Trials and Tribble - ations ( episode ) When Temporal Investigations arrives on Deep Space 9 , Sisko recounts how he and the crew of the " Defiant " traveled back in time to the 23rd century to prevent the assassination of Captain James T . Kirk during the original " Enterprise " s mission to Space Station K - 7 . Summary . Teaser . Lucsly and Dulmur from Temporal Investigations arrive on Deep Space 9 and are welcomed into Ops by Major Kira and Lieutenant Commander Dax . The investigators ask for Captain Sisko , and Kira directs them to his office . Before they go in , Dax makes a joke about how temporal investigators are always on time . But this elicits absolutely no response from the apparently humorless investigators , who promptly go into the captain ' s office . Sisko asks if they want anything to drink ; they say they only want the truth . Dulmur asks Sisko why he took the back in time . Sisko says it was accidental and he confirms that he is not contending their trip back was a predestination paradox , a statement which relieves the investigators , as they hate predestination paradoxes . When they ask him to start at the beginning , Sisko tells them this may take some time and then assures them that he ' s not cracking a joke , something the investigators say they hate as well . Sisko tells them that the Cardassian government had expressed a desire to return one of the Bajoran Orbs that they had procured during the Occupation , so the " Defiant " traveled to Cardassia Prime – under cloak to avoid detection by the Klingon s – to collect it , without knowing which orb it was or even if it were genuine , as many counterfeit orbs had emerged over the years . Though they were unaware of this at the time they recovered it , they had indeed gained possession of the Orb of Time . Sisko had security lock the Orb in crew quarters so it could be authenticated on Bajor . Before leaving Cardassia Prime , they took on a passenger . Commander Worf brings a man into the " Defiant " s mess hall who , upon seeing Chief O ' Brien and Dr . Bashir , expresses his relief to finally see Human s again . Worf introduces the man as Barry Waddle , a Human merchant who had been trapped on Cardassia when the Klingons attacked . He is an elderly , seemingly harmless man . Waddle says he deals in gemstones , mostly keva s and trillium . While he orders a raktajino from the replicator , he tells O ' Brien and Bashir about how Cardassians drink hot fish juice in the morning and that after being on Cardassia for a time , he was hoping for a Klingon invasion as they can make good coffee , even if they are foul - smelling barbarian s . He then notices Worf is right there , apologizes to him , and steps away . O ' Brien and Bashir gently tease Worf about his aroma , telling him he has a rather earthy , peaty aroma with a touch of lilac – which only serves to annoy Worf further . On the bridge , as " Defiant " is halfway back to Deep Space 9 and Sisko tells the investigators that he was finally beginning to relax , O ' Brien relays the story of the incident in the mess hall to Dax and suggests that she mention lilac the next time she sees Worf , but she refuses , saying she has her own ways of torturing him . " " Don ' t look at me , " " Sisko responds . At that moment , O ' Brien announces a massive surge in chroniton radiation around the ship as the entire bridge glows brightly . The viewscreen shows nothing but white noise . The ship drops out of warp and decloaks as someone activates the transporter . Sisko orders Dax to get the ship back under cloak and deactivate the transporter , but it is already too late , as the person has already left the ship . Just then , as the ship gets back under cloak , Dax tells Sisko that they are now over two hundred light year s from their previous position . Sisko orders the viewscreen activated and the sight they see on the screen shocks them all ; a starship , marked NCC - 1701 . . . the original Starfleet - registered . Act One . In Sisko ' s office , Dulmur asks him to specify which Federation starship " Enterprise " as there have been five , but Lucsly quickly corrects him , saying there are now six . Sisko clarifies that it was the first " Enterprise , " the , NCC - 1701 . The investigators sit back in their seats in horror at the realization it is " his " ship , James Kirk ' s , which Sisko proudly confirms . The enraged investigators both call Kirk a menace , saying that Kirk ' s file , containing seventeen separate temporal violations , is the biggest on record . They ask what the " Enterprise " was doing and Sisko says it was orbiting one of the old deep space stations , K - 7 , exactly one hundred and five years , one month , and twelve days previous , on stardate 4523 . 