(ONE WEEK LATER)

The Doctor grinned wide as he strode through the corridors of the USS Enterprise. For the first time in days he finally felt like his old self. And it was great to get the hell out of sickbay. Much as he liked Dr. Crusher, the woman did tend to act like a mother hen at times.

"I am over nine hundred years old, you know," he had told her once.

"I don't care if you're older than the universe," she replied. "I'm your doctor, Doctor. So shut up and do what I tell you."

But between her skills and his body's selective regeneration, he was now Dalek/Borg free.

"It appears once again the Federation is in your debt, Doctor," Picard said as he walked alongside him.

"Oh, think nothing of it." The Doctor gave him a dismissive wave.

Leroth snorted. "You call willingly letting yourself be assimilated in order to defeat the Daleks nothing?"

"Well, that was the only way I could get into their collective and release all those suppressed emotions." He turned to Rose. "Which is why I told you not to come after me."

Rose's mouth twisted. "And I suppose you would have rather stayed on that cube when it blew up?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, I would have figured out some way to get out . . . eventually . . . maybe. Oh well, it all worked out well in the end."

They entered one of the ship's gymnasiums. The Doctor's chest swelled when he saw the familiar blue box standing in the corner, just where he had left it the week before when he and Rose landed on Enterprise.

"Are you sure you can't stay a little longer, Doctor?" asked Picard. "Our scanners detected the ruins of an ancient civilization on a nearby planet, Tarolos Five."

The Doctor's eyes lit up. "Oh yes, Tarolos Five. Interesting people. Purple fur, three legs. Produced extraordinary music. A shame what happened to them."

"See. Your knowledge would be of great help to us."

The Doctor responded with a mock frown. "Sorry, Captain. I'd love to help, but the secrets of Tarolos Five are something you'll have to discover on your own. Isn't that what your motto is anyway? 'To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before.' Sort of spoil the fun if I just told you everything."

Picard chuckled. "Good point." He extended his hand. "Take care, Doctor. Miss Tyler. I do hope we meet again."

"In this crazy universe, you never know where I might wind up. Or when. Oh, and if you can do me a favor, Captain?"

"Of course."

"Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino."

Picard cranked an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino. From Starbucks. Love the stuff. If you can arrange it so next time I wind up on a Federation starship, someone gives me one of those instead of throwing me in the brig as usual, that would be splendid."

- THE END –

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for reading. If you liked this story, you'll enjoy my new original alien invasion novel "Dark Wings," available at Amazon and as an e-book at smashwords-dot-com.