Time seemed to stand still as they stood there, ten feet apart, staring at each other in an awkward silence.

"It's you," Denton whispered, his voice trembling as a million questions swirled through his mind. From where had she come? What had brought her to the Forsythe Orbital Complex? Did she have business with the Forsythe's or was she just a visitor? Even worse, did she work for them?

"Gabi, what are you doing here?" he blurted out and took a tentative step forward, his hand outstretched towards the woman he had been chasing across the universe. Now, he had encountered her at the one place he hadn't expected to find her.

Gabi's stare was interrupted by Denton's question. She opened her mouth as if to say something but hesitated. Instead, she glared at Denton, then turned and ran.

"Hey, wait, come back here," Denton shouted. He jumped in his chair and raced towards the door. The surprised voices of the Admiral and Jonythan followed him through the partially closed door. He entered the lobby just in time to hear a door slam shut somewhere on his left. The stairs. It had to be the stairs.

He covered the distance to the stairs with just a few steps and pulled open the door. Greeted by the echoes of footsteps racing down the metal staircase, he rushed to the railing. He caught a glimpse of Gabi's head as it disappeared onto the landing below him. Fighting off a strange feeling of déjà vu, he started down the stairs, two steps at a time, panting heavily. Was this really happening? Was he really chasing Gabi down through a building, again? He continued down as quickly as his feet would allow and arrived on the second-floor landing just as the door into lobby closed.

"Gotcha," he muttered, pushed open the door and froze. A large crowd filled the lobby that had been mostly empty when Jonythan had brought them through earlier. A few glanced in his direction, eyebrows raised in disapproval, at the interruption by someone that didn't belong. A middle-aged man took a bold step towards him, opened his mouth to say something. Denton put up his hand. "Police business," he said and stepped up on the pot of a plant to get a better view. The man bowed and slowed stepped backward to his entourage without uttering a single word, all the while he continued to keep a watchful eye on Denton.

Almost immediately, Denton saw the bobbing head of Gabi pushing her way through the crowd. He realized she was heading for the first floor. If she made it out of the building, she could easily disappear. He had to stop her.

Almost as she could sense he was behind her, she stole a glance over her shoulder. Their eyes connected for just a moment but long enough for Denton to instinctively know she wasn't about to stop. She frowned and ducked below the heads and shoulders of the other guests. Denton set off through the crowd, mumbling apologies as he squeezed between what he only assumed were celebrities in one way or another.

Gabi was halfway down the path to the first floor by the time he made it through the crowd. He wasted no time and sprinted down the path after her, ignoring the disapproving looks of those around him. He burst through the front door, shouting apologies as he pushed through the stream of people that continued to head towards the lobby. Where were they all coming from?

He stopped outside and looked left and right, desperately looking for any sign of Gabi. He saw her duck behind a hedge to his right and set off around the building and down a gravel path lined with trees. He rounded a corner and saw Gabi on the other side of a fountain, running as quickly as she could. He picked up speed, launched onto the retaining wall of the fountain, instantly regretting trying to cut across it to save a few feet. His foot slid forward and sideways on the wet surface, and he found himself tumbling through the air. He landed in the fountain with a splash and an involuntary shout.

He gasped loudly as he struggled to get upright and out of the cold water. He rolled over the retaining wall and into the gravel, coughing and shivering.

"Are you alright?" Tanner's voice suddenly asked. "I heard you scream."

"I - am - fine," he huffed as he tried to shake some of the water off of himself.

"What happened?"

"I'll - explain..." he breathed as he picked up speed down the path. He had to keep going. He couldn't lose her now.

"I'm listening."

"Later, Tanner," Denton said through gritted teeth as he searched for Gabi. Where was she? Then, he saw her bopping head behind a hedge just up ahead. He abandoned the path and cut across a stream and through a well-manicured lawn as his legs and arms pumped as quickly as he could make them. He crashed through a hedge, missing an elderly lady on an afternoon walk only by inches.

"My apologies," he shouted over his shoulder as he continued after Gabi. She was close, so close that she heard the commotion behind her and stole a look over her shoulder. She tripped and almost fell as Denton gained on her. He was about to lunge for her when she took a hard right and disappeared behind a small shed. He skidded to a halt and backtracked, only to find an empty field stretch out in front of him.

He furrowed his eyebrows as he leaned forward, his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. Where did she go? She couldn't just have disappeared.

"Where are you?" he whispered as his eyes scanned the field and the immediate surroundings.

"I'm right here," Tanner responded matter-of-factly.

"I wasn't talking to you, Tanner," Denton said and took a step forward. As he put his foot down, he stepped on something solid, different from the soft field around him. He knelt down and touched the ground. Grass. Yet, the ground was definitely solid. No, he decided, it was hard. On impulse, he knocked on the ground and was greeted by a clanging sound. Metal. He felt his heart skip a beat. It had to be a hatch. He got down on his knees and touched the ground with his hands. There, a handle. He pulled and was surprised at how easily the hidden hatch opened. Beneath it, a ladder led down into a faintly lit manhole.

