Annie had bought the Orville a full ten days, so Second Officer Bortus had much more breathing room to handle the work that followed.
A few days later, Captain Ed, First Officer Kelly, Chief Medical Officer Claire, and the gelatinous Alara had finally returned to normal. They had completely shaken off the blue-skinned Drulian's pheromones and their interference with, influence over, and control of their minds, and had gone back to work.
Next, the DNA left behind on the ancient artifact discovered on Lopovius was analyzed. There was ample evidence that the relic contained genetic fragments from both the Navalians and the Briedians.
Then, with Captain Ed and First Officer Kelly both taking part, a series of negotiations eventually forced the Navalians and Briedians to compromise and agree to jointly possess and share the planet Lopovius. The Orville had finally completed the mediation mission assigned by Planetary Union Command with relatively little trouble.
In short!
The mediation ended happily for everyone. The Navalians and Briedians had both found a way to save face and gotten what they wanted. On top of that, after learning they shared a common ancestor, they had temporarily resolved their differences.
The Orville had also completed its mission successfully, while certain crew members had gotten what they wanted, too—messy romances, each other's bodies, and the resolution of some unnecessary misunderstandings, among other things.
But according to Annie's law of happiness conservation, every gain came with a loss. If someone was happy, then someone else was sure to be unhappy!
Right?
The instigator of all that chaos—the evil blue-skinned expert Drulian—had been kicked off the Orville once everything was over, so he was definitely one of the unhappy ones.
They said that as his shuttle left the Orville and flew toward another Union ship sent to pick