Chapter 44

***This article contains spoilers.***

## Summary

Ceraden walks in as Irillith removed her helmet and asks her if she's out of her mind. She tells him to leave before she removes him permanently.

Alyssa realizes the women from the Ashanath stone pictographs were Maliri, although they had white hair while Irillith's is black.

When John asks her why she keeps calling him Progenitor mockingly, she asks if he'd rather her call him Mael'nerak, and asked again if he'd accompany her. John said to give them three days while they repair their ships to discuss it with his crew. Irillith was annoyed but accepted, with a veiled threat.

An agitated Ceraden shows up in person to warn John about Irillith, and after removing his helmet, tells him the truth about Maliri society:

* Maliri society is completely segregated along gender lines.

* The men stay at border starports to escape the women.

* The matriarchs rule the Noble Houses, and form the ruling government of the Maliri. All positions of power and authority are held by women. Any men living on the homeworlds would be treated as a second class citizen.

* This may be due to the 20:1 birth ratio of females to males.

* For reproduction, women visit the border stations, alliances and bargains are made, and they then return to their homeworld afterward.

* Maliri have longer lifespans than Terrans. Despite looking late-30s, Ceraden is 127 years old.

* Ceraden had five daughters until his oldest was was killed for political reasons. He didn't abandon them, and they were lovely when they were young, but Maliri society tends to break that kind of innocent spirit, resulting in women like Irillith.

* When John asked about Mael'nerak, Ceraden said it's just a legend used to scare kids: “*A long time ago, the Maliri were happy and contented, and they all used to live very well together. But then the evil Mael’nerak saw the Maliri, and grew jealous. He flew down from the heavens and gathered up all the Maliri, telling them that he was going to be in charge from now on, and did terrible things to the poor people. The Mael’nerak left the men behind, telling them that they were no use to him, and disappeared with most of the women, who were never to be seen again. Every few years, the Mael’nerak would return and gather up any women who had been bad, before whisking them away to be punished for being naughty. So all the Maliri girls knew that they had to be good, or the Mael’nerak would come and take them away.*”

* Ceraden confirmed that Irillith's mother, Edraele, is the most powerful House Matriarch, and as such isn't answerable to anyone, but warned John not to trust her story.

* Edraele is even worse than Irillith, and apparently from one of the Eldritch bloodlines.

* Ceraden's last words of warning: "*Intrigue piled upon lies, stacked with deception, await you deeper in Maliri Space. Take nothing at face value.*"

After Ceraden left, Rachel had some new ideas about Mael'nerak:

* Mael’nerak was a Progenitor, who was using the Maliri to supply him with women for his armies.

* The Progenitor likely genetically altered the Maliri he left behind.

* The massively skewed gender ratio provided him plenty of women to use at a later date.

Rachel ~~steals~~ requisitions a Maliri DNA sample from Ceraden's glass. John decides to accept Irillith's offer despite the risks.

Dana goes to help Rellathis with crystallites and power couplings on beam laser turrets.

John calls Irillith to tell her he accepts her offer. Irillith was pleasantly surprised, having been fully aware Ceraden warned him. She called to inform her mother, who demanded Irillith test him by eliminating the Fulmanax, and so they can colonize the planet without having to spend the resources to take it.

Dana returned frustrated, informing them that female guards threw her and Rellathis out moments away from her being able to ~~steal~~ requisition the beam laser blueprints. However, she still figured out how the Maliri reinforce the lattice on their clear-crystal tech.

Rachel uses the psi-detector Dana built and discovered the girls have faint white auras, apart from Alyssa’s, which is blindingly bright. John doesn’t seem to have an aura at all, but there’s a massive, glowing white cable linking him and Alyssa together.

A brooding figure tortures Peter Koeman despite believing his story that John told him to donate the gems.