7 , a Friday . Sisko ' s story continues . Back on the " Defiant " , a briefing is occurring with the senior staff . Worf and Odo have discovered that Waddle ' s " real " name is Arne Darvin , a Klingon surgically altered to appear Human . Worf tells Sisko that the younger Darvin is , at that moment , on board K - 7 , posing as a Federation official . Odo picks up and tells Sisko that the younger Darvin ' s mission was to derail Federation colonization efforts in the area by poison ing a load of grain which was – or rather , " is " – stored on K - 7 . However , in eighteen hours , Captain Kirk will expose Darvin and he will be arrested . Worf tells them that Darvin ' s arrest ended his career , as Klingon Intelligence turned their back on Darvin and he became an outcast , apparently spending the next hundred years posing as a Human merchant and then in what Odo calls a " final indignity , " he was trapped on Cardassia by the Klingon invasion . Sisko then is able to pick the story up from there . Apparently Darvin then heard rumors about an Orb capable of taking him back in time . Bashir wonders if Darvin may be going to warn his younger self about Kirk , but Dax thinks Darvin may be planning to kill Kirk . And not knowing how or where or when , Sisko decides that they will have to search both K - 7 and the " Enterprise " without raising suspicions or altering the timeline themselves , as he ironically notes that the last thing he wants is a visit from Temporal Investigations when they get home . So the crew starts to blend in . Odo and Worf change into civilian traders ' clothing , and Sisko , Dax , O ' Brien , and Bashir all change into old - style s , with Dax taking the extra precaution of applying makeup to cover up her spots . Stepping out into the corridor , Sisko , who is now wearing a gold command uniform with lieutenant ' s stripes , sees Bashir , still in sciences blue , albeit with an appropriately altered hairstyle , Sisko tells him that he went with lieutenant ' s rank because he didn ' t want to arouse suspicion . Just then , O ' Brien appears in a red support uniform , with ensign ' s insignia , and Bashir asks if Sisko and O ' Brien are wearing the wrong colors . O ' Brien asks if Bashir knows anything about this time period , and he denies having such knowledge , as he is a doctor , not a historian . Sisko clarifies that the colors were switched in Kirk ' s era . Dax then appears in the miniskirt uniform of the day ( though in operations red rather than her usual sciences blue ) , saying that " women wore less , " and the doctor , unsurprisingly , declares that he will like this time period . In the " Defiant " s transporter bay , O ' Brien reports that the old - style duotronic sensor s the " Enterprise " used allow for tiny interruptions in the scan cycle enabling the " Defiant " to decloak for three seconds and beam everyone to where they need to go . Worf and Odo are sent to K - 7 . Worf reports that most of K - 7 consists of storage areas and industrial fabrication facilities and , since security on a space station such as K - 7 is not as tight as it would be on a starship , they do not expect to have to take long to search the station . The other four go to the " Enterprise " , O ' Brien and Bashir together , and Dax and Sisko together , each pair to opposite ends of the ship . After reminding everyone to do their best not to interact with people from this time period , Sisko and Dax go first , beam into a turbolift and step out into a corridor on the " Enterprise " . Act Two . Bashir and O ' Brien beam into another turbolift and try to proceed to Deck 21 . O ' Brien ' s vocal command goes unheeded and , not knowing what could be wrong with the turbolift , they try to take a panel off to see what ' s happening when they ' re interrupted by the lift ' s doors opening . A steps in , nods to O ' Brien and Bashir , takes one of the handles on the side of the turbolift and orders it to Deck 15 . Sheepishly , O ' Brien and Bashir take hold of the handles near them and Bashir whispers to O ' Brien , " " I won ' t tell anyone if you won ' t . " " Dax marvels as to how many people are packed into the ship . Finding an auxiliary communications juncture , Sisko pretends to do repairs and Dax admires the " classic " 23rd century design of the Starfleet tricorder she carries , but Sisko quiets her before she attracts anyone ' s attention . On K - 7 , Odo steps into the station ' s bar and sits down at a table , discreetly pulling out a portable scanning device . As he does , the door opens again , admitting Ensign Chekov and Lieutenant Uhura into the bar . As they walk up to the bar , a waitress asks Odo what he would like to drink ; he tries to order raktajino . When the waitress tells him he is the second person who ordered that today , he