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    <section>My old life is gone, and I feel as though I have stepped into a dream of remarkable wonders and terrors. Such fanciful creatures have I seen! Such remarkable vistas! I find that my birth name no longer fits, small as my world was small. Mundane as my world was mundane. And so I must adopt a name more fitting to a magical realm the likes of which Oberon and Tatiana would inhabit. But I am no lithe fae, nor am I a beauty in any way. And so I shall adopt the pseudonym of that great jester, that shrewd and knavish sprite: Robin Goodfellow.</section>


    <section>-From the journal of Robin Goodfellow, formerly Professor Fred Blake</section>


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    Theseus caught the girl as she crumbled, the gun simply stunning her. He knew he didn’t have much time. He could hear the voice of someone else in the house. As easily as if she weighed nothing, he slung the girl over his shoulder, holding her there as he knelt to grab the pizza bag.


    After all, having pizza was a rare luxury, and the girl would probably like food when she woke up. He hurried across the street to what appeared to be an RV shaped vaguely like a bullet train. Unlike most RVs, though, it only had one door in the back, which was heavily reinforced with star steel and propped open as it was revealed how thick the walls and door were: nearly a foot thick. With so much room taken up by the ship’s hull, the interior quarters were tight. Four bunks comprised most of one wall, and the bathroom was tucked into one corner by the exterior door. He set the woman down on one of the unused bunks, tossing the pizza bag onto the other. Muscles strained as he hauled the door closed and cranked on the wheel to engage the seal. Eventually, a soft hiss came from around the door, and a green light appeared above it. The ship was now airtight.


    “Let’s get out of here before something else goes wrong. All systems online and in the green?” Theseus turned resolutely from the door. He glanced at the woman, her hand bandaged and hair a tangled red mess, before striding the few brief steps to the control station.


    “All except the rear blast shields. Those are still glitchy from our descent into the atmosphere, but they’ll hold well enough.” His brother’s voice came through the internal speakers, only the faintest crackle of static accompanying it.


    “Good.” Theseus started flipping switches and powering systems up in rapid succession. He wanted out of this town before the government caught wind of what was happening.


    He steered the ship away from the curb, rolling down the street like a typical RV. The rear camera showed the quaint two-story house shrinking behind them and the unconscious delivery man slumped in his car across the street. A dark-skinned woman ran out the door, her words unheard through the thick hull, but her body language unmistakable.


    She was yelling and screaming down the street at the receding RV. Theseus felt a pang of guilt twist like a knife in his gut as he picked up speed, turning away from the monitor.


    He didn’t have a choice. This whole mess was a shit-storm just waiting to explode, but he didn’t have choice!


    He couldn’t leave the girl here, couldn’t leave the Key here. It never should have been on this planet to begin with. His voice was husky as he spoke. “Satellite jammers still working?”


    There was a moment of silence, a hesitation at the question that he could almost feel. One of his eyebrows rose, and he glanced up towards the ceiling.


    Robin? Are the satellite jammers still working?”


    For a moment, he didn’t think Robin would answer, but then the reluctant voice came through the speakers. “They seem to be. You aren’t planning on taking off in daylight, are you?”


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    “As soon as we get out of town,” Theseus confirmed. “It’s dusk, and it’s overcast. We should be okay.” He ignored the small knot of doubt in his stomach, glancing at the woman lying on the bed. He had royally fucked up her life, and he only hoped she’d find it in her to forgive him.


    He knew he wouldn’t forgive himself. Kidnapping... shit.


    He needed a beer.


    Theseus fumbled for the cooler beneath the control station with one hand still on the controls. It wasn’t like he could screw things up any more than he already had, right?


    “You aren’t going to drink, are you? That’s how we got into this mess! Not to mention it’s against the law on this planet to drink and drive.” Robin’s holographic form appeared on the chair beside him, a look of disapproval on his face.


    “So is kidnapping,” Theseus said flatly. He pulled a cold beer from the cooler and hit the metal cap on the edge of the control station, popping it open. He knew Robin was right, but damnit, he needed this!


    He could still remember the way his mother had raked his father over the coals though, the one time his father had scraped against Galaux station while drunk. It was only dumb luck that got them out of paying for station repairs, and his mother had never let his father forget it.


    Funny, he was pretty sure that scrape was still there. He’d have to check when they pulled into port. He took a swig of the beer, letting it roll down his throat to land like a rock in his stomach.


    “It’s risky, just like lifting off in daylight! We should just drive until it’s dark out.” Robin said.


    “It’s risky to stay on this planet. We just kidnapped someone, and they will be looking for us. For her! And while we can pass as a truck or RV, I don’t think we’re exactly inconspicuous. Would you rather lift off after people start searching for us? Whoever was in that house with her saw us.”


    Robin frowned, looking over to the unconscious woman. There was no doubt now that she had bonded with the key, but this still didn’t feel right. “I’ll concede the point. Judging by what I picked up on the ride in, there should be a dead zone about half an hour out of town. Just a couple of farmhouses. I’ll do my best to jam the satellites, but we won’t have long to break through the atmosphere and get the hell out of dodge.”


    “Is that really the saying?” Theseus looked back to the road, the houses already spreading out. Half an hour. They just had to make it half an hour out of town, and then they could lift off, no problem. He took another swig of beer, feeling the muscles loosen in his shoulders.


    “Pretty sure it is.” Robin shrugged, a smile flickering across his face. Suddenly the smile turned into a frown, and his eyes widened. “Uh oh.”


    “Uh oh? I hate it when you say uh oh. What the hell do you mean, uh oh?” Theseus glanced at his brother, then spotted flashing red and blue lights in the monitor set to the rear camera.


    A cop car, its lights on and siren undoubtedly blaring, even though they couldn’t hear it through the ship’s thick hull.


    “Perhaps they’re just trying to pass us?” Robin suggested weakly.


    “Not bloody likely.” Theseus set his drink in the holder at one corner of the control station. His hands flashed across the control boards, bringing up systems as they picked up speed.


    The cop car sped up to match, and the smallest computers in the control station babbled away, still picking up the local police radio.


    “-in pursuit of a silver RV, no license plate.” The calm voice said over the radio.


    “Told you so,” Theseus said grimly. “Start the jammer now. We’re lifting off.”


    “Are you crazy? We’re still in town!” However, Robin''s holographic form disappeared as he took over certain computer systems. He might not like the idea, but he started up the satellite jammer anyway. Life support was activated, and lights on the control station flipped from red to green in quick succession.


    “This is only going to get worse the longer we stay. Right now, it’s one cop car; you don’t want to wait until there are two or three, or worse, a helicopter! I don’t want us to wind up on national news!” Theseus took one last gulp of beer before returning it to its holder.


    He gripped the thrust levers, watching the dials and lights on the control board. Some stayed red, but they weren’t ones he was worried about, not right now. The important ones flicked to green one after another, and he took a deep breath.


    He was going to be in so much trouble.


    “Prepare for liftoff,” Theseus muttered mostly to himself and slammed the thrust lever forward. The ship lifted off the road and ascending rapidly into the sky, stubby wings unfolding from the sides as it headed up through the cloud cover.


    Behind them, the cop car swerved and stopped, nearly crashing into a fence on the side of the road. The officer stepped out of the car, staring at the ship with his mouth open.


    Oh yeah. Theseus was screwed.


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