idea, because it didn't make sense.

And that's why Mike Skupin was so surprised when Frank said something other than "no."

"So how would it go down if we did it?" the gruff ex-military man asked, as he leaned against a bamboo pole he had been holding.

"Well, obviously we'd need you as a fifth vote against Rob," Mike explained.

Frank, who had been building the roof of the shelter all alone in the Hawaiian sun, simply stood there with shirt off and stared at the sky.

"I take it you don't really want Rob to win this game," Mike asked cautiously. After all, that had been the impression he had gotten from the past ten minutes of their conversation. Frank really had no use for someone like Rob. Kathy's hunch, and Alicia's suspicions, had been right.

"No, I don't want Rob to win," Frank answered, simply.

With Frank you tended to get military answers. Just yes or no answers, an exact response to what you had asked. It wasn't necessarily the way that Mike liked to communicate-- he was normally as verbose as anyone on the face of the Earth. But if you wanted to talk to Frank you had to speak military.

Mike didn't find it natural at all, but he was quickly adapting.

"Well then would you be open to voting with us?" he asked, hopefully.

Much to Mike's surprise, Frank didn't come right out and shoot down the idea. Frank actually stood there and seemed to be pondering this.

"My loyalty in this game has always been to two people," Frank now said, as he turned and looked Mike directly in the eye. "The only people I've cared about up to this point are myself and Tina."

"And I can respect that," Mike nodded.

"The only reason I tell you that is because I know I can trust you," Frank added. "I can see in your eyes that you're a man of honor. You aren't going to go run back to Ahi and repeat what I say."

Even though Mike was still a little thrown off by Frank's communication style, he was honestly touched.

He suspected that Frank Garrison didn't throw around compliments like that on a casual basis.

"You can trust me," said Mike, "Because I will swear right now. I will never repeat a single thing you tell me to anyone on Ahi. I swear to God. You can tell me anything, and I will never repeat it."

Frank just stood there and nodded.

He had liked Mike Skupin from the moment he met him, and now it was settled.

Mike was getting the truth.

"The only way I'd switch," explained Frank, "Is if Tina switched. Because I'm not going to make a move against her. At least not without asking."

Mike nodded, respectfully.

Frank was the sort of player who would die for a friend.

It was just part of his character.

"So even if I stood here and shook your hand and made you a promise to the final two, you wouldn't accept it? Even if you knew it was legitimate?"

"My loyalty is to Tina," repeated Frank, "And that's not going to change."

Mike just stood there and nodded.

He understood.

If they wanted Frank, they were going to have to get Tina.

They were a 2-for-1 package.

It was just as simple, yet as complicated, as that.

^^





So Frank Garrison had opened his soul and explained the only way that the Kekos were going to get back into this game.

He hadn't done it for spite reasons, or for revenge.

He had simply done it because he liked the Kekos as people much more than he liked most of the Ahis. He had done it because Mike was an ethical person, as was Kathy, as was Gretchen, and even ...theoretically... Alicia. Frank knew them all by now, Frank liked them all by now, and for this reason he had given Keko the opening they would desperately need.

The only problem was that now Mike was bound by his promise not to spill all of Frank's secrets.

So as day turned to night, Mike Skupin now found himself in a difficult quandary. How much of Frank's news was he allowed to tell to the Kekos, and how much was too much? After all, he and Frank had stood there and talked by the shelter for a long time. They hadn't just talked about strategy, they had talked about life philosophy. They had talked about their roles on this Earth.

By the end of day 20, Mike and Frank had forged a special bond of honor and honesty that most players never have.

They may have been polar opposites in terms of outgoingness, but when it came to what made Frank and Mike human, they were peas in a pod.

The only information that Mike had reported back to the Kekos was that Frank was open to the idea, but only if they got a second player to switch as well. Frank wasn't going to force a tie just to force a tie. If they were really serious about pursuing this, Mike explained that the Kekos would have to procure a second traitor from Ahi before Frank would switch sides.

"Wow, good job, Mike," said an impressed Alicia Calaway, when she heard the good news. She hadn't expected much from Mike at all on that mission. Back on Kucha, she'd always had the impression that he was sort of a buffoon.

"He wouldn't promise anything," Mike was careful to reiterate. "But if we're going to make a serious run at this, he's the best option we've got. In fact I think he's the only option."

"Is Frank really as gruff as he comes off?" Gretchen asked, curiously.

