Captain's log, stardate 5392.4. The Enterprise has been assigned to
escort two robot grain ships to Sherman's Planet, which has been struck
by crop failures and famine. This shipment of seed grain,
quintrotriticale, is necessary to the survival of the colonists. We are
breaking course to Sherman's Planet to investigate what appears to be a
Klingon battle cruiser pursuing some kind of smaller ship. Observation
may confirm a rumour that the Klingons have a new weapon, type so far
unknown.
[Bridge]
SULU: Captain, it is a Klingon ship. Rapidly
closing on its target.
SPOCK: Sensors indicate the smaller vessel is a one-man scout ship of
common design.
SULU: They're firing on him.
(Explosions happen around the little ship)
KIRK: Klingon battle cruiser, identify yourself. Ahead, warp factor
six. Scotty, lock the transporter on that small vessel. We're going to
rescue that pilot.
SCOTT [OC]: Aye, aye, Captain.
[Transporter room]
SCOTT: Locking on.
[Bridge]
(Finally, the Klingons manage to hit the fleeing
ship)
KIRK: Open hailing frequencies. Klingon battle cruiser, identify
yourself. You are violating Federation space. Identify yourself. Stop
firing on scout ship.
(Lots more misses)
KIRK: Arm all phasers. Deflector shields up.
SULU: Phasers armed. Shields up.
KIRK: Ahead warp factor eight. Klingon battle cruiser, identify
yourself.
(At last, they blow up the scout ship)
SULU: They got him.
KIRK: Scotty, have you got that pilot yet?
SCOTT [OC]: I don't know, sir.
[Transporter room]
SCOTT: That Klingon (mutter). That blast
decalibrated the integration parameters.
[Bridge]
SULU: Captain.
(The Klingon ship is coming straight for them. Red Alert sounds. A
wibbly energy field is fired at Enterprise)
KIRK: The new weapon. Spock?
SPOCK: Some kind of field effect, Captain. It will hit us in precisely
four seconds. It produces a most remarkable (the weapon hits)
disruption.
[Transporter room]
SCOTT: Now, what
(He mutters and works the controls)
[Bridge]
SULU: Our engines are dead.
SPOCK: Captain, we have been hit by a kind of projected stasis field.
Our matter-antimatter generators are disabled. We are paralysed.
KIRK: Fire phasers.
SULU: The phasers don't work, sir.
SPOCK: The photon torpedoes will not respond, either. The stasis field
disables all higher-order field and warp functions.
UHURA: Well, we could always throw rocks.
SPOCK: This new Klingon weapon must be one of surprising power if it
can immobilize a starship. The energy drain on the Klingon ship would
be enormous.
KIRK: Scotty, did you get that pilot?
SCOTT [OC]: I got him in the beam, sir.
[Transporter room]
SCOTT: But I can't integrate him. The system's
been discoordinated.
UHURA: Captain, I have a message coming in, sir.
KIRK: Put it on the viewscreen.
KOLOTH [on viewscreen]: Ah, Captain Kirk.
KIRK: Release my ship.
KOLOTH [on viewscreen]: I'd be delighted to, Captain Kirk, if you will
turn over the pilot of the little ship.
KIRK: That ship was a Federation-built craft. The pilot is under our
protection.
KOLOTH [on viewscreen]: He has committed ecological sabotage. If I have
to take him by force, I will.
KIRK: The first Klingon to step aboard this ship will be the last
Klingon. Full security alert, Mister Spock.
KOLOTH [on viewscreen]: I'm afraid, Captain Kirk, you'll find your
phasers no longer work, nor any of your weapons.
UHURA: Mister Spock, I'm losing contact with our robot ships. They're
not held by the stasis field and they're moving out of range.
KIRK: What was that? Lieutenant, cut off that frequency.
UHURA: Yes, sir. (Koloth is cut off) The robot ships, they're moving
off.
KIRK: They still have power? We still control them?
SULU: Affirmative, sir.
KIRK: Bring them back, Mister Sulu. Have them ram the Klingon ship.
SPOCK: Captain, you can't afford to lose that grain.
KIRK: I can afford even less to lose the Enterprise. Open the hailing
frequency again, Lieutenant. Captain Koloth. I'm going to give you one
last chance to release the Enterprise.
KOLOTH [on viewscreen]: You're going to give me one chance? (he gets
the message about the ships) It won't work, Captain Kirk.
(transmission ends)
KIRK: It will work, or he'd still be gloating. Bring the robot ships in
from two different angles, Mister Sulu.
(The Klingons fire two more stasis beams)
SPOCK: Incredible. The amount of energy that field must require.
(The new beams fail to reach their targets, then they all fail and
Enterprise is free)
SPOCK: They couldn't maintain the stasis field.
