Later on, Grampus surfaced at another dock, and he opened the hatches. "Welcome to the Star Fleet Dock!" he said. "Serving Chicago and the Lake Michigan area since 1926!"

Pipp clambered up the ladder and set herself down on the quayside. "That was quite the day," she said. "I'm pretty certain visit Chicago was not on my to-do list for today. But I seem to have done it nontheless."

"It's always fun to explore new places!" Izzy said. "Just don't put ketchup on a hot dog here."

Pipp glanced over. "Why? I normally don't eat barbequed food- remember, I put on weight very easily."

"It's because ketchup was traditionally put on food to hide the taste of bad meat. By doing that, you're suggesting the meat here is bad."

Pipp nodded. "Oh."

"Good morning, you two!" said a voice. "Grampus told me we'd be getting some visitors, so I decided to come out and visit you in person."

A man was walking down the dock. He was a somewhat portly gentleman, with grey hair and a beard to boot. He also seemed to be fairly cheerful, and certainly had the character of a cheerful sailor to him. "Welcome to Chicago," he said. "My name is Captain Star."

"Pipp Petals," Pipp replied. "You may or may not have heard of me."

"I've heard youngsters mention that name more than once," Captain Star noted. "Short for Phillippa, I presume?"

"Yep!" Pipp replied. "An interview I did once gave my given name as Philomena once. Not sure how that happened, but it's all been cleaned up now."

"Very good," Captain Star said, and turned his attention to Izzy. "And you?"

"Izzy Moonbow, of the Bury Moonbows," Izzy said, with a smile. "I'm so glad to help. But may I ask why you have an English accent?"

"Of course," Captain Star replied. "My father founded this company many years ago, and I took it over when he retired. He was from Britain, and naturally brought his accent with him. Naturally, I inherited it, so I've been running it ever since. Certainly keeps a lot to keep an old sea dog like me down!"

He began to walk towards the dock, where a large assortment of tugboats were assembled. "It's not often I get to show visitors around the dockyard," he said, "so I want you to meet the fleet."

All of the tugboats assembled there were painted yellow with black and white frames. They had red chimneys with blue and white tops, and a chaotic jumble of machinery along the frames and hull. They also had heads sitting roughly where the wheelhouse on some other boats would be.

"Morning Captain Star!" said the first one, with a thick Cockney accent. "Are these the guests you mentioned!"

"Indeed they are, Ten Cents!" Captain Star said. "This is Ten Cents, one of my two switchers, built to move light cargo about on barges." He then walked to the next tugboat, a much larger vessel. "This is Warrior, one of my harbour tugs. Built to do just about anything. Except fly, of course."

"Big work for big tugs only!" Warrior smiled. "Like coal."

One of the other tugboats snorted. "Honestly, you never cease to amaze me, Warrior. Why, one day I thought a floating sack of coal had drifted into port. But it was only Warrior, covered in coal dust!"

"I thought that was Big Mac," Ten Cents said.

"Does it matter who it was?" the other tugboat said. "Cleanliness is close to godliness."

"The only reason you're clean is because you do no hard work," said another tugboat, with a thick Scottish accent.

"Alright, settle down," said Captain Star. He indicated to a tugboat with a top hat and a monocle. "This is Top Hat. He's my railroad tug, largely used to move railroad barges around."

Top Hat looked down. "Good morning, my fine fellows. Do I sense a touch of class in what you wear, my fair lady?"

"Posh tugboats!" Pipp said, before snapping a photo with her phone. "Totes bizarre day!"

Top Hat looked shocked. "TOTES?!" he spluttered. "Since when has that been a word?!"

"Ever since the word was coined," Pipp replied. "HashTag Keep up with the times!"

Top Hat shook his head. "Next they'll be ending sentences with prepositions. And a sentence ending with a preposition is something up with which I will not put."

"Isn't that a preposition?" asked the Scottish tugboat.

Keen to ignore the craziness going on, Captain Star simply moved on, and indicated to the Scottish tugboat. "This is Big Mac. Another of my harbour tugs. A hard worker; dependable, reliable, seldom late."

"Only the best from a Glasgow tug!" Big Mac replied.

The next vessel looked much older than the rest. He had two large paddle wheels on each side, the casings of which were painted white.

