Prelude to the Planetary League

Lars Masterson and the Soombar Resistance

"I have an idea," I said.

"Excellent," said Kenji, "what is your plan?" I took off running as fast as I could, hoping to use the element of surprise.

I assumed the others would follow my lead and ran without hesitation. After a good hundred yards or so, I risked a glance over my shoulder and saw nobody had followed my lead. In fact, nobody had moved at all, except Silvia, who was rubbing her her eyes.

I kept running, leaving them behind. By the time I got to my plane, I was breathing somewhat heavy, but not as if I had just sprinted 200 meters. I should have collapsed with a heart attack. Instead, it felt like no more than a brisk walk. I thought perhaps it was the Amygdalerian attached to my brain. On the other hand, it could have been the lighter gravity. Maybe it was my foot.

The point is I made it to my plan, and saw they hadn't done anything to it. I climbed aboard and check the instruments. There was nearly a full tank of gas. I turned the ignition and hustled to the front of the plane. I pulled on the propellers as hard as I could (which was much harder that I thought), and ran back into the cockpit, opening the throttle. The propellers came to life as I settled in. The plane moved forward, and I carefully maneuvered into open space, using it as a makeshift runway.

I banked to the left, trying to turn around towards my compatriots. As I circled around, I saw they had not moved. They were still standing there. Suddenly, the security forces facing May turned and sprinted away. There were dozens of ram men approaching through the door we had entered in. May, Kenji, and Silvia saw them too, following the others at a full sprint.

I aimed my aircraft at the oncoming Ram Men, trying to intimidate them, or at least distract them, to give May and the others more time to get away. It worked. They dove to the ground, avoiding my plane. But once I had passed, they jumped to their feet and resumed their chase.

May reached a row of flying chariots, and jumped onto the nearest one. Silvia jumped on the next one, with Kenji jumping on the chariot with her. He put his arms around her waist for support as the two machines flew into the air. May was graceful and controlled. Silvia's flying was all over the place, but I couldn't blame her. I was an experienced pilot, and I doubt I could have handled one of those things with any grace.

It didn't take long for the Ram Men to jump on the flying chariots and give chase. I quickly realized the chariots had greater maneuverability than my propeller plane, although I could outpace them in straight line race. This explains their utility on the battle field, and close air cover.

But the point is we had to get out of this giant hangar before we were surrounded. May took the lead, heading straight at the far end of the hangar. We didn't have communications systems, so I had to guess at her intentions. I followed as closely as I dared.

Presently, we approached an end point of the hangar. May's chariot left forth an impressive light beam which obliterated the edge of the hangar. She shot again, clearing enough space for even my unwieldy plane to get through. With relief, I followed May and Silvia to the open air outside the massive hangar.  Thus, we avoided a cold death in that oversized coffin.

It was the middle of the night. That gave us a bit of cover, but the light reflecting off the primary planet, plus the other moons, meant a rather bright nighttime on this world. The stars, the planets, and the nebulous space clouds formed an impressive nightscape. I had flown at night a bunch of times on earth, but this was different. The night cast enough starlight, and reflected enough moonlight, that I felt like I was flying through space itself. I wanted to do nothing more than cruise and enjoy the atmosphere.

But I couldn't do that. We were escaping our captors, and I had to keep my wits about me. Glancing behind, I saw a cloud of those chariots pouring from the hole in the hangar we had exited. From this distance, I could se what a monstrosity it was. I also realized I was outpacing my comrades. Those flying chariots might have great maneuverability, but they couldn't keep up in an all out race.