Ok…I'm kinda mad…I had half of this chapter written and then I lost my notebook so I had to start from scratch and then my muses went on a vacation : ( that's why it took so long to get this up. Anyway…same disclaimer and Thank you very much to all those who reviewed.

F.Y.I= for those of you who don't really know, Ragnarok means final battle. I assume (even though it makes an ass out of you and me : ) that is why Ami thought it was a very fitting last name for Correl…and that's why I chose it. Here are all the gift certificates for the shopping sprees ; )

Today's the Date, it's Part Eight

The three walked down the corridor, Marcus leading. It had been fifteen minutes since they left the Zocalo, and the only sign they had that Saffire had come this way was a paw print in some grease that had been tracked through the corridor. As Marcus walked he threw his denn'bok from hand to hand, he was clearly agitated.

"Well this is getting us nowhere fast," Marcus commented turning to face Zak and Susan. He walked backwards, "How long are we going to wa-" he was cut off as he stepped through a hole in the floor. He moved his denn'bok in a position over his head and extended it so that it wouldn't fit through the hole. He successfully caught himself.

"Hmm, looks like someone is good with metal," Susan said kneeling down to give Marcus a hand up. He started to take it, but noticed something. He grabbed the metal pole with his other hand and moved closer to the side of the hole then did a sort of pull up so that he was eye level with a certain piece of the broken metal. In a small crimp were small silver fibers, upon even closer inspection, Marcus found a small patch of skin stuck to the plating. He hung back down from the denn'bok then retracted it and fell to the ground below and looked around the lower level.

"Hey Zak," he called back up, "get your men down here, we've got a trail to follow." Marcus then signaled for them to come on down. Once they were with him, Marcus showed them the small patch of blood he had found on the deck plating. A short way down the hall was another patch, and they continued down the hall at irregular intervals.

"We had better hurry," Susan commented as Zak called his men.


Saffire lay on the cool deck plating while Correl kneeled next to her. Saffire was starting to wonder why this man was so obsessed with furs when she got a mental call from Galen.

Saffire, can you hear me?~ Galen called. When you were telepathic, you could hear the thoughts of anyone at anytime, especially when your name was thought. ~Saffire?~ he called again. ~ I've heard that there's been some trouble concerning you. What happened?~ Saffire looked around then scanned to make sure there were no hired telepaths.

~ I've been catnapped~ she thought for a moment, ~ Hey, do you have any location 'spells'? ~

~ I could look~ Galen replied.

~ Please do, and hurry. I have a feeling this guy is about to do something bad~ Saffire looked at the kneeling Correl, he'd been praying or something along those lines since the girl had left.

~ What kind of bad thing? ~

~ He's planning on skinning me, Galen ~


Draya ran down the hall hoping to find a member of security. She stopped and leaned against a wall to catch her breath.

I hope I can find someone in time! She put her hands on her knees and looked at the ground. Right between her feet was a very, very small drop of blood. She wrinkled her brow and looked back the way she had come, there were two more drops then they disappeared. She looked at the hall she was getting ready to go down, the drops got bigger, not by much but they did in deed get bigger. Draya decided to follow the drops.

After about five minutes, she heard voices. A Brooklyn guy, a Russian girl and a British guy. She nearly laughed aloud when she remembered the company Saffire had kept. Draya put her excited tones aside and jogged around the corner.

"Yea but if we don't find her…soon…" Marcus trailed off as Draya rounded the corner.

"Can we help you?" Zak asked, he'd seen this girl somewhere before. She'd been hanging around areas that Saffire and her friends had been.

"You have to come with me!" Draya blurted out, "Saffire's in trouble!" Zak gave her a suspicious look

"And how do you know this?" Zak questioned. The girl squirmed.

"Because I gave Correl the information he wanted," she stepped back from them, unsure what they would do. The trio looked at each other then shrugged.

"Lead the way," Susan said, ushering the girl down the hall.


Galen ran a hand over his head as he ran through his spells. He had one for moving things, one for holographic demons and a lot of others, but the only location spell he had was one that would locate objects. Saffire never carried anything so that spell was utterly useless. He shook his head, frustrated, then walk out the door to where he knew she last was. As he got off the Turbo-lift in the Zocalo he rubbed his head again and looked up to see Dureena running up to him.

"Have you heard?" she asked, concern echoing in her eyes, "Saffire's missing."

"Yes I have heard," Galen commented, continuing his journey. Dureena fell into step beside him. "I heard it from Saffire herself."

"What are you planning to do?" Dureena asked. Galen stopped and looked her in the eye.

"What makes you think I have a plan?" He smiled a half smile, rubbed his head one more time and looked beyond Dureena to the booth of crystal necklaces.

"Well first of all, that look says you're up to something; and I've noticed that when you get in a hurry like you seemed to be just then you, uh," she folded her arms and bit her lip. "You, uh, tend to rub your head…" she shrank away, a little embarrassed, as she trailed off.

