The Dhalkans, part biological, part artificial intelligence, had been in conflict with the Aggies. Facing annihilation, the Dhalkans created a network of high-energy jets from active galactic cores, which they would use to escape. The confrontation was settled, and the Dhalkans didn't flee, but the jets remained.
One feature of the high-energy jets is that an observer from far away will detect a brightness dependent on how he lines up with the direction of the jet. For instance, at an angle of five degrees from being directly lined up with the collimated jet, it might appear ten times dimmer than if the observer is directly in line with the direction the jet points. In this way, an observer can use the appearance of the jet to adjust his course and navigate if he knows where each jet is and its intrinsic brightness.
If the observer could line up the ship with a jet, he would get a reading of where he was in relation to it. And the relative brightness would give him the distance.
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