"Gruff?" Mike asked. "I wouldn't call him gruff. I would just call him... no nonsense. If Frank likes you, he's the nicest guy in the world. He just doesn't do bullshit."

Gretchen nodded.

She had always wondered how much of Frank was an act, and how much was real. Was he the super sweet teddy bear Tina liked to paint a picture of? Or was he the obstinate dictator that Colleen dreaded every time there was work to be done? Was Colleen being fair when she grumbled and called him "Worse than B.B.?" Or was Tina's head-in-the-sky idealism simply a sham because she and Frank happened to be friends?

Above all else, Gretchen found Frank to be a lot more intriguing than the first time they'd met.

"So what's the next step?" Kathy asked. "We find a second traitor?"

"No," said Mike. "Our next step now is not to make a step. Our best move now is to let Frank find an ally. It's his move. All we do is wait."

^^

As day passed into night, and the players wound down their first full day together as a tribe of ten, Frank Garrison and Tina Wesson finally had a chance to meet up by the water and talk about what they wanted to do.

The two of them had meant to hook up earlier in the day, since obviously this was a very pivotal point in the game. But thanks to the crowded conditions at camp, that hadn't been possible. Whether it had been Mike pulling Frank aside to go fishing, or Vecepia pulling Tina aside to talk strategy, things just hadn't been ideal for their important reconnaissance.

But now, it was night.

And with nighttime came privacy.

So Frank finally sat down with Tina and they worked out a plan.

"My gut tells me it's legit," Frank explained, once he had detailed his whole conversation with Mike. "My gut says, if we go with the Kekos, we make final six."

Tina just sat there by the water and mulled over the pros and cons in her head.

"I don't know..." she said, hesitantly, as she hugged her knees up to her chest. "I mean, I trust Mike too. But..." She hesitated, biting her lip.

"But what?"

"... But they're just awfully close," Tina sighed.

She turned and looked at Frank.

"I mean, I know we're not in the best position here," she explained. "I know that, and I'm not really happy about it. But if we go there, who knows what we're getting into."

Frank nodded. She was right.

"If we jump to Keko," Tina continued, "All we're really doing is joining a tight little group of four. We're teaming up with four people who have no connection to us, who probably don't trust us, and I don't know about you, but to me that sounds like a lot of unknowns."

Frank nodded again.

"I mean, my gosh," Tina laughed, "I've only known Gretchen for but a few hours. So do you think she'd be loyal to us over someone like Kathy?" She chuckled. "I wish!"

Frank sighed out loud.

Even though he didn't always like Tina's cautious nature, she was probably right.

"You okay with that?" Tina looked over at him, concerned.

"I am, but I'm not," Frank said. "I am because I know it's the smart thing to do. But I'm not because it doesn't feel right."

"I know how you feel," sighed Tina, sadly.

By sticking with the Ahis, what they would really be doing was giving Rob that much more power. They'd be giving him a 6-3 majority instead of a 6-4 majority. And when leaders get that much power in the game of Survivor, that's when extraneous-- or troublesome-- allies start to get cut.

And Tina would know.

Because that's exactly what she had done to Jerri and Amber way back in Australia.

"Here's what my gut tells me," she said, as she tried to brighten Frank's mood. "I say we stick with the Ahis now, just to show that we're loyal. We stick with Rob, we do what he says, and we lower his guard."

"So basically we just show him we're stupid," summarized Frank.

"Oh Frank," she reached over and conked him on the shoulder, "Lighten up, Mister Stormy Cloud. We get him to trust us, we stay out of the way, and when Ahi starts to fall apart, we steal the game."

Frank just sat there and nodded.

Everyone knew that the Ahis were going to fall apart sooner or later. Hell, you'd have to be blind not to see the red flags. Vecepia was going to pull away from Rob sooner or later, and John had never even attached himself to Rob from the start.

And that meant that no matter how you wanted to look at it, this alliance was doomed.

"Okay," sighed Frank, resigned.

So it had been decided.

The Kekos weren't going to have a guardian angel tomorrow, and that was just that.

"Mike's not going to be very happy about this," Frank said, as he looked over at Tina in the moonlight. "He's probably going to think I led him on. That I gave him false hope."

"Why? You didn't make him any promises."

"No," Frank shook his head, "I didn't."

"Well as much as I like Mike," smiled Tina, "I'm not prepared to hand over a million dollars to him. I mean, I love that man like he's one of my brothers, but Mike winning isn't really what I came here to do."

Frank just sat there and chuckled.

