Eleven days later, the mysteriously vanished planet finally reappeared right on schedule.
Unlike last time, however, the robot engineer Isaac had detected that the overall number of human life signs on the planet's surface, as well as the size and density of its buildings and cities, had all increased and changed dramatically since their previous visit.
Some of the results from their scans and detection also seemed completely different from what they had seen last time.
So, in order to find out the truth, Captain Ed had thought it over carefully before deciding to take Isaac's advice. He had a stealthy, unmanned low-altitude probe modified and deployed onto the planet by shuttle, despite the female commander at Planetary Union Command having explicitly forbidden the Orville from landing on the planet or contacting its "primitive" inhabitants in any way.
In his view, using an optically cloaked probe to observe and scan the planet at close range didn't count as "contact." It might have been skirting the law, but as long as they weren't discovered, he figured they wouldn't be reprimanded or punished by Planetary Union Command.
And so!
Half an hour later, the miniature probe, cloaked and in stealth mode, arrived directly above its intended coordinates.
"No way?"
"Gordon!"
"Are you sure this is the village you and Annie visited before?"
As the robot Isaac remotely controlled the stealth aircraft and slowly brought it closer, Captain Ed got a look at the city's size, approximate population, and the era suggested by its architectural style. He turned to helmsman Gordon, who looked just as stunned as he was, and asked:
"This is clearly a medieval city!"
"How does it look anything like the Bronze Age?"
"Are you sure you've got the right place?"
Ed knew that even if he hadn't been very