Wormhole

These are areas of such a high gravitational concentration that space is theorised to be torn - many mathematical models can't handle the conditions supposed to be found there. Indeed, the gravity is so intense that light can not escape, hence the name.

Some of these theories say that these objects should rotate - after all they are generally thought to be remnants of massive stars, which spin, and that angular momentum is unlikely to have been lost. In that case these theories say that it might be possible for a starship to travel from one point in space to another many light years away. Indeed, it might be possible to use them as a form of time travel as well.

The most well developed series of wormhole junctions I know of are those in Lois Bujold's Vorkosigan Universe where wormhole nexus points are a strategic resource. In these books transit takes a noticeable time whilst in David Weber's books, wormhole transits are virtually instantaneous.

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