Prelude to the Planetary League

Lars Masterson of Earth, Part 2

I knew I was done for, but I had one last chance. Wrapping my arm around the stick and putting a foot on the dash in front of me, I pulled with all the strength I could muster. The machine arched upward as the stick finally started to pull back. I was able to even out, but not before my pursuer let forth another energy blast. It hit the tail of my plane, but it was a glancing blow. I was barely able to control my flight path, but there was a chance I could bring her down safely. Well, not safely, but at least I could make a semblance of a landing, and perhaps walk away. I was close enough to the ground that I probably took the head off some of the combatants battling below me. Finally, the wings were close enough to parallel with the ground I could try to touch down.

The ground was flat and even, so I had plenty of "runway"  space to slow my aircraft, except for the combatants in my way. Fortunately for them and for me, they saw me coming, and to jumped out of the way at the last minute. I came to a stop, and jumped to the ground as soon as I could, rolling on the ground to absorb the impact, and came to my feet in as fluid a motion as I could muster.

As soon as I came to my feet, I immediately jump sideways to avoid a ground combatant. He was one of those ram-men, and he was was charging me like his head was a battering ram.  He rushed past me, ramming into the side of  my plane with his ram horns. He hit it with enough force to leave a massive dent. Even worse, he seemed entirely unfazed by the impact, and pivoted to face me. He pulled a firearm  from the holster on his waste and fired. A massive orange light encircled me. The last thing I heard before losing consciousness was the sound of him cursing to himself.

When I awoke, I was lying on a metal table.  A strap across my waist pinned me down, and my hands and feet were also bound to the table. I looked to my left and saw a woman in a similar position to me, also bound to a table. She was black, and wore a military nurse's uniform. She was looking at me, and nodded her head at me in acknowledgement. I looked to my right and saw a man, also tied to the table. He was Asian, and wore a military uniform I was unfamiliar with. I nodded at him, and he returned the gesture.

"Finally, he awakens," said a voice from the other side of the room.

I heard the click of a button, and the table (and the tables of my new companions) slowly raised me to a vertical position. I surveyed the room. It was a plain room with white walls and a grey concrete floor. The wall I was facing had a large mirror embedded into it. The only furniture, aside from the tables we were tied to, was a small cabinet with various tools and gadgets strewn upon it. The man was standing next to the cabinet.

"Ah, yes. Humans from Earth. We know a lot about you humans and your planet. There is much more that we don't know, of course. But now, I have specimens to study!"

He was about six feet tall and impossibly thin, with thick, white, slicked-back hair. He wore a grey turtleneck shirt, grey slacks with a black belt, and black shoes. I cleared my throat to speak. He perked up when he realized I was about to speak.

"You look just as human as us," I said.

"Look human? I suppose that is true," he said. "But the looks, you see, are the only similarity." He snickered to himself and picked up an nasty looking implement from the table next to him.

"Why are we here? Why are you doing this?" Asked the woman next to me. "Who are you?"

"You can call me the Body Builder," replied the man, "because I build the bodies." He walked towards us.

"Eenie, meenie miney mo. Who should I cut first? Wait." He turned on the device absentmindedly, "... Miney... mo... I can't think of anything that rhymes. No matter."

"Wait," said the man to my right, "you can't do this. I shouldn't even be here." The Body Builder smiled and pointed to him.

"You're first," said the Body Builder, pointing to the man. He pressed the device against the man's shoulder. The man immediately screamed at the top of his lungs, as a stream of blood spewed out of his arm like a fountain.  The Body Builder giggled to himself.