asks who the other one was ; she says that it was an elderly Human male . She tells Odo that he said he would probably be back later . Then , after being informed that raktajino is Klingon coffee , she tells Odo they have no Klingon beverages , and so he settles for Tarkalean tea . As he sits at the bar and watches , he sees Uhura obtain a tribble from Cyrano Jones . Back on the " Enterprise " , Bashir continues to scan for Darvin . O ' Brien is supposed to be conducting repairs so as to blend in , but unfortunately he cannot tell what is what , as all is cross - circuited and rewired . Bashir jokes that it sounds like one of O ' Brien ' s repair jobs . Both are then interrupted by a young engineer who wonders why they are working at that panel , because Scotty had told " him " to do it . He then wonders why they need a doctor to repair a power relay . Bashir makes up a story about checking O ' Brien for stress and , after O ' Brien accidentally pulls out a circuit that darkens the whole deck ( and quickly replaces it ) tells O ' Brien he has seen enough and that they need to go to sickbay . O ' Brien tells the engineer he would appreciate if he did not mention this to anyone . The engineer says he will not , and expresses his hopes that O ' Brien feels better soon . On K - 7 , Worf enters the bar and sees Odo sitting at a table . Worf tells Odo he has finished searching the primary habitat levels . Before he can get any farther , he notices a trilling sound and demands to know , " " What is that noise ? " " Odo says the sound is very soothing ; he holds the tribble up as it squeals at Worf , who disgustedly recognizes it . Act Three . Odo has Worf sit down before he attracts any further attention . Sitting down , Worf asks where Odo got it ; he tells Worf that he got it from one Cyrano Jones , who said that tribbles like everyone – but apparently not Worf , a feeling which Worf shares . He calls the tribble a " detestable creature , " noting that feeding a tribble more than the smallest morsel will cause prolific reproduction . Worf tells Odo how tribbles were considered mortal enemies of the Klingon Empire , which Odo is amazed to hear , finding it hard to believe that a simple tribble could be someone ' s " mortal enemy . " Worf further explains that the Empire considered tribbles to be an ecological menace and that many warriors were sent out to kill any and all tribbles that they could find . Once the tribble homeworld was located , a Klingon armada obliterated it . According to Worf , tribbles were considered extinct by the end of the 23rd century , which Odo sarcastically calls " another glorious chapter in Klingon history , " and then proceeds to ask Worf mockingly , " " Tell me , do they still sing songs about The Great Tribble Hunt ? " " Before Worf can say anything else , the station goes to red alert . The same has happened on the " Enterprise " . Seeing everyone rush to battle stations , Dax asks Sisko what they should do ; he says they should do the same . They find an empty turbolift and Sisko contacts the " Defiant " , or at least he tries to ; he slaps the insignia on his uniform out of habit , expecting it to be the working combadge that it is not . After a moment of realization , he pulls out the old - style communicator and this time successfully contacts the " Defiant . " Kira reports that a Klingon D7 - class battle cruiser has dropped out of warp and is approaching the station . Sisko asks if the Klingons have locked weapons , but Kira says they have not as yet . Recognizing something familiar , Dax asks Kira to identify the Klingon vessel ; she identifies it as the . Dax immediately recognizes it as Koloth ' s ship and she tells Sisko that Koloth is not here to attack . She remembers Koloth telling her about how he once traded insults with Kirk on a space station near the Federation - Klingon border and how he regretted never getting to face Kirk in battle . Kira then reports that the Klingons just beamed two people to the station manager ' s office . Dax remembers one of them being Koloth , and asks Sisko if they could beam over to K - 7 , as they know that Darvin was there a short time ago . However , Sisko refuses and tells Kira to contact O ' Brien and have him and Bashir prepare to transport to the station . Dax wants to see Koloth and points out that it is not as if he would recognize her , but Sisko stands firm . After closing the channel with Kira , Dax says it would have been fun , but Sisko corrects her : it would have been " " too much " fun . " Sisko informs the investigators that Dax was indeed correct . The Klingons only wanted shore leave , and Captain Kirk allowed the Klingons to beam over in small groups . Once the red alert ceases , everyone resumes their search for Darvin . Kira