Jack of Harts

Interstellar navigation is a complicated affair. The simplest way to describe it is to say that there are hyperspace runs or rivers between stars, and the brighter or larger stars have faster runs. Hot and bright blue giants make some of the best runs, though stars that hot are extremely rare. Elnath is one of the very few blue giants in Earth’s stellar neighborhood, and it sits on a nearly direct route between Earth and the Hyades Cluster. All of the best hyperspace runs between Earth and the Hyades go through Elnath. It is a natural choke point, and the Chinese controlled it. They fortified it. They protected it, because it guarded the approaches to the Hyades Cluster. That is why Elnath was our first primary target in the Hyades Campaign.