Kirk stepped off the transporter pad, his eyes shining with suppressed laughter. McCoy was waiting, hands behind his back and looking very contrite.

"Bones, I leave you to watch the store and something happens?"

"Jim, it's probably nothing. I think if you just called back the cleaning crew, they could take care of it," McCoy shook his head a little.

Kirk cocked his head. "I think I'll check it out first. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you have something to hide."

They walked to the lab, a little faster than McCoy would have liked. They doors opened and the first thing that they noticed was the smell. Kirk stepped forward a little, sniffing curiously. "Bones, if this is your idea of a joke," he said slowly.

The smell was warm and sweet, rather like fresh caramel. But it was strong. So strong it made one's eyes water. McCoy coughed a little and pointed to the blob. "There it is, Jim. But it wasn't emitting that odor when I left," and as he looked more closely at it, he could see that it had increased in size since he had left it! The handle of the scalpel had been completely overtaken with the solidified, and now smelly, black goop.

Kirk coughed and snorted, and touched the door control so that it would not slide shut behind them. He kneeled down and looked at it carefully. "What did you do, Bones?"

"I spilled my coffee."

"That's not coffee. Starfleet has some bad coffee, but that's not coffee," Kirk shook his head.

"I spilled some Sodium Hydroxenol with it," McCoy bounced nervously.

"Hydroxenol? Is that the same stuff you use to treat chemical burns?" Kirk stood up. His eyes stopped suddenly. "What is that plant doing in here?"

"Jim," McCoy put his hands on Kirk's shoulders and began pushing him out of the room. "I think if you just call back some of the cleaning crew, they can,"

"But you said it's getting bigger, and now it's smelling like caramel? Bones, I think we need to call back the lab staff and let them take a look at it," Kirk shook his head.

"But they're on shore leave," McCoy protested. "I don't want to be a bother."

"It's no bother, and I want to know what Starfleet coffee does when it's mixed with a chemical burn treatment," Kirk grinned teasingly.

They left the lab, chuckling a little at the situation and the silliness of it all.

The lights turned off automatically, and the blob, sitting alone in the dark, burped quietly. And grew.

Spock stared at the mess on the floor, and then looked back at the potted plant. He could not determine why it was there. A plant in the lab was rather unsanitary. McCoy should know better than to have a plant in the lab.

The goo, when he had first seen it, had been the size of a transporter pad. Now it was the size of a biobed and stinking up the entire deck.

He had tried to get a sample off the goo, but all his attempts at chipping it had damaged his equipment. He sighed, and knitted his fingers behind his back. All his intrumentation indicated that the mess was harmless, but so far he had found no way to stop it from increasing in size, or what was making it grow in the first place. He did not know what was making that curious smell, or why it had taken on such a bizarre composition.

"Commander," a technician waved a padd in front of him. "I think we found a source of calcium recombinants within the mass."

"Interesting," Spock commented drily. "I wonder if the good doctor takes cream in his coffee."

The technician chuckled and took back the padd. Spock stepped towards the door. "Please contact me if there are any significant changes to the situation," he said to the remaining staff.

They nodded and went back to work.

Spock went to the bridge to report back to the Captain and to check on what he was sure was a growing workload that was accumulating in his absence.

Kirk swiveled in the con chair as the doors opened. "Mister Spock, glad to see you back up here."

"Nothing to report on the mysterious substance slowly taking over the lab. However, it does not appear to pose a threat."

"That's good to know, Spock." Kirk stood up and stepped to the railing. "Because we've got a problem starting on Rigel II."

"Explain."

"A small group has started protesting the planet's involvement in the UFP. They've set up a small camp outside the capitol city, and they're getting rather boisterous. The government has requested a friendly visit from Starfleet, just to quiet things down a little." Kirk shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't know how long it will take. Few days, maybe."

"It may be a quiet enough mission that will allow time to discern the root of the mystery in the science lab," Spock mulled.

"Bones insists it was an accident."

"I do not doubt his intentions. I doubt the solution to the problem will be found quickly."

"Sure makes a great case for shore leave," Uhura piped in from behind them.

Kirk turned and laughed a little. "Next time I'll make him go down there."