contacts O ' Brien and Bashir on the " Enterprise " , telling them the next band shift in the " Enterprise " s scan cycle is coming up . O ' Brien tells her they will be ready . He and Bashir duck into a turbolift , but Lieutenant Watley is there with them again . She notices that Bashir has left the flap open on his tricorder , thereby draining power . He closes it and thanks her for the tip . Watley asks Bashir if he is a doctor ; he replies in the affirmative . She says that she just transferred over from the and O ' Brien , acting as a regular member of the crew , welcomes her aboard . Watley tells Bashir that she will be in sickbay the next day at 15 : 00 hours for her physical , and tells him her name as she walks out of the turbolift . Bashir recognizes her name as his great - grandmother ' s last name and wonders if it could be her , which O ' Brien scoffs at , as the odds of that happening are astronomically small . Since no one ever met his great - grandfather , he then begins wondering if he " is " supposed to meet with her later in a predestination paradox and become his own great - grandfather . O ' Brien accuses Bashir of being ridiculous , but he begins to convince himself that if he does " not " meet with Watley , he may not ever even be born . Just then , Kira calls and asks O ' Brien if they are ready for transport ; the Chief ' s reply : " " Are we ever ! " " Bashir denies being able to wait to get back to Deep Space 9 and watch O ' Brien ' s reaction when he finds out Bashir was never born , a comment which causes a smirk from O ' Brien as they beam out . Elsewhere on the " Enterprise " , Sisko and Dax are near another panel , pretending to work on it , when Dax looks up , sees Captain Kirk and Commander Spock walking toward an intercom close to them , and gets Sisko ' s attention . They look for a moment . Then Sisko reminds her they are supposed to be only maintenance crew members doing their jobs . But Dax cannot help looking as Kirk deals with the intercom transmission . She notes how he is so much more handsome in person ; Sisko tells Dax how Kirk had a reputation for being a ladies ' man , but she reveals herself to be referring to Spock instead . At that , Sisko closes the panel , takes Dax by the hand , and they walk away from Kirk and Spock . Dax is amazed that Sisko does not want to meet Kirk . Sisko calls that the farthest thing from his mind , as they have a job to do . Dax then reminds Sisko about how Kirk is one of the most famous captains in Starfleet history . Sisko then admits that indeed he would like to meet Kirk , shake his hand , and ask him about fighting the Gorn on Cestus III . That , however , is not the reason they are there . Dax concedes Sisko ' s point , but laments that as she remembers this time period , it is difficult for her not to want to be part of it again . At that point the turbolift opens and they enter . Bashir and O ' Brien enter the bar on K - 7 , whereupon they good - naturedly tease Odo and Worf for sitting at the bar while they were crawling through conduits on the " Enterprise " and the station . Odo says they believe that Darvin will return and Bashir picks up on the raktajino hint , a clue that others might have missed . Before they can say anything else , Chekov , Scotty , and Freeman enter . O ' Brien is amazed , having mistaken Freeman for Kirk . Worf agrees that it would be an honor to meet Kirk . O ' Brien suggests buying Kirk a drink , but Odo reminds them they cannot , and O ' Brien agrees , as altering the time line would be too great a risk to take . The waitress comes up and asks them what they want , including a warning not to dare ask her for a raktajino . She then points out the Klingons when Odo asks who else had ordered a raktajino , but they fail to recognize the Klingons as such , since they look nothing like Worf or any other Klingons that the crew had met . When they act confused , the waitress decides they have had enough and walks away . Everyone at the table then looks over at Worf , wondering what ' s going on . Worf tells them that those " are " Klingons , and that it is a long story that Klingons do not discuss with outsiders . Meanwhile , a Klingon named Korax has spent his time loudly insulting Kirk , trying to get a rise out of the " Enterprise " officers . Chekov stands up to fight , but Scotty restrains him , saying they can take a few insults . O ' Brien is impressed at how " Kirk " ( Freeman ) is ignoring Korax . At that moment , a confused Bashir asks if that is really Kirk , and O ' Brien says it is , but then Bashir points out that the man is only wearing lieutenant ' s stripes . Odo says they have more problems at the moment than a case of mistaken identity . Just then Korax begins insulting the " Enterprise " herself , which