Okay let's see, if all goes…well?…this should be the last part. Thanks to all those who have and all those who will review. Standard disclaimer.
... I don't have a lot of fun stuff to say: (…
We're all fine because here's part IX
Everyone and everything in Customs stopped. Everything went silent, so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop. As one, every head turned to stare at the door to the loading bay; it wasn't that often that one saw so many felines in one place let alone in one week. For the guardians were a secretive race that rarely left their home planet, and when they did whoever they were after had better have a damn good hiding place.
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Susan and Marcus looked on sadly as Saffire was given more and more of the mixture, more than half the bag was gone in the span of one hour. Susan looked to Galen hoping to find some reassurance in the fact that maybe he had found a way to access his tech. She sighed heavily when she saw that he was still trying to get his mouth working. Draya had huddled up as best she could into a little ball; a task made extremely difficult when one was strapped to a wall with thick leather straps. Zak had passed out from blood loss and if he wasn't taken to a doctor soon, he would probably reach the point of no return.
Susan and Marcus both felt responsible; if only I had paid more attention to her they both told themselves. Now the only hope they thought they had was that maybe security would find them, maybe some random passerby wold see them restrained and alert someone, maybe this would happen maybe that would; maybe maybe maybe, that's all they had.
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Dureena was still in the Zocalo, trying to gather information. It seemed like every information spring had run dry and Dureena was getting a little tired of looking. Just as she was about to head into a bar, she started to hear whispers. At first she thought nothing of them, so she went into the bar and ordered a drink. When the blue liquid arrived she downed half of it and turned to look around the room to see if anyone looked like they would give her some information. The men next to her were getting into a heated conversation.
"No I'm not! I swear I saw four of those things!" the taller man was saying, "They was just like that Saffire cat only they weren't completely gray. They had stripes."
"And you're going insane, old man," the young blonde replied. "That Saffire is a one of a kind, and if there ever was a second one, it most definitely wouldn't come here."
"Well if you had been in Customs about an hour ago, you woulda seen 'em," the older man was getting annoyed, "Now leave me be so I can finish my drink."
Hmm that's the umpteenth time I've heard something along those lines, Dureena finished her drink, Maybe I should go and see what happened in Customs. She got up and headed out of the bar, knowing her luck she would either run into them or never see them. She was hoping it would be the former. She got to Customs without incident and looked around. There were a fair amount of security guards around, more than normal and they all seemed to be focused in one area. She meandered her way over to them.
"Excuse me ma'am, no one is allowed back here for the time being," A member of security walked up to her, barring her path. She looked him over.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I was just looking for my brother," she bluffed, " I was just going to check to see if he was back there." She looked over his shoulder and saw a group of uniformed people and a tail behind a few of the legs. Then she looked at the ceiling, "I'll just be moving along then."
Dureena turned and walked over to a pillar that was a few feet away from the entrance of the off-limits area. As she leaned up against it, she pulled out a very small, very inconspicuous sidearm. Before aiming it at the ceiling above the group of uniformed people, she looked around. One had to make sure there were no witnesses to tell on you. After she knew it was clear she took aim and fired the silenced gun at the ceiling above the little group. This gun was a specially built gun that would fire a marking stick that could be seen from above but not below. Dureena pocketed the little sidearm and went to find a way to get into the ceiling.
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Marcus was getting frustrated. He was sitting right in front of one of his most treasured friends, unable to do anything to help her. It was the battle with the shadow/Earth destroyers all over again. He pulled his eyes away from his beloved companion to look at their captor. Correl sat in the only chair that adorned this room in front of a little desk, that he had only recently brought in, arranging metal tools that Marcus could only guess were used in the skinning of animals. Just as Marcus was about to say something sarcastic, one of Correl's hired buddies ran in and whispered to Correl.
