So, you have Faster Than Light Travel, and you want to travel to Rigel, but first you have to stop through Tau Ceti, even though you don't have any business there, and stopping there makes the journey longer. Why is this? Whether due to some law of physics or some artificial regulation, you have to follow the Hyperspace Lanes.
Hyperspace Lanes allow space to have choke points and pace the story [...] [tvtropes.org]