quickly gets under Scott ' s skin – he " is " the engineer , after all . When Korax , who had called the " Enterprise " a " sagging old rust - bucket designed like a garbage scow , " clarifies his statement by claiming , not that the " Enterprise " should be hauling garbage , but instead that it should be hauled " away , as " garbage , Scott slowly stands up and punches him . Every Klingon and Starfleet officer stand up immediately and then , despite Odo ' s efforts to stop them , Bashir , O ' Brien , and Worf all stand up . Everyone ends up in the huge brawl in the bar . When the door opens to admit more " Enterprise " security , Odo notices Darvin in the background and knocks a Klingon off of Worf so they can both give chase to Darvin . Meanwhile , caught up in the fight , Bashir and O ' Brien fail to notice Worf and Odo ' s departure and are themselves , shortly thereafter , arrested by the security officers and taken into custody along with the other crew members who were involved . Act Four . In Sisko ' s office , the investigators are not happy , as regulations clearly state that Starfleet officers must take all precautions in taking minimal part in historical events . Sisko admits that they made a mistake , but it caused no alteration of the timeline . Dulmur is not so convinced , and goes so far as to point out that this could be an alternate timeline as far as they know , but Sisko says that if they had altered history , they would have known immediately upon their return . After exasperatedly wondering out loud why everyone he interviews always has to mention that particular fact , Lucsly bids Sisko to continue . Sisko tells them that instead of going to the brig , the arrested officers were taken in for questioning . Bashir and O ' Brien find themselves in a line in front of Kirk , who wants to know who started the fight . Kirk asks O ' Brien who started the fight ; O ' Brien tells Kirk he does not know . Likewise , Chekov tells Kirk " he " does not know who started it . When no one confesses , Kirk confines everyone to quarters until " he " finds out who started it . After they are dismissed , O ' Brien and Bashir walk away as quickly as possible . O ' Brien is astounded that , of all the people in the lineup , Kirk asked " him " about the fight and that , even more astonishingly , he ended up lying to him ! O ' Brien says he wishes Keiko could have seen it . Accidentally stepping on a tribble , Bashir wonders who left it out in the corridor alone . But rounding the corner , O ' Brien realizes that the tribble is actually far from alone . Meanwhile , Odo and Worf have captured Darvin in the midst of the fight on K - 7 and have beamed him back to the " Defiant . " Odo tells Darvin that he will face some very serious charges when they return , but Darvin says they would not dare put one of the greatest heroes of the Klingon Empire in the brig , to which Worf angrily tells Darvin he is no hero to the Empire . But Darvin says he will be one soon , and wants his statue in the Hall of Warriors to have him standing with Kirk ' s head in one hand and a dead tribble in the other . Worf grabs Darvin and demands to know what Darvin did : did he hire someone to kill Kirk , or sabotage the " Enterprise " ? But Darvin says that though he did nothing like that , Kirk ' s death will have a certain poetic justice to it . Shortly thereafter , Sisko , who is still on the " Enterprise " with Dax , is amazed to hear from Odo that Darvin has planted a bomb in a tribble . Odo describes it as revenge from Darvin , as in the original timeline Kirk noticed how a tribble reacted to the younger Darvin and realized he was a Klingon . While Darvin has obviously refused to reveal the bomb ' s location , he did say it was set to go off within the hour . Dax suggests they risk going to the bridge and using the internal sensors to scan the ship within minutes . Sisko agrees and orders everyone else to K - 7 to search for the bomb . However , Odo suggests that Worf remain on the " Defiant " due to his mutual dislike of tribbles , to which Sisko agrees . However , O ' Brien is concerned they may not be able to reach the station ' s internal sensors . Sisko tells him that then he will have to manually scan every tribble on the station . O ' Brien , in disbelief , says there must be thousands . Bashir notes it could be hundreds of thousands , but Dax has already worked out the number as one million , seven hundred and seventy - one thousand , five hundred and sixty - one , starting with one tribble , producing an average litter of ten every twelve hours over a period of three days . Sisko tells everyone they have their orders and closes the channel . Later on the bridge , Sisko is sitting at a station and Dax is standing over by the engineering