When Chief Petty Officer Lose had re-entered the Officers Mess; he’d found the three empty plates on the table.  It didn’t take long to track down the culprits.  A pair of Tribbles occupied one of the chairs; looking rather fat and contented with themselves; as they cooed softly.  It didn’t take much effort to replicate a container to place them in before they escaped to somewhere else.

Ensign C’Rren had stopped sneezing by that point thanks to help from the EMH.  The Caitian science officer, still felt a little down, but was fit enough to carry on with his duties.  The priority of that had being the recalibration of the ships internal sensors.  No one was completely convinced there wasn’t more of them lurking around the ship, quietly eating away at stuff they shouldn’t.

And sure enough they had!  It was unclear how many of them had originally made it inside of the No 1 Bio-matter storage tank which stored the raw elements to create any food and certain other small items in the Replicators.  The tanks had been 90% full due to the fact they’d only recently been topped up, and the reduced crew on board requiring much less food.  Under these circumstances it would have been no surprise to find they were now 100% full of Tribble!  However that was far from the case

When Ensign Torf had headed down there to make a visual report, rather than finding himself getting caught in a mini Tribble avalanche when he opened the small hatch to look inside the tank.  He had to lean inside to pull out a dozen of the bundles of fur basically throwing them over his shoulder.  They tumbled, rolled and squeaked as the bounced off the tanks side and hit the deck.  He did however manage to gather them up and secure them in a crate well away from any food.

Agnes the Tribble, had successfully been beamed over to the USS Chapel with doctor Phlen, but had clearly reproduced before doing so; despite him trying to claim that it should have been completely impossible. Her progeny now totalled 14; way less than anyone believed possible, based on prior knowledge of these creatures.

To find out why, acting Captain Harris had selected one of the pesky fur balls at random and brought it up to sickbay where he placed it on the Bio-bed in front of the EMH.

“You know I don’t approve of pets on the ward!” The EMH protested indignantly.

“What can you tell me doc?” Chad asked

“It’s a Tribble.” Replied the EMH. “I’m sure anyone could have told you that.”

Harris smiled politely whilst feeling slightly annoyed by the trumped up hologram. “I was hoping for a little more than that.”

“Oh, you’d like me to scan it and run tests!” If it was possible for a sophisticated computer program to sound sarcastic then the EMH had probably just managed it. Using a medical Tri-corder the doctor scanned the Tribble before him. “Hmmm, interesting.”  He muttered checking over the results

“What is it?” Enquired the Ensign; with a hint of concern.

“This Tribble seems to have been de-genetically engineered.”  Announced the doctor.

“What does that mean?”

“Simply put, this creature is as close to a pure original as anyone could hope to achieve.”

Harris placed his hands on his hips, looking at the anomaly in front of him.  “Computer where did Doctor Phlen board the SS Quicksilver?”

The computer responded a moment later. “Doctor boarded the SS Quicksilver at Deep Space Nine.”

By coincidence Ensign C’Rren had also been doing some research of the Tribbles himself and it was at this point he walked into sickbay with a Padd in his hand. “These Tribbilller….atsshh.”  They young Caitian sneezed before getting his sentence out. “Yyy arrtchh, warned me, ha..hor. aaaaartchhhh.”

The doctor threw him a small contain which rattled as C’Rren caught it. “Your medication in tablet form, just take one every 6 hours.”  The EMH informed him.  The science office replicated himself a glass of water and took one of the small yellow capsules inside the tub.  The effects of the medication where noticeable in less than 5 minutes and C’Rren felt much better.

“Well even though these Tribble are a lot less of a menace than others, we still can’t really keep them on board.” Harris decided. “So where can we take them?”

He went to walk out of the room, but the EHM coughed.  “Aren’t we forgetting something?” Chad looked back at the Tribble snatched it up off the bed and tucked it under his arm, then left.

