Communications

"The only proper way out of this system is via one of these messenger ships. This planet is a dead end for their routes, so it should be heading back to Ak'Thakra. Maybe we can hitch a better ride there.

— Jon

In most other fictional universes, if you have FTL travel, you have FTL communication. Not so here. While it is possible, humanity has not been able to invent it, and will not do so for thousands of years. Due to this, there are two forms of communication between solar systems. Interplanetary communication is easy enough, but interstellar is not.
The first method, the less common one, is direct messages. Essentially, you send a tight beam of light at a target, which picks it up some years later, depending on distance of course. This requires a focused beam and accurate calculations. This method was once used, before FTL travel made the other, more common now, method available.
That method is messenger ships. They travel from system to system, with FTL travel, and collect and transmit messages to and from the system's inhabitants. They act as travelling news-merchants, trading news and personal messages for other news and messages. The system has proved to work quite well, and has been adapted for military use aswell.