Rescue

Learning About The Zoo

In the shuttle, Gordon and John were up front at the controls, Alara sitting behind Gordon. Ed and Kelly behind them. Isaac sat in the rear.

"Uh, you're still with the Orville," Kelly said to John.

"Uh, yeah?"

"All John did was drop Isaac off and then pick him up," Alara answered the unasked question.

"How did you come up with that plan, so fast?" Kelly asked Gordon. Alara frowned a little.

Ed furrowed his brows. "Kel," he admonished.

Gordon chuckled. "That's okay, Ed. It's a good question. I already knew the Calivon had a zoo."

He needed a drink. Since being discharged from the fleet, Gordon took odd jobs as an off the books pilot for non-Union operations just to keep his skills up. He was in a local bar with a Union officer who recognized him from his court-martial. He would keep saying insulting things about Alara, presumably thinking Gordon would appreciate his "support". Gordon told him in no uncertain terms that he, in fact, did not appreciate it and to please stop.

"Why, you got the hots for her, or something? You gonna defend her honor? Well, I'll tell you something! That bitch has no honor to defend, turning tail like a mealy-mouthed coward!!! I don't care how strong they are, they don't have the stomach to fight for the Union. No wonder she quit; everyone knew they couldn't count on her..." the obviously drunk officer rambled on.

"What do you mean she quit?" Gordon asked him. That news upset him; he didn't want her dragged into his stupidity. Far from being angry at her when she testified at his court-martial, he felt sick that she was forced to participate at all because of his actions.

"Yep! And good riddance, too! One less coward..."

And Gordon couldn't take it anymore. He was mad. Mad at that officer, mad at himself for driving Alara out of the service, mad at the world, the galaxy, just plain mad in general. "Shut up!" he yelled and wailed on the officer. He was arrested right after.

Gordon was tossed in a cell. The planet he was on where he fought the Union officer after his crack about Alara was not part of the Union, the local lockup was primitive, with barely any food or toiletries. He ate enough to survive, barely, and having to choose between letting his beard grow out or shaving it off completely, he opted for latter, using a hair removing foam with growth inhibitor. Nothing that could be used as a weapon was allowed in the facility.

He shared the cell with a reddish-skinned big-headed humanoid who claimed he was from Calivon, dropped off here and jailed on trumped-up charges, simply because he questioned the ethics of having a zoo. Gordon thought it was quaint that an advanced race of beings still had zoos, but when he heard what they had in the zoo displays and the method of acquiring them, he got very interested, and equally disturbed.

"It's despicable," the cellmate said, "just because they're not as developed as us technologically, doesn't give us the right to trap them and lock them up in a display case."

"They set up these lures to look like a ship in distress. Then when someone comes to help them, that's it! They're stuck in the zoo for the rest of their lives."

"So, they just think they're justified because they think they're better than any other race or civilization out there?" Gordon asked, incredulous. "And anybody's fair game, no matter what?"

"Except for the Kaylons, yes!"

It wasn't always this way, the alien explained. Their civilization became spacefaring over 30,000 years ago and developed FTL technology within 200 years after their initial foray into space. They visited various planets all over the galaxy and observed them. Since a lot of planets had sentient life, they stayed within their local group of stars so as not to disturb those planets, an insular version of the rules the Union would eventually adapt in its dealings with technologically backward civilizations.