Of course I don't own any of these characters – just having fun with them. (And I borrowed klah from Anne McAffrey). txm

+ + + + + A New Assistant is Requested

"He's gone bat-shit crazy!"

It came over the intercom and was the first clue that there was any problem in the Lab. It was followed closely by a red alert sounding.

The bridge went into full defcom posture trying to get information on exactly what was happening in the center of the ship. That first call had come up from Lieutenant Booth. He had simply been walking by to the Lab when he heard the disturbance. He had first called for a medic, then sounded the alarm, then called for back-up.

Booth called in a second report, "Ensign Boyd had been thrown out of the Lab, I mean really thrown out! I can hear things being tossed about, exploded, lord knows what inside the Lab. Anybody who has tried to get in there is being stopped at the door, sir! He's gone off the deep end! Nobody can get near him!"

Captain Nolen sighed. He reminded himself that he had thought this assignment was going to be a piece of cake. What the hell had he been thinking? Premier scientist, maybe. Raving lunatic, definitely.

Nolen got the next call in from his security officer who had high-tailed it down to the Lab immediately after the red alert was sounded. "Permission to kick his alien ass, sir?" It was Lieutenant Commander Swan.

He signed once more before replying, "Have at it Swan. Try not to hurt him."

"Yes sir."

Nolen looked around his bridge. Since the alien scientist had come aboard it had been one temper tantrum after another. He hadn't been satisfied with the temperature of his room. They had tried to adjust it, but it was still too cold for him. He hadn't liked the food. They made some accommodations to the food service program to get him something he could eat, but he still complained it was awful. He had to have an assistant. Sharp, young Ensign Boyd had volunteered to work with him and now she had been bodily thrown out of the lab.

"Graham," Nolen looked at this second in command. "You have the bridge. I'm going down."

Graham didn't bother to keep his smile to himself. "Yes sir. Be careful sir."

Nolen rode the levelator down and across to the Lab. When he stepped into the hallway outside of the Lab, he saw Lieutenant Commander Swan go flying out of the Lab doors (which looked like they had been exploded in an outward blast) and slam into the opposing wall. She shook herself, vaulted up, said a swear word and ran back into the Lab. He was impressed with her stamina. That hit would've taken out many of the men under his command, but there was a reason why this petite blonde woman had made it as his security chief. She could take a punch.

He took a deep breath and stepped into the breach.

"Gold!" he called out. The room was in shambles, furniture turned over, broken instruments, liquids seeping out and into each other. Swan had flung herself onto alien scientist's back and was in the process of taking him down. She had somehow managed to get cuffs on one of his hands and was using some sort of pressure hold on him to pull back his other hand into the second cuff. He was swearing a blue streak at her, threatening her, spitting at her. Not exactly the happy camper.

"Gold," he called out again. "What is it this time?"

"Get this she-devil off of me!" the demented scientist was demanding.

"Swan, get down," he could see that she was already actually in the process of letting the alien go, having successfully handcuffed him.

"Yes sir," she said, and promptly distanced herself from the ranting, raving, infuriated alien scientist.

"Let me go, Captain. This is totally uncalled for. An extreme over-reaction from your crew," he seethed, shifting himself around, trying to get out of the cuffs.

"When you calm down and tell me what happened," Nolen directed. He often felt like he was dealing with a brilliant, but totally spoiled, three year old when he dealt with the scientist. He tried to keep his voice low and reasonable.

Gold closed his eyes which had turned black, his reptilian skin glittering as he took deep breaths trying to calm himself. When he opened his eyes, they were back to his usual brown. "It's been a series of disasters. That ignorant, incompetent piece of twat you assigned me as an assistant has been a total catastrophe. She can't follow one-step commands, doesn't know her way around the Lab and absolutely cannot make klah."

Nolen nodded, "Can't make klah?" Gold was referring to the noxious beverage he preferred over tea or coffee that required a seven step process to produce. "Well, I'll have her keel-hauled in the morning. Why didn't you just ask for a new assistant?"

"Well, that's what I'm doing now," Gold sneered at him, seeming determined to be as uncooperative as he could be. "Your superiors will not be happy with how you've been treating me. They are expecting me to be successful with this project and I will have to tell them that you have repeatedly failed to cooperate with even the most simple requests."

Nolen had heard this particular rant before. "Your room temperature is not acceptable?"

"Still frigid."

"Food ok?" Nolan had asked him this question upteen times before.

"Paste and bug spray."

"And you need a new assistant?" Just to have things clarified.

"I thought I had made that quite clear."

"I'll get to work on it." Nolan promised him.

"Oh, I already have someone in mind," Gold told him with just a hint of smugness.

"Damn." Nolen did not think this could be good.

"Let me out of these cuffs and I'll show you," He lifted his hands away from his backside for Swan to unlock them. She glanced at her captain, who nodded. She unlocked him, turning him around and letting him see her pocket the cuffs.

"Bitch," he said to her.

"Crazy man," she replied.

"Not a man," he told her waving his long green-gold fingers with their blackened nails at her.

Swan was about to retort, when Nolen interrupted. "All right you two." He knew they could both keep it up all day and he didn't have all day. "OK, Swan, you can get back on your regular duty. Thank you."

As she walked by him, he said quietly to her, "Check on Boyd. Give me a report on what happened."

