Space Lanes? (was Re: [OT] Sea Lanes was: Liberals )

(Let's see if this goes through, me being on a business trip and
not able to access my subscribed e-mail address and all....)

--- KH.Ranitzsch@t-online.de wrote:
> > >SLOC is the basis of world domination.
> 
> Actually, their importance may have been exaggerated.
> 
> Paul M. Kennedy, 
[snip]
> Has written:
>   
> The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery
> Humanity Books; ISBN: 1573922781; Reissue edition (January
> 1998) 

Good book -- I just finished reading it, actually.  (Books like
that are *great* for overseas flights....)

> He argues that British supremacy was in decline BEFORE the
> First World War due to the limited industrial and population 
> resources of Britain compared to Germany and France.

Actually, he argues it peaked before Napolean in 1805, it just
wasn't obvious because Britan still managed to win the wars.  It
just became *very* obvious after the World Wars (and to a large
extent before, which is why Churchill was "glad" that Japan
bombed Pearl Harbor to bring in the US) due to the massive
production of the US and others.

However, tossing aside the economic arguement for the moment...
are there specific "space lanes" that could actually be
blockaded in the GZGverse?  I don't remember the exact
description of the FTL drive, but I remember it was more in
jumps, with a rest/recharge/recalibrate period in between. 
Could that be used to allow piracy on merchant ships?

My guess is that a lot depends on how you view the technology...
can you detect when someone is in hyperspace (or does it take
"zero" time)?  Can you detect when someone leaves, and plot it
well enough to get in a jump of your own, before his FTL drive
can recharge?

This does have possibilities for piracy actions in the GZGverse,
if you assume that ships can be tracked in some way.  It is not
as restrictive as, say, jump points (like Mote in God's Eye),
but merchants would not want to deviate too far from a
least-time course since, well, time is money as they say....

Any other thoughts on this?

			   Aaron Teske
			   (list member frequently in abstentia)
			   Mithramuse@njaccess.com (normally)
			   Mithramuse@yahoo.com (travel)

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