A few hours later, after barely managing to restore their quantum-drive capability and make contact with the Quills, the Orville hurried back into Quill territory.
With a Quill destroyer that had come after hearing the news trailing, escorting, and protecting them—and making no secret of its glee—the Orville, which had ignored warnings and insisted on venturing into someone else's forbidden zone, finally managed to flee the so-called Kalar District of the Naklaf Sector: that place described in Quill law as the "Gateway to Hell" and the "Dwelling of Demons."
They had no choice but to run!
After all, dozens of people aboard the Orville, including Lieutenant Commander Christie, had been infected and transformed into those terrifying monsters. Their condition needed to be brought under control and treated as quickly as possible. On top of that, the bizarre biological space station had been broadcasting its coordinates, and could well attract more of those equally bizarre and dangerous dark-red Bio-ships. That was something Ed and the others didn't want to see.
So, after receiving confirmation from John, the chief of Engineering, Captain Ed immediately ordered the Orville, whose functions had yet to be fully restored, to make for Quill airspace. From there, escorted by the Quill destroyer, they hurried back to Planetary Union space and successfully rendezvoused with a fleet consisting of a Planetary Union medical research vessel that had been dispatched to meet them after receiving the news, along with several escort ships.
However...
Even with support from the Planetary Union's most advanced medical research vessel, treating Lieutenant Commander Christie and the others who had been infected and transformed into monsters wasn't going very well.
After analysis by the medical research vessel's team of hundreds of top doctors and experts, they unanimously concluded that Lieutenant Commander Christie and the others had