Chapter 47

***This article contains spoilers.***

## Highlights

* When the team arrives on Valaden, Edraele offers them laser tech if they retrieve the schematics for Trankaran engine technology she had paid for before they reneged. They have to bring Irillith.
* Alyssa spirit walks and sees Edraele probing John's mind shield for weaknesses. When Edraele sees the murderous rage in Alyssa's eyes, she got scared and blasted out a psychic null-zone centred on herself.
* When Alyssa finally wakes, she doesn't remember much about the spirit walk.

## Summary

They arrive on Valaden and wait to meet Irillith, who is telling her mother about John's abilities. Edraele seems mostly interested in his healing abilities, and tells Irillith to bring him to her, ignoring her warning.

John confronts Irillith about the Fulmanax [46], but apparently committing genocide doesn’t bother her in the slightest.

John and Alyssa follow Irillith. The girls on Valaden seem shocked at seeing John and Alyssa, apparently not used to strangers. The Maliri fashion trend was dark hair cut short, and long, figure-hugging dresses. They move constantly wary, like they're hunting or being hunted. When they come across a woman being whipped, John asks Irillith how she could deserve torture. She’s serving fifty lashes with a neural whip for getting caught stealing data from a government official. The public flogging isn't for stealing data. It's for getting caught.

When they arrived in Edraele Valaden's quarters, she greeted them pleasantly. She pretended to be shocked when John mentioned the Fulmanax side-trip, and promised she would never sanction genocide. In exchange for the laser schematics, Edraele wants them to retrieve the schematics for Trankaran engine technology she had paid for before they reneged. The conditions are that he must not let Maliri tech fall into the hands of any other species, and he must take Irillith. When Irillith declined, she gave John a small black cylindrical object, promising that it will make her more cooperative. Dana and Calara vote "no" but Alyssa, Rachel, and Jade vore "yes" to bring Irillith.

While John and Edraele were talking, Alyssa felt a throbbing sensation when she re-opened her eyes, she saw a bright, glowing aura emanating from Edraele, who also had a ghostly image separate from her body that glided purposefully towards them. Edraele’s incorporeal form drifted over John’s side, while a glowing, wavering white thread tethered her back to her physical form. John seemed to be wearing a brightly gleaming golden crown on his head. As Edraele’s shimmering form walked around John, her ethereal fingers brushed over the surface of the crown, tracing mysterious patterns as she seemed to be searching for something.

Edraele grew increasingly frustrated, and when Alyssa's spirit form touched Edraele's, there was a spark on Alyssa's fingertips. Edraele was suddenly aware of Alyssa and grimaced in annoyance. From that spark, Alyssa knew Edraele was probing John’s mind-shield for cracks and weaknesses, and tried to pull her away. Edraele snarled with anger, her eyes turned bright purple, and Alyssa was sent sprawling in the floor. Alyssa stalked toward Edraele with murderous rage, gathering psychic energy in her fingertips. Edraele, terrified, blasted out a psychic null-zone centred on herself.

Edraele snapped back in her body as waves of agony stabbed into her mind, now realizing what had frightened Irillith. Alyssa passed out, and Edraele left in agony, sending someone to escort them back to the Invictus. When Alyssa woke, she didn't remember much about the spirit walk.

Irillith shows up.