It was an unprepared situation. Shakhai was terrified.
"Pema, be careful," he yelled.
"Shakhai, just stay behind me," Pema instructed.
Intruders were coming towards them, dangling their knives. Their faces were covered with helmets. Each of them wore a heavy metallic war-suit—red, blue, green suits.
Shakhai hid behind Pema. Pema stood straight, hands in a defensive position. She inhaled and read their movement. She focused, as she knew when the intruders would start to dash towards them.
They dashed at the couple. Three-to-two was a very terrible match, moreover, one of the two was not a fighter. Pema tsked.
Two of them (red and green suited) attacked Pema from both side, while the third one headed for Shakhai. Pema clenched at them. She used a blocking technique to nullify their attack and then kicked one while punching the other attacker.
She moved to protect Shakhai. But the intruder had two knives in both hands. He swung the right knife at her, but she caught his hand. Then he moved the other one, but Pema caught that also with her other hand. As soon as she kicked on his ball, the intruder clinched. Then she stumped his head on the near table. And he fell unconscious.
The other two joined the fight again, but with guns. They both shot at them two times. Pema tried and made a successive dodge with Shakhai. Then they got out of the room and stomped the door. But those two intruders came breaking through the door.
The green-suited intruder went to siege the kids' room.
"No, you cannot!" Pema grabbed his hand and looked at him with red eyes. "HOW DARE YOU THINK OF HARMING MY SONS?"
She twisted his wrist and punched his stomach. As soon as he lost his balance, Pema furiously kicked him. This act made him fly and got down to the down-stair.
Then, she quickly moved and slapped the red-suited attacker. She jerked him up and down. She went downstairs, pulling him down by rubbing him with the stairs. She threw him beside the other attacker, who was groaning then.
"AAA!"
A sudden cry surprised Shakhai and Pema. It was the blue-suited intruder, who had been unconscious but had now come to consciousness. He dashed at her, completely ignoring Shakhai.
"Pema!" Shakhai yelled from upstairs. It wasn't the yell for wariness but rather a call not to do roughly. He was scared that they would have to see the death of three people after just coming to Boduin.
The third intruder ran at her with his knives. He tried to slash around her neck, but she blocked with her bare hand.
"I was trained in martial arts since I was ten. My father taught me for twelve years. Do you really think you can win against me?" Pema said.
"I don't need any special training to win against you—I've courage. Courage is our weapon. Courage is the greatest weapon," the intruder said. Then, he recited a poem.
"One night I wake up,
And see the flames in my yard.
A revolution born in my heart;
My soul is for rebellion,
My blood is for rebellion."
He clenched at her, and she clenched back. They threw a series of attacks at each other.
"Stop!" Shakhai yelled at them, but they ignored him like kids ignore their parents. They continued their fight. "I am saying—STOP!"
Pema went to throw a deadly punch until Shakhai grabbed her hand. He looked at her eyes with determination and caringly said, "Pema, please."
The blue-suited intruder took this chance and dashed at them with his knives. But Pema sensed it already. So she did a roundhouse kick at his head. This act made him unconscious again.
"I've told you not to do anything," Shakhai was disappointed. "Why? Why didn't you listen to me?"
"What did you want me to do then? Just be straight and let them harm us—harm our children? Kill our whole family?" Pema yelled.
"Didn't you listen to what he was reciting?" Shakhai pointed at the blue-suited intruder. "A rebellious poem. Pema, they are rebels. They are fighting for this planet's environment. If we can talk with them and let them know that we are here to protect Boduin, we can come to a negotiation with rebels."
"Negotiation? With these killers? Have you become mad?"
"Pema, I am telling you this is the only way to peace."
"Didn't you see? They went to harm our kids!" Pema burst.
"Maybe they didn't know that was the room for children," Shakhai tried to calm her. He tilted his head. "Yes! How can they know?"
A pretty logical question. It silenced Pema.
"Pema, good girl, listen to me. Without communication, no one can understand each other. We should talk with them."
Pema took a deep breath and looked at him frustratingly. "But first, tie them till they are unconscious."
Shakhai sighed, but he did what he was told. He brought a rope from the storeroom. He kept the three unconscious bodies together and tied them like tying a tree trunk.
When three of the intruders came to consciousness, they realised they were tied and found Shakhai and Pema standing in front of them. Their masks were removed.
The intruders clenched at them as if they weren't tied, they would finish the couple. With widened eyes, Pema saw their faces.
The red-suited one, who was full-bearded and bald and had a bulky body, had a large cross scar from his bald head to forehead. He was looking at them with the most rageful eyes. Shakhai assumed him as the captain of this team of three.
