For 80sarcades, who thought this was a fine idea. Sorry, it took this long, but once I started, it was no tribble at all.

Federation Space Station, Deep Space Nine

Stardate: Unknown-

this takes place shortly after two investigators from the Department of Temporal Investigation debriefed Captain Benjamin Sisko on the Defiant's role in an incident involving Kirk's Enterprise, a grain shipment, and a certain lovable species...well...you know the rest. (1)

"I'm open to suggestions, people." (2)

There was no budget for another space station, as per Jadzia Dax's suggestion, nor was there any stomach for "spacing" the fuzzy fur balls now finding their way into every nook and cranny of Deep Space Nine. The promenade was almost impassable, and while the residents and visitors were enjoying the soothing qualities of the alien animal-all except the Klingons, of course-the situation was dire.

As the tribbles continued to multiply, all hands, as well as those with other assorted appendages, had to put their minds together to quickly formulate a plan.

"We'd better do something quickly, Captain. Or our life support system could be compromised." That warning came from Chief Miles O'Brien. He had been basking in the afterglow of a successful mission. A mission to beat all missions, he told his wife Keiko. Now, weeks later, he was faced with the infestation on the station, plus he was left wondering how several tribbles managed to find their way onto the Defiant without anyone noticing. As chief of operations, he couldn't help but feel responsible.

Captain Sisko sighed, his elation at coming face to face with the famed Captain Kirk, now thwarted by the thought of a return visit by Temporal Investigations.

"I have an idea, Benjamin," said Dax.

"Go ahead."

The Trill continued. "We may be able to make use of the transporter system and hold them in buffers until we can either find a new planet or until Julian can develop some way to slow down their reproductive cycle."

Sisko looked at O'Brien.

"We would need every available transporter on the station, and the docked ships, sir. We would lose the use of the buffers."

"I may be able to get more industrial transporters up here from Bajor," Major Kira suggested. "Would that help, Chief?"

"I think that would do the trick, Major," replied O'Brien.

And so…the dire situation was eventually resolved. The genetically enhanced doctor was able to discover a way to slow down the reproductive cycle—a form of Tribble birth control, if you will, while the entire staff worked feverishly to store the tribbles into the buffers until a safe haven could be found. After all, bipeds love cute furry things, and no one wants to see them harmed. No one, except Worf, of course. But, he was unilaterally overruled.

It was several months later, not long after the Defiant took another trip into the past, (3) that Dr. Bashir had some time on his hands to wrap up his private logs and reports from his experiences in 1943 Germany. As part of his work, he decided to do a bit more research on the brave men he encountered at the POW camp. After adding a few notes to his medical report on the critically injured Colonel Hogan and Sergeant Olsen, he switched over to browsing photos of the camp uploaded into the system by historical research. Carefully looking for dates, Bashir began with photos taken closest to their visit in April, 1943. Hoping to ascertain his medical treatment's effects, he was specifically searching for glimpses of his two patients.

The first photo, dated May 1943 (the exact day was illegible), showed a casual gathering of the men in Hogan's barracks. Both Hogan and Olsen were present, and Bashir enlarged the image. Sitting back in his chair, he took a sip of tea and focused his attention on the two men. Nodding in satisfaction, he reopened his personal log. "Photo of Colonel Hogan and Sergeant Olsen, dated May 1943. Black and white. After enlarging image, patients show no obvious ill effects, aside from weight loss and slight pallor compared to other men in photograph." He then smiled. "Computer, halt dictation. I see the colonel replaced his dog tags. Computer, pull up next photograph."

Bashir's work continued for a few more minutes until the next set of photos appeared. Hogan and Olsen were missing in the first image, which showed a group of POW's congregating in the compound. "Interesting," commented the doctor as he read the caption, discovering the picture was actually a propaganda photo taken by Germans. "Computer, enlarge image." Bashir took a careful look at the faces of the prisoners and grinned as he recalled meeting a few of these men. There were several men seated on the ground in the rear. "Computer, enlarge and focus on background." He moved forward in his seat. Pausing, the doctor made some notes on his data pad and then took a careful look. "What is that thing behind that corporal?" he wondered as his gaze hit a small round object partially hidden in the background. The sight, although fuzzy, gave the medical officer a not so comfortable feeling in his stomach. At first glance, it resembled tumbleweed, but that would be unlikely, given the location in Germany.

