ADVISOR_2 AIDE BABY BORTUS BURLY_MAN CAMERAMAN CAMP_GUARD_1 CAMP_GUARD_2 CASSIUS CHIEF_ADVISOR CLAIRE CREW CREWMATES ED FIRST_PREFECT GORDON GUARD GUARD_2 GUARD_3 GUARD_4 GUARD_5 GUARD_6 GUARD_7 HOLDING_CELL_GUARD ISAAC JOHN KELLY KLYDEN MAN_IN_LAB_COAT NURSE OBSTETRIC_SURGEON_1 OBSTETRIC_SURGEON_2 OBSTETRIC_SURGEON_3 PERRY PHYSICIST PRISONER REGORIANS REGORIAN_DOCTOR REGORIAN_DOCTOR_2 ROKAL SCIENCE_PREFECT SECURITY_GUARD TALLA UKANIA WARDEN FIRST PREFECT And you're sure it will work. SCIENCE PREFECT We've made the schematics available for peer review by top industry technicians. Everything checks out. CHIEF ADVISOR You didn't tell them what it would be used for. SCIENCE PREFECT Give me a little credit, Makkal. FIRST PREFECT Honestly, I don't see that it matters at this point whether it's classified or not. SCIENCE PREFECT You mean we're going to send the message? FIRST PREFECT The way I see it, this breakthrough represents an evolutionary tipping point. We can either go forward or backward. ADVISOR 2 Prefect, wouldn't further discussion be appropriate- FIRST PREFECT What is there to discuss? It's a simple do we or don't we. I say we do. ADVISOR 2 Okay. FIRST PREFECT How's tomorrow? CHIEF ADVISOR We're right on the cusp, but we should be safe. Are you gonna go public? FIRST PREFECT If we find something. PHYSICIST Alignment complete. Transmitters at full power. Now all we need is something to say. FIRST PREFECT Let's keep it simple “Is anyone out there?” ED So, I know what I read in the official report, but I wanted to hear your version. It says you punched your last Captain in the face? TALLA I did, sir. ED Knocked him out. TALLA Out cold, yeah. ED Okay. TALLA We had just had the crap kicked out of us by the Krill. We were losing all power including life support. We sent out a distress call, and the only ship in range was a Janisi cruiser. KELLY Janisi. Why does that sound familiar? TALLA They're a fiercely matriarchal species from the Izar system. Totally dismissive of any and all males who appear to be dominant. We didn't know the ship was Janisi until the commanding officer popped up on the screen. We needed their help. So I acted fast. Punched him right into next week. Broke his nose. They helped us repair our entire power grid. KELLY Well quick thinking in a crisis is commendable. TALLA That's my job. ED You'll give me a head's up if you're gonna hit me, yeah? TALLA I can't promise that, sir. ED Okay. I think we've covered everything here, yeah? KELLY Yeah, I think so. ED Welcome aboard, Lieutenant. You can take your station. TALLA Thank you, sir. Listen, um, I know you guys were close with your last chief of security, and I know my reputation is a bit rough around the edges, but I can promise you both that if anyone comes at you or tries to take you down. I'm gonna mess 'em up first. ED Well, that's good to know. What do you think? KELLY I like her. ED Yeah, I don't know. KELLY Hey, you're the one who begged the Admiral for another Xelayan. If you need me, I'm gonna be on the bridge. ED Okay, don't get punched. ED Ask him. KELLY No, I'll ask him later. ED He's right there, just do it. KELLY It's stupid. ED It is not stupid, just ask him. KELLY No, it's fine. ED You're his commanding officer, you've ordered him into battle, I think you can ask him this. KELLY Bortus. I had a fun idea I wanted to run by you. BORTUS What? KELLY Well, since my birthday's on Tuesday and since our birthdays are six days apart, I thought it might be fun to do like a joint party. BORTUS Why? KELLY Well ya know, that way we can do it up a little bigger than usual, invite more of the crew. BORTUS Is this an order? KELLY No, it's just a thought. BORTUS Ah. Then I do not wish to have a joint party. KELLY Why not? BORTUS I prefer my birthday to be my day. GORDON He's afraid he's gonna get less stuff. BORTUS I am not afraid. GORDON And he's right. Joint birthday? Less stuff for everybody. It's a trap, Bortus. TALLA Captain, I'm picking up a transmission from somewhere in the Gamma Velorum system. KELLY That's a long way out. TALLA It looks like old-style microwaves. ED From a ship? TALLA No. It's a planet. ISAAC Confirmed. There are seven planets in the Gamma Velorum