4,000,000 stars in the sphere;
but less than 2,000,000 have been visited;
100,000 have direct contact with the Empire;
a few 100,000 have slight contact;
thus, there are beings who do not know that they are in the Imperial sphere;
the Dispersal of Ymir, based on Jovoid planets, overlaps with the Empire and the Roidhunate and even owns Jupiter;
thus, a threat can emerge from within the sphere, e.g., the Ardazirho.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I have thought more than once that it would be a very good idea if the Imperium undertook a survey of every star within its borders which had not been visited even once. In order to get a better IDEA of what was inside the Empire. I realize such a survey would have to be quick and rather superficial, focusing on whether a star had planets and whether any of those planets were terrestroid or had intelligent life. I've also thought the ships needed for such a survey could be found from among those old, obsolete Imperial Navy ships sent off to "scrap orbits." Some of them could still be used for travel between the stars and even obsolete weapons and armament would give protection against possible lethal surprises.
I would divide, say, 500 or 1000 ships (with fairly minimal crews) into teams of two and send them into three or four Sectors to surveying stars which had not been visited even once. If anything interesting was found one ship would move in for a closer look while the other acted as back up in case of trouble.
I'm sure such an Internal Grand Survey of the Empire would be costly and time consuming, but I think the long term benefits of increased knowledge of what was inside the Imperial sphere would justify the expense.
We even see Dominic Flandry having some ideas along these lines, as we see in Chapter II of THE PLAGUE OF MASTERS:
He [Flandry] smoked slowly, thinking. The self
isolation of Unan Besar might mean nothing,
except to its dwellers. On the other hand, he
knew of places where hell's own kettle had
simmered unnoticed for a long time. It was hard
enough--impossible, actually--to keep watch on
those four million suns estimated to lie within
the Imperial sphere itself. Out here on the
marches, where barbarism faded into unknownness,
and the agents of a hostile Merseia prowled and
probed, any hope of controlling all situations
grew cold indeed.
Wherefore, the thumb-witted guardians of a fat
and fun-seeking Terra had stopped even trying,
thought Flandry. They should make periodic
reviews of the archives, sift every Intelligence
report, investigate each of a billion mysteries.
But that would require a bigger Navy, he thought,
which would require higher taxes, which would
deprive too many Terran lordlings of a new skycar
and too many of their mistresses of a new syntha
gem bracelet. It might even turn up certain facts
on which the Navy would have to act, which might
even (horrors!) lead to full-scale fighting some-
where.
And so, while Flandry would have preferred what I described above, he knew short sighted and lax rulers would not carry out such a plan. Which means my own suggestion of an Internal Grand Survey would be unlikely to be implemented (altho Emperor Hans might sympathize and even order a smaller scale survey). This chapter of THE PLAGUE OF MASTERS ends with Flandry deciding to do his own, unauthorized investigation of Unan Besar. With fateful consequences for that planet!
Sean
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