The Trouble with Tribbles ( episode ) A dispute over control of a planet brings the " Enterprise " to a space station , where they must deal with Klingons , edgy Federation officials , and a previously - unknown species of small , unbearably cute , voraciously hungry , and rapidly - multiplying furry creatures . Summary . Teaser . The is " en route " to Deep Space Station K - 7 for assistance with an important assignment regarding a disputed planet . One parsec from the nearest Klingon outpost ( " " Close enough to smell them " , " as Chekov puts it ) , the post is near Sherman ' s Planet , which is claimed by both sides . In the " Enterprise " s briefing room , Captain James T . Kirk , Commander Spock , and Ensign Pavel Chekov review the area ' s history : twenty - three years after the inconclusive Battle of Donatu V , the Organian Peace Treaty is set to grant control of Sherman ' s Planet to the party that can demonstrate it can develop the planet ' s resources most efficiently . Lieutenant Uhura reports from the bridge that K - 7 has issued a Code One alert , which signals that it is under attack . Kirk orders a speed increase to warp factor 6 , while Uhura initiates a red alert . Act One . The " Enterprise " arrives at maximum warp , ready for a fight , only to find no battle . Beaming over with Spock , Kirk demands an explanation from station manager Lurry , but is told he was ordered to do so by Nilz Baris , a Federation undersecretary in charge of the Sherman ' s Planet development project . Baris and his aide , Arne Darvin , fear that the Klingons might try to sabotage the Federation ' s best hope to win control of the planet – a high - yield grain known as quadrotriticale , the only Earth grain that will grow on the planet . Tons of the grain are stored at the station , and Baris demands from Kirk security and protection . Kirk still believes they have misused the Priority One designation , but assigns only two guards to the station , and allows shore leave for the " Enterprise " crew . On leave , Uhura and Chekov meet a dealer named Cyrano Jones , who is trying to wholesale to the skeptical bartender various rare galactic items , among them , spican flame gem s and fur ry little creatures that Jones calls tribble s . While they bicker over the price , Chekov notices a tribble has eaten a quadrotriticale sample left on the bar and Uhura is enchanted by it . Jones gives the tribble to Uhura , a move the bartender claims will ruin the market but Jones claims will help spur more sales . Back on the " Enterprise " , Kirk receives an order from Starfleet Admiral to render any and or all aid that Baris may require . The admiral informs Kirk that the safety of the grain – as well as the project – is the captain ' s responsibility . Kirk is exasperated , and just then learns from Uhura that a Klingon battle cruiser has arrived within a hundred kilometers of K - 7 . Kirk orders the ship to go to red alert and for Lurry to be notified . Lurry , however , discounts a possible attack , as the Klingon ship ' s captain , Koloth , and first officer , Korax , are sitting in his office . Kirk orders the red alert canceled . Act Two . Kirk beams over with Spock and the Klingons assert their rights to shore leave under the terms of the Organian treaty . Kirk reluctantly accedes , but sets limits of twelve at a time , with one guard from the " Enterprise " for each Klingon soldier . In the recreation room aboard the " Enterprise " , Uhura ' s tribble gives birth to a litter . The sounds the tribbles make seem to have a soothing effect on Human s . Dr . McCoy takes one of the offspring to study it . Meanwhile , Kirk argues with Baris about the adequacy of the security Kirk is providing , until Kirk claims he is getting a headache . Going to sickbay for treatment , Kirk sees that McCoy ' s tribble has also produced a litter . McCoy reports that almost 50 % of their metabolism is geared towards reproduction . Kirk tells crewmembers beaming over to shore leave on K - 7 to avoid trouble with the Klingons . Montgomery Scott declines shore leave , but Kirk , concerned for him getting too wrapped up in his technical journal s , orders him over to keep an eye on the others and to enjoy himself . At the bar aboard K - 7 , Jones tries to sell more tribbles . The " Enterprise " crew aren ' t interested , and the tribbles and the Klingons react to one another with loud hostility . The bartender is uninterested in more tribbles either – the one he acquired earlier is already multiplying . Korax starts insulting the " Enterprise " crew , first by comparing the Humans to Regulan bloodworm s . He then tries to provoke Chekov by repeatedly insulting Kirk , but Scott restrains Chekov . Korax then turns his attention to Scott by insulting the " Enterprise " itself , first calling it a garbage scow , then just garbage , provoking