And with that, the die had been cast.

Tina and Frank were going to stick with the Ahis.

They were going to choose the enemies they knew, over the ones from afar.

"Besides," smiled Tina, "I'm not sure how much you've caught of this, but I've got ties to both Vecepia and Colleen, and Rob hasn't even caught on."

She looked over at Frank and she grinned.

"The minute this alliance falls apart," she smiled, "We move in for the kill."

And there, under the darkness of a moonlit Hawaiian sky, Frank and Tina finally made their strategic decision, thus sealing their fate.










DAY 21









Rumors of treemail came early this morning, so Frank dispatched Colleen to go check it out and see what it said.

Gretchen saw this.

She saw Colleen walking alone.

And she knew it was time to catch up.

"Hey Colleen, wait up!" said the pre-school teacher, as she scurried up the path to catch up to her friend. "Hang on, I want to come with you."

Colleen looked over her shoulder, squinted for a second to identify that voice, and then smiled. Because Gretchen was just about the only person living on this beach who wasn't coming along to talk strategy. And that was refreshing.

"Thank God," sighed Colleen. "Sorry, for a minute there I thought you were Kathy."

"Why, she's been bothering you?"

"Well no more than anybody else," said Colleen. "All day long, all I get is Colleen you need to do this, or Colleen you need to do that. If it's not Kathy, it's Alicia. If it's not Alicia, it's Mike. If it's not Mike, it's Rob."

"Yeah I know," Gretchen said. "It must be hard."

"It is. I hate it."

Just standing here alone in the jungle, Gretchen could feel Colleen's pain. And she could empathize. Because this wasn't the type of game the two of them had played before. Back on Pagong things had been so easy, and so clear-cut, that the idea of multiple factions fighting for your loyalty just had never shown up.

And she could tell just by looking at Colleen that it was taking a toll.

"Well I'll tell you what," Gretchen smiled. "How about I walk with you to get treemail, and we don't talk strategy for a second? How about we go all the way there and back, and I don't try to sway you?"

Colleen just shrugged her shoulders as if she didn't care.

She tried to look like it didn't matter to her.

But deep down, of course, she was thrilled.

"But it is sort of weird that we're on opposite sides now..." Gretchen interjected, as the two former allies began their hike. "I mean, how weird is that, that now we're technically enemies?"

"You promised," Colleen sighed.

"I know, I know," said Gretchen, as she raised her hands, helplessly. "I'm just saying that it's weird and all that we're both in alliances. Who would have thought that it would ever come to this. You know?"

Colleen just kept walking, but she nodded her head.

She understood.

For two Pagongs to be members of alliances, well it just seemed a little bit wrong.





^^





One hour later, the Manakais were lined up on challenge beach, as they prepared for their first individual immunity challenge. The treemail had directed them to meet here at noon, they'd all done their chores early to get them out of the way, and now all ten of the Manakais were lined up in a single file line, as they awaited instructions from Jeff.

"I haven't said anything to Mike yet," Frank whispered to Tina, as the two of them stood on the far left of the Manakai line.

Frank had meant to tell Mike the unpleasant news that the Kekos were shit out of luck tonight but, so far, too many wandering eyes had prevented him from delivering the news. Per Tina's suggestion, Frank had been very careful all morning not to be spotted with anyone from Keko, just in case Rob or a pair of wandering eyes had been watching.

"Are you going to give him a warning?" Tina whispered back.

But then she saw it. All of a sudden, she caught an icy cold glare from Rob at the far end of the line. Rob had seen her whispering something to Frank, and it had caught his attention.

For the last few days, Rob had been making it well-known to everyone that he was watching both Frank and Tina, and he'd know if they switched. He hadn't really done this directly. No, Rob was far too smart for that. Yes, he was a bully, but he happened to be a very subtle bully. He was good at conveying a look that you better watch out.

All Rob had to do was shoot one look at you, one little Boston Rob look of mistrust, and the implication was sitting right there that you could easily be whacked. It was the Boston Rob form of terrorism, it was silent intimidation. And Tina now knew what it was like to be a part of the Mob.

"Hi, Rob," she sang to herself, as she smiled and gave him an innocent shrug,

But deep down, she knew that she was already on his shit list, and she better be smart.






^^






Mike never got his warning. Frank never had a chance to tell him that he needed to win immunity today. There were just too many spies around, and too many watchers. It just wasn't safe.

If Mike was going to save his butt this afternoon, it would have to be through immunity, and it would have to be now.