**********

A few hours later Ensign C’Rren was off duty, though if the need arose he’d spring back into action at a moment’s notice; with such a small crew no one was ever completely ‘off duty’.  He knew that the ships currently absent Chief Engineer played the trumpet to relax and the young Caitian and decided he would learn to play an instrument to; he’d chosen the flute though and had managed to get himself one replicated a few weeks back.  Sharing a room though had meant he’d not really found the opportunity to learn and practise in private.  But now with the reduced crew aboard the Jaxartes, Maasl could spend an hour or so playing without comment or distraction from anyone else.

He was currently learning an old piece of Earth music called ‘Amazing Grace’.  First he’d gone through the notes individually, playing each one in turn; before then stringing a half dozen together, and then finally playing a longer piece.  As C’Rren was playing the notes he was sure he could hear a kind of humming.  He stopped and so did the noise.   Looking around the room from the comfort of his chair, the young Caitian could clearly tell he was alone in the room.   After a few moments pause, he continued with the tune; but there was that humming noise again.  He stopped, listened waited, stood up, played some more, stopped waited moved to the middle of the room and recommenced the tune.

When he yanked back the covers on the bottom bunk, Maasl wasn’t entirely sure what he’d find.  Sitting there however, right next to his pillow was a Tribble with a coppery coloured fur.  He played a few notes and the Tribble hummed and cooed along.  The medication the doctor had given him was clearly still working, as he hadn’t started sneezing yet.

A few minutes later he’d replicated himself a pair of elbow length latex gloves, which he put on before picking up the Tribble and carrying it out of his quarters at arm’s length.  He wasn’t exactly sure why he did it, but C’Rren had taken the flute with him, and after placing this Tribble with all the rest; the ensign stepped back and started to play the tune from the beginning.

It didn’t take long for all the creatures to join in with humming and cooing; a bit like having a mini choir.  Everything the young Caitian stopped so would they.  C’Rren was starting to rather enjoy the company of these creatures even if he was still allergic to them and might start sneezing again before long. After nearly half hour of playing, he left them.  But returned the following day, trying out a few of the other tunes he’d been learning. The Tribbles seemed just as eager to join in with those to.

**********

It was three days after when the USS Jaxartes arrived at a small rather unremarkable ‘M’ class planet.  It had never been colonised by humans or any other race, partly due to its location and lack of enough useful minerals and other resources to warrant the expense of setting anything up.  C’Rren identified a medium sized island which appeared suitable for the Tribbles to survive and not overrun the planet. The four crew between then agreed to keep the location of the planet and the Island a secret.

Ensign Harris and Chief Petty Officer Lose tipped the furry creatures on to the transporter pad whilst Ensign Torf set the transporters controls. Ready to beam them down.  The two men stepped away from the pad, and Chad stood next to Maasl patting the Caitian on the shoulder. “I know.  I was kind of enjoying having them around to. But it for the best.”

C’Rren nodded soberly. “I know.”

“Energise.” Harris called out. And under a single column of shimmering light the Tribble departed for their new home.

A few hours later Ensign C’Rren was back in his quarters.  He picked up the flute from the small desk by his chair and twirled it around between his fingers a few times as he pondered the last few days’ events. With a smile on his face he began playing a tune.

Was it his imagination playing tricks on him, or could he hear the humming of a Tribble.  He moved to the middle of the room, much like he had the last time his quarters had been invaded.  Pulling the cover back he came across a lone Tribble; and if he wasn’t mistaken the same one he’d found there last time.

“How did you get back here?” He asked the creature.

“Coo.”

“Liked my playing that much did you?”

“Hhuuuuummmm.”

“Ok you can stop, but if you dare chew my pillow, I’m kicking you out of the airlock. Understand?”

“Eeerk” Was the rather weird shriek of a reply the Tribble gave, but whether that was meant to indicate a certain level of understanding was anyone’s guess.

“So what am I going to call you?”

“Coo,”

“That’s a big help.” The Caitian laughed.  Before placing the flute back to his lips and playing another tune, which his new companion happily cooed and hummed along to.