FicWad

It was an ordinary day at the Tethe'alla Base. Botta was walking down a hallway, when he noticed something unusual: Sergeant Charles Banfree had his door closed. Usually, Banfree liked to keep tabs on everything that was happening outside, for fear that he would miss something important; needless to say, Botta was curious as to what could override that. He knocked twice on the door as a warning, before letting himself in.

"Everything all right in here, Sergeant?" he asked the young blond officer, noting that the man seemed a bit paler than usual.

"Just fine, Lord Botta!" Banfree said a bit too perkily. His eyes betrayed his nervousness, as he kept glancing underneath his desk.

Botta raised one eyebrow, and looked around the office. Nothing seemed particularly unusual...except...

He moved to the back corner of the office and picked up the slightly-ragged pink blanket that was lying there. "I suppose this is yours, then?" he replied neutrally.

"I, uh, er," Banfree stammered, his cheeks turning pink, but before he could explain, he was interrupted by a voice from underneath his desk.

"B'ankie!" said the small voice, and a little girl in a pink dress came out and stood before Botta, her arms reaching up toward the blanket. "B'ankie!" she told him insistently.

Botta blinked at her, and handed her the blanket before she decided to throw a tantrum over it. "And who is this?" he asked the flustered sergeant.

The younger officer had a defeated look about him. "My niece, Michelle. My sister's making me take care of her, just for today. I told her I couldn't, but she's...insistent."

Botta nodded, his expression giving away none of the amusement he felt. He'd been concerned at first that Banfree was doing something that might harm the Renegades, but a small child wouldn't be any more than an inconvenience, especially if she were kept in the office. Botta crouched down to be at eye level with the child. "Hello, Michelle. How have you been doing today?"

Michelle, nervous now, scampered over to her uncle, who pulled her up into his lap. "It's all right, Michelle," Banfree told her soothingly, "This is Lord Botta. Can you say 'hi' to him?"

The girl looked at her uncle, "Boat?"

Banfree flushed, glancing at his superior officer to see if he had taken offense, "No, Michelle. Lord Botta."

"Boat!" the girl cried gleefully.

"No, Lord Botta. Can you say 'Lord Botta' for me?"

Michelle seemed to consider this for a moment, then smiled cheerfully and said, "Low' Boat!"

The sergeant groaned and held his head in one hand, with the other still supporting Michelle. "I'm sorry, Lord Botta," he said apologetically, "She went on a boat ride for the first time the other day."

Botta nodded solemnly, "I understand." He strode toward the door, "Carry on, Sergeant. I'll see if I can have some milk and cookies brought in later."

Banfree blinked, his eyes widening, "Thank you, Lord Botta!"

As Botta left, he was followed into the hallway by Michelle's voice saying "Bye-bye, Low' Boat!"

He kept chuckling all the way to the cafeteria.