The Final Storm - Jeff Shaara [207]
Hamishita felt suddenly self-conscious.
“I was told my position as a doctor …”
“Stop. I am teasing you. Must you be so serious? You were the same as a boy, always the wounded one, the one who took offense, the one bitten by the insults. These days I should be the one who never smiles. My army carries the wounds that are far more serious than what an old farmer’s dog could do. You and I carry wounds of happier times. I recall you falling from that old bent cherry tree. You broke an arm, your … left. I think we were both crying, and your father insisted that if there were tears, there had to be blood. I have always remembered that. There was wisdom in his cruelty.”
Hamishita had tried to erase those kinds of memories, was amazed that Hata would recall them.
“If I may ask, Field Marshal, why have you summoned me?”
“Now you insult me. I have known you since we were in playpens, and I can feel your doubt, as though my intentions are dishonorable. My power and my rank causes me to be despised by everyone in my command, and today I merely seek out the company of an old friend. And would you please stop referring to me as field marshal? I need not be reminded that I command the entire Second General Army. But out there, this vast army that obeys my orders, there are not more than a handful of men who even know my familiar name. The emperor knows nothing of ten-year-olds making mischief in a farmer’s barn, or stealing cherries from an old lady’s orchard. I treasure those times, innocence and joy. Broken bones and dog bites. Very soon I shall enjoy that again, in another place. Those memories shall become reality again, as shall the best part of family. There shall no longer be sacrifice and pain and blood. Is that not what you wish as well? Would you not relish climbing that cherry tree? This time I would try to catch you.”
Hamishita stopped eating, was uncomfortable now, began to see a hint of madness in the field marshal’s rant.
“I … would very much like to enjoy my childhood again. Very much. But those days are gone. I have more … adult duties to perform. We all do.”
“For now. Do not think for one moment that I do not take my duties here very seriously. I am honored the emperor chooses me for such a task. I spent so much time in his palace, enduring the twittering of all those neutered birds who flutter around him, so very careful not to say anything that might cause his heart rate to rise one extra beat. For so long the emperor treated me the same way, flowery kindness, rewarding my grand career with promises of great, lofty positions. Prime minister! How about that? If I had accepted that, then I too could become one of the fragile little birds. But I am a soldier. Forty-five years in this army, Okiro. That’s why I am here. There cannot be much more time and I must fulfill my duty the best way I know how. That is why they despise me, of course. I make them work. But the emperor does not control my every waking moment, and he cannot tell me that, for one pleasant pause in my day, I cannot spend my time with a very old friend, sharing a simple lunch.”
Hamishita made a short bow of his head.
“Please accept my apologies. But you are too famous and too powerful in this world for me to treat you as the boy I knew in Fukushima. You are a great hero to Japan. I know of your accomplishments, your career. I was so very proud of you, I cannot just toss that aside. When I learned you were coming here, I did not dare think you would even recall who I am.”
“We all have our heroes, Doctor. I have followed your career as well. A long life in the army has its rewards, including sources of information. Look at you. You heal what I destroy. There is honor in that, far beyond what a soldier is trained to do.” He paused, more serious now. “I was sent to Hiroshima to fortify the city, to add one more bastion to what will become the emperor’s impregnable fortress. Such a duty does not result in friends, Okiro. At the castle, even now, they lurk in corners and curse my name, because I