Walking casually past the house he had been told was his target's, Genghis took in as much of the surroundings as he could. The first thing he noted was the distance the ranch home had from its neighbors. It was clear that the people in this neighborhood enjoyed their privacy. That could prove to be an advantage for him.
However, as he past the driveway, and glanced to the front door of the residence, he noted two men on the front porch. Though only one of them was in uniform, Genghis had no doubt that the two were guards of some sort. Their presence definitely complicated matters.
Not breaking stride, Genghis continued on down the street contemplating his options. He could still find a place to hide and keep the residence under surveillance. If he could figure out the pattern of the changing guards and the comings and goings of the family, then he could formulate a plan.
However, given the quiet nature of this neighborhood, it would be hard to blend in. Chances were, when the authorities started asking questions, the neighbors who didn't seem to be around would remember seeing an unfamiliar person hanging around the house. They would probably even be able to give a fair description of him.
That was an outcome that he couldn't afford.
No, carrying out his plan at the target's home was not going to be possible. He would need to figure out another opportunity.
As he walked casually down the road, trying not to look out of place, Genghis knew that he would be visiting the bar again. With any luck, he would find the same group of off-world Nietzscheans that he had the previous conversations with. If not, perhaps he could find another source of information. Either way, the bar, with its inebriated patrons, was the best location for him to be asking questions about local events.
He would find another opportunity, the perfect opportunity, to carry out his task. All he needed to be was patient so that he didn't make any careless mistakes.
Reaching an intersection, Genghis turned right, down another road. He planned on walking to a while before turning back in the direction of the main part of the city. The last thing he wanted was to be seen walking past the same houses twice.
After making sure the two older children were tucked into bed, Telemachus paused at the door to his youngest's room. Pushing the door open slowly, he peeked into the room to check on Artemis. The little girl was still sleeping, her favorite teddy bear hugged close to her.
Quietly, so as not to disturb her, Telemachus pulled the door shut leaving it open a crack. With all three kids now in bed, he returned to the main living area of the house to find his wife dusting. Despite her nap earlier that afternoon, Jillian still looked tired to him.
Walking over to his wife, Telemachus took the duster from her hand and set it aside. Jillian looked up at him questioningly but didn't say anything.
"You've done enough for the day," Telemachus said, gently but firmly. "The dust is not going to go anywhere overnight."
Jillian gave him a tired smile. "Perhaps you're right," she conceded.
Taking her hand, Telemachus led her to the couch. He took a seat on one end of it, and Jillian settled down next to him. As Telemachus found something to watch, Jillian settled her head on his chest.
"It's been nice to have you around the house all day," she commented.
"Is that your way of telling me I need to take more time off?" Telemachus asked, as he ran his fingers through his wife's hair.
"Perhaps," Jillian replied. "Though I understand the long hours. I understand the sense of duty that keeps you with the Home Guard so long, doing what is necessary to keep Tarazed safe and help it and the Commonwealth recover from the war. You wouldn't be the man I love without it, but that doesn't mean I miss you any less."
"I miss you and the children as well," he assured her, careful not to make any promises that he wasn't sure he could keep. If he won the upcoming election, chances were, he would be around less not more. Still, he made a silent promise to himself to not let his sense of duty to the Commonwealth push aside his duty to his family. The two were of equal importance. Figuring out how to balance the two was going to be the challenge.
But for the night, all Telemachus wanted to do was enjoy the quiet time with his wife. Pushing all other thoughts aside, he looked down at Jillian. Again he was stuck with how tired she looked.
"Are you feeling okay?"
Jillian gave him a weak smile, as she looked up at him. "I'm just feeling a little tired. I'll be fine," she assured him.
"Perhaps you're the one that needs some time off, what with looking after the kids and the house, and me," Telemachus told her. "You know, I won't yell if once in awhile I came home to an untidy house and a wife resting on the couch. I'd even be willing to get dinner on occasion."
"Don't you mean ordering something for dinner? The last time you tried to cook dinner we had an impromptu fire drill."
"As long as the kids get fed, who cares if I get it from some restaurant," Telemachus countered, not even trying to defend his cooking skills. He knew they left something to be desired. If it couldn't be cooked on a grill, then he probably shouldn't even attempt it. "Cooking isn't a skill the military teaches. All kidding aside though, if you need to take things easy for a day or two, then do it. I don't want you making yourself sick."