KIRK: Keep your phasers locked on target, Mister Sulu. Hold your fire
until they fire first.
SULU: Aye, sir. Phasers locked on.
(The Klingons fire at a robot ship)
SPOCK: Apparently their battle capacity is down. They only damaged it.
SULU: They're veering off.
SPOCK: Sensors indicate their power cells are almost exhausted. They
probably don't have the strength for a prolonged battle now.
KIRK: Scotty, can you integrate that pilot now?
[Transporter room]
SCOTT: I think so, Captain.
KIRK [OC]: We'll be right there.
[Bridge]
KIRK: Call McCoy to the Transporter room. Spock.
[Transporter room]
KIRK: Have you got him?
SCOTT: Just putting him together now, sir.
(A chubby figure solidifies, together with three piles of small pink
fluffy objects)
KIRK: I think we know that man.
SPOCK: It appears to be
MCCOY: I don't want to think about it.
KIRK: Cyrano Jones!
SCOTT: And he's got tribbles with him. Tribbles!
Captain's log, supplemental. Our rescue effort has
given us some knowledge of the new Klingon weapon and the presence of
Cyrano Jones, intergalactic trader and general nuisance.
[Transporter room]
JONES: Captain Kirk. Friend Kirk.
KIRK: Seal off the area, Ensign. You know the law about transporting
animals proven harmful.
JONES: Captain, these are safe tribbles.
MCCOY: There's no such thing as a safe tribble.
SPOCK: A safe tribble would be a contradiction in terms. Tribbles are
well known for their proclivities in multiplication.
JONES: And they breed fast, too. And that's why these tribbles are
safe. They don't reproduce.
MCCOY: Don't reproduce?
JONES: I've had them genetically engineered for compatibility with
humanoid ecologies. See how friendly and loveable they are? And not a
baby in the bunch. They're great pets and profitable, too.
KIRK: Jones, how did you get away from Space Station K7? You were
supposed to clean up all the tribbles there.
JONES: Oh, well, I managed a short parole. I found some help. This is a
tribble predator. It's called a glommer.
(He holds up a pyramid-shaped thing with four legs, six horns and two
eyes on long stalks)
JONES: Watch.
(The glommer pounces over a tribble, and we don't get to see the
details)
MCCOY: Well, at least it's neat.
KIRK: Why were the Klingons chasing you, Jones?
JONES: How should I know? Klingons have notoriously bad tempers.
SPOCK: That may be true, but they rarely enter Federation space and
fire on Federation vessels without reason.
KIRK: They did mention ecological sabotage.
JONES: Me? A saboteur? Ridiculous.
KIRK: Captain Koloth was pretty emphatic.
JONES: It was such a little thing. I can't understand at all why they
got upset.
KIRK: What did you do?
JONES: I only sold them some tribbles.
KIRK: You sold tribbles on a Klingon planet?
JONES: Well, I didn't know it was a Klingon planet.
KIRK: Tribbles don't like Klingons. That should have given you some
clue.
JONES: Klingons like tribbles even less. It was lucky you came along
and saved me when you did, Friend Kirk. I couldn't have outrun them
much longer.
KIRK: According to our computer files, Jones, you are in violation of
three Federation mandates and forty seven local ones. You're confined
until we complete our mission. Then we'll turn you over to the proper
authorities.
JONES: Captain, couldn't we talk this over? I didn't think so.
(If you're the only person in the universe who is reading this and does
not know about the Trouble With Tribbles,
click the link and learn)
[Medical lab]
(McCoy is examining a pink tribble)
[Briefing room]
MCCOY: Jim, Cyrano Jones is right. These tribbles
don't reproduce. They just get fat. I don't think we have anything to
worry about.
KIRK: Not about tribbles, anyway. I am concerned about that new Klingon
weapon.
SPOCK: It is an energy-sapping field of great strength, Captain. It
immobilizes a starship and its weapons capability. But apparently, it
also immobilizes the attacking ship's abilities at the same time.
SCOTT: Aye, and if that's true, then it's a weapon that leaves them as
helpless as it does us.
SPOCK: I believe I just said that, Mister Scott.
KIRK: The practical advantages of such a weapon would seem to be
limited.
SPOCK: Perhaps, but there are logical applications. The key question
is, how long does it take them to recharge? They will probably attack
us again as soon as they are back up to power. And they will probably
begin by destroying the other robot ship to prevent us from repeating
the same trick. They want Cyrano Jones very badly.
MCCOY: He really doesn't seem the saboteur type, Jim.
KIRK: Yes. Status report on the damaged grain ship, Scotty?
