https://slushe.com/galleries/pirates-of-the-coal-sack-10-71375.html

"I almost titled this one “Page 23.” I have five versions of page 23, two of which made it into the actual issue. For some reason, the story stalled there. Obviously, it eventually went through. Hope it works.

The logic of attacking Yangtze 451 may not be extremely clear. I think I got all the salient points in, but they’re kind of spread out; nobody ever really puts them together. So if it still doesn’t make sense:

Subspace radio isn’t infinitely fast and it doesn’t have infinite range. Signals travel about twenty-five times as fast as the fastest starships (something between two and six hundred times faster than a freighter; sensor and pulser beams travel at the same speed). Starships have an effective communications range of about a light year, though, and planets not much more than that.

Originally, Star Fleet built automated relay buoys and dropped them about one per cubic light year. That method gave way to the current network of manned communications relay stations. Situated one per subsector and located in deep space, their long-range subspace arrays can talk to starships within about 15 light years, and communicate with one another at up to 40 light years. These comm stations formed the backbone of Federation long-range communications.

Eventually, the Ministry of Information (MINFO) decided that the communications network should belong to them. Star Fleet made a pretty good case that the network was strategically critical and should not be left unguarded. MINFO’s response was to get the Senate to authorize the Deep Space Communications Service as a branch of the armed forces. Star Fleet managed to hold on to its prerogative of being the only people in the Federation allowed to arm ships and stations, thinking this would compel MINFO to at least let Star Fleet put personnel aboard the comm stations. MINFO instead decided they’d be unarmed, and removed the weapons from the stations Star Fleet had already built.

With Yangtze 451 off line, ships in the subsector won’t be able to communicate with each other, or with higher command. Neither can planets. That means that Phoenix can strike and be gone before anyone can coordinate a response. And, since it sits at the hub of all long-range communication, the station’s message logs will reveal what ships are in the area, their courses, and their orders and cargos. So, for the moment, the crew has a complete menu of targets and a good chance of attacking them entirely on their own terms.

We’ll see what they make of it. Let me know what you think!"