star system. TALLA Oh my god. KELLY What? TALLA It says “Is anyone out there?” ED Bortus, check Union records for any previous contact with that star system. BORTUS Negative, sir. GORDON Oh, baby! This is it! This is what we signed up for! KELLY Talk about a birthday gift. ED All hands, this is the Captain. Begin prepping all stations for first contact. CREWMATES ED Gordon, set a course for Gamma Velorum, and engage quantum drive. GORDON With pleasure, sir. CLAIRE What do we know about these people from the initial communication? ED They're awaiting our arrival, and they've given us landing coordinates. Other than that, nothing. That's the fun part. BORTUS We decided against the joint birthday, correct? ED Okay, here we go. Y'know, we could, uh, make up fake names. They wouldn't know. KELLY Why would we do that? ED I don't know, I've always hated my name. I just figured this is one of those times where you could pick your own name. KELLY That's true, you could. ED You know, like, I could be Chad, you could be Maxine. KELLY Should we do it? ED Yeah, let's do it. KELLY Mix it up? ED Right? Why not. KELLY Let's do it. ED Nah, I feel like they'd know. First Prefect. I'm Captain Ed Mercer of the U.S.S. Orville. This is my First Officer and crew. FIRST PREFECT On behalf of the people of our world welcome to Regor 2. ED On behalf of the Planetary Union welcome to the galaxy. ED When a planet reaches out into space as you have, whether by ship or by transmitted message, that's when we permit ourselves to make our presence known. You asked if there was anyone out there. It's Union policy to answer. FIRST PREFECT How many different kinds of people are there? CLAIRE More than you can possibly imagine. KELLY Not all of them friendly. Which is another reason it's very important to us to make first contact. ED We want to know everything there is to know about your world. FIRST PREFECT We want to show you. FIRST PREFECT And this is how we sent the message. It's the largest astronomical array anywhere on the planet. SCIENCE PREFECT 25 independent satellites, and the entire array acts as a single antenna with a variable diameter. BORTUS Very nice. FIRST PREFECT We thought it would take decades, maybe even centuries, before anyone answered the message. But here you are, only a few years later. KELLY Well, we're happy to prove you wrong. REGORIAN DOCTOR And this is our obstetrics ward. CLAIRE It's amazing to see, isn't it? TALLA I guess. It's kind of remedial though, yeah? CLAIRE Completely. TALLA I mean, you have stuff in sickbay that would probably look like magic to these guys. CLAIRE Yeah, but see, this is like getting a real-life look at your own past. We're seeing a young society on the verge of huge advancement. A science that's about to happen. It's magnetic. TALLA Yeah, well, if I got to have my appendix out, make sure you take me back to the ship. CLAIRE You don't have an appendix. TALLA Thank god. REGORIAN DOCTOR Now, we've recently developed a cost-effective means of magnetic resonance imaging for regular monitoring of fetal growth. We're the first medical facility in the world to do it on this scale. CLAIRE You seem to have an unusually large number of premature births. REGORIAN DOCTOR Yes well, there are still some things that we can't prevent. But the technology improves every year. CLAIRE What technology? REGORIAN DOCTOR 2 Dr. Feylar, we have an obstetric emergency in OR 3. REGORIAN DOCTOR Follow me. OBSTETRIC SURGEON 1 Ten blade, please. NURSE Yes, Doctor. OBSTETRIC SURGEON 2 There it is. OBSTETRIC SURGEON 1 Fundal pressure. TALLA What's going on? CLAIRE It's a C-section. OBSTETRIC SURGEON 1 Stand by is the transport incubator ready? NURSE Yes, Doctor. OBSTETRIC SURGEON 3 Umbilical blood flow is positive pulsations regular. BABY OBSTETRIC SURGEON 1 There we are. Tie off the umbilical. Prepare to close the incision. OBSTETRIC SURGEON 3 Take her to the neonatal ICU. TALLA What is it, Doctor? CLAIRE Well, there are many reasons to perform a C-section A rupture in the placenta, prolapsed umbilical cord but I'm not seeing anything like that in the scan. The baby seems perfectly healthy, except for the fact that it's premature. TALLA Maybe their biology