The blue-suited one, who spent his most time being unconscious, was the palest one. He had so yellowish skin that it was like jaundice. While the green-suited one was the most normal one. No bulkiness, no paleness, no scar, no jaundiced skin, but only neatly combed brown hair and moustache. Moreover, his eyes were the most afraid eyes.
Shakhai coughed and cleared his voice. "So, gentlemen—"
This initiation was enough to make Pema and the intruders astonished. 'Gentlemen? Which gentlemen attack people at late night?'.
"As you know, my wife—" Shakhai pointed at Pema. "Successfully blundered your plan to kill us. Now I think we have the upper hand here."
"Who said you have the upper hand here?" The blue-suited intruder said. "If we don't return in three hours, our men will attack this place."
"Shut up!" The red-suited one barked. "Why are you sharing our plan with our enemy?"
"Well, we can also call sentinaries. And besides, Enemy?" Shakhai calmly said. "We are no enemy. I assume you are the captain here, Mister Scarman. I am telling you I know—we know- why you are rebelling. And believe me, I have the same mission as you—protecting this planet's environment."
"Really?" Scarman scoffed. "How can a capitalist be very thoughtful for nature?"
"Well, I like to identify myself as an industrialist rather than a capitalist. Moreover, I've a strong proof to show you that we are in the same mission."
Shakhai went near to Scarman and brought out a small disc. There was a small button on that disc and Shakhai pressed it. A holographic blueprint of a machine called 'Artificial Ozon Layer Creation' came up.
"I don't know how much technical knowledge you have, but I am explaining to you it is the machine that can protect your planet. House Bharata comes here as a friend, not as a foe," Shakhai was looking at them to find any clue of their thought.
"You don't need to explain to us. We are the Sunshine Raiders. We know technology better than others," the paler one yelled.
"Sunshine Raiders? Interesting," Shakhai murmured.
"If this is true, then—" Scarman couldn't believe his eyes; how could he?
"Yes, Mister Scarman. Now you can tell your people that there is no need to protest anymore, Boduin is going to be saved."
Scarman started to laugh loudly. This kind of act made both Shakhai and Pema surprised. He laughed for a while then said, "I've seen many frauds. Believe me, business people are the legal scammers. And you want me to believe that easily, huh? Oh, Mister Kindman, hear me out. I am not a fool."
"But—but, it's all true!"
"Mister Kindman, even if it's all true, the rebellion will not be stopped. Our paths are different. You think our missions are the same, but this is not at all. We are aiming for bigger one. Not only for nature, not only for Boduin, but for all people, for all commoners."
Shakhai felt something in his heart. It was indescribable. He was stuck to Scarman's eyes.
"No reporter has come to cover this rebellion because the government doesn't want them to. All entertainment industries are being controlled by them. People are deeply influenced by what they see, movies, news, internet, books, the education system, and advertisements. And the government is manipulating these fields for their own benefit. All the business people are in the ministry cabinet, and they are making laws for their capitalistic profits."
Every word was true, and they are striking in their ears. Shakhai was overwhelmed.
"And?" Shakhai whispered.
"The whole system is corrupted. We aim to undo these things. The government is corrupt, so it must be doomed!"
Shakhai felt goosebumps. 'The government is corrupt, so it must be doomed'. This sentence was ringing in his ears. Vivid memories rose. He saw his childhood-self standing on a high stage and surrounded by a group of people. He was the speaker there. He raised his fist and roared; those upper people must be perished!
It was Shakhai of once upon a time. Shakhai remembered what he was. He moved to Pema and said, "Untie them, Pema. They are not those who should be tied. They are revolutionaries."
"What?" Pema surprised.
Pema stared at him strangely, and so did those rebels. Shakhai looked at them and said, "I am untying you, and I will not inform anything about this night to sentinaries. And, of course, you can use the front door to leave."
"But why are you doing this?" The paler one asked.
"Because of your captain, I wake up."
Pema untied them silently. She did not question Shakhai's any action; maybe, she knew why.
After being untied, they picked up their helmets and bowed to Shakhai. Scarman recited the rebel poem.
"One night I wake up,
And see the flames in my yard.
A revolution born in my heart;"
Then they all chanted together, "My soul is for rebellion, my blood is for rebellion."
Perhaps it was their greetings to Shakhai for his new awakening.
The front door was open, and the biting cold wind came inside, making the whole place chilly. Three rebels wore their helmet and went outside. Slowly, they were mixed in the darkness. Pema closed the door.
Shakhai and Pema both sighed.