"Today's challenge," explained Jeff, once the cameras were rolling, "Is for individual immunity. And it's going to test your willpower. It's going to test how badly you want to stay safe."

Jeff motioned to the ten water towers behind him.

Frank Garrison, who was the only African alumnus left in the game, groaned because he recognized them, and knew exactly what they were for.

"Each of you are going to be standing under a water tower," Jeff explained. "You're going to be standing there with a string around your wrist, and your hand up in the air."

He reached up and demonstrated.

"And the goal is to keep that arm up in the air for as long as you can. Because your string is going to be tied to that water tower over your head. And if you drop your arm so much as half an inch, you're gonna get soaked."

Several of the players groaned out loud once they realized this was an endurance challenge. Because in Survivor, most players hate endurance challenges. They last too long, they're painful as hell, and they're generally no fun.

But Frank was the only one who knew firsthand how much this would suck.

"Okay guys," smiled Jeff, as he rubbed his hands together gleefully. "You guys ready to see how long you can last? You ready to compete for immunity?"

"You're a sadist, Jeff," snarked Alicia.

"You suck, Probst," teased Rob.

Jeff heard these but, of course, he just laughed.

He'd heard worse.

If they wanted to hurt him, they'd have to do a little better than that.





^^





Ten minutes later, the Manakais were all lined up under their buckets. Each player stood on the beach with their arm in the air, a look of focus on their face, and an intimidating tower of water directly above.

"You guys ready?" asked Jeff.

No one said anything.

They were all lost in concentration right about now.

So Jeff just dropped his hand and started the challenge.

"Survivors, GO!!!"

The challenge began and immediately there were groans from around the circle. Because Frank was right. This really was one of the more grueling challenges that the Survivor producers had ever come up with. It was way more difficult than just standing on a perch or balancing on a platform. This one required some exceptional shoulder strength, and a gut made of steel.

And even though it wasn't as hot here as it had been in Kenya, Frank knew that this wouldn't last long.

"Man, you guys got a nice Hawaiian breeze blowing today," taunted Jeff, as he walked around the circle and looked at the intense looks of pain on most of the players' faces. "You guys are getting off lucky. Last time we did this, it was a hundred and ten."

Jeff walked slowly from player to player, just talking. And commenting. As he'd done in so many challenges that dealt with endurance.

"Heck, we could be out here all day," he smiled, as he walked by a struggling Colleen. "I mean, some of you, you guys have lived on these challenges. You guys are the best of the best. And I know that most of you want this."

Jeff continued to walk from player to player, giving advice.

He knew they all hated this. He knew that they would much rather be competing in silence. Survivors always did. But Jeff's commentary happened to make for good TV, and the producers were aware of this, so the taunting continued.

"Well you guys," he smiled, as he walked past an anguished-looking John. "I'm gonna go sit up here and watch for a while. But I might have some food in a little bit. So just hang in there for as long as you can. Because the minute that arm drops, that's the minute you could be vulnerable at Tribal Council. And with a one-in-ten shot at a million dollars, I know that none of you want that."

And with that, Jeff walked away.

Leaving the ten struggling Manakais alone with their thoughts.

"This suuuuucks," joked Kathy, in an attempt to break a little of the tension.

And just like that, two players were gone.

At almost the exact same moment, John Carroll and Colleen Haskell were nailed by a flood of falling water. Both of them had relaxed their shoulders just the tiniest amount, and it had been enough to tip their water tower right onto their head.

So John was out. And a shivering Colleen was out.

There were just eight players left in this quest for immunity.

"Come on guys, don't give up," encouraged Colleen from her spot on the bench. She had only lasted eight minutes, but she didn't feel too bad. She knew that there was no way anybody was lasting more than an hour. After all, she'd been out there less than ten minutes and her shoulder was already paying the price.

And that was when victim three finally joined them.

"No!" moaned Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien, as her water splashed down onto her head.

SPLASH!

There went Kathy.

SPLASH! SPLASH!

There went Frank and Vecepia too.

"Oh man," laughed Jeff, as he saw Vecepia yelp in surprise as she was suddenly covered in cold water. "Man, Vee, you got nailed."

"Tell me about it," laughed Vecepia. She walked over to the loser's bench and tried to wring out her shirt.

Ten minutes had passed.

And now the challenge was down to just five.