"Oh really?" Correl asked him. The messenger nodded. Correl looked back at the group with a raised eyebrow. "Looks like some critters have a vested interest in your little buddy there," he motioned to Saffire, who was now breathing with great difficulty. "Well I kinda have to see to it that I keep her," he smiled wickedly and stepped out, messenger in tow. Marcus looked to Susan. A bit of hope had returned to her eyes also, they both looked to Galen.
"Any luck with moving while that thing is on?" Susan asked, not expecting an answer.
"Acc... tuall…ly…" Galen stuttered, "I…have had…a little…" When Susan looked at Marcus, her eyes were glowing with hope.
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"Ok," sighed a frustrated Captain Lockley, "I could understand that you are here to help a member of your race, and
I could even understand that you are here as bounty hunters. However, I can not let you hunt down this Correl character you are looking for any more than I could let you hunt down anyone else. We have rules on this station and one of them is that you can't kill people." Her audience, a handful of about four guardians, was getting a little angry. They could feel all their fellow guardian's life signs and Saffire's were fading quickly. One of the felines stepped forward, her silver coat decorated by black spots. She resembled a cheetah.
~Captain, we hunt to save our race and other races from extinction. This man is a known killer to many species, including your own~ The cat looked to each member of her little band. ~We are going to find this killer with or without your permission~ The felines stood and walked towards the captain. ~We really need to be going.~
The tension in the room was so thick that one could have cut it with a knife. All this security guards in the room put their hands on the butts of their PPG's. All the felines in the room stood with raised hackles. Dureena felt it was time to intervene. She pulled off one of the ceiling tiles and jump to the floor below.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Captain Lockley queried, "This is supposed to be restricted area!" All attention turned to Dureena, two security guards started toward her.
"I noticed your guests and thought I could help, since it looked like you were having so much luck," Dureena put herself between the felines and the humans. "I'll make a deal with you, let's call it a compromise," she turned to the felines, " I'll help you find Saffire and Correl. Then," she turned to Capt. Lockley; "I will do my best to protect Correl. We'll keep in mind that Saffire's safety is the issue here. Does that sound fair?"
"Well if it keeps any deaths from happening on my station, and accomplishes their objective, then it's fine with me," Capt. Lockley looked at her men then nodded. The guards relaxed and cleared a path out of Customs. Dureena looked to the felines and smiled, the felines nodded in appreciation.
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She heard his voice call her name. Saffire opened her eyes to see her brother, Kelanes.
~I thought it would be a while before I saw you again, little sister.~ Kelanes sat on his hunches. ~What happened little sister? What has sent to hear before your time?~
Saffire sat up and looked around her. She was back in limbo. ~I did not mean to come here again brother; but the circumstances were out of my control. The hunter, Correl, has tracked me down to Babylon 5. With the help of several hired humans he captured me and is now pumping some kind of tranquilizer into me. I don't know how much he's given me, but I do know that it's a lot.~ Saffire looked at her feet, it figures just as I get my guardianees back together something happens to me. Saffire looked up quickly, she realized she couldn't feel the ties to her body back on Babylon 5. ~Am I that far gone Kelanes?~
He turned away from her and started walking through the rows of people, ~Walk with me sister.~
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She heard his voice call her name. Saffire opened her eyes to see her brother, Kelanes.
~I thought it would be a while before I saw you again, little sister.~ Kelanes sat on his hunches. ~What happened little sister? What has sent to hear before your time?~
Saffire sat up and looked around her. She was back in limbo. ~I did not mean to come here again brother; but the circumstances were out of my control. The hunter, Correl, has tracked me down to Babylon 5. With the help of several hired humans he captured me and is now pumping some kind of tranquilizer into me. I don't know how much he's given me, but I do know that it's a lot.~ Saffire looked at her feet, it figures just as I get my guardianees back together something happens to me. Saffire looked up quickly, she realized she couldn't feel the ties to her body back on Babylon 5. ~Am I that far gone Kelanes?~
He turned away from her and started walking through the rows of people, ~Walk with me sister.~
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Susan turned to Marcus; "Do you know where the machine is that's keeping Galen from using his power?"
