Before the Battle

Family Name 15/17

There was complete silence in the room.

My mother was staring at me with a determined look on her face, Tamiko standing next to her. My sister's lips were slightly quivering, her eyes were red, but I could not see a single tear in them. She was trying to look brave.

"When will they arrive?" Our mother finally spoke in a calm voice.

"It's hard to say," came from Shira, leaning against the wall next to the swinging door to the garden.

"Half an hour, maybe an hour," the black-haired warrior replied with a shrug, clutching his katana, which he hadn't put down for a second. It was as if the sword gave him a sense of security. Even more than the two firearms he also carried.

"Probably less," Kioshi objected. He sounded anxious, but it seemed that Maya was more the cause of his nervousness than the approaching Division.

"How well are the weapons hidden? Maybe they won't find them," I wondered.

"They wouldn't find them in a random search," my mother said, "but if they know what they're looking for, they'll find them."

Again an oppressive silence fell.

Matsuo did not accompany us back, but returned to the camp to report the news to his commander. Before he left, I warned him several times to avoid the Resistance soldiers and not to engage in battle.

"Tell us about this Satoshi. What's he like?" Maya asked Shira.

"Isao is a great strategist. Confident, arrogant. He's probably hiding nearby, his people watching us all the time while he pulls the strings."

I remembered the tracks we had found. Had Satoshi's people left them there?

"He will anticipate our moves and try to bring his plan to a successful conclusion. At any cost. It's a challenge for him, a matter of honour. He wants to prove that he's better than us."

Shira fell silent, as did the rest of us. Everyone wondered if this information would help us in any way, but no one came up with any brilliant ideas.

"Checkmate," Maya spoke into the dead silence.

I looked at my family helplessly. The trembling Tamiko looked at me for the first time as she had done so long ago; at the older brother who had always helped her and kept her out of trouble. My mother didn't bat an eye, but my mother was a strong woman.

"I won't allow the soldiers to enter the house," I said, and everyone turned to me as if on cue. "I will stop them."

"How are you going to stop them?" Shira asked.

"I am the supreme commander of the Resistance Army. When I order them to retreat, they must obey."

I noticed a glimmer of hope in my sister's eyes. Mother and Kioshi also gave me a surprised look. But Maya and Shira looked doubtful.

"Marat has the warrant to search the house," the young doctor reminded me. "You will have to go against the Council's order."

And Shira didn't like it any better. "You don't know the situation among the soldiers. You don't know what Marat has told them. And unless he's a complete idiot, he'll bring the most loyal with him," he assessed the situation. "These soldiers may not listen to you. On the contrary. They may turn against you. They may capture you. Or worse."

"If we don't do anything, I'll end up in handcuffs anyway. I have nothing to lose."

He didn't like that, I could tell by the expression on his face, but he finally nodded hesitantly, "OK, let's try it."