Natalie Albright quietly observed every minute detail surrounding her captivity and her captors.

She appeared to be in some sort of warehouse office secluded from all foot traffic though she could hear voices from afar at certain hours of the day. The office was dark except for the faint lines of light the came through the slats of the window blinds. Occasionally, she would see a shadow of a person walking by, but she was unable to say anything or cry out at all. She had become quite cognizant of everything around her, but it was as if she was trapped in one of those dreams where one tries to scream but nothing comes out. Terrified, and yet determined. She needed to break free. Julie and Adrian would be so worried.

She still hadn't been able to place the tall dark man but when the other man came into the room with some sort of uniform on, she knew. A patch on his chest said "Altman Aeronautics." Where had she heard of that before? Wasn't that the place where that Steve Wagner worked as a test pilot? Yes! Steve Wagner! She had placed where she saw the dark man from... but how Wagner? Wasn't he serving 25 to life for the murder of his former girlfriend? Natalie flashed back to the time when Monk outran an F22 fighter jet to keep Wagner from escaping with evidence. She also remembered Adrian calling himself a "Muss" when compared to other men- a mutant combination of a man and a wuss. These were the things that had caused her to love him. Yes, he could be infuriating; but, he was really a one of a kind combination of bravery and gentleness with a wickedly dry sense of humor and an unshakable sense of loyalty.

Natalie's thoughts returned to Wagner. If he was out of prison, Adrian was in great danger. When they met him, Wagner was a superstar. She saw him as one day running for President or something. So did he. He didn't think they would catch him. But he didn't know Adrian Monk. Somehow she needed to get to Adrian to warn him of the trap.

"No. I haven't seen Wagner here in years" Jake Bellows said as he, Leland and Monk walked through Altman's Research headquarters and the site of the planned rocket launch of the Zenith manned spacecraft. "Quite frankly, after his arrest this company was almost went under, so he's the last person we'd want to see. I mean when our star attraction turns out to be a cold blooded murderer... not exactly good for recruiting new sponsors."

"But Altman survived?" asked Leland.

"Yeah. Thanks to our space program and some research grants from Governor Greenway."

"Greenway?" Leland and Adrian said simultaneously. There it was. The tie to Wagner.

"So, Governor Greenway is somehow involved with Altman?" Leland asked

"Oh, he stops by every few weeks to check on the progress of his investments." the man answered." his wife is on the Board of Directors"

"Isn't that a conflict of interests?" Adrian asked.

"Well, I Suppose it is. But, you know politics! Anyway, it's like his toy. In fact, he wanted to an astronaut when he was growing up but he was not able to pass the physical requirements that NASA demanded. Frankly, I think he has been trying to buy his way onto a flight to be the first governor in space. More like the first blimp to leave the atmosphere" he said with a chuckle.

"Grayson. You're wanted at the vacuum chamber." a voice shouted from across the hangar. Stottlemeyer and Monk took notice. Immediately, the witnessed someone hand a clipboard to a technician and begin moving across the facility's floor.

"Who's that?" Monk asked.

Bellows turned and looked.

"That's Sam Grayson. He's the the head of the flight crew going up on the launch Sunday."

Grayson was tall, blond and handsome - looking a lot like Val Kilmer in Top Gun but taller and with just as much swagger. Bellows then pointed towards another person dressed in a space jumpsuit.

"Oh, and over there is Rachel Dawson. She's going up as well. Rumor has it that Grayson and Dawson are an item, but that's just the rumor. Hey, do you guys want to take a tour?"

Monk and Stottlemeyer looked at each other and responded "sure" in a staggered fashion.

Bellows walked them out into the facility which was much larger than it appeared at first. He showed them the research labs and the area where they stored the spacesuits. Then, he took them aboard an actual spaceship, showing them everything from the command module to the payload bay. Grayson would be up front with another astronaut named James Stevens while 6 other specialists would be stationed throughout the craft handling various technical tasks and performing experiments. A Spacelab was set up in a module inside the payload bay and crew members could enter and exit via its two airlocks, one at the front leading to the interior of the pressurized cabin and the other led directly to the payload bay itself where crew members could attend to cargo without having to actually leave the vessel. Onboard the space lab were computer servers and other devices that would monitor onboard conditions and record information that the sensors were putting out.

Inside the main cabin, Bellows pointed out the eating facilities as well as the bathing and restroom accommodations. When Monk saw how they accommodated basic bodily functions he stated "No thanks. I think I would need a new spacesuit."

"Sorry, Mr. Monk." Bellows said. But I don't think you could afford it. One spacesuit costs about $12,000,000. Of course, the orange ones are a lot less. They are the launch and reentry suits and are mainly there for emergencies, though they do serve some functions."

"You'd think maybe porta-potty would be in one of them." Monk responded.

"Actually, sir, it's all a well thought out machine. You don't want anything that is not tethered down controlling human waste. Remember, it's all zero gravity. Messes can and do happen. That's why we carry wipes. Antimicrobial wipes, antibacterial wipes, rough wipes, soft wipes.

"I'm in love!" said Adrian with a smile as he looked at all of the various provisions for cleanliness that existed around the restroom facilities.

Suddenly, Bellows pager went off. Looking at it he said, "Well, gentlemen. It's been real. I do have to run. I'll go grab one of my assistants to escort you out of the facility. Please stay right here."

As Bellows looked for an assistant, Adrian got a good look at the building.

It was a massive open area with offices lining both sides of the hangar on two floors. Mechanics were at the far end of the facility while spacecraft were parked in the middle. It was a very busy place and had to be exciting to work in, if you were in to that sort of thing.

Bellows walked up with a young intern, about 20 years old. "Here they are. Would you escort our guests out?" he said to the young man. The young man responded "Follow me gentlemen." he said, as he led the investigators towards the front of the building.

Outside the hangar, Stottlemeyer stopped and looked at Adrian. "You get anything in there?"

"Yeah. I get that we might want to pay a visit to the governor."

"What for?" Stottlemeyer asked. "I don't see any reason to think he is involved."

"Well, he has motive..." Monk responded.

"And what is that?" Stottlemeyer replied.

"Money. One of the oldest motives ever. I'll bet there is more to the Governor's pardon of Wagner than meets the eye."

"Do you think the governor is his accomplice?" Stottlemeyer asked.

"Not sure. But, a little talk with him might be informative." Monk responded.

"Monk. Be careful. You're messing with the big boys now. They could see to it that you never work in this town again." he replied.

"I don't care, Leland. Someone has Natalie, and I don't care if it is the President of the United States - if he is hiding that secret, his butt is mine."