SCOTT: Well, sir, we've managed to transfer all the grain aboard, but
it severely limits us. We filled the shuttlecraft hangars, all our
extra holds, and we've even got containers of that wheat, that
quintrotriticale, in the corridors of the ship. And then we've got that
other robot ship to escort, too. I don't like it at all, sir.
KIRK: Nor do I, Mister Scott, but we've got to do it. Sherman's Planet
needs that grain desperately.
SCOTT: Aye, sir, but we've got tribbles on the ship, quintrotriticale
in the corridors, Klingons in the quadrant. It can ruin your whole day,
sir.
(And big fat pink tribbles are 'sniffing' around the containers. So big
and fat that the glommer cannot quite cope with them)
[Bridge]
SPOCK: Captain, sensors are picking up a Klingon
battle cruiser.
KIRK: Deflector shields up. Stand by phasers. (rolls a tribble off his
chair) How fat do these things get?
SULU: Klingon ship approaching rapidly. Within phaser range in thirty
seconds.
SPOCK: Obviously, they can recharge their power in a matter of hours.
KIRK: Use the robot ship as a decoy. Have it change course and move
off. We'll use it again to give the Klingons trouble. They can't
control more than one ship at a time with their stasis field.
SULU: Beginning evasive manoeuvres.
SPOCK: The Klingon seems to be veering off. My mistake, Captain. They
were not veering off. They were attacking the grain ship.
SULU: But they didn't destroy it. They only wrecked the propulsion
units. They left the cargo intact.
SPOCK: Captain Koloth is quite a marksman.
SULU: They've changed course. They're coming in again.
KIRK: Ready phasers.
SULU: Phasers armed and ready, sir.
(The Klingons fire two shots at Enterprise. The shaking of the ship
makes some containers fall over and break open. Kirk returns fire, then
comes an attempt with the stasis beam. Meanwhile, little pink tribbles
are becoming giant pink tribbles.)
KIRK: Photon torpedoes. Fire one.
SPOCK: They're running away. Very odd. They did not use their stasis
weapon at all.
KIRK: Perhaps they haven't had enough time to recharge it.
SPOCK: Or the purpose of the attack was something else.
SULU: They disabled the robot ship.
KIRK: Scotty, put a tractor beam on it. We'll take it in tow.
SPOCK: Captain, that could be exactly what they want us to do. Tow the
robot and limit our available power. We're carrying the extra mass of
the first ship's cargo, and now we have the second one in tow. That
requires a great deal of power we won't be able to use in battle.
KIRK: That seems logical.
SPOCK: Thank you.
KIRK: Well, Mister Spock, do you have any ideas?
SPOCK: We could always throw tribbles at them.
KIRK: I thought Vulcans didn't have a sense of humour.
SPOCK: We don't, Captain.
(The glommer looks like a jockey on the back of a tribble)
SCOTT: Captain, we've got broken cargo containers in all the corridors,
and the tribbles are eating the grain.
KIRK: Get Cyrano Jones up here.
SCOTT: Aye, sir.
KIRK: Any sign of Captain Koloth's ship?
SULU: Nothing, sir.
KIRK: Keep scanning.
JONES: Captain Kirk, what can I do for you? Some Spican flame gems
perhaps?
KIRK: Your tribbles are all over my ship. My security men can't find
them all.
JONES: You need better security men, Captain.
KIRK: Mister Jones, you are in enough trouble already.
JONES: Captain, a harmless little tribble. What can they hurt?
KIRK: Harmless, maybe. Little? (pushes a beach ball off his seat) In
any case, they're eating the quintrotriticale.
JONES: The what?
KIRK: The wheat!
JONES: They're hungry, Captain.
KIRK: So are the people on Sherman's Planet. A little tribble doesn't
eat much, a big tribble does. And these are growing. Jones, is this the
ecological sabotage the Klingons are so mad about?
SULU: Captain, the Klingons are coming back.
KIRK: Speak of the devil.
(McCoy enters)
MCCOY: Jim, there's something about these tribbles.
KIRK: Later, Bones. (pushes one nearly as big as himself off his chair)
Mister Sulu, release the robot ship. We'll swing back and pick it up
later. Deflector shields up. Stand by photon torpedoes. And all
noncombatants off the Bridge.
Captain's log, supplemental. The Klingon ship
under command of Captain Koloth is forcing us into a battle for custody
of Cyrano Jones for reasons still unknown.
[Bridge]
SPOCK: Contact in thirty seconds.
KIRK: Ready photon torpedoes. Fire one.
SULU: One fired.
(The Klingons fire their stasis beam, destroying the torpedo and
grabbing the Enterprise)
SCOTT: That's done it. We're caught.
UHURA: Message coming in, sir.