"So I was thinking about bringing out some pizza," smiled Jeff. He turned and squinted over at the remaining five players in the contest. "Tina, would you be interested in some pizza? Some nice, fresh, piping hot pepperoni and extra cheese?"

"No thank you, Jeff," Tina called back, cheerily.

"What about you, Rob?"

Boston Rob just looked over at Jeff and laughed.

"No way, Probst. I aint movin' until you bring out the good stuff!"

"Fair enough."

So Jeff sat down, and he waited.

And he waited.

And was surprised when the contest reached the thirty minute mark, without any more casualties.

After half an hour, there were still five players remaining with their arms in the air. Standing out there were Gretchen, Tina, Alicia, Mike and Rob, in that order. And none of them had so much as twitched for most of the contest.

"So I guess we've found the five who really want this," Jeff taunted. "I guess we've narrowed it down to the five people who feel the most vulnerable..."

"No, we're just the five who hate losing!" joked Alicia.

And no sooner had she said that than she heard a splash to her left.

"Boston Rob!" announced Jeff. "Out of the contest at thirty-three minutes!"

Rob had inadvertently twitched his elbow and knocked over his bucket.

"Good job, Rob," clapped Vecepia from the sidelines, as the chagrined Ahi leader came over to join her. Rob hadn't expected to go out that early. In fact, he was a little bit pissed. So he just sat down and sulked in wet silence. For once, the smile was gone and he wasn't joking around.

The contest soon passed the forty-five minute mark.

Then the fifty-five minute mark.

And much to everyone's surprise, four players remained.

"We're about to pass one hour," said Jeff, as he looked down at his watch. Then he looked up at the four contestants. Gretchen was the only one who looked visibly pained. Tina, Mike and Alicia still looked like they could last a long time.

"Gretchen," asked Jeff, "If I tempted you with some chocolate cake, would you be willing to step down?"

No sooner had Jeff mentioned the word than a production assistant brought out a heaping plate of devil's food cake.

Gretchen took one look at it and tried to block it out.

"Come on, Gretchen," taunted Jeff. "I can see it in your eyes. Your shoulder is killing you."

"Yes, it is."

"Then just step down."

Gretchen just closed her eyes and shook her head, defiantly. She wasn't going to step down for food. She was in far too much danger today to be tempted so early. Gretchen Cordy was the most visible member of the minority alliance, and she'd been here before. There was no way she was giving up if she could hold this arm up.

"Is that cake offer for everybody?" asked Alicia.

No sooner had Jeff nodded his head than Alicia pulled over her bucket.

SPLASH!

"Alicia!" announced Jeff, "Out of the contest at one hour, three minutes!"

Even though Alicia had been trying to give off an image of calm and serenity, in truth her right shoulder was absolutely flaring right now. It hurt so bad it was spasming. So she moaned with pain as she lifted the cake up her mouth and was soon lost in bliss.

Now just three players remained.

Gretchen Cordy, Tina Wesson, and Mike Skupin.

Everybody could see that Gretchen was in agony. The tough-as-nails wilderness survivalist might have lasted to the final three, but she was in so much pain right now that she appeared to be crying. Gretchen closed her eyes, and gritted her teeth, but still she held her right arm aloft, because she simply wouldn't give up.

"Gretchen, just pull it over," advised Kathy from the side. She sounded concerned. Mainly because she knew how stubborn Gretchen could be when she wanted to win.

"I can't!"

"But you're not going to beat Tina," said Kathy, "Just look at her."

Now Gretchen finally opened her eyes. And there, in the center of the circle, was a very calm and serene-looking Tina Wesson. Tina looked like she was standing the center of a meadow, picking flowers. She hadn't moved. And all of a sudden Gretchen knew that Tina would be standing here all night, because this was right up her alley.

"Just pull it over," said Vecepia

"There's no need to kill yourself," implored Alicia.

And just like that, Gretchen conceded defeat in a Survivor challenge for the first time in her life. She reached down, she pulled over her bucket, and her shoulder went numb.

"Gretchen!" announced Jeff, over applause from the players, "Out of the challenge at one hour, twenty-four minutes!"

Now it was just Tina and Mike.

And everybody knew it was time for a deal.

"Tina," hissed Mike, as he looked over his right shoulder and tried to block out the pain. Even though Mike had been lost in meditation for most of the past hour, right now his shoulder was absolutely murdering him.

After all, humans just weren't meant to stand like this.

Not even crazy run-through-a-brick-wall humans like Mike.

So he turned his attention to Tina and tried to work out a deal.