Without hesitation, he jumped down the ladder and moments later found himself standing in a square room. A single, solitary lightbulb lit up the interior. Empty, old boxes, discarded wires, and variety of other trash had been thrown into a pile in one corner. The side walls were covered with panels with flashing lights. A slight hum emanated from around him. Computers. Maybe some sort of control center?

To his right, he saw an open door that led down a spiral staircase. He sprinted down the stairs and emerged in a long tunnel that stretched as far as the eye could see in both directions. It was dimly lit, the orange glow of the evenly spaced light bulbs creating enough light to not bump into things but not much more. Worse, there was no sign of Gabi. He looked over his shoulder, reconsidering the maintenance room. Could she be in there? He quickly decided it was unlikely. It was too small. She had to have come this way. It was the only way out. The question was, which way did she go? Left or right? He grunted. It was always a fifty-fifty choice.

He forced his body to relax and tried to listen for footsteps or any other sounds generated by a fleeing person. Nothing. The only thing he heard was the random clanging of metal from the machinery of the orbital complex and the occasional hissing of steam in the distance. No footsteps.

"Tanner, I could use your help right about now," he said as he decided that going left was as good as any direction.

"How can I help?"

"I'm in some sort of maintenance tunnel. I need to know where I am and what's in each direction."

"I'm sorry, Denton, but that's not a whole lot to go on. The complex has dozens of maintenance tunnels throughout it. I need more information."

Denton sighed. "What do you need?"

"Look for doors or signs, even large pieces of machinery. Anything that could help me pinpoint exactly where you are."

"I'm looking, I'm looking," Denton said as he continued on while keeping an eye open for anything that could help. "Here's one. 'Propulsion' it says. Does that help?"

"One moment."

Denton continued through the tunnel, past locked storage lockers and maintenance panels. He stepped over piles of debris and stacked boxes, all seemingly left at random.

"I've got something. The door to the propulsion area will take you into the central part of the complex, away from everything else. It's unlikely you'd want to go there. From a review of the blueprints of the complex, however, it seems that the tunnel you're in will take you to the hangar, among other places."

"The hangar? That's got to be it."

"My thoughts exactly. Just look for the door that says 'hangar' on it. It's not far."

"Of course," Denton said and picked up speed. He had to find the hangar as quickly as possible. It made sense. If he were her, he'd be trying to find a way to get off of the complex as soon as possible. If she did, she'd escape his grasp again. He couldn't let that happen. Not again.

He almost ran past the door to the hangar and had to backtrack a few steps. With his hand on the door handle, he considered just ripping the door open and barging in, but he reconsidered. If Gabi thought she lost him by diving down into the maintenance tunnels, he had the upper hand. She wouldn't be expecting him. If he was careful, he could hopefully maintain the element of surprise and catch her before she disappeared.

The door opened without a squeak. Denton stepped into a well-lit corridor, lined by bright white paneling. Conveniently, the passage was completely empty.

"Alright, I'm out of the maintenance tunnels. Now what?"

"Take a right," Tanner said. "There will be a door up ahead that leads into the passenger terminal area where you arrived."

"Roger that," Denton said and looked to his right. In the distance, a lit sign that said Passengers pointed to the left. "I see it."

Denton picked up the pace and reached the door to the terminal less than a minute later. He walked through the sliding doors and stopped in his tracks. There she was, at one of the counters, her back towards him, talking animatedly with one of the terminal staff. Although he couldn't hear what was being said, he had a feeling the argument was about how quickly she could get a ride out of there.

Soft on his feet, he walked towards her, first slowly and then he switched to a quiet jog. The staff person arguing with Gabi saw him out of the corner of his eyes and did a double-take. Gabi noticed the extra glance and looked over her shoulder just in time to see Denton fly at her through the air. She screamed in surprise as they landed on the floor in a tangle. Denton, with the element of surprise on his side, quickly subdued her and secured her hands behind her back.

"Let me go," Gabi shouted and squirmed under the weight of his body. "You're going to regret this."

"I don't think so. I've got you now," Denton said with a smile. Suddenly, the lights in the started flashing red, and a siren sounded. A few seconds later, a dozen armed men rushed into the room, rifles raised. They formed a circle around Denton and Gabi, their weapons aimed directly at Denton's head.

"Let her go," one of the men commanded from behind his face mask, his finger on the trigger. "Or die."

~~~

Well, we finally know where Gabi disappeared to. But, what is she really doing? Why is she at the orbital complex? Is she up to more terrorist activities? Maybe she's about to kill Jonythan Forsythe? 

What do you think? The next chapter will reveal some of it...

As always, leave a comment, vote! I love to hear what you think!