The Doctor watched as heat signatures moved about the USS Enterprise.

The TARDIS had materialised into what seemed to be the ship's conference room, and it had been discovered mere seconds later. The Doctor was impressed. He heard a whistle- some sort of opening of communication frequencies- followed by a distinctly Scottish accent exclaim, "Captain! There seems to be a strange blue box in the conference room."

The whistle repeated itself and a commanding voice spoke, "Isolate the area, Scotty. I'm on my way."

The Doctor smiled, "Well then, let's pay these people a visit!"

He stepped out just as a muscular man in a yellow shirt walked into the room. A couple of men in red shirts had surrounded the TARDIS and when he emerged, they trained their weapons on him.

The man in the yellow shirt spoke in a voice that commanded authority, "I am Captain Kirk and this is the Starship Enterprise. State your intentions."

When the Doctor smiled, the Captain was taken aback. Surely no one with evil intentions could possess such a beautifully genuine smile.

The Doctor, being his usual, bubbly self, walked up to the Captain and bowed slightly, "Hello Captain! Wonderful ship you've got here, I must say!" He turned in his position, taking in his surroundings.

Suddenly, the Time Lord turned to face Captain Kirk and asked, "I'm sorry, but what year is this? The TARDIS seemed to have trouble computing it. I should probably look into that."

Captain Kirk was watching this queer man curiously. The Scotsman answered the question, "it's currently year 2267."

"Two thousand two hundred sixty seven! Oh my! You've come so far! That's the twenty third century! Around the time of the United Federation of Planets, yes?"

"Yes," the Captain eyed the Doctor who was now sitting on a chair with his feet on the table. "You speak as though you're not from this time. Why?"

"Oh, I'm not very sure. Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff. But I can assure you Captain, I mean absolutely no harm to you, your ship, or your crew. Think of this as an educational visit. I learn about how far mankind has come, and in return, well, I'm sure you'll have a lot of questions about me... and my ship."

The Scotsman, Scotty spoke up, "You mean that blue box is your ship?"

The Doctor merely nodded.

Just then two individuals walked into the room. One was human, while the other, not so much.

The man spoke with what appeared to be a permanent scowl, "Who is this, Jim?"

The Doctor had shot up and made his way towards the second person. He looked at his face curiously, taking in the bluish tinged skin, the pointed ears, and the angular face. He spoke with the enthusiasm of an excited puppy, "You can call me the Doctor. Nothing more, nothing less." Then directing his question at the alien, he said, "I'm very sorry, but what are you?"

Spock looked down at this person scrutinising him. There was something different about this man. Something about him was not convincingly human. Spock looked at him with an impassive face, "I'm from Vulcan."

The Doctor's face lit up. He held up his hand in a traditional Vulcan greeting- with the first two and last two fingers joined. He giggled, "I've always wanted to meet someone Elvish!"

Spock was not amused.

***

"A medical check-up? Yes, I suppose that makes sense."

The Doctor was in Dr. McCoy's medical room. After a lengthy series of tests and exercises, McCoy was rather shocked at the results. He called for the Captain and Spock, "You have got to see this!"

When the two officers arrived, he burst out, "Jim! I can't believe this! This man has two hearts!"

Spock looked at the Doctor curiously and went through the entire report. Kirk's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He exclaimed, "That's incredible! What are you?"

The Doctor simply smiled and said, "Not from here, that's what I am."

***

The Doctor was on the bridge. He suddenly turned to a man who looked distinctly East-Asian, "Sulu, isn't it?"

The man looked startled, but confirmed that his name was indeed Sulu.

"Well, tell me, what is the significance of your shirts?"

"I beg your pardon?"

The Doctor rephrased his question, "Why are there different colours of shirts? And why only three colours?"

Understanding dawned on Sulu's face, but it was the Russian, Chekov, who answered, "It is based on what we do. Helm and command personnel wear gold, engineering and security personnel wear red, and medical and science personnel wear blue."

"Ah, I see. That makes sense."

