Specimens — Fred Saberhagen

First, strange odors … and nightmares that stretch across Time. Images of a hideous machine dragging Indians, colonials, slaves to an ancient mound … then a hellish light pulses from a hidden room … and suddenly Dan Post is trapped, his mind sane, but his body possessed by a galactic probe programmed to collect—-

Specimens. Human specimens. Now, with no hands, no voice, locked in the ultimate prison, Dan must battle an immortal alien machine, even as it forces him to kidnap its final victims …

Dan''s two children...and his bride-to-be.