Marcus looked around. Since the only two things in the room were a chair and a desk, he made a pretty safe assumption that it was in the desk.
"I have to say it's a pretty good bet that it's in that dresser," Marcus said with a smile. "Now all we have to do, is magically untie ourselves then go turn it off and retie ourselves." Susan looked at him. "What?"
The two looked back to Galen. He was the only one in the room that had any chance of getting them free, but he still couldn't really do anything. Susan looked back to Marcus.
"Do you have any ideas?" she asked. Marcus shook his head. Susan looked past Marcus to Draya. Somehow Draya had managed to free a hand and was working to get the other free. "How did you get out of that Draya?" Susan asked, Marcus turned to look.
"When you've lived in places like Down Below for as long as I have, you learn to be flexible," she commented. She finally got her other hand free then got up and started to untie Susan.
"No, don't worry about me get that I.V. out of Saffire then get Galen free," Susan commanded. Draya nodded and complied. After Galen was free and the machine was turned off, Galen set to the task of getting reacquainted with his body. As soon as Draya got Marcus and Susan free, the three huddled around the silver beauty to wait until Galen could help.
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As soon as the felines and Dureena were away from customs and the security guards, they moved quickly with the cats finding a scent and following it. Through the Zocalo, down a corridor, they had been walking for a bit though when they got to the hole that Kelanes had made.
"So are you like the leader of the group or something?" Draya asked the gray cheetah as one of the other felines jumped down to investigate the corridor below.
~I am commander in chief of this particular hunting party~ The feline looked up at Dureena with green eyes that were speckled gold. She cocked her head slightly at Dureena. ~Why do you care about Saffire? Why did you help us with Captain Lockley?~
"Because Saffire is a friend's friend. She has proven herself a good friend to me in the few days that I have known her. Also because she means a lot to the people that I've surrounded myself with. I helped you back there because i believe you'll be very useful in helping to find Saffire." Draya looked away from the guardian's intense gaze, but the feline continued to look at the thief.
~What are you called?~
"I am Dureena," she remarked, once again meeting the guardian's gaze. "What are you called?"
~I am Alli~ she sat and licked her paw. Just as the two were starting to get bored, the scout returned.
~Ma'am, the way is cleared through most of the corridor. However I did sense that there were a few traps. We may want to proceed with cation~ the scout remarked.
~Thank you, Matt.~ Alli looked to Dureena. ~Would you like to lead the way, Dureena?~
Dureena looked at Alli carefully. There was an overwhelming want to get this done and save Saffire, but Dureena knew that she didn't have the necessary abilities to find Saffire.
"Lead the way," Dureena motioned to the hole. Apparently that was the right answer because the cat gave Dureena a nod of approval, realizing that the thief knew her limitations. With that the quintet headed off at a very fast pace.
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Kelanes looked back at his little sister to see if she was keeping up.
~Come on, sister, you must keep walking. We both know that if you stop moving at this point, you won't keep the ties to your body active.~
He had the caring look that all brothers had when they knew they had to keep siblings working. Even in Limbo Saffire was starting to look worse for the wear, and that was a bad indication since everything looked like it's mental picture (which was always perfect to the owner of the 'body' unless they knew something was wrong). She was starting to look tired and her ears were drooping. Her tail was dragging on the ground behind her and she was also starting to sweat, which was very unusual in Limbo.
~Come on, Saf, can't you feel Alli and her gang of misfits trying to save you back on the station?~ he asked, using her nick-name from when they played as kids.
~I can't feel anything, Kel~ Saffire said as she pulled herself along behind the larger cat. ~Just pain.~ Kelanes looked at his sister worriedly.
Hurry Alli, I can't hold her here much longer, he thought sadly.
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Galen sat next to Saffire stroking her fur. Now that they had found her, they had no idea how to get her out of there to Med-lab. They all knew that Correl had most likely set some kind of trap to keep them from escaping. Marcus stood up.
