18. The Ends of the Earth

Notes

• 18.1

  Warp Region 6 is a name for the phenomenon we imagine makes it possible for the Enterprise to explore the galactic rim in the original-series episode ‘Where No Man Has gone Before’, when later series establish such a journey would take hundreds of years. Before I found this particular phrase I was going to call it a ‘subspace slipstream’ or something along those lines.

  The idea of zones with properties affecting warp speed, and ill-defined, ever-changing borders that need surveying, is stolen from Vernor Vinge’s novel A Fire Upon the Deep.

  The reason for Enterprise being better suited to zone surveys is its greater speed and range, which means if the boundary between superfast and normal warp space moves underneath them, they will be able to backtrack to the superfast region in less time than it takes the crew to die of old age.