Scott to punch Korax in the face and start a brawl between the two groups . The barman retreats and Jones dispenses himself some drinks in his absence . Security officers from the " Enterprise " arrest the brawlers and restore order , and shore leave for both ships is canceled . Act Three . Kirk interrogates the crew involved in the brawl , but none are forthcoming about who started it . Kirk orders that they are all confined to quarters until he determines who started the brawl . After Kirk dismisses his officers , Scott confesses to Kirk in private that he started the fight after Korax insulted them , recalling some of the more colorful examples . Kirk presses further and is perplexed to find that Scott didn ' t start fighting until Korax insulted the " Enterprise " but realizes it was due to an engineer ' s sensitivities . Kirk restricts Scott to quarters , to which Scott happily complies , anticipating time off to catch up on his journals . In sickbay , Spock and McCoy have a characteristic debate on the aesthetics and utility of tribbles , Spock in particular , notes to McCoy their one redeeming characteristic – they do not talk too much . The question soon attracts Kirk ' s attention . There are tribbles all over the bridge , including one in his chair . McCoy reports this is because they are " born pregnant " and are swamping the ship with their rampant reproduction . Kirk orders Uhura to call for Jones to be detained on K - 7 – and to " " get these tribbles off the bridge . " " On K - 7 , Spock berates Jones for removing tribbles from their natural predators and letting them over - breed . Jones counters with excuses and insists that , at six credit s each , they ' re making him money . Then Baris confronts Kirk on the insufficient security detail for the quadrotriticale . Baris claims Jones is " " quite probably a Klingon agent " , " but Kirk is unconvinced by the evidence and finds that Jones has done no worse than disrupt activities on K - 7 , which is not unprecedented . " " Sometimes , all they need is a title , Mr . Baris " " , Kirk pointedly concludes , and he and Spock return to the " Enterprise " . Back on board , the tribble problem has worsened . Kirk can ' t even get a meal , as tribbles have gotten into the food synthesizer s . Scott reports that the tribbles are circulating through the " Enterprise " s ventilation ducts , ending up in machinery all throughout the ship . Spock points out that there are comparable ducts aboard K - 7 that lead to the grain storage tanks . Realizing the implication , Kirk orders all the tribbles removed from the " Enterprise " and rushes to K - 7 , gaining access to one of the storage compartments , but when he opens the overhead door , an avalanche of tribbles buries him . Act Four . Kirk finally climbs out from the pile of tribbles – a population Spock estimates at 1 , 771 , 561 – and Spock discovers that they are gorged on the grain . Baris claims Kirk ' s orders have turned the project into a disaster and that he will call for a Starfleet board of inquiry against Kirk . But Spock and McCoy notice that many of the tribbles in the pile are dead or dying . Kirk orders McCoy to find out why they died , though McCoy protests that he doesn ' t yet know what keeps them alive . Kirk assembles all the principals in Lurry ' s office . Koloth demands that Kirk issue an official apology to the Klingon High Command , though Baris says that would give the Klingons the wedge they need to claim Sherman ' s Planet . Koloth also asks that the tribbles be removed from the room . The guards do so , but they pass Darvin , at which point the tribbles shriek just as they did around the Klingons . With his medical tricorder , McCoy reveals Darvin to be a Klingon . He poisoned the grain with a virus that prevents its victim from absorbing nutrients , which is how the tribbles died . " " They starved to death . In a storage compartment full of grain , they starved to death ! " " Kirk summarizes . Darvin is arrested , the Klingons are ordered out of Federation territory within the next six hours , and Kirk says he could learn to like tribbles . In K - 7 ' s bar , Kirk and Spock then give Jones a choice : twenty years in a rehabilitation colony for transporting a harmful species , or pick up every tribble on the station ( which Spock calculates would take 17 . 