station when Kirk comes onto the bridge . He tries to sit in his chair , but ends up accidentally sitting on a tribble . Removing the tribble , Kirk looks over at Dax who smiles and shrugs at him . He then calls Dr . McCoy to the bridge . Dax steps over and tells Sisko that she has reworked the sensor interface . Sisko scans the bridge . No explosives are found , which relieves Dax as she almost expected the tribble Kirk sat on to explode . Nothing is found on the first six decks either . Just then , McCoy comes up to the bridge and begins talking to Kirk . Dax seems to recognize him and Sisko identifies him as McCoy , the ship ' s doctor . Just then , Dax recognizes him , having met him when he was a medical student at " Ole Miss . " Sisko asks if it was Curzon who met him ; she says it was actually Emony , when she was on Earth judging a gymnastics competition . Dax tells Sisko that McCoy had the hands of a surgeon and that she knew he would be a doctor . Her smile suggests their acquaintance might have been more than purely social . Sisko is rescued from having to respond by the completion of the scan – there are no explosives aboard . Dax , stating the obvious , says that the bomb must be on K - 7 . Act Five . In the bar on K - 7 , Odo , Bashir and O ' Brien are searching through tribbles frantically when Odo gets a call from Sisko telling them the bomb is not on the " Enterprise " – thus , it must be over there . Unfortunately , Odo reports that they have been able to scan only two decks so far . When Sisko offers to send more people over from the " Defiant , " Odo tells him it is no man - power shortage ; rather , it is that the tribbles are multiplying so fast that they cannot keep up with them . Dax suggests that she and Sisko stay close to Kirk , as Darvin likely will have put the bomb someplace he knows Kirk will be in the next half hour and , as a result , Kirk may lead them right to it . Odo says they will keep scanning the tribbles for now . Sisko and Dax get set up in the recreation room when Kirk and Spock come in . Kirk , upon ordering his chicken sandwich and coffee , sees that the tribbles are in all the food slots . Kirk tells Spock , " " I want these things off the ship . I don ' t care if it takes every man we ' ve got ; I want them off the ship ! " " Scott comes in with an armful of tribbles and tells them the tribbles are in the machinery and probably in all the other food dispensers as well , probably having gotten there through one of the air vents . Spock realizes there are similar vents on the station . . . " " and in the storage compartments ! " " Kirk realizes , interrupting him . Sisko is given a clue then , and he and Dax beam to K - 7 and climb down into one of the storage compartments to begin scanning tribbles for the explosive . Sisko notes that most of the tribbles are dead , as the grain has been poisoned . Dax detects a faint tricobalt signature , indicating the bomb is in the compartment somewhere . They begin scanning through the tribbles when they hear a strange , multi - toned beeping sound . As it turns out , that sound is Kirk , outside , trying to open the overhead hatch leading into the storage compartment . He finally does get it open – and ends up being buried in tribbles . Sisko and Dax see the hatch open , and as it turns out , Kirk ' s opening the hatch all but exposes the bomb - laden tribble in the storage compartment . Dax realizes it is directly in front of them . Sisko begins searching frantically for the bomb , tossing tribbles away as he scans them , some of them falling through the hatchway and landing on Kirk . Down on the floor , Nilz Baris threatens to hold an inquiry against Kirk , stating there must be thousands of tribbles . Kirk laments it must be hundreds of thousands . Spock comes up with an exact figure of 1 , 771 , 561 , using the exact formula that Dax had used earlier . In the hold , Sisko and Dax hear this , look at each other and simply shrug . Just then , Sisko finds the bomb - loaded tribble . He places the " tribble bomb " on his tricorder , contacts Kira , and has the " Defiant " beam the bomb into space , where it explodes harmlessly . As they start to get up , Dax tosses the last tribble in her hand down , where it falls through the hatchway and onto Kirk , causing him to ask in anguish , " " Close that door ! " " Sisko tells the investigators that after the bomb exploded history continued uninterrupted and , thanks to a tribble ' s characteristic " alarm chirps " , and McCoy ' s tricorder scans , Kirk exposed Darvin as a Klingon agent exactly as he had done before . By the time the DS9 personnel returned to the " Defiant " , Kira had figured out how to use the Orb to return the ship back to its proper time . Back in Sisko ' s office , the