Captain Tkarro walked into Astrogation and groaned. "Maybe I SHOULD invest in a pirate hat!" Violet turned and asked, "WHAT?" Narchi sighed, "Except for Zeelob, we're out of uniform." Violet shook her head,"No way in HELL am I getting into that 'Pathfinder' outfit without sitting down!" Dokka Tkarro raised an eyebrow, and Zeelob said, "We decided it was bad for morale. Her ass was bare. Even if it is a cute butt." Violet whirled and said, "Tam'ra would hit you for that comment!" Narchi grinned and shifted in his chair, "THAT is WHY it's bad for morale! Anyway--Violet got a translated galactic map of Pathfinder M'ree's travel on the Galactic Human's ship!" Dokka asked in wonder, "How did you do that?" Violet rolled her eye and sighed, "Direct Neural Interface with her brain with a cable plugged into our ship-interface plugs." Dokka exclaimed, "HOLY CRAP! That was insanely dangerous! Good thing your mother is stuck at a hot-springs over night, or she'd be raising hell about that!" Violet said, "I know. It was worth it, though!" Narchi said, "Look at the map. I thought that the Galactic Humans traveled 75,000 light years in 41 days. They DIDN'T! They traveled 125,000 light years in 41 days! If they came in a straight line... it WOULD HAVE TAKEN EIGHTEEN MONTHS. They cheated their way through time-space with a Pathfinder!" Dokka said, "We knew they used a Pathfinder. We know that Violet and Rose are Pathfinders. The question is WHAT IS A PATHFINDER?" Narchi smiled. "Nope! The REAL question is what is a 'star-path', or slipstream, or hyperspace conduit? It's GRAVITY!" Nachi pointed at the map and said,"It's been argued why gravity is the weakest of ALL forces. Compares to strong and weak nuclear force, and electromagnetism and others--it's PEANUTS! However...if it reaches into the other layers of the universe, like hyperspace and subspace--then it's equal to the others!" "They rode the gravimetric line between the black hole at the core of the Milky Way galaxy to the core of OUR galaxy! It would have taken 541 days INSTEAD of 41 days! The conduit is immeasurably small in diameter, maybe twenty of thirty kilometers in diameter. The Pathfinder uses the gravimetric sensors in the starship to find the line of stressed space!" Narchi's eyes gleamed with glee. Dokka asked, "What's the punchline?" "From the core of the Milky Way to the core of the Andromeda Galaxy is a WEEK'S worth of travel with a Pathfinder!" Nachi beamed. Violet leaned on the seat back and asked,"Was it worth it?" Dokka reeled. "Holy... jumping crap on a stick! That is mind boggling beyond belief! No WONDER the other species didn't want to help us with this technology!" Zeelob said, "There is more to it, that that, though. The conduits are controlled by independent species who inhabit the 'Gateway' systems. They exact tolls and maintain strict neutrality of the passageways." Dokka looked shocked, "TOLLS. What kind of TOLLS?" Zeelob shrugged. "M'Ree never knew that. The Captain and others dealt with the Toll-masters of the Gateway systems. Apparently it depends on the species in question. The Kohl-Tannu control the entrance/exit to the Milky Way from this galaxy." "According to them--the exit is managed by the Talandu, in the Stromm system. By custom, the Kohl-Tahnnu are forbidden from discussing tolls of other species. According to our Kohl-Tahnnu, Nephrys, we can pay it--but it might be troublesome depending on our temperament. That's all we could get out of her about it." Dokka nodded and crossed his arms again. "The Humans from their Galactic Empire, seems to not have had a problem with the Gateways." He paused. "Thanks ,Narchi. This is REALLY helpful! You know...this will piss Girtset off. It took him three million years to get here from Triangulum, and you tell me, we could make it in a couple of weeks if we hit the stop-lights just right?" Narchi nodded. "He'll be pissed." --TO BE CONTINUED!--