Taking A Chance

Mass Murderer

When Keith and Lance came back downstairs, they went and made a coffee then found Shiro, Maria and Jorge in the lounge room. Molly and Enya were in the play pen, and Jaya was on his laptop in one of the arm chairs.

'When did you get here?' asked Keith.

'About the time you two started pawing at each other in front of Maria and me,' Shiro said.

'Oh,' Keith said with a shrug.

Lance turned bright red. 'Oh god.'

'Hmm, excatly,' said Shiro. 'Anyway, I'm not here in my dad capacity. You still have a couple of months of leave before you need to come back to work, but I wanted to talk to you about changing your duties a bit.'

Keith and Lance came and sat on the floor amongst the presents. 'You don't want us training the Paladins?' asked Keith.

'Not full time, no,' said Shiro. 'Alfor's right, you two, and all six of your kids are a link between three races, an important link, especially since we still need to find the last two Paladins. It would certainly be perfect if one was Galran and one Altean.'

'You want us be take on a more diplomatic role,' Keith said.

'Essentially, we would also like to see if there are any Blade members who would be willing to live in the Castle, and go on missions with the Paladin. Their skills would come in useful on missions,' said Shiro. 'Alfor and I understand the Galran hierarchy, so they would still answer to you.'

'Well, I could see it working if those who went were mates,' said Keith, thoughtfully. 'I know of four couples who want to look at starting families. Being in the Castle would allow them to do that, but also continue fighting.'

'We could arrange for a doctor and a midwife to take up positions in the Castle as well,' Shiro mused.

'The Castle will become a mini community,' said Lance. 'Everyone in there is going to have to learn to accept and live with other's traditions.'

'True,' Shiro said, nodding. He eyed Keith.

'You want us to live in the Castle for a while,' said Keith. Shiro didn't say anything. 'You've just back us into a corner. How can I send mates there wanting to have families, when the thought of take my own family on a ship that could go into battle at any time, makes me feel sick.'

'That wasn't my intention,' said Shiro. 'That scares me too, and I know it doesn't help, but it's only for a couple of months.'

'No, it doesn't help,' Keith snapped.

'There are other kids on board,' said Shiro. 'The Altean's have a daycare and school area set up, and a teacher at the Garrison has expressed an interest in joining the team.'

'My teacher,' Jaya said.

Shiro nodded. 'He is interested in teaching other races and learning about their curriculum.'

'And all because of Jaya?' asked Lance.

'This family shows that we can get along with other races in the universe,' said Shiro. 'It's opened people's eyes to show them we don't need to be scared of everything out there. Jaya going to school at the Garrison has cause a stir, I'm not going to lie and say all of it has been good, but ninety percent of it has been. He's smart, he's liked by just about every teacher in the school even though they've never taught him, and the kids think he's just wonderful.'

'But they don't play with me,' Jaya said, confused.

'Most kids aren't as outgoing as you,' said Lance. 'They might not know how to come over and ask if you want to play, you might have to be the one that asks. Not everyone will want to, and that's fine, but you won't know until you ask.' He looked at Shiro. 'I'm not sure what I bring to any of this other then being human. Seems like I'm going to get paid for doing nothing.