9 years ) . Jones accepts the latter . Back aboard the " Enterprise " , Kirk is happy to find the ship has been swept clean of tribbles , and asks Spock , McCoy , and Scott how they did it . They all deflect Kirk ' s questions until Scott reluctantly replies that before the Klingons went into warp , he beamed all of them into their engine room , " " where they ' ll be no tribble at all . " " The crew share a good , long laugh at this . Memorable quotes . " " I was making a little joke , sir . " " " " Extremely little , ensign . " " " " Wheat . So what ? " " " " I have never questioned the orders or the intelligence of any representative of the Federation . Until now . " " " " Is that an offer or a joke ? " " " " That ' s my offer . " " " " That ' s a joke . " " " " Its trilling seems to have a tranquilizing effect on the Human nervous system . Fortunately , of course . . . I am immune . . . to its effect . " " " " Kirk , this station is swarming with Klingons ! " " " " I was not aware , Mister Baris , that twelve Klingons constitutes a swarm . " " " " Do you know what you get if you feed a tribble too much ? " " " " A fat tribble . " " " " No . You get a bunch of hungry little tribbles . " " " " When are you going to get off that milk diet , lad ? " " " " This is vodka . " " " " Where I come from , that ' s soda pop . Now this is a drink for a man . " " " " Scotch ? " " " " Aye . " " " " It was invented by a little old lady from Leningrad . " " " " Oh . . . I just remembered : There is one Earth man who doesn ' t remind me of a Regulan bloodworm . That ' s Kirk . A Regulan bloodworm is soft and shapeless . But Kirk isn ' t soft . Kirk may be a swaggering , overbearing , tin - plated dictator with delusions of godhood , but he ' s not soft . " " " " Of course , I ' d say that Captain Kirk deserves his ship . We like the " Enterprise " . We , we really do . 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 Scott ' 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 . " " " " What ' s the matter , Spock ? " " " " There ' s something disquieting about these creatures . " " " " Oh ? Don ' t tell me you ' ve got a feeling . " " " " Don ' t be insulting , doctor . " " " " I see no practical use for them . " " " " Does everything have to have a practical use for you ? They ' re nice , they ' re soft , they ' re furry , and they make a pleasant sound . " " " " So would an ermin violin , doctor , yet I see no advantage to having one . " " " " They do indeed have one redeeming characteristic . " " " " What ' s that ? " " " " They do not talk too much . " " " " Too much of anything , lieutenant , even love , isn ' t necessarily a good thing . " " " " In my opinion , you have taken this important project far too lightly . " " " " On the contrary , sir . I think of this project as very important . It is you I take lightly . " " " " My chicken sandwich and coffee . This is my chicken sandwich and coffee . " " " " Fascinating . " " " " I want these things off my ship ! I don ' t care if it takes every man we ' ve got – I want them off the ship ! " " " " And as captain , I want two things done . First , find Cyrano Jones . And second . . . " " ( A tribble lands on Kirk ' s head ) " " . . . close that door . " " " " They don ' t like Klingons . But they do like Vulcans . Well Mr Spock , I didn ' t know you had it in you . " " " " Obviously tribbles are very perceptive creatures , captain . " " " " Obviously . " " ( Carrying tribbles , Kirk walks over to Baris ) " " Mister Baris , they like you . Well , there ' s no accounting for taste . " " " " I gave them to the Klingons , sir . " " " " The Klingons ? " " " Aye , sir . " Before they went into warp I transported the whole kit and kaboodle into their engine room , where they ' ll be no tribble at all . " " Links and references . References . 20th century ; 2060s ; 2245 ; agriculture ; air vent ; all hands ; Antarean glow water ; assistant ; asteroid ; asteroid locator ; astronomer ; background check ; battle stations ; Bible ; bisexual ; board of inquiry ; " Bones " ; ; ; Canada ; chicken sandwich ; credit ; code 1 emergency ; coffee ; confined to quarters ; cork ; cossack ; Deep Space Station K - 7 ; defense alert ; delusion ; Denebian slime devil ; dictator ; diet ; dissection ; distress call ; Donatu V ; Earth ; Earther ; ermine violin ; Federation ; Federation law ; freighter ; French language ; food processor ; garbage scow ; genie ; general quarters ; grain ; ; headache ; hip ; hybrid ; irons ; joke ; Jones ' spaceship ; Klingon ; Klingon battle cruiser ; Klingon Empire ; Klingon High Command ; Klingon agent ; Leningrad ; lily ; litter ; " little old lady from Leningrad " ; logic ; love ; manual ; markup ; maternity ward ; metabolism ; milk ; Milky Way Galaxy ; money ; nursery ; Old Britain ; Organian Peace Treaty ; parasite ; parsec ; Peter the Great ; perennial ; polishing ; pouch ; pregnancy ; priority 1 distress call ; priority A - 1 channel ; profit ; prospector ; purr ; quadrant ; quadrotriticale ; radio silence ; red alert ; Regulan blood worm ; rehabilitation colony ; reproduction ; Royal Academy ; Russian ; rust ; rye ; sabotage ; Scotch whisky ; Sherman ' s Planet ; shore leave ; soda pop ; solar year ; " Spacematic " ; Spican flame gem ; station manager ( manager ) ; technical journal ; tin ; ton ; tribble ; triticale ; undersecretary ; vodka ; ; Vulcan ; wheat