"Tina! I need this immunity!" he hissed quietly, trying to keep his voice low so none of the other players could hear him. "Tina! I'm gone if I lose this tonight! Help me out!"

Tina, who of course had been in this situation once before, with Keith, simply turned and shook her head, almost imperceptibly.

"I can't!" she whispered.

"Why not?"

But Tina just turned her head back to the front.

Yes, she loved Mike. In fact she adored the man. Their families had met after Australia. But there was no way she was taking a dive for the guy, because she knew how it would look.

"Tina!"

Now she just ignored him.

She was going to win immunity.

Because, inwardly, Rob's silent threats over the past twenty-four hours had gotten her a little bit spooked.

Mike continued to try to push for a deal. But after about fifteen minutes, he realized it was essentially pointless. Tina was simply going to outlast him today, and there were no two ways around it. The woman was just too damn good at these endurance challenges, and too damn stubborn when she wanted to win. There was no way to beat this tiny little woman at simply standing in place.

Tina Wesson was going to have immunity tonight, whether he liked it or not.

She was going to be safe, and Mike would just have to pray.

SPLASH!

"And just like that," Jeff announced, "At one hour, forty-four minutes! Tina wins the first individual immunity!"

The rest of the tribe applauded as Jeff walked up, untied her wrist, and brought her the immunity talisman. Even Mike had to applaud. And Tina just stood there, beaming happily, as the lei-shaped flower talisman was placed around her neck.

Did Tina feel bad that she had probably just cost Mike the game?

Of course.

She was a Christian and would later apologize.

But in the end? She didn't feel guilty. Because it wasn't about Mike. It had never been about Mike. It was about surviving.

And this necklace meant she was safe from Rob and his attack dogs for the first time all week!

^^

Since the challenge had taken so long today, there wasn't going to be a whole lot of time to discuss strategy before the big vote. That was one of the perils of having an immunity challenge the same day as Tribal Council. You didn't have a whole lot of leeway in discussing the vote.

And that's why Rob pulled Tina aside the very first minute they got back to camp.

Because it was time to make sure that Mike Skupin would be leaving this game.

"No, I don't have a problem with it," Tina whispered, once Rob had pulled her aside along the trail. She knew full well that Rob had been obsessed with this vote for a long time now. Rob had been insistent that Mike had to go first, that it had to be now.

"Are you guys discussing the vote?" asked John, as he came traipsing down the path towards them.

John had seen Rob and Tina alone in the jungle, and he had put two and two together. After all, the two of them certainly wouldn't be having a Sunday afternoon tea out here. The only reason Rob would be talking to Tina was if he had decided it was time to give her her orders.

"Hey, keep it down," Rob whispered, at the sound of John's voice echoing back through the trees.

"Why?" John laughed as he walked. "You don't think they know why we're all meeting out here? Hell, they know that one of them is going tonight. They're all sitting right there. Why keep it a secret?"

John had now arrived.

"So is it Mike or Gretchen?" he asked, casually.

"Mike," confirmed Tina.

Rob just nodded.

"Man, you really got a hard on for that guy," chuckled John, "Don't you?"

"It's nothin' personal," Rob shrugged. "He's just gotta go."

"Yeah," scoffed John, "Whatever. No, it's not personal. That's just why you've been talking about it every day for like two weeks."

Rob just smirked and shrugged once again.

John could think whatever he wanted.

If John thought this was personal, Rob wouldn't object.

"Well, Mike is the most obvious threat," Tina said. "I mean, Rob's right. If one of the Kekos is going to start winning immunity, it's gonna be him."

Rob just nodded.

As much he couldn't stand Tina, her kiss-assery was second to none.

"Fine," said John, as he clapped his hands together. "The vote is for Mike. No problems here. Just gimme a pen."

"Is Vee on board with this?" Tina asked, curiously.

Startled, Rob turned and looked at her.

How did Tina know about Vee's problem with this?

He wasn't aware that Tina had been a part of that chat.

"Yeah, Vee's on board," Rob confirmed. "She wants to get rid of Kathy, but she said we could wait."

"So Kathy goes after Mike?" John confirmed.

"Mike's more dangerous," Rob shrugged. "What're ya gonna do? That's just part of the game."

And so it was confirmed. Mike Skupin was going to be the seventh player voted out of All-Star Survivor. The man who had worked so hard to get back here was going to meet his fate two inches short of the jury.

Anybody other than Rob would have found that a little bit sad.

