CHAPTER TWO
Will Scarlett marched through the Merry men's station with purpose. He finally had a legitimate reason to get rid of Robin Hood and he had to start putting his coup plans to reality. Will Scarlett had not always wanted to be leader of the merry men but two years ago everything had changed. Will Scarlett was a Saturnian, one of the very few to be found in Sherwood. Saturnians looked just like humans, had emotions similar to humans and reproduced just like humans. The only major difference between the two species was Saturnians could tolerate very high heats, were able to breathe any type of air and could focus their hearing to a particular direction.
Will joined the Merry men when he was a young teenager. The central region of Saturn had been colonized by the Martians and his people were poor after paying all the taxes and fees the Martians enforced. His people had been bereft, hoping that Earth the Galaxy's watchdog would come save them instead the merry men had been their saviors. They had given them food, defeated the martian army and persuaded Northern Saturnians to help defend the Central Saturnians from future invasions. Will had been inspired to join them at fifteen and had not returned back home until two years ago with the rest of the merry men in tow. At home he had run to see his family and had been reintroduced to his teenage crush Anastasia. He had followed her around like a puppy but could not fail to notice that she only seemed to have eyes for Robin. When he had asked her why she preferred Robin over him she had simply replied. "There is nothing sexier than a powerful man. Couldn't imagine being with a man who is not in charge."
Will had seethed, initially angry with Anastasia and her lust for men like Robin, instead of men who genuinely cared for her like he did. However upon their return to Sherwood, he had realized how low on the totem pole he actually was. He was the cargo boy, the scrubber, the cleaner, the bean counter but he never had a job in Sherwood that actually meant something. He decided he wanted to be one of the top men in this sand to do that he had to become a warrior. He convinced Christopher to train him as a fighter and after six months Robin gave him his own mission. The mission was a rousing success and all the Merry men had agreed Will was one merry man to look out for. Will now had all the support of all the men but he still was not in charge. In order for that to happen he needed Robin to die or be kicked out of the merry men.
Honestly Will was not much of a killer, he knew what death was after the Martians attacked his home and he would hate to become like them. He just needed Robin gone and this lie of omission was the easiest way to get him out. Each Merry man was commissioned a small studio flat, in the Station. It was nothing too large but big enough for a small group to meet. Will sent an urgent com message to Christopher the Neptunian, Gilbert the Venutian, Arthur the Plutonian and George the Ceretian. Each of these merry men represented an important planetary faction of their group and each was well liked. The men all arrived in his room fairly annoyed. They had just arrived back from a mission and that usually meant a moment to unwind with their wives, with booze and with the Carling Cup final. They all huddled in to Will's small living room and urged him to relay the important message that had forced them to come to his flat.
"My fellow merry men, it pains me to say this but you have been lied to, by our leader." Will stated and noted that all the men perked up to at his words. "This may be hard to hear, especially for you Christopher but the child Roland has been found to have powers beyond those of his race. I overheard Robin and Amelia talking less than an hour ago. He has a genetic mutation that allows him to make things fly with his mind, a mutation that Robin has kept hidden from the rest of us."
"Why should that matter to us?" Gilbert asked. "Surely his mutation has no effect on how we run our missions?"
"It is not about the missions, it is about us." Christopher rebuked. "Robin has insisted on the policy of honesty amongst the men. A Neptunian was kicked out of the merry men for not being honest about his past as a soldier in the Martian army. A Venutian was flogged for lying about his dalliance with a mayor's daughter. Yet Robin the earthling lies about his son's powers to the rest of us….He paused. "How long has he been hiding this from us, Will?"
"About two years from what I heard." Will responded. "It is not just about the lying, Robin's heart is not truly committed to the merry men. He craves returning to his son every day which is fine but we need a leader who pushes for missions not one who feigns interest every time we leave the base."
"The young lad is right," Arthur said "We have known that we needed to replace Robin as leader but we have kept him around because of our affection for him. He has done a lot for Sherwood but the Merry men represent a diverse group of Brudos and are led by a man of Earth. It is not fair that the tales of the merry men are painted as heroic tales of Robin when it is us the Brudos that do all the work."
"I understand your point." George the Ceretian piped up," but no matter what Robin has done we will have to have a fair trial. Maybe you misheard what he said."
"Saturnians never mishear anything." Will, Arthur, Christopher and Gilbert collectively said
There was a pause in the conversation until Gilbert asked, "What will happen to the boy? We are always on missions; there shall be no one to observe how far his mutations go."
"We shall send him to Neptune. His Great-grandfather, is a published geneticist and would relish the act of studying him and taking care of him." Christopher replied
"But I thought your family hated Robin for taking Marian away from her home?" Will asked
"They do but not as much as they did before. I am sure they would allow him to visit his son occasionally. He can stay at my home in Neptune and when my Grandfather allows it visit with his son." Christopher winced at the thought. "It is not the best solution but what else can be done?"
CLICK…..the monitor in Robin's living room was switched off. Robin had been watching his men plan their mutiny over the captain overcast cameras. He had had them installed in Will Scarlet's room and other merry men he was suspicious of. He was not going to stick around to watch them put him on trial for protecting his son. He had to get out of Sherwood with his son right now!
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