KOLOTH [on viewscreen]: Ah, Captain Kirk. We'll take control of your
ship now.
KIRK: Not if I can help it.
KOLOTH [on viewscreen]: I want your prisoner.
KIRK: Much as I hate to admit it, Captain Koloth, Cyrano Jones is a
citizen of the Federation and entitled to Federation protection. I
must, much as it pains me, refuse your request.
KOLOTH [on viewscreen]: It is not a request. Don't force me to take
steps that we will both regret.
KIRK: Close channel, Lieutenant.
UHURA: With pleasure, sir.
SPOCK: Aren't you going to sit down, sir?
(The pink tribble on the Captain's chair is definitely bigger than Kirk
now)
KIRK: I think I'll stand.
[Klingon Bridge]
KOLOTH: Implement boarding plan C.
KORAX: Yes, sir.
[Bridge]
KIRK: Mister Scott, we're going to implement
Emergency defence plan B.
SCOTT: Plan B, sir?
KIRK: Mister Spock suggested it.
[Klingon ship]
(The boarding hatches open, and giant pink
tribbles enter the Klingon ship. The Klingons are horrified)
[Transporter room]
SCOTT: Emergency plan B complete, sir.
[Bridge]
KIRK: Open hailing frequencies, Lieutenant.
Captain Koloth, are you ready to release my ship?
KOLOTH [on viewscreen]: Release your ship? Kirk, you are monotonous.
KIRK: You don't know yet, do you?
KOLOTH [on viewscreen]: Know what?
KIRK: That we have immobilized your ship worse than you have
immobilized ours.
KOLOTH [on viewscreen]: I doubt that. Our instruments report nothing
except some undue transporter activity and (a tribble rolls behind him)
Kirk? Tribbles?
KIRK: Tribbles.
[Klingon Bridge]
KOLOTH: Kirk, Cyrano Jones took a Klingon genetic
construct, an artificial creature from one of our planets. We must have
it back. It was designed to be a tribble predator. We are prepared to
go to war if we have to.
[Bridge]
KIRK: You must have others.
KOLOTH [on viewscreen]: This was the first one, Kirk. We need it in
order to grow others from it. We need it to get rid of the tribbles
[Klingon Bridge]
KOLOTH: Jones sold before they completely overrun
the planet.
[Bridge]
KIRK: And that's all you want?
KOLOTH [on viewscreen]: Jones is not that important.
[Klingon Bridge]
KOLOTH: We must have the glommer.
[Bridge]
KIRK: Oh, well, if that's all. Mister Scott,
transport the glommer over to the Klingon ship.
SCOTT [OC]: Aye, sir.
[Transporter room]
JONES: You can't do this to me. Under space
salvage laws, he's mine.
SCOTT: A planetary surface is not covered by space salvage laws. But if
you want the little beastie that bad, Mister Jones, we'll transport you
over with it.
JONES: I withdraw my claim.
(The glommer is transported, and the stasis beam is switched off)
[Bridge]
KIRK: Well, at least we can report the stasis
field is not as effective a weapon as we thought. The power drain is
too high and takes too long for the Klingon ship to recover to make it
practical.
SPOCK: Agreed, Captain. Tribbles appear to be a much more effective
weapon.
[Corridor]
(A monster tribble is amongst the wheat
containers)
MCCOY: Jones' genetic engineering was very slipshod. Jim. He may have
kept the tribbles from reproducing, but he didn't slow down their
metabolism. You see, they're not just giant tribbles, they're colonies.
[Klingon ship]
KORAX: Captain, the engine room is filled with
tribble.
KOLOTH: Well, we can do something about that. (to the glommer) Attack.
(But the door opens and it is full of one tribble. The glommer
retreats)
KOLOTH: He did it to us again! That tin-plated, overbearing excuse for
a starship captain did it to us again. Blast that thing.
(So they shoot the big tribble, which becomes an avalanche of little
tribbles)
KORAX: Any other orders, sir?
KOLOTH: (up to his neck in tribbles) Yes. Don't do that again. Ever.
[Corridor]
MCCOY: A simple shot of neoethylene will fix
everything. The tribble colonies will break down into their individual
units with a slower metabolic rate. And these really will be safe
tribbles now.
JONES: Er, what about the Klingons?
MCCOY: Well, unless they treat their tribbles too, that ship isn't
going to be big enough for all of them.
KIRK: (looking up a Jefferies tube) Say, you didn't get this one,
Bones.
MCCOY: Oh yes I did.
KIRK: But it hasn't (then it did) Someday I'll learn.
SCOTT: Aye, Captain. But you've got to admit, if we've got to have
tribbles, it's best if all our tribbles are little ones.
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