is different. Something we can't detect. CLAIRE Doctor Feylar, may I ask the reason for the C-section? REGORIAN DOCTOR You're a doctor. You must know it's to prevent the infant from being born Giliac. TALLA What's Giliac? REGORIAN DOCTOR Oh, you probably have a different name where you come from. Uh, Giliacs are prone to violence, extreme destructive behavior. We try to prevent them at all costs, which usually means an emergency C-section. Would you like to see the research labs? CLAIRE Very much. REGORIAN DOCTOR This way. FIRST PREFECT A friend is a second self. And until today, the only friends we knew were our fellow Regorians. But our world has grown immeasurably overnight. For the first time in the history of our species, we can count among our friends not just our countrymen, but the people who live among the stars. We welcome you. ED In the vast emptiness of the universe, we have found a fullness of cultural diversity. And when a first contact unfolds like this, the cosmos becomes a living, breathing organism. So that within that emptiness, we become a way for the universe to know itself. We are honored to know Regor 2. KELLY Wow, that was pretty good. ED Yeah thanks, I plagiarized it from like nine different things. CHIEF ADVISOR Can you tell us more about your, um, economic structure? I'm fascinated that there's no form of currency exchange. KELLY Our currency is reputation. An individual's wealth is determined by their personal achievements, not their monetary value. CLAIRE We decided a long time ago that forcing people to toil relentlessly in the pursuit of material wealth was an unnatural state for our species to exist in. SCIENCE PREFECT So, it really is a utopia. No societal burdens. ED I mean we still have like, in-laws and things like that, but we've come a long way. We believe that everyone deserves a fair chance at happiness. We all do better when we all do better. FIRST PREFECT Lieutenant Keyali. I understand that your species boasts some impressive abilities. Could I request a demonstration, or would that be rude? TALLA You want me to balance a ball on my nose, is that it? REGORIANS TALLA Uh, okay. Um. Is this something you're super attached to? FIRST PREFECT Uh, no. Not at all. TALLA FIRST PREFECT Oh my goodness. KELLY You know, I got to tell you, it's my birthday next week, and a first contact like this is the best gift I could've possibly asked for. FIRST PREFECT What? KELLY My birthday. It's next week. Bortus's too. BORTUS We are having separate celebrations. CHIEF ADVISOR Prefect. FIRST PREFECT Take them! KELLY What the hell? ED What is this? GUARD On your feet. Let's go. ED What the hell is going on? CHIEF ADVISOR Get them out of here now! KELLY Prefect, what the hell are you doing? CHIEF ADVISOR Move! FIRST PREFECT Check the other three. GUARD 2 Move it. FIRST PREFECT Send them to processing. SECURITY GUARD Move. ED Prefect, what is the meaning of this? FIRST PREFECT You claim to be an advanced people. And yet you bring them into our midst? At a state dinner, no less! CLAIRE What have they done? ED If we have offended you in some way, you need to tell us- CHIEF ADVISOR Watch the one with the ears. If she tries anything, shoot the others. TALLA Are all first contacts like this? ED Claire, what do you make of it? CLAIRE Captain, I've noticed something off about this planet ever since we arrived. That C-section that we witnessed, it was completely unnecessary, and highly dangerous for both the infant and the mother. ED What have you done with Kelly and Bortus? MAN IN LAB COAT Open your mouth. ED Talla! HOLDING CELL GUARD Put him down. MAN IN LAB COAT TALLA Today's your lucky day. MAN IN LAB COAT It's a small extraction. It won't be painful. MAN IN LAB COAT Next. CHIEF ADVISOR They've been processed. Birthdates verified. One Panaji, one Corobahn, one Valeigh. No other Giliacs. ED I want to know what the hell is happening here, and I want to know now. What have you done with Kelly and Bortus? FIRST PREFECT You've got a lot of nerve. Coming in here, making demands after what you've done. TALLA What have we done? Aside from offering you our friendship? FIRST PREFECT Friendship?! You brought two Giliacs into the State Hall