The Trouble with Tribbles Quotes

“Kirk: How close will we come to the nearest Klingon outpost if we continue on our present course?
Chekov: Vun parsec, sir. Close enough to smell them.
Spock: That is illogical, ensign. Odors cannot travel through the vacuum of space.
Chekov: I vas making a little joke, sir.
Spock: Extremely little, ensign.”
― David Gerrold, The Trouble with Tribbles

“A fluff ball is a perfect pet: it exists only for your affection. You take care of it—and it purrs at you; what more do you want from a pet? A pet is a substitute infant—but multiply it by one million and it’s a parasite.”
― David Gerrold, The Trouble with Tribbles: The Story Behind Star Trek's Most Popular Episode

“The tribbles were really made by a fellow named Wah Chang—he did much of STAR TREK’s special effects work, but he’s also well known for his work in films like Jack the Giant Killer, The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao, and other fantasies requiring unusual effects or animation.”
― David Gerrold, The Trouble with Tribbles: The Story Behind Star Trek's Most Popular Episode

“Believe me—I spent some uncomfortable moments with my head that morning. Because I’d read The Rolling Stones fifteen years before—and forgotten it completely. Or had I?”
― David Gerrold, The Trouble with Tribbles: The Story Behind Star Trek's Most Popular Episode

“MCCOY The nearest thing I can figure out is that they’re born pregnant. It seems to be a great timesaver... KIRK
(sourly) Really? MCCOY From all I can find out, they seem to be bisexual, reproducing at will. (glancing around) And they have a lot of will.”
― David Gerrold, The Trouble with Tribbles: The Story Behind Star Trek's Most Popular Episode

“I don’t know how other people feel about college, but to me, it’s overrated. College gives you living experience in an environment where you have to be responsible for yourself—but very little more than that. If you learn anything, you’ve done it yourself.”
― David Gerrold, The Trouble with Tribbles: The Story Behind Star Trek's Most Popular Episode

“Tomorrow Was Yesterday” dealt with the discovery by the Enterprise of a giant “universe” or “generation” ship—that is, a slower-than-light spaceship that would take generations to reach its destination because they lacked the power to traverse the vast distances between the stars any faster. The Voyager was a colony ship that had been launched from Earth hundreds of years previously, but only now were Federation ships catching up to it, the Enterprise being the first. Unfortunately, after hundreds of years, the people inside had forgotten that they were aboard a spaceship—instead they believed their enclosed world to be the totality of existence. Part of the reason for this stemmed from a mutiny in their long forgotten past, a mutiny that had left the Voyager’s population divided into two armed camps. The elite were descendants of the well educated, and they had a high standard of living in their part of the ship. The downtrodden oppressed were descendants of the mutineers. Now, the Voyager was a giant sphere, or cylinder. Artificial gravity was provided by spinning the ship to create centrifugal force; therefore, from a shipside point of view, down was outward, up was toward the center. The upper levels in the center of the ship were where the control room was located”
― David Gerrold, The Trouble with Tribbles: The Story Behind Star Trek's Most Popular Episode