Jillian reached up and placed a hand against her husband's cheek.
"I'll be fine," she assured him. "Though perhaps a little more rest for a little while may be necessary. It's been a chaotic few months."
"Longer than that really. I never intended to leave you alone with the kids as long as I did. Perhaps I never should have stayed onboard Andromeda."
"And you being in jail on Tarazed would have been better?" Jillian countered. "I don't blame you for what took place. Tri-Lorn told me what was going on. He assured me that things would work out eventually and he was right. Don't feel guilty for being away for the last year. You were where you needed to be. I understood that, and I made sure the children understood that as well."
"I chose well when I chose you to be my mate."
"As did I, husband," Jillian told him, finally lowering her hand. Resting her head on Telemachus' chest again, Jillian closed her eyes, taking comfort in the close proximity of her husband. She knew moments like this were too few and far between not to take advantage of.
As he focused his attention on the program he had put on, Telemachus listened as his wife's breathing evened out. He felt relief knowing that she was getting the rest she visibly needed, though he still worried that there was something that she was not telling him.
Or perhaps Jillian was just tired. She was entitled to it after what she had been through. His wife had to be strong for their three children while wondering if they would ever see him again. Tri-Lorn had offered them protection, but she had confessed to worrying about whether she could even trust the triumvir with everything that was going. However, she'd felt she had no other choice after hearing about the Commonwealth putting out a warrant for his arrest.
Jillian was entitled to some time off herself, but she had been fulfilling her role as the glue that held their family together since his returned. Perhaps they all needed a break from reality. A day or two just to be with one another.
The problem was, he wasn't sure how to make that happen at this time.
While Telemachus had been lost in his thoughts, the sun had finished setting. Other than the light from the screen he was watching, the room was dark. Still using him as a pillow, Jillian slept peacefully and he wasn't about to disturb that sleep just to turn a light on.
However, the sound of breaking glass soon disturbed the sleep Telemachus hadn't wanted to. Even as Jillian sat up beside him, Telemachus was already trying to determine the source of the sound. As he spotted a glass bottle, a lighted cloth sticking from the neck of the bottle, by the livingroom window, the sound of another broken window sounded elsewhere in the house.
"Get the fire extinguisher," Telemachus told his wife as the front door opened and the guard assigned to him by Tri-Lorn came in.
"The men from the Homeguard are pursuing the trespassers. Are you okay?"
Before Telemachus could answer, another voice caught his attention.
"Papa! Fire!"
The panicked cry came from Artemis, and Telemachus remembered the second sound. Realizing that it must have been in his daughter's room, he rushed in that direction even as the guard came past him with the fire extinguisher he had taken from Jillian to take care of the flaming bottle in the livingroom.
Reaching Artemis' room, Telemachus pushed open the door to find Artemis sitting up in bed, her teddy bear still clutched close. The little girl's attention was on the window across the room from her bed, where flames were consuming the curtains. Telemachus cast barely a glance in that direction as he crossed over to the bed.
"It's okay," Telemachus told his daughter as he scooped her up from the bed. Turning, he headed out of the room, wanting to know his daughter was safe before dealing with the fire.
"Papa, what's going on?"
The panicked question came from Riley, as both she and Sirius were in the hallway as Telemachus stepped out of the room. From a quick glance, his two older kids seemed to be unharmed but scared. The fear was clear on their face.
Unfortunately, Telemachus didn't know how to answer his eldest's question as he wasn't quite sure what was going on himself. He had a strong suspicion though that it was related to his bid for third triumvir.
"Where's the other fire?" the guard asked coming from the direction of the livingroom, fire extinguisher in hand.
"In there," Telemachus told him, nodding over his shoulder to Artemis' room. "Let's go join your mother," he told the other two children.
Telemachus waited for Riley and Sirius to walk past him, and then followed his two oldest children. As they came from the hallway into the livingroom, Jillian rushed to the two older children from where she had been standing by the kitchen counter.
"Are you okay?" Jillian asked them, even as she pulled them both into a tight embrace.
"Yeah," both children replied, wrapping their arms around their mother as the front door opened again.
"Sir, is everyone okay?" Lt. Ashmore asked as he spotted Rhade standing with his family.