where they could've done who knows what kind of damage. They could've killed someone! CLAIRE Giliac. It's an astrological sign. ED What? CLAIRE Captain. This planet is governed by astrology. TALLA What's astrology? CLAIRE It's an ancient belief system that- That's the reason for all the premature C-sections. ED You arrested Kelly and Bortus because of their astrological signs? FIRST PREFECT The stars don't lie, Captain. Giliacs are violent, unpredictable. Surely you know that as well as we do, as advanced as you are. ED Where have you taken them? FIRST PREFECT They'll be taken to the camps. Same as all Giliacs. TALLA And what about us? FIRST PREFECT The extractions have confirmed your birthdates. So you can go back to your ship. We don't want you here. BORTUS Commander, what is this? KELLY A bad birthday. CAMP GUARD 1 Move! WARDEN Well. They told me to be prepared. Look at you. People from another world. BORTUS Why have you brought us here? WARDEN But still Giliac trash. No matter where you're from. And you will learn to obey the rules of this camp. KELLY Look, there's obviously been some kind of mistake. If you can tell us what the hell a “Giliac” is, maybe we can figure out where the screwup happened. WARDEN No mistake. The order comes straight from the office of the First Prefect. KELLY And how long do you intend to keep us here? WARDEN This is now your home. I suggest you learn to like it. BORTUS We are not your prisoners! WARDEN I'm an understanding man. But you won't want to try anything like that again, unless you're tired of living. Take them to the barracks. PERRY Captain, I understand your frustration, but extraction by force in the midst of a first contact-- no matter what the circumstances. There's just no way in hell the Admiralty is gonna give clearance for that. ED Admiral, these people are nuts. Okay, Bortus and Kelly are locked away in some internment camp just because they got the wrong birthday. The Regorians have even developed the technology to calculate precise age using tooth samples. Claire, tell him what you saw. CLAIRE Sir, these people are performing dangerous C-sections just to ensure the babies are born under a positive astrological sign. They are literally pulling infants from the womb weeks, even months early. PERRY It's more complex than what we see as right and wrong. We're on their turf, with their laws. Think about the trial on Moclus. What if you'd gone in and taken Commander Bortus's infant by force? ED Well, some people say we should have. PERRY Look, I want those two officers back safely as much as you do. But, to go in guns blazing 24 hours after meeting these people we're not the Krill. You're going to have to find another way to do this. Perry out. GORDON Well now what the hell do we do? ISAAC I am unclear concerning the astrological practice. What is the methodology? CLAIRE It's the idea that personality traits, behavioral tendencies, even future events can be determined by studying the movements of celestial bodies. ISAAC That would seem scientifically unsound. However, it would explain the satellites in orbit. GORDON What do you mean? ISAAC They appear to be configured solely for astrometry To measure the positions of stars, but not their spectral type or physical properties. JOHN And yet they're advanced enough to send a message into space. I don't get it. ED I wanna talk to the Prefect. KELLY Looks like we're gonna wind up having that joint birthday after all. BORTUS I would gladly share a birthday celebration back on the ship. KELLY Wow. It only took getting arrested for you to change your mind. Well, at least people aren't staring as much. BORTUS Commander, do you think the Orville will be allowed to extract us? KELLY On a first contact? No way. If Ed can't negotiate his way out of this, we're screwed. BORTUS On Moclus, there are those who believe in Da'klaya. That one's fate is determined by the alignment of the stars on the day of his birth. KELLY I've been thinking the same thing. This whole thing went to hell when I told them it was my birthday. BORTUS Some Da'klaya moons are more desirable than others. This planet appears to share such beliefs. KELLY Born under a bad sign as official state