"Captain, I take full responsibility for…" Scotty started. Jim cut him off.
"We're at Red Alert, Mister Scott. You should be in engineering," she said. He started apologizing to her for something but for the life of her she couldn't figure out what.
"Scotty, what are you talking about?" Jim asked.
"Well, ma'am, the… my experiment with the… The Red Alert's not my fault?"
"No. Whatever you're up to, it can wait. We got Klingons to worry about," she told him. "Sulu, talk to me."
"Almost in visual range, ma'am," the pilot told her.
"They're hailing us. Audio only," Uhura said.
"This is Captain James T. Kirk of the Federation starship Enterprise. Identify yourselves," Jim said over the comm system. She was met with static and a handful of Klingon words, a few curses was all Jim understood. "What are they saying?"
"It's breaking up but it's something about an execution," the chief communications officer told her.
"They jumped to warp, Captain. We lost 'em," Sulu said.
"Chekov, scan the system," she ordered.
"Aye, Keptin," the wiz-kid was all over it. Jim's first instinct was to follow them but she wasn't risking a war with the Klingons. She would have to settle with figuring out what they were doing here. "I have something."
"What is that?" Jim asked as he put a planet up on the viewscreen.
"It is the third planet in the system, Iota Germinorum Four. Small. M class. Unexplored," Chekov told her.
"No advanced life forms to speak of but there appears to be an abundance of local flora and fauna," Spock said. "There also appears to be several examples of advanced technology scattered across the planet in regular intervals."
"You think the Klingons left them there?" she asked her first officer.
"I think it is a possibility. I am, at the moment, unable to determine the nature or purpose of the technology," Spock said.
"Beaming one up is probably a bad idea," Jim said, mostly to herself. "Field trip it is. Chekov, plot a course. Mister Sulu, full impulse."
"Whoa," Jim whispered when she, Chekov, Spock and Scotty beamed to the surface. There were the most beautiful plants she'd ever seen, they were all kinds of vivid colors and crazy shapes.
"This is wonderful," Pavel said with his thick accent, his 'w' sounding more like a 'v'. After some advice to keep their helmets on from Spock, they followed the readings towards one of the Klingon devices and some kind of biomass.
"Don't touch anything," she ordered. The last thing she wanted was to carry someone back to the ship and explain to Bones that some plant ate an arm or something.
"Hey, would ye look at that," Scotty said before he picked up a Tribble. "This is just like that furball I beamed to little Christopher back at the Academy."
"Dude, what did I just say?" Jim asked.
"Fascinating," Spock said behind her. She turned to look at him and he had a Tribble too.
"Seriously? I said don't touch anything. We got a potentially dangerous Klingon device to worry about. You guys can play with the Tribbles later," she said, giving her first and second officer a look. Both men put the furballs back and they continued their trek.
"Only a few meters ahead, Captain," Spock informed her.
"Good. The sooner we get outta here the better," Jim stopped short as they came to a clearing full of Tribbles and a device. "Am I the only one who thinks that looks like a bomb?"
"You are not, Captain," her first officer said with a touch of surprise.
"Why would the Klingons bomb these little guys?" she asked. They were harmless as far as she knew. Jim's only ever seen one of the furry little things, Sam had it in his room on the Aldrin.
"I dinnae know, lass," Scotty muttered.
"It is only speculation, but the Klingon message we intercepted referred to a 'sworn enemy' of the Empire. Perhaps it they meant these creatures," Spock said.
"You picked a weird moment to get a sense of humor," Jim muttered.
"Humor was not my intent, Captain. It appears that these creatures are capable of spontaneous asexual replication. I believe the area was less occupied when the Klingons left this weapon here. The Tribbles would pose a threat to the biosphere of any non-native planet they arrived on," the half-Vulcan told her.
"So, you're saying that the Klingons could've been drowning in Tribbles," Jim said.
"Yes, Captain," Spock said.
"Scotty?" she looked at the engineer.
"Definitely a bomb, lass. A very big, very well-built bomb. It's gonna take a minute to find the off switch," Scotty said. Before Jim could say anything, they all heard a loud rumbling growl. All four officers looked in the direction it came from. It was definitely not the Tribbles.
"Scotty, Chekov, get that thing defused. Spock, keep your eyes open. Whatever that thing was, it was close," Jim ordered. "And it sounds hungry." Scotty and Chekov got back to work while she and Spock drew their phasers.
"You want to tell me why you violated quarantine protocols and beamed one of those things to Earth?" Jim asked Scotty.
They managed to get the bomb defused and beamed themselves –and the bomb- back to the ship before the larger creature, the Tribbles natural predator, got close enough to do any damage to the away team. Unfortunately, Chris was on comm when they got back. The Academy and HQ were overrun with the little furballs. Cadet Christopher Scott admitted his involvement and said it was his Uncle Monty's idea to beam it from the Enterprise. The engineer's apologies from earlier now made sense.
"It was just a transwarp experiment, lass. I dinnae even know if it would work," he told her.
"So, you couldn't send something that doesn't violate quarantine protocols. You do realize that you just put both our careers on the line for an experiment, right?" She loves Scotty. God, does she love Scotty but this wasn't just him doing something crazy. If the brass was so inclined, they'd both be shipped back to Earth and court martialed.
