sentences:  It had taken tens of thousands of years for the light from the relativistic lighthuggers' C Drives to reach and be detected by the galactic plane, and thousands more for their message to arrive at the two ships.The message simply consists of Remontoire begging them for help.Irravel meets the Conjoiners in AD 40,000 on "Hope", a hollowed out asteroid the Conjoiners have ejected from the Galaxy.