>Similar high-speed communications channels must have existed in all the
>major interstellar governments, though, so actual virus transmission was
>probably much higher.
. . . etc. . . .
Almost definitely. We know that at least the Solomani Confederation
had an effective Imperial-style xboat route since they were still
part of the Imperium when the main system was completed in 718, even
though they had just recieved autonomous region status in 704. The
routes show up on maps of the Solomani Rim sector. The level of
formality of the high speed systems undoubtedly varied among the other
major governments...I can see the Hiver and K'kree having decent
commo systems, but each Aslan clan would probably have its own slower
independent courier network, and so on.
It seems to me that the real pre-cursor to the Rebellion is the
Solomani Rim War. We're all so used to maps of the Imperium in
its latter days that its easy to forget what it was like in, say
the late 600s, when it still had open frontiers, and its rule
stretched beyond Terra.
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Steve Bonneville | "Beware the tablespoon my son,
| The teeth that bite, the Claus that catch,
[email removed] | Beware the Subjects bird, and shred
| The serious Bandwidth!"
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