She knew a lot less than one would expect of her about the selection of products she was staring at. Her contemplative waiting state was for no one. It was her own decision she was waiting on, choosing a particular souvenir for the trip she never intended to be on.

"What's this one?" Kalima asked the attendant as she pointed to something that resembled a fluff ball.

"It's an excellent choice, deary." He reached for the item to which she pointed and then sat it before her. "Cash or credit?"

"You haven't told me what it is." Kalima was not as keen to buy the item as the attendant was in trying to sell it to her.

The attendant reached below the counter and pulled out a manual. He set the item beside the fluff ball that was pulsating. "This will tell you everything." He tapped the booklet and then held out his hand, awaiting payment.

Kalima stepped forward to gaze upon the booklet. It was enticing because it was in another language. As a communications officer, she was familiar with many languages. Yet now and then she ran across one she did not know. This was not how she would usually shop, but the mystery of the fluff ball and the abnormal manual encouraged her to act outside of her normal parameters.

She had the credits to spend,  whatever the price was for the two items. Despite her flexibility of funds, she still cringed when the cashier rang up the two items. Her hand raised as she inquired. "I'm a Starfleet Officer, Do you have a discount?" Kalima was not in her uniform due to this being her leisure time.

"Oh Starfleet." He pressed a few buttons, then motioned for her to insert her card again.

Kalima's eyes widened as the amount charged rose instead of decreasing. "What is this? This is not a discount."

He shook his head, smiling. "You've got a sharp brain, Officer." He pushed her items towards her. "Stop by again."

Kalima gathered the two items that he pushed her way. "I'm probably not coming back."

His smile turned to a grin. "Sure you will." The attendant turned from her to the next person in line.

In her hand, the fluff ball wiggled and cooed. "You're alive?" Immediately she tried to decipher the words upon the cover of the pamphlet. It looked like gibberish, which meant it was a task for her universal translator. What she needed was on the shuttle. One of her fellow officers had convinced her to leave it behind. She claimed since this was not a diplomatic endeavor, there was no need to be knowledgeable about every language around them.

Kalima made her way to the shuttle. When she arrived, she set the cooing fluff ball in one vacant seat while she rummaged through her bag. She kept the manual with her for easy access. The cooing got louder as she worked, but she did not stop to check why.

With her translator in hand, she sat down with the manual spread open on her lap. Kalima calibrated her universal translator until it read the title.

"The Edward Larkin Experiment." The name rang a bell, but why it did? She could not wrap her brain around. Kalima kept translating after she inserted the card into her tablet. The translator transformed the information into Kalima's native tongue.

In the background, she heard the cooing sound ringing louder through the small shuttle. However, Kalima kept watching the screen as it slowly translated the manual. "I haven't given you a name." She hummed as she thought. "Robin? You looked like a..."

Kalima raised her gaze to the fluff ball. "What the hell?" Where there was once one, there was now many more. She counted, then the pile of fluff grew and she recounted. "What are you?"

She rapidly tapped the screen, hoping it would speed up the translation. It did not make the process go any faster. By the time the translation appeared, Kalima was hesitant in taking her gaze from the pile of fluff.

"Tribbles are a superb source of protein. Edward Larkin created this incarnation of the species to serve as a food source."

Kalima flipped through the manual until she saw something relevant to her current situation.

"Tribble are born pregnant. They increase in number at an uncontrollable rate. Therefore, the crew deemed Tribbles unsuitable to have on board a ship as a food source."

The text continued on regarding the merits and inconveniences of Tribble. Although it informed Kalima of what it was and its supposed purpose. None of what she read said anything about how to halt the multiplication of Tribbles.

Standing up from her elected seat, the fluff balls she now knew as Tribbles reached the height of her mid calves. There were Tribbles on every inch of the shuttle. She waded her way to the nearest radio to signal the other crewmembers not to return to the ship.

"Captain Cowley." Kalima spoke.

"Officer Kalima, is there trouble?" Her Captain chimed back with an edge of panic in her voice. It was understandable considering their previous missions and how things had gone from bad to worse fairly quickly.

"No? Yes..." Kalima, the communications officer, was struggling for words to the predicament. "Have you heard of Edward Larkin?" she asked, then paused before adding. "Tribbles?"

There was silence, then suddenly an answer. "Is he alive? Did you run into him and tribbles?"

Kalima shook her limbs, shaking loose the Tribbles that had climbed up her body as she was standing still. "I think I brought a Tribble? One of Larkin's experimental ones..."

Captain Cowley cursed on the line and then went quiet. "Is it with you now?" She grumbled and then rephrased. "How many are there?"

The communications officer looked at the fluffy multicolor expanse around her. "Over a hundred, definitely at least a hundred."

"We have to scrap the shuttle. Get somewhere safe. Make sure none are with you, then we'll beam you up." The Captain ended their transmission. 

Kalima left, escaping her Tribbles.