Tribble Travails [Medical log]
Medical log, Deep Space 9, stardate 50273.6.
Temporal Investigations will no doubt be dismayed to learn that tribbles are no longer an extinct species, due to Chief O'Brien wanting to bring back a gift for his wife, Keiko someone inadvertently bringing one back with them from the past. The station is currently suffering from an infestation of the furry creatures oy there, get out of the petri dishes! and it has fallen to me to try to find a humane way to stem their interminable reproduction.
From what I have observed, it seems that sterilization is not an option, only abortion. Tribbles are born pregnant, but once they have given birth they cannot do so again. The only way to stop them from reproducing is to eliminate the already-conceived offspring before it is born, or to not allow them to consume enough food for the fetus to develop. Starving a tribble quite obviously is unacceptably inhumane; I shall have to perform further studies of the creatures' anatomy in order to determine whether it is possible to abort the embryonic tribbles without harm to the mother. Er, parent--they seem to only have the one gender.
I have asked the crew of the Defiant to report to me for physicals, so that I may ascertain whether any harm was caused by our time-traveling experience. So little is known about these Orbs. Lieutenant Dax is currently studying the Orb of Time, the object responsible for our current predicament.
Temporal Investigations will no doubt be dismayed to learn that tribbles are no longer an extinct species, due to Chief O'Brien wanting to bring back a gift for his wife, Keiko someone inadvertently bringing one back with them from the past. The station is currently suffering from an infestation of the furry creatures oy there, get out of the petri dishes! and it has fallen to me to try to find a humane way to stem their interminable reproduction.
From what I have observed, it seems that sterilization is not an option, only abortion. Tribbles are born pregnant, but once they have given birth they cannot do so again. The only way to stop them from reproducing is to eliminate the already-conceived offspring before it is born, or to not allow them to consume enough food for the fetus to develop. Starving a tribble quite obviously is unacceptably inhumane; I shall have to perform further studies of the creatures' anatomy in order to determine whether it is possible to abort the embryonic tribbles without harm to the mother. Er, parent--they seem to only have the one gender.
I have asked the crew of the Defiant to report to me for physicals, so that I may ascertain whether any harm was caused by our time-traveling experience. So little is known about these Orbs. Lieutenant Dax is currently studying the Orb of Time, the object responsible for our current predicament.