"You were right in saying I'm up to something," he said as he walked around Dureena to a booth that was selling crystals of different sizes. He found one that matched Saffire's eyes and pulled out his credit chip. As the vendor removed the appropriate amount of credit, Galen noticed Dureena studying a small glass figure that was a leviathan curled around a sunken ship. The vendor handed Galen his credit chip and the crystal in a bag. "Dureena, I am sorry to do this but I really must be going." Dureena looked at him with a nod.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do to find some leads up here," she took one last look at the glass sculpture then headed off down the hall. Galen watched her go, looked at the glass figurine, and then handed his credit chip back to the vendor.


Saffire began to get uncomfortable on the cold deck plating. Correl had left again, this time he had been gone for nearly fifteen minutes, as far as the feline could tell, and during that time, Saffire had tried her best to get out of her restraints. In the end her efforts turned out to be in vain, Correl walked in before she could make any progress. Along with the customary black bag he carried, he now carried a little black box that smelled like the shadows.

He smiled an evil smile and flipped the box on then set it on the chair, "If you're little Technomage friend decides to try to save you, this will stop him," he was talking with a matter-of-fact tone, "Now shall we get on with this?" Correl's look was one of pure glee as he kneeled next to Saffire and opened his little bag. He pulled out a little bag of clear liquid and hung it on the wall above Saffire's head. Then he pulled out an IV and plugged it into Saffire's foreleg, and quickly plugged the IV into the bag of clear liquid.

"I hope you enjoy it," Correl said with a smirk, "It's my own special blend. H2O and Anesthetic, mixed with a little tranquilizer." His face grew serious; "You should be out for good in a matter of hours." He smirked and stood, then grabbed the little black box and hid it.


"Come on, It's only a little further," Draya called as they rounded yet another corner. Zak was beginning to wonder if this girl had been hired to throw them off the scent.

"That's what you said ten minutes ago," he commented, stopping and folding his arms.

"Are you implying something?" Draya asked, offended.

"Maybe I am, what are you gunna do about it?" Zak stood up a little straighter. "Did Correl hire you to throw us off his trail?"

"No," she came back, nearly getting in his face; "He hired me to get information about Saffire. I no longer work for him because he has her and is about to skin her. And we're sitting here because you think I still work for that jerk!" Draya's voice was slowly getting louder, "If it weren't for me, you'd have lost the trail so long ago it isn't funny-"

"Alright, alright," Susan cut in, "As much as I like arguing, I really think we should be going to save Saffire. Zak, I give you my word that she isn't working for Correl or whatever his name is." Susan gave him a look that dared him to carry on with the argument. Zak was about to take her up o that dare but remembered that she was a latent telepath. He merely nodded and shrank back, his pride partially bruised.

"Thank you," Draya uttered. Finally someone who respects the fact that people can change. Draya continued down the hall followed by Marcus, then Susan and finally Zak.


Galen had made his way to a bar in down below and managed to scare some information out of the regulars; Technomages had ways of getting informed that usually ended with a scorched face or someone running out screaming. That information had led him here, to a place in brown sector that seemed like a storage or janitorial area; however, he knew it was the right place because he had seen Correl leave and then come back carrying a box that looked extremely familiar. Even though he'd been sitting in the same spot (behind an illusion that he had conjured of a wall) for at least a half hour, Galen wasn't sure whether he should go in while Correl was still there or to wait for him to leave again. Galen's answer came a moment later when he heard Correl talking.

"It's my own special blend. H2O and Anesthetic, mixed with a little tranquilizer, you should be out for good in a matter of hours," Correl remarked, somewhat proudly. Galen stopped his illusion and walked up to the blanket that was sectioning off the hall, he would have felt somewhat better if he could remember where he had seen that stupid little box before. He threw the blanket aside and took in the scene. Saffire was bound to the floor with an IV in her foreleg and Correl was sitting in a chair twirling a blade around in his hand.

Galen took a step toward the silver haired man. As he did so, he nearly collapsed. As a Technomage, Galen was constantly surging with energy from his tech, when he stepped toward Correl, all that restless energy vanished. Galen stumbled, a bit disoriented; he'd felt this somewhere before. Galen couldn't seem to recover his equilibrium, it seemed as if part of his mind and part of his body was out of reach, almost like he'd suffered a stroke. Finally his sense of balance failed and he hit the floor. That's when he remembered where he'd felt this before. On Za'ha'dum, before the Shadows had really shown themselves, Galen had been gathering information when he found out that the Shadows had created the Tech and had also created a machine that could turn off the tech. This machine had been used on him then and was being used on him now.

Correl laughed, "Like I said, you'd be a tough one to get around but I'd do it." Correl walked to Galen with a thick leather strap. "That's what I love about my sources," he said slipping the leather under Galen's arms, "If they say it'll stop you cold, it'll stop you cold." Correl was a lot stronger than he appeared to be, he drug Galen to the wall next to Saffire with ease and strapped him to the wall. "I think I'll leave this nice little machine running as long as you're here." Correl smiled and patted the little black box; "I'll be back."

