The Descent

Chapter 11 - A Familiar Face

"That's what I'm doing. Oh, wait," Tanner said, and then the connection went silent for a few seconds.

"Tanner?"

"Check your portable device, I'm sending you a photo."

Denton took the device out of his pocket in the same instance as the image arrived. It was a grainy picture of a woman wearing a long sleeved black jacket with a hood. She was looking straight at the camera. Denton froze and felt a shiver run down his spine. He recognized the face.

"That's Gabi," he almost shouted.

"Gabi?"

"Yes, the team lead from The Vanquisher. She helped me get into the backup pod in orbit before I came down."

"Why would she be here?"

"That's a very good question, and how did she get here so fast?"

There was another moment of silence before Tanner responded.

"You do remember that you were unconscious for quite a few hours."

"Yeah, but getting a shuttle down to the surface can take a while."

"Not for the tech lead of a Descent team. They all have their own priority surface shuttles. She could easily have made it down here while you were in the hospital."

Denton slammed the wall with his hand. Gabi. Why was she here? Why had she been in the apartment? What did she have to do with Jarell, besides the fact they worked together? This whole situation was getting more convoluted by the minute.

"Tanner, she doesn't by chance live in this building, does she?"

"Of course not," Tanner said with a grunt. "I checked that before I sent her photo to you."

Denton shook his head and sighed.

"We need to find her. Can you tell me where she went?"

"Yes, I tracked her to a vehicle. She left just minutes after leaving the building."

"Why didn't you say so? Did you get the registration? And where's my transportation?"

"You transportation is arriving as we speak."

Denton ran towards the front of the building and out the door. "Are you tracking her?"

"I'm working on it. All vehicles have built-in trackers so I'll have her position in just a moment."

"Ok good. Where's my transport, Tanner?" Denton said as he looked around the front of the building. He didn't see any of the familiar department vehicles parked out front.

"On your left, around the corner."

Denton sprinted to the corner of the building, rounded it and stopped in his tracks. His eyes widened, and his mouth fell open.

"What is this, Tanner? I asked for a transport."

"I know, but considering the urgency, I figured that ground-based transportation would be more of a hindrance and cause more delays."

Denton sighed. "Man, you know I don't like heights."

"It's just a rapid response quadlift. Perfectly safe. Best of all, they're quick and easy to control. Not to mention, it's a special department version so it'll have all the bells and whistles."

"What, you mean I'm flying this thing?" Denton said, spit flying out of his mouth as he gestured angrily towards the machine parked in the middle of the street in front of him.

"You've got a license for it, why not?"

"How do you know that?"

"I know everything I need to know about you, Denton, you should know that."

Denton clenched his fists tight together and controlled a sudden urge to scream at the top of his lungs. This was no time for emotional outbursts. A crowd was already gathering around the machine, and the longer he stayed, the larger of a problem they would become.

"Alright, but it's been a while, I'm going to be a bit rusty."

"Relax, there's an autopilot if you need it."

Denton could almost hear Tanner snicker on the other end. He kept his mouth shut and ran over to the flying machine. He would deal with Tanner later. As he approached a door swung open and he climbed up the platform that extended down to the ground, then into the cargo compartment. He quickly stepped through the door that led to the flight deck and took a seat in the pilot's seat. He immediately strapped himself in.

"I haven't flown one of these in years," he mumbled as he put on his helmet.

"Relax, it's like riding a bike."

"A what?"

Tanner laughed in Denton's ear. "Sorry, it's a Terran saying. It refers to some ancient means of Terran transportation used many centuries ago. It means..."

"You can fill me in on the history later. Where is she?" he said as he powered up the systems of the quadlift. A mental checklist materialized in his mind and his fingers began to dance across the various controls as if it had been just yesterday he had been in the pilot's seat.

"I've sent her coordinates and current heading to your HUD. You should see it as soon as it's powered up.

A moment later, the HUD appeared on the screen in front of him. A red dot was moving slowly across the map of the city and the general vicinity.

"Where is she going? Any ideas?"

"It's hard to say for sure, but the general direction of travel seems to be towards the spaceport."

"The spaceport?"

"That's where the team shuttle would be, the one she came down in."

"Alright, I'm heading there now. We can't allow her to get to that shuttle."

Denton looked out of the cockpit on both sides to verify that the four engines had started up and then slowly increased the throttle. After all these years, the cross-like configuration of the engine beams mounted on top of the fuselage still made him shiver. Although it was hard to tell from the ground, while in flight the quadlift looked like an insect, its legs extending at a 45-degree angle from the body of the craft, its engines mounted at the end of each. The long tail added to its bug-like features. He didn't care much for bugs, much less piloting one, but it wasn't like he had much of a choice if he wanted to catch up to Gabi.

"One other thing, Denton."

"Yeah, what?" Denton said as increased the throttle and eased the craft into the air.

"The vehicle she's in..."

"What about it?"

"It belongs to the Terran Embassy."

~~~

Ah! Gabi! The plot thickens...what could she possibly have to do with all of this? Is she a Terran as well? What do you think? 

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