The Doctor walked up to Lieutenant Uhura. She looked up from her communications board and smiled at him, "How do you like our ship, Doctor?"

The Time Lord smiled down at her, "Oh, I love it! It is truly the best of mankind's work so far. I am so glad you have come this far. The harnessing of energy from dilithium crystals, travelling at warp speed, communications with alien species, all of this is just fantastic!"

He walked up to Spock's post and looked over some of the instrument, "What exactly is your mission, Captain? What does Starfleet do?"

Captain Kirk smirked, "Starfleet has a number of missions. It is tasked with the security of those under the United Federation of Planets. Of course, our mission is a five year, scientific one. We explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilisation, and boldly go where no man has gone before."

"That is quite a nice mission, I must say! And you have a wonderful crew too."

The Captain acknowledged this compliment with a slight bow of his head.

"Oh, and your ship? The Enterprise is one of the most beautiful ships I have ever seen."

The Captain was visibly pleased at this. It was often whispered amongst his crew that he was, in fact, married to his ship.

***

"So, Dr. McCoy, what exactly is Mr. Spock's physiology like?"

The ship's medical officer looked at the Doctor in surprise, "He's a Vulcan."

The Doctor fiddled with a control board on the desk, "Yes, but what is he made of? Why is he bluish green?"

McCoy almost laughed out loud. He said, "Vulcan blood is not based on iron. It is based on copper. It has something to do with their planet's hellish weather conditions."

"Ah, I see."

The communications whistle sounded and Scotty spoke through the screen, "Doctor, I have been running tests on your ship, the TARDIS, but I'm having trouble understanding some of this technology. It is way beyond what we have even now. Would you mind helping me understand her engine?"

The Time Lord smiled with raised eyebrows, "Of course, Scotty. I'm on my way."

When he reached the conference room, he found he had been followed by Dr. McCoy. He simply smiled and held open the door of the TARDIS for him. McCoy looked sceptical, "Scotty is already in there, isn't he? We would never fit in there together."

Apart from Scotty, Spock, and Captain Kirk, no one had stepped into the TARDIS yet. The Doctor smiled and said, "You will never know if you fit unless you give it a try. Go on."

McCoy looked at him with narrowed eyes and walked into the time machine. He was out of the box quick enough for someone watching to get whiplash.

He stuttered, "Bu-but it's... it's a box. It's a telephone booth."

The Doctor grabbed hold of his arm and led him inside. He looked at his face in glee and said, "Come on, say it. I know you are bursting to say it."

McCoy gaped, "It's bigger on the inside!"

The Doctor grinned in satisfaction.

He began to explain, "It is called TARDIS- Time And Relative Dimension In Space. It is basically an entire other dimension fit into one tiny blue box. Originally it was not a police booth box from 19th century London. It had a mechanism that allowed it to adapt, become a part of its surroundings, like a chameleon, if you will. But that device went kaput and I have no idea how to fix it."

Kirk and Spock were in the TARDIS by now. Spock spoke, "I thought you called it TARDIS as a play on the Latin word Tardus, meaning 'late'."

The Doctor frowned, "Now why would I do that?"

Spock shrugged, "It seemed like something you would do because it is a time machine. It does not really matter if you are late anywhere. You could always go back to the correct time and not be late."

The Doctor was impressed, "Oh, that's brilliant, Mr. Spock! I truly admire your logical mind."

The Vulcan thanked him.

Captain Kirk spoke up, "I say, Doctor, would you mind taking us for a visit to the past of the future? It would be a thrilling experience."

"That is a good idea, Captain! Of course, since you are dealing with warp speed, I suppose you will encounter time travel at some point in your journey."

Spock and Scotty expressed their desire to travel in the TARDIS as well. McCoy had wandered away into the depths of the ship. When he emerged, Captain Kirk asked him, "What do you say, Bones? Would you like to travel in the TARDIS?"

McCoy looked flabbergast, "Damn it, Jim. I'm a doctor, not a time traveller!"