I think the time I couldn’t escape was a white dwarf, which I didn’t realize was so much more dangerous than normal neutron stars. As for Mitterand Hollow, no, I have not been there, but there was a list of places to see, which I had managed about half the list before I moved on to a new goal. I had an expedition to the galactic core in progress when I lost interest in playing. It was just taking too long to scan for planets and get surface info for the ones that yielded the most data/money. I should pick it back up, here, and see if I can complete my journey.
CIA are barred from enacting operations on US soil. It would have to be DOD or FBI unless they were abroad.