"Well I can't bloody well sit here and watch my friend die! I'm going to find a way out of this," Marcus stood up and limped over to the blanket that marked the door. He put a hand up to the blanket then gently grabbed it. After listening to see if there were any guards outside, which there didn't seem to be, he quickly pulled the blanket down.
"Oh bugger," he sighed as he looked on, a little perturbed, at ten thick bars that were barring the way to the corridor beyond.
"Well, we're screwed," Susan commented from Saffire's side.
"I'll say," Draya agreed when she had finished bandaging Zak's leg.
"Now what?" Marcus asked as he limped back to his place along the wall.
"Nothing, there's not much we can do. As much as I hate to say it, there's no way I can help us get out of here," he looked at Saffire sadly. She was barely breathing.
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They were making good time. Dureena ran almost as fast as the guardians cantered and within twelve minutes they had gotten to the point where Draya, Susan, Marcus and Zak had been attacked. When reaching that area, however, they had stopped. All five members of the quintet sensed a trap.
"Ok, how do we proceed?" Dureena queered, hoping they wouldn't ask her what to do.
~You've been on this station longer than we have~ Alli started, ~What do you suggest?~
Ah crap, I knew they were going to ask me, she looked around. Her eyes came to rest on the open panel in the ceiling, "Do you guys think you could move around in the ceiling?" Dureena gave the cats a sly look then headed toward the hole.
"I wouldn't go up there if I were you. Could be dangerous," a voice came from behind them, "Besides, that's where I set up a trap for you five. I thought you'd be smarter then that." The entire group turned to look at the speaker. Correl looked at them, the look of victory stamped on his face. "I have won, you're all too late."
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~Kelanes?~ Saffire asked weakly. ~Where do we go when we die? Our race doesn't believe in an after life.~
~We don't really go anywhere,~ Kelanes slowed so he was walking next to his sister, ~Our race kind of believes in a circle of life. When a guardian dies, their spirit finds the next available guardian body and starts over again.~
~Is it hard to start over?~ Saffire's voice was getting weaker with every syllable.
~I don't really know, sister I am one of the few that doesn't go through that cycle, being the guardian of Limbo.~ He looked at her, ~But don't worry, I've heard that it is painless and that you remember what is important from the previous time around.~
~So I'll recognize Marcus and Susan?~ Saffire looked at Kelanes, he nodded. ~And Galen and Dureena?~
~As far as I have been told, yes. Now concentrate on walking youngest sister.~
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Galen felt under Saffire's foreleg for a pulse. It was barely there. Any longer and this 'rescue' trip would be worthless. Galen looked around, hoping to find another way out. His gaze fell on Zak. Galen thought for a moment.
"Hey," he said keeping his eyes on Zak, "Wouldn't he have some kind of communicator? I mean isn't he the leader of security around here?"
Susan caught his idea before the words even left Galen's mouth. She scooted over to Zak and picked up his left hand. After pressing two small buttons on the surface of the small unit she talked into it.
"This is Captain Susan Ivanova. We have been captured. We're in brown level 16 and need immediate back-up," She leaned away for a few seconds then back, "Also need a med-unit, Chief Allen has been stabbed and is bleeding pretty badly." She let go of the communicator's buttons.
"I repeat, we have received your mayday and are on our way Captain Ivanova." Finally, some good news was heading their way. The feeling didn't last long though, when Susan turned to look at the group again, she noticed a single tear fall from Galen.
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Ok well my muses left again so I'm going to give you all a chance to help finish the story.
Here's what you have to do...give me a line or two of what you belive should happen and how you think the story should end. Right now we have the group of guardians and Dureena confronting Correl, And the other members of the group stuck in a room with Saffire hanging by a thread. So write me...and this time the story is depending on you. So ya kinda have to review this time...i was really disappointed by the number of reviews last chapter.
Later...ME