"Yes, Lt." Telemachus replied, as he rubbed his youngest daughter's back, who was now crying, her head buried in the crook of his neck. "Everyone's just a little shook up but no one's hurt."
"Glad to hear it, sir. I regret to tell you that we only caught one of the perpetrators. We spotted at least three other people fleeing the property, but Jenkins and myself couldn't catch them. Jenkins is calling headquarters to have someone come pick up the guy that we did catch."
"Thank-you, Lieutenant," Telemachus replied.
"I checked the rest of the house, sir," the other guard said coming up behind Telemachus. "There were no other windows broken. The fire damage appears minimal."
"I don't want to stay here tonight," Jillian said, her arms still around Riley and Sirius.
Telemachus met his wife's gaze and read the fear there. The same fear that he had heard in both his daughters' voices moments ago. Taking a few steps to close the distance between, Telemachus reached out and put and arm around Jillian's shoulders, the closest he could come to embracing her, given their kids.
"I'll figure something out," Telemachus told her softly.
He couldn't blame her. If Telemachus was honest with himself, he knew he didn't want his family staying here tonight either. The safety of their home had been breeched tonight. Though the physical damage to their home had been minor, the disruption to their sense of security, had taken a major blow.
Telemachus knew it was up to him to restore that sense of security. However, he knew it wasn't going to be done tonight. He wondered if it could ever be accomplished. They were fears that he knew he couldn't voice in front of his wife and children. Right now, the most important thing, was that he be strong for them.
"Let me through Jenkins, or retired or not, I'll make sure you're brought up on some kind of charges," came a gruff voice from outside.
It was a voice that Telemachus recognized immediately.
With Artemis' arms still wrapped tightly about his neck, Telemachus moved to the front door, aware the Tri-Lorn's guard was right behind him. Reaching past, Ashmore, Telemachus opened the front door. Outside, Lt. Jenkins stood on the front steps, gun trained on a figure with his hands bound behind his back, while blocking the path of retired Admiral Raymond Khalid, great-great-great-grandson of the former captain of the Starry Wisdom who had helped Sarah Riley found Tarazed. The retired admiral also happened to live across the street, and like many of the neighbors was wondering what was going on.
Beside Admiral Khalid, her arm looped through his, stood the general's wife Millicent.
"Let them through, Lieutenant," Telemachus said, relieved to see his neighbor, and mentor.
"Yes, sir," the off duty Homeguard officer replied, stepping aside, though he still kept an eye on the figure that Telemachus assumed was the trespasser Ashmore had said they had caught.
The only thing keeping Telemachus from rushing out and demanding answers of the man was the fact that he still had Artemis in his arms.
Admiral Khalid and his wife moved past Jenkins and up the steps.
"Is everyone okay?" Khalid asked.
"Physically, yes," Telemachus told him. "We had a couple of crude fire bombs tossed through some windows but no one was injured."
"Good to hear," Khalid replied, as Millicent let go of his arm and proceeded into the house.
Watching Millicent disappear into the house sent a wave of relief through Telemachus. He knew Jillian needed some support right now, and he knew the older woman would be a comfort to her.
"Are there more men on the way?" Khalid asked, the question directed at Jenkins.
"Yes, sir," the young soldier replied. "The first thing we did was call the situation in."
"Very good," Khalid replied, glancing down the street. Seeing approaching headlights, the retired admiral figured the press was finally arriving on the scene. He was thankful he had locked the front gate when he came through. Though no one on the street made a habit of locking their gates, the neighborhood being a safe one, right now it would be effective to control the media.
"Go back inside, Telemachus," Khalid said, knowing that the media was the last thing Tarazed's current commander of the Home Guard needed to be dealing with right then. "I'll help Jr. here keep a lid on things until reinforcements arrived."
"Thank-you," Telemachus replied, not feeling at all up to dealing with the press right then. Nor did he want to put Artemis in the spotlight.
Turning to head back inside, Telemachus was not at all surprised to find his shadow standing in the doorway. As he walked into the house, Telemachus admitted to himself that he was thankful Tri-Lorn had insisted on assigning the guard to him. He was also thankful to his men for wanting to help out. He was grateful for their help tonight, and planned on being more open to their presence after this.