"So no more chat until Tribal, okay?" Rob asked. "Let's just stay away from each other, keep things low for a while. No need to get everyone all panicky."

Tina nodded. That sounded like an excellent suggestion.

She had no idea that Rob was now a little bit pissed.





^^





"Did you talk with Tina?" Rob asked Vecepia, as they walked along the path to Tribal Council. "Did you tell her we had an argument?"

"What? No!"

Vecepia looked at him curiously. Why on earth would she would have told Tina that Rob was starting to become a dictator? Of course she had told Tina. That much was undeniable. But why on Earth did Rob think she would 'fess up and admit to something like that?

"Well, Tina seemed to know an awful lot about our Kathy conversation," Rob insinuated. "And last I remember, she wasn't there at the time." He looked over at smirked at the player he knew like the back of his hand. "And that means, Vee, that someone's been squawkin'. Wouldn't you think?"

Vee just looked over and shrugged, helplessly.

She shook her head and denied it, but she knew she was caught.

"Ah, I don't mind," Rob said, casually. "Don't worry. If you didn't try to go behind my back, you wouldn't be Vee. So don't sweat it. It's no big deal."

He tried his best to look forgiving, but in his eyes all Vecepia saw was glee.

Rob had finally caught Vecepia with his hand in the cookie jar, and she knew what that meant.

"I got eyes, you know," Rob now lowered his voice so none of their wandering tribesmates could hear. "I got people watchin', Vee. And I got backup plans. So don't even try to pull that Marquesas shit. You start pullin' that Vecepia shit, you start sneakin' around, and your ass'll be gone."

She just looked over at him.

"You got me?" asked Rob. "I swear to God, Vee, I've never lied to you. You and I are both gonna be the final four. That's totally legit. But if you start pullin' the same old shit as last time, if you start dealin' with Tina, you're gettin' replaced."

Vecepia just nodded.

She wasn't going to admit to anything.

But she knew that Rob had caught her, because she had made a mistake.

"Is Frank actually going to vote for Mike tonight?" she asked, in a clumsy attempt to change the subject. "The two of them are awfully close, you know."

"Leave Frank to me," Rob said, coldly. "Don't worry, it's already taken care of. He's on board."

And Vecepia just nodded.

She believed him.

She was slowly starting to realize that he might actually know what he was doing.





^^

The ten Manakais entered Tribal Council just after dusk. And that was when Rob decided to start Phase Two of his backup strategy. It was time to start planning for some Vecepia insurance. It was time to start recruiting another ally. And after two days, he had already figured out which Keko would be greedy, and would go for the bait.

"Come talk to me after we get back to camp," he whispered quietly into her ear. "'I got a deal for you, and you're gonna be interested."

Rob didn't add anything else. Hell, he didn't have to add anything. After all, he knew psychology. All he had to do was lay out the offer, and see where it went.

Alicia, for her part, gave no indication that she had received any sort of communication from Rob.

She simply walked over to the bench, and sat down.

And smiled.

Because it was time for Tribal Council, and now she knew she was safe.

"So how are you guys doing?" asked Jeff Probst, once the ten Manakais had taken their seats. "How's life as a new family? Are you guys all getting along?"

He posed the question to Vecepia.

And that was the moment that Colleen decided to give Gretchen the news.

"Mike."

Colleen had mouthed the word very discretely. In fact all she had really done was give one syllable. But Gretchen had been watching very carefully, and she was pleased to see that Colleen had given her the warning she'd promised to give.

"Not me?" Gretchen mouthed back, hopefully.

"No," mouthed Colleen. "Mike."

Gretchen sighed deeply and sat back. She hated that it was going to be Mike, of course. But she was pleased to find out that this time, at least, she'd be making the jury.

"Thank you," Gretchen mouthed back to her young friend.

One a Pagong, always a Pagong.

Even though Colleen was now one of the bad guys, Gretchen was pleased to discover that she still had a heart.

"Sorry, big guy, it's you," Gretchen now mumbled sadly, as she reached over and patted Mike on his left knee. But she hadn't had to. Mike had already been warned by Frank a few moments before.

"Don't worry, I know."

And their pact was complete.

As the two most likely targets tonight, the last thing both she and Mike had wanted was to not see it coming.





^^





His litany of questions complete, Jeff Probst now sent the Manakais up to cast their first individual votes. And as expected, the Ahis teamed up to send a flurry of fatal votes on the biggest athlete from Keko.

