Missed

Summary

Shortly after the USS Enterprise crew's first encounter with tribbles, Uhura, McCoy, Spock and Scotty each find a tribble that was left behind on the ship when Scotty beamed most of them onto the Klingon vessel. Scotty's decision had been intensely controversial with the crew, and Scotty himself had not considered in advance what the Klingons would do to the tribbles. Each officer who finds a tribble decides to keep it. In the briefing room, Kirk demands that the person harboring a tribble identify himself or herself; knowing that Scotty has one, Kirk is astonished when the other three also admit to having them. Spock suggests that the tribbles be delivered to the xenozoological research facility on Belinium II. Kirk returns to his cabin and tells his own tribble that it will soon be leaving the ship, but will not be lonely.

References

Characters

Burton • James T. Kirk • Leonard McCoy • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Nyota Uhura • tribbles

Starships and vehicles

USS Enterprise • IKS Gr'oth

Locations

Belinium II

Races and cultures

Human • Vulcan
Referenced only: Klingon

States and organizations

Chronology

Appendices

Related media

TOS episode: "The Trouble with Tribbles"

Background

This story is seemingly contradicted by TOS - Constellations short story: "Where Everybody Knows Your Name", in which Scotty apparently ponders the tribbles' fate for the first time.

Connections

Star Trek: The Original Series collected short stories, novellas and short novels
The New Voyages	The New Voyages ("Ni Var" • "Intersection Point" • "The Enchanted Pool" • "Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited" • "The Face on the Barroom Floor" • "The Hunting" • "The Winged Dreamers" • "Mind-Sifter" • "Sonnet from the Vulcan: Omicron Ceti Three") • The New Voyages 2 ("Surprise!" • "Snake Pit!" • "The Patient Parasites" • "In the Maze" • "Cave-In" • "Marginal Existence" • "The Procrustean Petard" • "The Sleeping God" • "Elegy for Charlie" • "Soliloquy")
Star Trek II & III Short Stories	Star Trek II Short Stories ("The Blaze of Glory" • "Under Twin Moons" • "Wild Card" • "The Secret Empire" • "Intelligence Test" • "To Wherever") • Star Trek III Short Stories ("The Azphari Enigma" • "The Jungles of Memory" • "A Vulcan, A Klingon, and an Angel" • "World's End" • "As Old as Forever")
Strange New Worlds	I ("A Private Anecdote" • "The Last Tribble" • "The Lights in the Sky" • "Reflections") • II ("Triptych" • "The Quick and the Dead" • "The First Law of Metaphysics" • "The Hero of My Own Life" • "Doctors Three") • III ("If I Lose Thee..." • "The Aliens Are Coming!" • "Family Matters") • IV ("A Little More Action" • "Prodigal Father" • "Missed" • "Tears for Eternity" • "Countdown" • "First Star I See Tonight" • "Scotty's Song" • "The Name of the Cat") • V ("Disappearance on 21st Street" • "The Trouble with Borg Tribbles" • "Legal Action" • "Yeoman Figgs" • "The Shoulders of Giants") • VI ("Whales Weep Not" • "One Last Adventure" • "Marking Time" • "Ancient History" • "Bum Radish: Five Spins on a Turquoise Reindeer" • "A Piece of the Pie") • VII ("A Test of Character" • "Indomitable" • "Project Blue Book" • "The Trouble With Tribals" • "All Fall Down" • "A Sucker Born" • "Obligations Discharged") • 8 ("Shanghaied" • "Assignment: One" • "Demon" • "Don't Call Me Tiny") • 9 ("Gone Native" • "A Bad Day for Koloth" • "Book of Fulfillment" • "The Smallest Choices") • 10 ("The Smell of Dead Roses" • "The Doomsday Gambit" • "Empty") • 2016 ("Dilithium Is a Girl's Best Friend")
Constellations	"First, Do No Harm" • "The Landing Party" • "Official Record" • "Fracture" • "Chaotic Response" • "As Others See Us" • "See No Evil" • "The Leader" • "Ambition" • "Devices and Desires" • "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" • "Make-Believe"
Star Trek: Explorer	"All That Most Maddens and Torments" • "The Way to Exile" • "Cumulative Damage" • "Explorers of the Storm" • "The Guardian" • "The Trouble with Jones" • "Sundering" • "A Dish Served Cold" • "Forewarned and Three-Armed" • "Working Miracles" • "Cat and Mouse" • "Housewarming" • "Memoriam"• "Chekov's Challenge" • "My Name is Mudd" • "The Lost Noel"
Misc. short stories	"Though Hell Should Bar the Way" • "Conflicting Natures" • "The Avenger" • "Night Whispers" • "Just Another Little Training Cruise" • "Safe Harbors" • "Ill Winds" • "The Greater Good"
Misc. novellas & short novels	"The Business, As Usual, During Altercations" • "The Badlands, Part I" • "One Giant Leap" • "The First Artifact" • "The Sorrows of Empire" • "A Less Perfect Union" • "The Chimes at Midnight"

Timeline

published order
Previous story: Prodigal Father	Strange New Worlds IV	Next story: Tears for Eternity
Previous story: Prodigal Father Strange New Worlds IV	TOS short stories	Next story: Tears for Eternity Strange New Worlds IV
Previous story: first Star Trek story	Stories by: Pat Detmer	Next story: Marking Time Strange New Worlds VI
chronological order
Previous adventure: A Bad Day for Koloth Strange New Worlds 9	Pocket Books Timeline	Next adventure: Bread and Circuses
Previous adventure: A Bad Day for Koloth Strange New Worlds 9	voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) (2264 to 2270)	Next adventure: Bread and Circuses