Comunication & travel

As the person who first posted the question, I am grateful for the many
responses.  I am also grateful to Nyrath the Nearly Wise.  Visit his
website and you will find a wealth of info on star maps and the like. A
great  site!

Anyway, this is how i intend to run things (subject to the approval of
the other campaign paricipants).
1. The is no FTL communications.  The fastest way to communicate is by
courier ship.  Regular transportation routes will between star will go
from system to another system with 2 parsecs (this is a little over 6
light years).  It represents 1 weeks travel (not counting getting into
or out of the solar systems) for warships.  Twice that long for merchant
ships.
Special courier ships can jump every 6 hours (they have specially
trained crews and special (expensive) drugs), so they can make the trip
in under 2 days.
When a player dispatches a ship or fleet, he must write a description of
the entire mission which can't be changed unless he gets a courier out
there to stop it.
The core will be dominated by the UN (IE the security council consisting
of the great powers) and no fighting is permitted there.  The UN fleet
stays in this zone and sees to that.
The great powers control outlying sectors under rules set down by the
UN, but it has little actual authority out there.  These sectors are
governed by administrators (the players) who are appointed by the great
power cental government.  They have almost complete control as long as
they don't screw up badly.
But the trip wires are many.
Worlds are colonized from 4 major sources:
1. A great power.  The powers (NAC,NSL, etc.) have a lot of resources
but do not have enough to colonize very many worlds at one time.  They
pick and choose.  These worlds will directly controlled by the colonial
government and will have regular troops as a garrison and star bases
with permanent squadrons of starships.
2. Corporate Worlds.  These are worlds that are licensed to major
interstellar corporations.  They provide admisnistration, courts, police
(usually mercenaries).	The colonial administration is responsible for
space protection. (The corporations are prohibited by the UN from having
their own warships, but..).  Woe to any governor who fails to protect
one of these words as the corporations have a lot of clout back home
(and the king is a major stockholder).
Private worlds.  These are worlds in which a private group has for their
own reasons gotten a UN license.  Although technically under the control
of the sector goernor, they will be all kinds or worlds.  Some will
provide their own defense, some will invite (or will have despite their
desires) a regular military garrison and some will hire mercenaries.
4. Independant ventures.  These are worlds which are mostly on or beyond
the fringe the human space.  They were formed by groups fleeing the
central govenments (or who got lost).  The only control ther governor
will have over these worlds is the force his will or his military.

Ships will be built in the core.  Governors will have to buy ships from
his superiors with his tax revinue (kind of like the British East India
company).  Taxes come from controled worlds (you get the picture)
I envision that no one out there will have the resources to field large
armies.  Even the militias will be pretty small.  Most worlds will be
pretty thinly populated.  The loyalties of various worlds will vary (ie.
a lot of them can be bought) again like the Mogul Princes in India.

Tim