Out in the distant Gamma Valorian star system, the people of Regor 2 attempt to make contact with other planets by sending out a microwave-encoded message and the Orville receives their message a few years later and responds after taking aboard their new Security Chief, Talla Keyali.
Grayson proposes that she and Bortus have a joint birthday party as their birthdays are close together and coming up soon but he declines.
First contact goes well at first until Grayson mentions her upcoming birthday. It turns out that Regorian society is founded on a belief in astrological determination and Grayson and Bortus are both born under the sign of Giliac, the bad sign. All Giliacs are imprisoned in camps and Grayson and Bortus are both transported there.
The rest of the Orville landing party are sent back to the ship once their astrological signs are deemed non-Giliac. The Planetary Union Admiralty will not allow Mercer to stage a rescue. He must negotiate their release.
Keyali figures out why the sign of Giliac is thought to be bad. Thousands of years before, a star in that sign collapsed into a black hole. The primitive Regorians took that as an evil omen. The Orville crew come up with an idea to replace the missing star.
In the Giliac camp, Grayson helps a couple deliver a baby girl. The girl isn't Giliac and the mother hides her because she will be taken away if discovered. The father wants a better life for her and informs the warden and she is taken. Grayson and Bortus face a firing squad for trying to escape but are saved by the Orville's "star".