The Earth is about 25,000 light years from the center of our galaxy and almost equally distant from its edge. Yuna wanted to push the star drive to its limits and most warp jumps have been limited to under 1,000 light years. There was a theoretical limit due to the immense amount of energy needed to power the star drive. Based on her calculations and study of the star drive, she made a breakthrough and realized two ships flying in tandem could exponentially improve the efficiency of their star drives and thus reduce the amount of energy needed. Her best guess, she could make it to the galactic core using the same amount of energy it takes to travel from Earth to Proxima B some 4 light years away.
The only Captain crazy enough and willing to make the attempt was Louise Gustafson who was given one of the new ships from the Pacific foundries. She reviewed Yuna's plan and her engineers confirmed it was plausible, but risky. If they somehow were able to make it past a certain point, say 5,000 light years, let alone 25,000 light years, if either of their ships star drives became inoperable, they would never be able to make it back. It was a risk Louise was willing to take and the two ships were tethered together.
And like they did so many times before, they pointed their nose towards the center and blinked out of view. While travel to Proxima B was near instant, there was a considerable time lag and they traveled through a warp tunnel for several hours. It intrigued everyone as they took measurements and studied this new phenomenon. They soon learned there were different speeds based on the amount of power they expended upon entry. To their astonishment, they successfully reached the galactic center and confirmed it was the boundary of a giant black hole. They remained safely behind the event horizon and then returned home.
The experience was enlightening and soon other ships were vying to break the record with the limit tested with a Proto-Artesian ship the Majestic reaching the Andromeda galaxy some 2.5 million light years away. It achieved this by placing star drives in external nacelles and attached them to the hull with long pylons. These star drive nacelles mimicked the effect of tethering multiple star ships together and the distance traveled took barely a week.
The Majestic was subsequently lost when it attempted an even bolder distance of some 1 billion light years. Even Yuna felt that was too brash a move as a ship traveling that far a distance would remain stuck in the warp tunnel for possibly years and if done improperly, may eventually reach its destination centuries later. Based on what data was provided she calculated the Majestic would appear some 487 years later in the distant galaxy of Cygnus-3 based on its last known trajectory and velocity.
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