"Captain, an unidentified vessel is arriving on the ship!" Uhura said over to the intercome.
On the ship? Kirk had never heard of such a bizarre thing. Around the ship usually… but inside.
Kirk pressed a button on the captain's chair, Engineering.
"Mr. Scott," Captain Kirk said. "What do scans of the vessel tells us?"
"Not much, Captain," Scotty's voice rang over the intercom. "The vessel appears to have no external weapons, or signs of hostility whatsoever. In fact… well… pulling up visual now, Captain."
The main screen sparked to life as everyone on the bridge witnessed a blue phone booth appear in the hallways of Engineering.
"A phone booth," Spock said with an arched eyebrow. "One Earth's archaic means of communication."
"I've only seen one of those in a museum," Captain Kirk said. "To think, Spock, one of the greatest steps in communication for the human race, made available for all on every street corner. Amazing, to think such a design would be used by some race as a tool for travel. What matter of intelligent being would use such a design?"
The phone booth opened. A man with an odd haircut, tweed jacket, and red bow tie stepped out of the machine. He looked around the hallways, then looked directly at the camera that enabled the Bridge to see him on the main screen. The strange man grinned and pulled out a small device that flashed green as he aimed it at the camera.
Suddenly the screen twitched as the man's face took up the entire viewing room.
"Hello in there," The man said with childish grin. "I'm a bit lost. Looking for a planet. Care to help?"
None of the crew knew how to respond to the request.
"Intelligence might be debatable, Captain." Spock said.
The strange man was brought to the medical bay.
"This isn't necessary," The man said as Bones scanned his retina. "I keep myself free of parasites and bacteria on a regular basis. I'm a Doctor after all."
Bones glared at the man.
"You look more like a game show host than a doctor," Bones grumbled. "There used to be standards to doing this kind of work. Now any fool with a bow tie can call himself medical doctor."
"Hey, don't trash the bow tie," the Doctor said pointedly. "Bow ties are cool. Besides, I never said I was a medical doctor."
"And what matter of Doctor are you then?" Spock said, who supervised the inspection, against Bones wishes.
"I'm a Doctor for lots of things," The Doctor said. "Humans, robots, teddy bears, and I'm more than welcome to simply help anyone and everyone."
"What human institute would have such a certificate?" Spock asked.
"I do it for the fun of it," The Doctor said. "It's very dull to have a certificate, the one I received from Gallifrey is nice and all but I'd rather do good for the sake of good, not because a piece of paper tells me I can."
"Fascinating," Spock said. "You mentioned Gallifrey. I'm not familiar with that planet. So that confirms you're not human."
"Well if you really wanted to find that out, why not tell this man who's poking me in the ear to check my heartbeats."
Both men gave each other skeptical looks before Bones pulled up another device. He scanned one heart, which read normally.
"Now try the one on the right."
Bones looked at the Doctor who raised his eyebrows curiously.
Bones did as he asked and was stunned to hear a responding beat.
"Two hearts." Bones said astonished.
"For twice the love." The Doctor said with a grin.
"You appear surprisingly human despite your inhuman nature." Spock said.
"So do you," the Doctor said. "Nice ears by the way."
"Very well, Doctor," Spock said. "It appears you hold no estimable threat. What are your intentions?"
The Doctor got up from the bed and stood to look Spock in the eye.
"Well, I just needed a place to rest up, the Tardis gets a bit winded now and then. As for me, well I wouldn't complain to seeing your maps."
The Doctor was let onto the Bridge under security enforced detail. However, after watching him work with Chekov and Scotty it was clear that the Doctor was in fact a genuinely good man. Which made the confirmation later a small bit disappointing.
"Nothing," Chekov. "Ve checked every reading but still nothing."
"Sorry, lad," Scotty said as he patted the Doctor on the back. "It's seems your planet doesn't exist anymore."
"I wouldn't say that," the Doctor said with a sigh. "Misplaced would be a better word for it. Scattered within time and space, just waiting to be rediscovered."
"Time and Space you say?" Captain Kirk said.
"Oh yes," The Doctor said. "I'm a Time Lord, time travel is my means of getting about."
"Isn't it dangerous to the time stream to do such a thing?" Spock asked.
"Only if you misbehave," The Doctor said. "Of course I usually run into people who do just that for me, and I usually keep them from being the dangerous ones."
"How does such a vessel perform this trick?" Sulu asked.
"I'm a bit curious about that myself." Scotty said.
"Well first off time travel," the Doctor said. "Second, not telling. I don't need any others causing my kind of trouble. I may not be the best individual to hold this kind of power but at least I know no one worst has their hands on it."
"You speak from experience?" Captain Kirk asked.
"More than I like to remember," the Doctor said. "Trust me, people always mean well but always want to be on the winning side of history."
"And what do you want?" Captain Kirk asked. "Why are you searching for Gallifrey?"
The Doctor took a moment and walked towards the main screen. The stars were shining in a constant sea of space. He stood watching the stars for several minutes before turning back to look at the crew of the Enterprise. He had a smile on his face.
"I want to go home," The Doctor said. "I wish to walk among my people, to not be alone anymore. To help the one planet I always felt I had failed for a long, long, time .But I'll continue to help any and all who need help, to explore and learn all that can be discovered. You lot seem to appreciate that kind of philosophy."
"Indeed," Captain Kirk said. "We too wish to explore new worlds as well. Is there anything we can do for you, Doctor, one team of explorers to another?"
"This was enough," The Doctor said. "It always good to meet fellow travelers. I wish you luck in your journeys. Never be afraid to see what else might be out there and always work to keep in mind that all things in the universe have a right to be there, it's hard to remember but definitely worth it."
With that the Doctor left to go for the Tardis, he wasn't much of a fan for goodbyes let alone long ones. Places to see and people to meet after all. But for now, meeting peaceful explorers helped remind the Doctor that the universe has all matter of explorers and guardians out there.
If the Doctor chose to stay in Gallifrey, to escape the fate of Trenzalore, he could at least feel some level of peace that others would take up his truly timeless cause.
All beings explore.
For the Doctor, he felt he might have truly explored enough.
It was time to go home.