The Enterprise is summoned to a Deep Space Station to guard a shipment of grain. Captain Kirk is annoyed at the use of a high-priority distress call for a trivial matter, and complies minimally. The Enterprise crew enjoy shore leave on the station, as does the crew of a Klingon ship.
An interstellar trader arrives with goods for sale, among them purring balls of fluff called tribles. He gives one to Lt. Uhura, who takes it aboard the Enterprise. On both the Enterprise and the station, the tribbles begin reproducing rapidly. They make soothing cooing noises and are loved by the Enterprise crew. However, tribbles jump and screech in disgust when around Klingons.
On the station, a drunken Klingon insults the Enterprise, her crew, and her captain. The resulting brawl between humans and Klingons forces Kirk to cancel shore leave. The Undersecreaty fears Klingon interference with the grain project.
Doctor McCoy and Spock are concerned that the increasing number of tribbles threatens to consume all the food aboard the Enterprise. Kirk realizes that the tribbles on the station could be a threat to the grain shipment. He is too late, however; when he opens an overhead storage compartment, he is buried chest-deep in grain-gorged tribbles. Spock and McCoy discover that many of the tribbles in the hold are dead or dying, suggesting the grain has been poisoned.
When the Undersecretary's assistant walks into the room and the tribbles react as if in the presence of a Klingon. McCoy reveals him to be a Klingon disguised as a human; the assistant confesses to having poisoned the grain.
The tribbles are to be removed from the station, but Spock estimates will take 17.9 years. Just before the Klingons depart, all the tribbles aboard the Enterprise are transported onto the Klingon vessel by Scotty, where, in his words, "they'll be no tribble at all."
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