Now curious, and his instincts on high alert, Bashir enlarged and focused on the image. This time, he was one-hundred percent certain the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach was totally warranted. "Oh, no." Turning off the computer, Bashir quickly left the infirmary and made a beeline for operations.

In short order, the entire command staff was summoned to a conference room. Once everyone gathered and took their seats, Sisko pulled up an enhanced and enlarged visual on the large computer. "This, people, is what Dr. Bashir discovered not too long ago."

"A tribble," growled Worf. He turned away from the screen.

"Exactly," said the captain.

The security chief walked over the screen and examined the photo. "Is it alive?" Odo asked.

"We have no way of knowing," Bashir answered. "Right now, it appears that the men in the picture are blissfully unaware of its existence. We don't know what color it is, but it's a juvenile, and unless you stepped on it, you might miss it."

"What I would like to know, is how did it get there?" Sisko leaned over the table and steepled his fingers. "And if it is alive, and it reproduces, there could be consequences."

"If there was a problem, we would be the first to know." Dax smiled at Sisko.

"Computer, who won World War Two?" Kira asked.

"Specify."

"Terran."

"The Allies won World War Two." The computer continued to drone on. Fortunately, all the dates and events matched.

"Captain, if the tribble reproduces and it isn't stopped, the food supply will be in jeopardy. There are already shortages." This warning came from Chief O'Brien. "As to how it got there; my best guess is one of them somehow got trapped in the transporter buffer on the Defiant, and then got beamed down to Germany. Probably during the very last transport we made."

"Whatever the explanation, we need to get it back. Before something happens to our timeline. I don't want the DTI people back here." Sisko's tone was urgent. "Remember, we never told Dulmer and Lucsly about the tribbles in the first place."

Germany, 1943

The little tribble found itself deposited in the woods near an odd-looking tree stump. Cold and hungry, it buried itself under some leaves and instinctively attempted to find sustenance. Fortunately, its instincts steered it away from the unfamiliar fauna. As it slowly explored its surroundings, a cold wet nose pretending to sniff for missing prisoners discovered an unusual smell. Sensing a friendly presence, the tribble rolled a little sideways. A large alien paw dug into the pile of leaves as its handler tugged on the leash.

"Come on Blumchen. Nothing to see here, girl." The tall biped tugged again. "Time to go back home."

The tiny tribble was gently swept up into an alien mouth. It purred as the lifeform carried it across the alien brush and into another environment filled with dirt, dust, and noise.

A few moments later, the alien mouth dropped the tribble on the ground. Other aliens gathered around, sniffing and batting the small helpless creature. They suddenly ran off and the tribble rolled underneath a barrier. Still hungry, it slowly went off in search of food. Eventually, its instincts led it towards a large pile of waste outside of a structure. Finally, it settled on something safe for its system, and it began to eat.

Corporal Randy Brill was in search of an errant baseball when he spotted it rolling across the compound and towards the waste pile behind the mess hall. He jogged over towards the building, and holding his nose, began to look for the ball, finally spying it resting near some potato peelings. As he knelt down to pick it up, he heard a small squeal. Thinking he stepped on a mouse, he jumped back; like many of the prisoners, he was fond of animals and did not wish to hurt the rodent. He bent down again, grabbed the ball, and then set his eyes on what he may have disturbed. His first thought was that he stepped on a child's toy. But as he picked up the small brown furry creature, he could tell it was no child's plaything. "You're alive?" Without thinking, he began stroking the fur, and he began to relax. He turned it over in his hands. "What are you?"

Brill dropped the ball, stuffed the creature into a pocket and furtively and quickly walked back to his empty barracks. He hopped up on his bunk, removed the creature and placed it on the thin lumpy mattress. Cross-legged, he studied it, turned it over several times, stroked it, and then put it down. "You some kind of German animal escaped from the zoo?" he asked. He was rewarded with a trill like sound. "Or an experiment gone wrong?" This worried him. All sorts of nefarious scientists made their way through camp. The colonel and his men eventually thwarted them, but this discovery made him nervous. Berating himself for not thinking, he picked it up, held it to his ear, and listened for signs of a bomb. Nothing.

The door swung open and the rest of his bunkmates noisily swept into the hut.