Saffire looked up to Galen. ~ Beautiful rescue you've got going here ~

Galen looked at her concerned; her voice was really tired and weak. Galen tried to mutter a response but he couldn't find his tongue with that damn machine running. He would have to settle with a disagreeing grunt.


Correl quietly raced down the hall that he knew Draya would be leading Saffire's friends down. After studying so many animals he found humans to be one of the most predictable, not to mention one of the most annoying. He reached in his pocket and slowed as he heard footsteps running toward him. Correl smiled, he loved his connections at the moment, and pulled out three tear-gas/pepper spray balls. Correl always chose the tear gas/pepper spray mix because when he was once on a planet hunting a rare bird, he had to have a special operation to make him immune to these gases. The atmosphere that this bird lived in consisted of elements that resembled these gases and one couldn't do a very good job of stalking if they had noisy environmental suit on. These would make taking on those four fairly easy. Correl looked around to see where he could get the best ambush position. He noticed a ceiling panel missing where maintenance was repairing some loose connections. He jumped into it and waited.

It wasn't long before the four came running around the hall. Draya stopped almost directly below Correl.

"Ok," she panted, "It'll take about one more minute to get to where he's holding Saffire…shouldn't we have a plan before we go storming in there?" Draya was leaning heavily on the wall, Correl guess that she would be easily dispatched. Zak nodded in agreement to the idea of a plan before they went storming in.

"Well, since you worked for him, you should know how he's holding her and any security measures, if any," Zak was slightly winded, but he would be considerably harder to take down. Correl flipped his knife out of its sheath.

"Well, you and Marcus have the weapons," Susan commented, "Draya could go in and try to fool this Correl guy into thinking that she wants to work with him for good while Zak and Marcus run in and distract him while Draya helps me free Saffire." She ended sounding rather proud. She didn't seem winded at all neither did Marcus, and Marcus was beginning to look around like he felt something wasn't right. Correl took a deep breath and decided it was time

He threw the little balls down on the floor and they exploded, spilling yellowish green gas everywhere, and then he followed. When he hit the ground, Correl turned to where he last saw Zak standing and threw the dagger at what Correl estimated was Zak's knee. Zak let out a grunt that was followed by a thump; Correl smiled at his accuracy and then rolled over to Zak and grabbed his PPG. Zak went to grab Correl's arm to stop him but was backhanded with enough force to slam his head against the deck plating and knock him out cold. Correl then heard a lighter thump and instantly knew it to be Draya, unable to handle the gas mixture. He also heard shuffling behind him as Susan and Marcus hurried to get out of the gas.

Correl listened as one of the two backed into the wall. He homed in on that sound and aimed the PPG low, his goal here was to disable not destroy, and fired. Susan let a cry of pain escape as she collapsed on her injured leg.

"SUSAN!" Marcus yelled. Correl was surprised that Marcus was able to get out of the gas so quickly. Correl jumped back up into the ceiling and crawled over Marcus. He pulled the tile aside and carefully aimed, he could have easily disabled the last of the group. Suddenly Correl felt the need for a challenge. He jumped down behind Marcus and put the PPG against his head.

"Hey there," Correl whispered into Marcus' ear. Correl had no idea what weapon Marcus carried, and the next thing Correl knew was the cold, hard metal of a denn'bok slamming against his face, shattering his nose.

"Hi," Marcus said with a sneer as he turned to face his attacker. He then brought his pike up to the ready.

"You are trained in the art of combat? That is a good hunter's skill," Correl said as he climbed back to his feet and wiped the blood from his nose.

"I fight only to protect my friends," Marcus glared his opponent, "Not to hunt one of a kind creatures."

"What a noble profession. Let me guess, you're one of those rangers that I've been hearing so much about," Correl sneered and turned to the side. He slowly aimed his PPG with out moving his eyes from Marcus. Marcus sized up the hunter, not even seeing the hidden hand aiming. The next thing Marcus knew was the cold of the floor as he collapsed when the PPG was fired into his knee. Correl then pulled out a communicator and called back his hired group to drag these intruders back to his base.


Galen looked down at Saffire. She wasn't looking too good. Beads of sweat had started running down her fur and pooling around her. She had started trembling, and very visibly, almost immediately after Galen had been captured. Galen was starting to examine her closer when Correl walked back in, leading a host of 'goons' that were carrying his and Saffire's last hope. Galen sighed heavily as the four were strapped to the wall next to him. His only other hope was that Dureena was still out there.

Heh…heh…I know I said that this was going to be the last part but as I scrolled up….i realised it was way to long. So good news to those devoted fans that are so into my story that you get withdrawl symptoms when I don't post…YOU GET AT LEAST ONE MORE PART YAY!!!!! And possibly an epilogue…if you guys want it. Ok about the Shadows and the tech and the device that deactivates the tech…if you read the books The Passing of the Technomages by Jeanne Cavelos you will see this stuff mentioned I promise I am not making it up :) So what do ya think? PLEEEEEESE r&r and I really can't say how grateful I am that you guys are really staying with me…I promise that it won't take four years to post the next part.