He shrugs irritably. "I couldn't begin to guess," he says tersely. "Allag made great strides towards venturing beyond the star's atmosphere but the Empire fell before they could find an energy source capable of long-term travel. That aside, I'm quite sure I remember that Hermes' pet project failed explosively. He accepted the seat of Fandaniel because of it."

How much could the Meteia have found, really, considering that?

"I suppose they found nothing of note."

There are so many more questions he wants to ask - particularly about her meeting him in Elpis - but she's clearly leading into some sort of revelation.