investigators ask if that is when they returned to the future , but Sisko is forced to admit that it was not , as he realized that there was one more thing he had to do – something he had thought of since he first saw the " Enterprise " on the " Defiant " s viewscreen . Sisko goes to the " Enterprise " s bridge and brings a duty roster over to Kirk , seated in his chair , for the latter ' s approval . As Kirk looks it over , he looks over at Sisko , and asks his name . Sisko tells Kirk his real name and says that he has been on temporary assignment on the " Enterprise . " Before Sisko left , he just wanted to tell Kirk it was an honor serving with him . Kirk smiles , nods at him and then tells Sisko , " " All right , lieutenant , carry on . " " Sisko thanks the legendary captain and leaves the bridge , while Spock and Uhura watch . Back in his office , Sisko tells Dulmur and Lucsly that if they want to put a reprimand in his file for that , then they are welcome to do so . They both stand up and tell Sisko they will have to review everything before making a final recommendation , but it does not seem as if any harm was done . Dulmur says he probably would have done the same thing himself , given the chance . Sisko walks them out of the office ; Lucsly tells them he will have their full report in about a month , but that he should have nothing to worry about . Sisko admits he is happy to hear it , and the investigators then quietly leave the station , heading directly for their ship at Docking Port Seven . Dax asks Sisko if it went well ; he says it did . Kira tells Sisko that Odo wants to see them on the Promenade . Odo asks Sisko if he told the investigators ; Sisko says they did not ask , and that he is open to suggestions . Dax quips that they could build a new station . It turns out that Odo brought his tribble back with him , and that it reproduced . True to Worf ' s warnings about them , a considerable number of the creatures are now all over the Promenade – particularly Quark ' s Bar , with one even sitting on Quark ' s head . Memorable quotes . " " I guess you boys from Temporal Investigations are . . . always on time . " " " " That ' s . . . " " " " The " Enterprise . " " " Be specific , captain – which " Enterprise " ? There have been five . " " " " Six . " " " " This was the first " Enterprise " , " Constitution " - class . " " " His " ship . " " " " James T . Kirk . " " " " The one and only ! " " " " Seventeen separate temporal violations – the biggest file on record . " " " " The man was a menace . " " " " Don ' t you know anything about this period in time ? " " " " I ' m a doctor , not an historian . " " " " In the old days , operation officers wore red , science officers wore blue , command officers wore gold . " " ( showing herself off in her red skirt ) " " And women wore less . " " " " I think I ' m going to like history . " " ( referring to the tribbles ) " " They were once considered mortal enemies of the Klingon Empire . " " " " This ? A mortal enemy of the Empire ? " " " " They were an ecological menace ; a plague to be wiped out . " " " " Wiped out ? What are you saying ? " " " " Hundreds of warriors were sent to track them down throughout the galaxy . An armada obliterated the tribbles ' homeworld . By the end of the 23rd century , they had been eradicated . " " " " Another glorious chapter in Klingon history . Tell me , do they still sing songs of The Great Tribble Hunt ? " " " " I had no idea . " " " " What ? " " " " He ' s so much more handsome in person . Those " eyes ! " " " " " Kirk had quite the reputation as a ladies ' man " . " " " Not him . . . Spock . " " ( Sisko quickly shuts the panel he ' s pretending to work on and starts pushing Dax away ) " " Let ' s go . " " " " They " are " Klingons . . . and it is a long story . " " " " What happened ? Some kind of genetic engineering ? " " " " A viral mutation ? " " " " We do not discuss it with outsiders . " " ( referring to the " Enterprise " ) " " That sagging old rust bucket is designed like a garbage scow . Half the quadrant knows it . That ' s why they ' re learning to speak Klingonese . " " " " Mr . Scott ! " " " " Laddie . . . don ' t you think you should . . . rephrase that ? " " ( mocking Scotty ' s accent ) " " You ' re right . I should . " " ( normal voice ) " " I didn ' t mean to say that the " Enterprise " should be hauling garbage . I meant to say that it should be hauled away " as " garbage . " " " " Who started the fight ? " " " " I don ' t know , sir ! " " " " . . . All right . " " " " I lied to Captain Kirk . I wish Keiko could have been here to see it . " " " " You are no hero to the Empire ! " " " " I will be . I ' ve been thinking about my statue in the Hall of Warriors . I want it to capture my essence . Our statues can be so