"Yes sir. You'll be ok, sir?"

"Absolutely," he assured her and stood by while she walked out the door. He knew she had turned and made a face at Gold, but he didn't actually see anything so he didn't make a response. These two were already getting a history together; he didn't want to abet it along. He turned back to the scientist, "All right Gold. Who do you want for your new assistant?"

Gold was still sulking, rubbing his wrists. "That woman is a menace. She could have hurt me."

"She was doing her job. Who do you want for your new assistant?"

"I need someone who is very bright, has some lab experience. . ."

Nolen finished, "And knows how to make klah."

Gold smirked at him, "Actually, I wouldn't expect that anyone on your crew would know how to make klah. It requires a level of training, skill and palate sophistication I have yet to encounter in a human. I will settle for intelligence and experience."

He walked over to his computer screen and tapped a few keys. He stood back so that Nolen would have a clear view of the screen. "I want her," he pointed to the screen.

Nolen was taken aback. He had several questions and some serious concerns. "How did you get that picture? Did you break into our personnel files?"

Gold rolled his eyes, "Like it was hard."

"This woman is too valuable, too precious, to spend time wiping up your spills. She is on special assignment, redoing our computer files and systems, cataloging and systematically arranging every piece of knowledge we carry."

"Yes, yes, her training has been superb. She also has the highest test scores of anyone on board your ship, including you, captain, and, just as important, she has worked as a lab assistant in college on a transmutation project similar to the one I'm working on. I want her."

"And if you don't get her."

Gold gave him one of his grim smiles. "Well, I guess I'll be going."

Hell, the alien knew that he had given him no choice. "All right. I'll get her reassigned. But if you aren't happy with her, just let me know. Give me a call. You don't have to destroy the Lab."

Gold considered, "Deal, Captain. I get her and I will let you know if I want a change."

+ + + + + + Reassignment

Lieutenant Belle French was used to working alone. She preferred working alone. She got so much more done working alone. After years of doing a variety of strange, odd jobs for the Service, she had finally gotten her dream job – re-cataloging the entire files of a ship's stored knowledge, cross-referencing, locking down pieces, organizing. Every book. Every magazine. Every pamphlet. Every snippet of information. She knew that most people would have found the job deadly dull, but she liked how things looked when they fell into place, when everything got all tidied up. It was immensely satisfying. She didn't even hear the captain when he came into her little office, so intent was she on her work.

"Lieutenant," he cleared his throat.

She startled. "Yes sir." She quickly rose to attention, acutely aware that she was not exactly in uniform.

"Please, please stay seated, Lieutenant."

"Yes sir. Is something wrong?" It was the first thing she thought of, he seemed so somber and serious. Had something happened with her father, her fiancé?

"I'm going to have to re-assign you," the captain told her.

"Sir?"

"I have another assignment for you, Lieutenant. I know this is not what you were brought aboard for and I'm sorry, but some things have changed and you've been requested for this other job."

She couldn't quite hide her disappointment. So much for her dream job. Well it was good while it lasted. "Yes sir."

"You're familiar with Doctor Gold, the alien scientist we picked up a couple of weeks ago."

"Absolutely, sir. He's the leading researcher on transmutation, working most recently, I think, with the Sugar Diamond Project."

"You are quite well informed," Nolen was surprised and pleased with his Information Officer. The Sugar Diamond Project was top secret.

"Well, my job is to be well informed, sir."

"Of course. Anyway, he has not been happy with the first assistant that we assigned him and . . . he has requested you." Nolen sounded like he had something that tasted badly in his mouth.

"Me? How would he know anything about me?" Belle kept to herself, was new aboard the vessel and wasn't all that well known among the crew. She had just had time to make a couple of friends. For the scientist to have requested her made her uncomfortable. Just a little creepy.

"He apparently broke into our personnel files."

"That was who broke in!" Lieutenant French exclaimed. "I mean, sir, I had found some footprints and knew someone had hacked in, but they hadn't done any damage. I had to go back in and re-encrypt some things so it wouldn't happen again. " She shook her head. "So, he's requested me? I'm honored, I guess."

"Listen French. Gold may be brilliant, but he's erratic and unstable. If you start feeling uncomfortable, immediately let me know. He'll try to bully you and, it's just possible, he may try to charm you. I've not seen it so far, but I've been told he can be quite pleasant and accommodating . . . when he wants something."

"Yes captain. I've been around both aliens and these scientist-types before. I think I understand what I'm dealing with."

"I sure hope so. Good going, Lieutenant. He's expecting you to report to him in the Lab."

"Right now?" Belle couldn't help the dismay from showing in her voice.

"Sorry, Lieutenant. He's trashed the place and nothing more is going to happen there until you show up."

"Yes sir," she said wanly. "I'll close out what I'm doing and head on down. Give me about ten minutes."

Nolen nodded at her, feeling a bit sorry for the young lieutenant. She was new to his command but had come to him with the highest recommendations. She was quiet, kept to herself and did her job. He hoped he wasn't throwing her to the lions, or at least to one very mean lion.

A.N. Short intro chapter. Hope people enjoyed it. Of course you will be seeing Snow White, Queen Regina, Ruby Red and the Mad Hatter, but they're about two chapters away.

Next: Belle is out of uniform

What happened late at night in the Lab

Belle tries to get fired.