There could be local interplanetary space travel in any of two million planetary systems. There could also be hyperspatial interstellar travel provided that it is more than a light-year away from the nearest Terran base or spacecraft. If a large fleet from anywhere outside the Empire were to travel as far as a hundred light-years into Imperial space, then someone would detect its instantaneous hyperspatial "wakes." However, the Ardazhiro war fleet, constructed within the Imperial sphere, is able to invest Vixen before anyone knows that the Ardazhiro even exist. The sun of Ardazir is not in Imperial catalogues because it is located in an unexplored region beyond a dark nebula. Intelligence agent Dominic Flandry acquires its coordinates and thus saves the Navy a lengthy search. It seems that most of "known space" is not only not known but also potentially dangerous.
In the earlier Solar Commonwealth period, trade pioneer crews initiated by Nicholas van Rijn had explored some of the many planetary systems that the frontier explorers had bypassed, thus demonstrating that the unknown parts of known space could also be profitable.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I do have some quibbles here, tho. The Empire did have border defenses, such as fleets located at strategic locations on the marches. And there were scoutboats doing regular patrols on the frontiers (as we see Flandry doing in A CIRCUS OF HELLS). And Naval Intelligence would have networks of spies keeping tabs on known barbarians likely to be troublesome.
So I don't think a whole FLEET could just "come in" without triggering all sorts of alarms. But I do agree that single ships could slip into the Empire easily enough. Also, any hitherto unknown species within the Empire which had independently invented the hyperdrive could not travel far within the Imperial sphere before contacting civilians or military shipping. Here I'm thinking of peaceful explorers.
Yes, the Ardazirho were an exception to that rule! The Urdahu "orbekh" which unified Ardazir in a poorly known region within the sphere claimed by Terra wanted an empire of its own. And allowed themselves to be manipulated by Aycharaych and he Merseians.
Is OUR Earth within the sphere of such an interstellar confederation or empire?
Ad astra! Sean
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