policy. UKANIA Please don't, please, we're saving it in case they cut the food rations again. BURLY MAN Give it to me now. ROKAL Can't you see she's pregnant? We need the extra food - BURLY MAN I'm not talking to you! UKANIA Please, please, I'm begging you, we need the extra- BURLY MAN Shut up! KELLY Hey. Is there a problem here? BURLY MAN You wanna make one? KELLY Give her back the food. BURLY MAN Get lost, girlie. BORTUS Give it back. Go away. KELLY You okay? ROKAL Yeah, thanks. UKANIA Thank you so much. BORTUS He is a coward. He will not return. UKANIA I'm Ukania. This is my husband, Rokal. KELLY I'm Kelly, and this is Bortus. ROKAL You're the Giliacs from the stars. KELLY Yeah. Listen, is there anything you can tell us that might help us figure out a way out of here? UKANIA There is no way out. BORTUS Escape is always possible. UKANIA No one's ever tried. KELLY Wait, you're telling us no one's ever tried to get out of this place? ROKAL Why would they? KELLY Because it's a prison. ROKAL But we belong here. KELLY What? UKANIA We were all born under the sign of Giliac. Our tendencies are inherently violent. Criminal. We're here for the good of society. To protect them from us. BORTUS You do not appear to be violent. ROKAL Murderous instincts reside within every Giliac. Either deeply buried or on the surface. The stars don't lie. FIRST PREFECT On this day, we enter the sign of the Giliac. As always, every effort has been made to ensure that no births occur during this dark time. But, of course, we have yet to devise a perfect system of prevention. Any infants born during the next 30 days are to be immediately turned over to the State for transport to the camps. You may do so at the nearest service center. Failure to comply will result in severe prosecution. May our great nation prevail. Good night. CAMERAMAN And we're out. AIDE Prefect, Captain Mercer has returned. He requests an audience. FIRST PREFECT Send him in. I thought I told you to leave. ED Look, Prefect, just hear me out. All right now, first contacts can be complex. And in this case, that would be an understatement. But I'm sure we can come to some kind of agreement for the release of our people. FIRST PREFECT Out of the question. ED They've done nothing wrong. FIRST PREFECT They're Giliacs! ED So what? FIRST PREFECT Why are you defending them? You live among the stars. You should understand their significance better than anyone. TALLA We actually have this crazy system where we judge people by their actions, not their birthdates. It's kinda wacky, I know. ED Look. You are an advanced society. Now, just stop and think about this How can the relative position of a ball of gas and dust thousands of light years away influence someone's personality? I mean, do you honestly believe it yourself? FIRST PREFECT We see living proof every single day. Yes, I do believe it. And even if I didn't, if I released a Giliac, there would be a national uproar. People would tear down these walls. TALLA Your world is no longer just this planet. When you sent that message, you invited yourselves into a galaxy packed with thousands of different cultures. You might wanna start being a little more open-minded. FIRST PREFECT So you all just think the universe is chaos. No order? No significance to anything? I wouldn't want to be part of a community that believes that. ED We look for patterns in the natural world around us. It's in our blood. We're desperate to find meaning. But sometimes, a star is just a star. FIRST PREFECT We shouldn't have reached out. It was a mistake. TALLA Sir, if we could just - FIRST PREFECT Enough! Go home, Captain. Forget about your people. And please. Forget about Regor 2. ED Sir, if we could just have a little more time. PERRY Ed. You've been out there a month. I understand what you must be going through, but there's a lot of internal pressure to get the Orville back on active duty. You can't wait in orbit forever. And not to be unfeeling, but we don't even know whether they're still alive. ED Look, just one more week. Please- PERRY We're going to send a diplomatic envoy to continue trying to secure the release of those officers. We won't give up. But it's time for the Orville to