"How was I supposed to know that the bloody thing would breed like some alien rabbit… Captain?" Scotty said.
"That's why we have quarantine regulations," Jim pointed out. "Spock, thoughts?"
"No one wants to see the creatures eliminated but the threat to Earth is dire," her first officer said. "We saw the Klingons attempted response."
"What would you recommend?" she asked.
"We should retrieve a Tribble and analyze it as quickly as possible to determine if there is a way to arrest its ability to reproduce. Then, relay that information to Admiral Pike."
"Hendorff to Kirk," the comm in the room came to life.
"Yea, Cupcake?" Jim answered.
"Ma'am, we broke down the Klingon device to study it and found a stowaway. Before we knew it, engineering was covered a bunch of furball… things. They're everywhere," her boyfriend told her.
"Of course they are," she sighed, looking at Scotty. If the man could hide, he'd be gone judging by the look on his face.
"I'm keeping engineering on emergency lockdown. No one in or out but these things keep multiplying," Gavin said.
"Get everyone out of engineering. I'm not gonna let you guys drown in Tribbles. Get one, only one, of those things and meet me in the lab closest to Bones' office. I'll be there as soon as I wrap this up."
"Aye, Captain," the security officer said before he closed the connection.
"Your wish is my command," Gavin said when she stepped into the lab.
"Where's Bones?" she asked with a chuckle.
"Right here," her best friend walked over and handed her a glass container holding a Tribble.
"Please tell me you guys found something?" Jim asked.
"Of course we did. Your boyfriend's not a half bad lab assistant," Bones said. "Might have to get him outta that redshirt one day."
"I get him outta that redshirt every day," she quipped. Bones gave her a look.
"You set yourself up for that one, doc," Gavin chuckled.
"Infants. Anyway, I figured out what makes these things tick," the doctor said as he pointed to the screen next to Jim. "They don't have teeth but that cartilage thing at the bottom, beneath the fur, absorbs food."
"I retrieved grain from the planet's surface. I believe it is the creature's food source," Spock said from behind her. An alarm went off and Bones looked at her.
"Its life signs are failing. What did you do?" he asked, reaching for the container in her hands.
"Stood here and stared at Gavin's ass," she quipped. Whoever designed the uniform pants needed a commendation. Cupcake's ears and the back of his neck turned pink, she could tell that he was trying not to laugh, even though he didn't turn to look at her. "Seriously, I didn't do anything."
"I'm still blaming you," Bones grumbled. "That's the damnedest thing. I wonder what happened."
"Nature took its course, Doctor," Spock said. "I believe the creatures have a short lifespan, a matter of days."
"Sounds like they reproduce crazy fast in order to main the species," Gavin said.
"That is what I also surmise, Mister Hendorff," the half-Vulcan said.
"Surrounded by smart people, I'm so lucky," Jim said. Cupcake smirked and mouthed, 'Just wait 'til later.' "I'm guessing that we can't wait for them to die off. Any idea how we stop them?"
"I do have an idea, Captain. Provided that Mister Scott is agreeable," her first officer said.
"I cannae believe yer making me go in there," Scotty groaned.
"Your fault," she said.
"Aye, lass, I know. Let's just hope this works," he said. Spock's idea was to freeze the Tribbles. The temp would still be habitable for humans, just really cold. Since Scotty started it, he was the person they sent in to man the controls.
"Computer, disable engineering lockdown. Captain Authorization: Kirk-eight-echo-two," Jim said.
"Lockout disabled," the computer informed her. The main door opened and a flood of Tribbles came pouring out.
"Wow," the captain said as she moved against the wall and –sorta- out of the way. "Hendorff, Prescott, Rand, and whoever else is in this passageway, secure the loose ones."
"Aye, Captain," the two security officers and the yeoman said as they got to work. Scotty got to his task as well. Jim locked engineering down again once the chief engineer was inside.
"If this doesn't work we're gonna die in the dumbest way possible," Bones muttered after a few minutes.
"Then, I have good news, Doctor," Spock said as he read the PADD in his hands. "The temperature is having the desired effect. As it drops, so does the activity from the creatures inside engineering."
"That is good," Bones said.
"Depends on how you define 'good'. I gotta comm Chris. I feel like a kid who's about to get sent to my room without dessert for something my brother did."
"That's a good one, kid," Bones told her. "It won't be too bad. None of us can ever really be mad at you or Scotty, especially Pike.
"What are you hiding behind your back, Cupcake?" she asked when he stepped in her quarters.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said.
"You're a horrible liar," Jim said. "Don't make me come over there."
"What if I want you to come over here?" Gavin asked. She sat her PADD on the floor next to her, stood up and walked over to him.
"Here I am," she said as she looked up at him.
"This is for you," he said before placing a chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing in her hands.
"You got me a cupcake?" Jim asked. He slowly shook his head. "You made me a cupcake! Why? How?"
"Because I felt like it. Took three tries to get it right too. As for the how… I talked to your mother," Gavin told her.
"Wait, this is my mom's chocolate cake recipe?" she asked. He nodded. "Oh my God. I don't even have this recipe!"
"What can I say, Kirk women like me," Gavin said with a smirk. Jim pressed a kiss against his lips and smiled.
"You wanna see how much this Kirk woman likes you?"
"Whatcha have in mind?" he asked.
"Plenty. All of which you are overdressed for."