generic sometimes , don ' t you think ? " " " " I take it whatever your plan is , you ' ve already set it in motion . " " " " I see myself standing with Kirk ' s head in one hand and a tribble in the other . " " " " What have you done ? ! Did you hire someone to kill him ? Or did you sabotage the " Enterprise " ? " " " " Nothing so mundane . Let ' s just say that Kirk ' s death will have a certain poetic justice to it . " " " " McCoy . . . " Leonard " McCoy ! . . . I met him when he was a student at Ole Miss . . . I had a feeling he ' d become a doctor – he had the hands of a surgeon . " " " " I ' m not sure we can get to K - 7 ' s internal sensors . " " " " Then you will have to manually scan every tribble on the station . " " " " There must be " thousands " of them by now . " " " Hundreds " of thousands . " " " " One million , seven hundred seventy - one thousand , five hundred sixty - one . That ' s starting with one tribble with an average litter of ten every twelve hours . After three days . . . " " " " Thank you . You have your orders , people . Sisko out . " " ( referring to the tribbles ) " " They seem to be gorged . " " " " Gorged ? ! On my grain ? ! ! Kirk , I ' m going to hold you responsible ! There must be " thousands " of them ! " " " Hundreds " of thousands . " " " " One million , seven hundred seventy - one thousand , five hundred sixty - one . That ' s assuming one tribble , multiplying with an average litter of ten , producing a new generation every twelve hours over a period of three days . " " " " That ' s assuming that they got here three days ago . " " " " And allowing for the amount of grain consumed and the volume of the storage compartment . " " " " After the bomb was detonated , history continued uninterrupted , and thanks to the tribbles , Kirk was able to uncover the truth about Darvin . " " " " Excuse me , captain . Here ' s tomorrow ' s duty roster for your approval . " " " " Lieutenant . . . uh , lieutenant . . . " " " " Benjamin Sisko , sir . I ' ve been on temporary assignment here . Before I leave I just want to say . . . it ' s been an honor serving with you , sir . " " " " All right , lieutenant . Carry on . " " " " Thank you , sir . " " Background information . Conceiving the episode . " Trials and Tribble - ations " was conceived as a tribute to TOS , broadcast to coincide with " Star Trek " s 30th anniversary . When Paramount asked executive producer Ira Steven Behr to come up with a suitable story to mark the event , he and the writing staff of " " gathered together and began brainstorming for plot ideas . Behr toyed with the notion of hearkening back to the episode , since that installment was a favorite of Behr ' s and because actor Robert Walker – who had guest - starred as Charles Evans in the TOS episode – was still available . Skeptical that Walker would be interested in returning to " Star Trek " , this concept was discarded . ( , pp . 79 – 80 ) , conceived by writer Ronald D . Moore , was to revisit Sigma Iotia II , from the episode , where imitators of Kirk and Spock would be discovered as a social commentary on the Trekkie phenomenon . However , fellow writer René Echevarria wanted to revisit a classic episode using original footage . This was made possible by recent technological innovations , such as those used in the movie . Links and references . References . air vent ; Alpha Quadrant ; alternate timeline ; Antarean glow water ; auxiliary communications juncture ; Bajor ; Bajoran s ; barbarian ; Bashir ' s great - grandfather ; battle stations ; body odor ; Cardassia Prime ; Cardassian s ; Cestus III ; chicken sandwich ; chroniton radiation ; cloaking device ; coffee ; command division ; confined to quarters ; Constable ; ; ; ; ; Deep Space K - 7 ; Denebian slime devil ; Department of Temporal Investigations ; ; duotronic s ; Earth ; Elementary Temporal Mechanics ; ensign ; ; ; Federation - Klingon border ; fish juice ; food processor ; Friday ; GNDN ; Gorn ; ; Hall of Warriors ; historian ; internal sensor s ; Koloth ; Klingon s ; Klingon battle cruiser ; Klingon Empire ; Klingon Intelligence ; Klingon Imperial Fleet ; keva s ; letter of reprimand ; ; lieutenant ; lilac ; litter ; medical tricorder ; Milky Way Galaxy ; milliwatt ; ; navigational computer ; NCC - K7 ; operations division ; ; " Old Man " ; Ol ' Miss ; Orb of Prophecy ; Orb of Time ; Orb of Wisdom ; peat ; poison ; predestination paradox ; Promenade ; quadrotriticale ; Quark ' s ; raktajino ; red alert ; sabotage ; sensor array ; shore leave ; " Spacematic " ; Spican flame gem ; Starfleet Academy ; statue ; station manager ; stress ; swarm ; Tarkalean tea ; temporal violation ; transporter ; transporter log ; transtator ; tri - cobalt device ; tricorder ; trident scanner ; Trill s ; trillium ; tribble s ;