go. I'm sorry, Ed. You're to leave orbit within 24 hours. Perry out. CASSIUS You can't just leave her down there. ED It's not up to me. CASSIUS Our weapons are hundreds of years more advanced than theirs, why can't we just - ED That's exactly why we can't. We're going to have to find another way. ED Okay, is there anything we've missed? Anything at all? TALLA Captain, we've been through every piece of info we can find about their astrological system. We've hacked into their libraries, their news media, everything. Multiple times. CLAIRE We are looking for the equivalent of a legal loophole that just isn't there. GORDON Everything we dig up says the same thing Giliacs are born criminals. They're violent, murderous. ED But why? I mean, is there some kind of inciting incident? ISAAC We have found no explanation. ED We have 24 hours. Keep digging. FIRST PREFECT On this day, we enter the sign of the Wasanda. To the children born this month we honor you. We herald your entry into this world. For you are the guiding forces. The future leaders of this great planet. Your paths will be bathed in glory and you will be richly rewarded for your contributions. Welcome. UKANIA ROKAL It's okay, breathe. UKANIA I already did. ROKAL Breathe. UKANIA ROKAL It's okay, Ukania. It's okay. BORTUS What is happening? ROKAL The baby's coming. She's been in labor for the past 30 minutes. KELLY Bortus, go to the infirmary, get the doctor. UKANIA No! KELLY But, we need the proper equipment for the- UKANIA No, please. No doctor. ROKAL Can you help us? I don't know anything about this. KELLY Bortus, you have a kid. Any suggestions? BORTUS Will there be an egg? KELLY Okay, that's a no. Okay, uh, um, Ukania look at me. Okay? Look at me. All right. On three we're gonna push. One, two, three. UKANIA P-Push. KELLY Push! UKANIA KELLY Yes! Yeah, that's great. You're doing great. Bortus, get me cloth, towels, anything. BORTUS Aye, Commander. KELLY And a shoelace, or something to tie off the umbilical cord. All right, you're doing great, okay? Just look at me. One. UKANIA No. KELLY Two. yes. One, two, three push! UKANIA KELLY Yes! That's great! That's great, that's the best one yet. All right, we need to do it again, okay? We need it again. UKANIA No. KELLY Yes. Yes. One. UKANIA Okay. KELLY Two, three push! UKANIA KELLY Yes! That's great, oh my god, I see the head. Bortus! BORTUS Here, Commander. KELLY Push, push. Okay, I need you to give me one big last hard push, okay? UKANIA Okay. KELLY That's all we need. All right. We can do this. One, two, three push! UKANIA KELLY Oh my god. Ukania, Rokal meet your daughter. BABY UKANIA Thank you. Thank you. BORTUS It is much easier with an egg. ED 12 hours. Anything new? TALLA Captain. I have an idea. ED What is it? TALLA Isaac. Put the constellation Giliac on the viewer. Can we focus a multispectral scanning beam on that entire region of space? JOHN That's a massive scan. It'd be a hell of a power drain unless we knew what we were looking for. It'd take weeks. ED What are you looking for? TALLA Black holes. JOHN Well, that narrows the spectral field. Isaac, have a look. I'll be damned. TALLA Can you tell me exactly when the star collapsed? ISAAC 3,122 years ago. TALLA According to Regor 2's history, that's right around the time their astrological system emerged. CLAIRE The disappearance of a star in the night sky to a civilization that young would've been a terrifying omen. TALLA Exactly. And Giliac was the unlucky sign. ED Talla, I'm gonna buy you a bottle of scotch. All right, now the question is, what can we do with this? CLAIRE If the star came back, that might exonerate the Giliacs. GORDON Well, how the hell are we supposed to create a star? JOHN Maybe we don't have to. UKANIA We tried so hard to make the timing work. She should've been born a Giliac. ROKAL Ukania, how long do you expect to keep her hidden? UKANIA Forever. BORTUS What will happen if she is found? UKANIA She'll be taken away. She's a Wasanda. Born to lead, not rot away in the camps. ROKAL We should let them take her. UKANIA What? ROKAL She could grow up in prosperity. Have every opportunity. Every need provided for. UKANIA No, she needs her mother. ROKAL We'll never be able