"Mike, you've always been a really great guy," said Tina, as she held up his name. "I know you're going to hate that you left this game so early, but I think you'll understand that I had to do what I had to do. I'm only voting for you tonight because if I don't, I'll be next. Hope you understand."

After Tina came Frank Garrison. Who, of course, hated with every bone in his body that he was going to do this. But then again, what could he do? Frank's allegiance had always been to Tina, and this was part of the plan.

"Mike," said Frank, as he held up the second of six fatal votes. And that was really all he intended to say. As always, Frank's voting comments were short and direct. Just like Frank the person, they got to the point.

"It's too bad we didn't start on the same tribe," Frank then surprisingly added, in an unusually verbose post-vote amendment.

One by one, the Ahis walked up and voted for Mike.

And only Vecepia raised the slightest bit of concern that they were making a mistake.

"I just want it to be known that I said we should vote for Kathy tonight," said Vee, as she looked into the camera and held up her vote for Mike. "I just want it to be known that if we do lose, it's because of this vote. We should be voting for Kathy, and Rob's too dumb to see it."

Frustrated, she then stuffed the ballot into the box.

Was Vecepia being selfish?

Of course.

But at the same, she knew full well that if she was gone, the rest would soon follow. If Vecepia was removed from this alliance, the house would fall down. After all, she was the one who was plugging the leaks. She was the one who was connecting the dots. Since day one, Vecepia believed she had been the brains behind this particular alliance, and it was a lot of hard work!

Frustrated, Vecepia walked back to her seat and sat down.

And she wouldn't have been surprised to see the name that Kathy wrote down on her vote.

"Vee," said Kathy, smiling, as she held up her ballot to the camera.

Of course, the other three Kekos had all voted for Rob. After all, that had been their plan. They were going to make a run at Rob tonight, and if Frank and Tina came over to join them, they'd knock off the king.

Of course that wasn't going to happen tonight.

Frank had already passed along word that he was sticking with Ahi.

So Kathy decided to send a little warning shot across Vecepia's bow, just to let her know she was here.

"I know you're not going home tonight," Kathy said, as she held the ballot up. "Hell, we all know who's going home tonight. It's gonna be Mike. But I just wanted to give you a little something to think about when you drift off to bed. So pleasant dreams."

She stuffed the ballot into the crowded box.

Sure, it was a little immature.

And of course it was essentially pointless.

But damnit, she was Kathy, and this was Survivor, and she was here to have fun.






^^






Of course all ten players knew what was going to happen, so Jeff didn't waste too much time lingering around the ballot box tonight. He just brought the box back to his podium and delivered the news.

"... The seventh player voted out of the game," he said, "And the first player voted out of Manakai, is..."

He turned Colleen's ballot around.


"Mike."


Mike Skupin, who of course had remained positive, and had held faith in God all the way up to the final vote, simply nodded his head and accepted his fate. No, it wasn't the ideal way he would have liked to go out. But he had made it all the way back to Survivor and had at least made the merge.

And he felt it was a little selfish and greedy to ask God for anything more.

"Well, you guys stay safe, okay?" Mike said to the rest of his tribesmates. Then he turned and hugged a few people goodbye. After all, he had made some wonderful friends out here. And he wanted to thank Alicia, Gretchen, Kathy, and Frank for being a part of his story.

His goodbyes taken care of, Mike walked up to Jeff and had his torch snuffed.

And heard "The Tribe Has Spoken."

It was the first time Mike had ever experienced this, and he sort of thought it was neat.

"Take care, Mike," called Alicia, as the last Keko male walked down the long, lonely pathway to the production camp.

"Bye Mike," called Gretchen.

"Go kill a deer for us," joked Kathy.

Ten steps later, Mike's distinctive bald head had vanished into the darkness and their crazy deer killer was officially gone.

The players on the Manakai tribe were now down to nine.

"Well..." said Jeff, as he turned to face the nine members left on the bench.

Then he smiled.

"With Mike gone, you might have lost a member, but you've also reached an important milestone. Because the nine of you are now going to be here until the end of the game."

He turned and smiled at John.

"...Seven of you are going to be in the jury..."

Then he looked at Alicia.

"... Two of you are going to face the jury in the final two."

He smiled.

And with that, all nine players-- with the exception of Rob and Alicia's upcoming chat-- were now done for the night.

- Read Mike Skupin's final words

- Read Mario's Episode 7 commentary notes

- Back to the All-Star Hawaii episode archive

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