-copied from here.
The Merseian crew of the cruiser, Brythioch:
"...had been long in the deeps between the stars. If they went straight back from here, they must travel a good 140 light-years - about ten standard days at top hyperspeed, but still an abyss whose immensity and strangeness wore down the hardiest spirit - before they could raise the outermost of the worlds they called their own."
-Poul Anderson, A Circus Of Hells IN Anderson, Young Flandry (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 193-365 AT CHAPTER ONE, p. 198.
So 30 or 40 standard years at top hyperspeed to cross the galaxy? We approach generation ship territory even with FTL. It would be interesting to read an account of a ship that did travel to the far side of the galaxy during the Terran Empire period. The nearest approach to this is the flight of the Aenean rebels whose descendants became the Kirkasanters.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
We do see mention in the stories about reports from explorers who went extremely far in earlier days. Perhaps even as far as half way across the Galaxy?
Ad astra! Sean
Point to point transit times are often less relevant that possible volumes of destinations, considered as a fan/cone of possibilities. What makes it possible for the rebels to vanish is the sheer vastness of the possible -volume- of destinations, which makes any practical sun-by-sun search impracticable. Especially since there's no FTL equivalent of radio, and electromagnetic signals travel so slowly over those distances and attenuate so rapidly.
In fact, if you were very careful, you could probably hide -inside- the Empire, simply by looking up a planet that had been visited once and not since and going there.
Though the amount of care required would really discourage that.
Avoiding both, any FTL travel that passes within a light year of fairly commonly used routes between stars, and use of radio communication within the solar system you settle, would be required. Either one would arouse suspicions.
See the series by David Weber that starts with "Off Armageddon Reef", is which a human colony world is hiding from genocidal aliens, partly by avoiding use of any such conspicuous tech as radio.
The top hyperspeed of about 5000x lightspeed would mean about 1 year travel would be ample to make you unfindable, and mean there is no reason to try to hide within the empire.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling and Jim!
Mr. Stirling: I missed or forgot these comments of yours. The objections Jim raised makes me doubt the McCormac rebels would try settling an obscure, little known world within the Empire. We do see mention of how some ex-rebels who chose not to flee with McCormac were allowed to fade back into the general population, and left undisturbed, as long as they made no trouble.
Jim: And maybe not that far! Three or four hundred light years should be more than far enough for McCormac not to be seriously tempted to try making a comeback.
Hope this uploads.
Ad astra! Sean
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