to keep her a secret. UKANIA We're not giving her up. WARDEN Inspection! Everyone on your feet. Check 'em all. You know you have my pity. KELLY Your wife has mine. WARDEN It's not your fault you're Giliac trash. But self-truth is always cleansing. Say it. KELLY Say what? WARDEN “I'm Giliac trash.” Say it. KELLY I'm Giliac trash. WARDEN There. Doesn't that feel better? CAMP GUARD 2 No contraband, sir. UKANIA ROKAL Wait. Check under the floorboards. UKANIA No. ROKAL You'll find a Wasanda child. UKANIA No, no. no, Rokal, no, no, please don't take her! No! No, please don't take her! No! No, please! No! No! No. No. No, please let her stay. No. WARDEN A future leader. Her life will be blessed. UKANIA No, no. no. Please! Please, no. KELLY This stops here and now. BORTUS What do you intend to do? KELLY We're Giliacs. Born criminals. Violent reprobates. And the way I see it, we're within first contact protocol if we're exactly who they want us to be. JOHN It's a solar sail. We can launch it from a shuttle, and position it so that the reflective light from the star will be visible from the surface of Regor 2. CLAIRE So, to the Regorians, it'll look like the missing Giliac star has reappeared. JOHN Exactly. ED What about their detection systems? JOHN Thought of that. We build in a jamming device to fool their telemetry. Their scans would confirm that what they're seeing is a star. GORDON We'd use micro-thrusters to hold the sail's position. Should be able to keep it stable indefinitely. ED How soon can it be deployed? JOHN Less than 12 hours. ED Do it. KELLY We have to get the main gate open. GUARD GUARD 2 GUARD 3 GUARD 4 GUARD 5 GUARD 6 GUARD 7 WARDEN You really do have my pity. GORDON Shuttle to bridge. I think we're set here. ED Tell 'em they're good to go. TALLA Shuttle, you are cleared for departure. GORDON I hope this works. JOHN It'll work. I think it'll work. WARDEN The stars don't lie. They teach us that the Giliacs are lawless. Savage. And beyond reform. No matter what world they're from. GORDON Ready for deployment. All you, man. JOHN Shuttle to Orville. Hoisting the sail. JOHN Adjusting for final position. Releasing clamps. GORDON Activating thrusters. WARDEN Arms at the ready! KELLY Listen to me, all of you You're worth more than they tell you. Remember that. WARDEN And- PRISONER Look! CHIEF ADVISOR Understood. I'll pass it on. The Celestial Advisory has confirmed, Prefect. It's a star. FIRST PREFECT Call an emergency session. CHIEF ADVISOR What does it mean? FIRST PREFECT Change. CREW KELLY Ah. You know, we really should be doing this in the mess hall. If the Krill attacked right now, we'd be screwed. GORDON No, no, no, it's gotta be here. John and I made something special for you guys. BORTUS What? KLYDEN Mm. It is amusing. BORTUS I am not amused. KELLY Guys, it's perfect, thank you. CASSIUS You really captured her essence. Deep down, she truly is a cartoon. KELLY Oh shush. CASSIUS It's why I love you. KELLY Yeah yeah, whatever. ED Happy birthday. KELLY Only four weeks late. Not too bad. ED Yeah. KELLY Any updates? ED Yes. According to the diplomats, the last of the camps was opened today. KELLY Oh, and I forgot to tell you I got another communiqué from Ukania. She said that her baby's doing great. And she named her Kelly. ED Well you know, with all the trouble we had down there if you made that kind of an impact on a woman's life, I would say that's a pretty successful first contact. TALLA Captain, I have what might be an uncomfortable question. What's gonna happen when the Regorians figure out the star is fake? ED That's actually a really good question. We just lied to an entire planet, and I don't know what the ethics of that mean. But that lie meant freedom for an entire portion of the population, so the short answer is, I don't know. KELLY By the time their technology advances to the point where they know the jig is up, they may not even care anymore. CLAIRE You did good, Talla. Really good. ED You had big shoes to fill, and I'm not kidding. And as far as I'm concerned, you filled them and then some. So from here on out, you are officially allowed to punch me. TALLA Thank you, sir. KELLY Well. It's my party, and I feel like dancing.