"Hey, Brill. Why'd you come back to the hut?" asked Foster, one of Hogan's spare team members and the barracks chief. "You forgot the ball." He tossed it to the corporal, who deftly caught it and put it down.

He hopped down from the bunk. "I found something, fellas." He grabbed the ball of fur and walked it over to the table, placing it down in front of his comrades.

The group gathered around and stared.

"That alive?" asked Darvin, a friendly sergeant from Scotland.

"Yes, it's alive. It moves and makes sounds. Unless it's a really sophisticated toy."

"Seriously?" commented one of the men.

"Hey, we have electric trains. Battery operated radios." Foster picked it up and turned it over in his hands. "No seam."

"It has a calming effect," mentioned Brill. "Kind of like stroking a cat."

"It looks like a hedgehog," announced Jones. "Can I hold it?"

Foster handed it over. Soon the unidentified creature was passed around the room; and a noticeable air of calm came over the hut. Eventually, Brill held up his hand. "Um, guys. What if this is a German experiment?"

"Good point." Foster placed the creature back on the table. "Unless it's indigenous to the area, and we've never seen one before."

"Where's its mouth?" asked Baris, an American gunner and a new resident of the camp.

"I think we should show Olsen. Maybe he knows what it is."

"Olsen?" asked Baris.

"The Outside Man, remember?" explained Brill. "He lived in this neck of the woods when he was a kid."

"He's still in the infirmary," Foster reminded Brill. "And so is the colonel." He rubbed his chin. "Orders are to bring anything weird or unexpected to the attention of the guys in Barracks two. So that's what we'll do. Brill, you're with me. You guys hold down the fort."

Rather than risk one of the guards catching them with the creature, the two men decided to use the tunnel system to reach the center of operations. They entered through their hidden entrance, and being careful not to hurt the creature, wound their way through the claustrophobic and tight spur that linked many of the barracks to the main tunnel area. This was where everything happened. The relief radio operator looked up at the two as they passed.

"What are you two doing down 'ere?" he asked curiously, as no one was currently scheduled on any tunnel projects at the moment, and the area used for rescued flies was empty.

"Found something suspicious in the compound," Brill stated. His pocket began to move.

The radioman stared at him and pointed. "Your pants are moving."

Brill removed the creature.

"Oi, what's that?" asked Lurry, the radioman. He bent down and stared.

"We don't know. Brill found it by the mess in a pile of peelings. We thought Olsen might recognize it, but we don't want to barge into the infirmary without checking with Kinch first."

There was a switch located near the ladder heading up to Barracks two. No one wanted any surprises. This notified the men that a non-resident needed to enter the barracks from the tunnel system, and put everyone on alert. Foster hit the switch.

At the sound of the ding, all the men in the barracks looked up. LeBeau immediately went over to the bunk and opened the mechanism. Glancing down he spied Foster and one of the newer prisoners heading up the ladder.

"Foster. What's up?" Kinch asked as he rose from his chair.

"Brill here found something unusual in the compound. Thought you should see it."

"Fascinating," was Newkirk's comment as he glanced at the fur ball now resting on the table."

"Looks like a hedgehog," commented Baker who was visiting. He circled around the table, bending down to get a better look. "Without a mouth, eyes, nose…weird."

"It's a toy." Carter bent down and touched the curiosity. "Maybe Schultz made it."

"Nope. We think it's alive. Hold it." Brill picked it up and handed it to Carter, the barracks' resident animal lover.

Carter stroked it, and looked up. "It's sort of purring." He held it to his ear. "Geez, holding this little fella is relaxing. Just not sure what it is."

Foster, making himself at home, poured himself a mug of coffee. "Could be some kind of experiment. But whatever it is, I've never seen anything like it. That's why we brought it over."

Kinch made like the colonel and paced for a few brief moments. "I think we should pay a visit to the infirmary. Olsen and the colonel need to see it."

1) Trouble with Tribbles, Star Trek: The Original Series, Season 2, Episode 15, and Trials and Tribble-ations, Season 5, episode 6

2) This is a direct quote from the episode.

3) The Predestination Paradox, posted in 2009 by Snooky-9093 (in crossover section)

Blumchen is my guard dog OC. My back history of Olsen as shown in my story "The Outside Man," gives him a German mother. And a childhood spent in Germany.