"This is OJ, short for Old Jones. He's my oldest tugboat, but a hard worker."

"If ever you need advice or some guidance, just let me know," OJ replied, revealing a distinct Welsh accent. "I know these waterways very well, having sailed them since the 1920s."

"He's also had a major rebuild recently," Captain Star said. "In many ways he's better than new now."

Finally, they arrived in front of another tugboat, who was much smaller than the others. "This is Sunshine, my newest vessel. He's another switcher, and often works with Ten Cents!"

"Good morning!" Sunshine replied in a cheery Geordie accent, although his speech was somewhat distorted by the large gap in his teeth, causing him to whistle a lot.

"I have a separate tug for working on the Great Lakes," Captain Star explained. "His name is Hercules, and he's currently away assisting a cargo ship." He turned to the other tugs. "Now, good work this morning. I've got some more work for you!"

The tugs cheered.

"Ten Cents, Sunshine, there's a fresh shipment of flour coming out from the mills on the Lake. I need you two to collect it and take it to the processing plant."

Top Hat snorted. "Flour. Horribly messy stuff. Gets in all sorts of awkward places."

"It might brighten you up a bit, Top Hat!" Ten Cents snorted, causing raucous laughter.

Top Hat fumed. "I resent that remark."

"Settle down," said Captain Star. "Now then, you all have important tasks. OJ, I need you to collect some lumber from upriver, the sawmill's got a fresh load. Hopefully Billy won't have blown himself up."

"Aye, sir," OJ said.

"Big Mac, I need you to move some steel across the bay. They've just finished reassembling Big Mickey, so they have fresh work for us."

"Sir," Big Mac said quickly.

"Warrior, you're on rock duty. They're currently dredging the harbour near Navy Pier so are removing quite a lot of the stuff."

"I'll do my best sir!" Warrior said proudly.

"Watch you don't spill the load!" said Ten Cents.

"Finally, Top Hat, you're on garbage today. Collect Lord Stinker and take him to the refuse plant."

"WHAT?!" Top Hat said. "Garbage? It'll ruin my image!"

Captain Star rolled his eyes. "Why do I always end up arguing with you, Top Hat? Just do as you're told."

Top Hat pulled away from the dock, grumbling. "I could have been bringing in the finest ocean liners in the world, and instead I tow garbage around. How is this my life?"

Pipp looked at Captain Star. "And I thought Zipp was a drama queen."

"Who's Zipp?"

"My sister. She's not here right now."

Captain Star nodded. "Now then, would you like to help out?"

"Of course!" Izzy said. "I'll go with Ten Cents, if that's OK."

"And I'll try and catch up to Top Hat," Pipp said. "I've always wanted to go sightseeing! May even get some neat new selfies!"

"Very well," Captain Star said. "If you need me, my door is always open. Now then, Star Fleet! Let's get to work!"

The dock echoed to the sound of whistles and steam engines as the tugs got their boilers up to full speed.

The bay around Lake Michigan is littered with old abandoned ships and shipwrecks, which can make navigating the Great Lakes a bit hazardous. One such vessel sat a fair distance from the shoreline, not having sailed in many, many years.

On one such shipwreck, two women were sitting. One looked annoyed with the other. "You need to be more careful, Anenome!" said one. "You know how dad will react if he learns we've been snooping around."

"No need to worry about me!" said a woman with pink skin and green hair. "It's always fun to see what washes up on Lake Michigan."

"Even so, we need to be careful our moves are not detected," the other said, a figure with yellowy skin and white hair. "It's as the old legends tell. Find the ancient markers and all shall be revealed. And our prize shall emerge, make no mistake of that. And don't tell anybody."

Anenome nodded. "Understood, Calla." Even so, she looked uneasy.

Ten Cents and Sunshine puffed across Lake Michigan, with a selection of barges behind them. "Fun work, this!" Sunshine smiled. "Less strange than some other cargoes we've moved about."

"You're right on that on, Sunshine," Ten Cents said. "You know, I've been wondering about those two newcomers."

"How so?" Sunshine asked.

"They seemingly arrived quite suddenly, and Grampus didn't know where they came from. Can people and things just appear suddenly from nowhere?"

"Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth, agreed?" Sunshine blinked. "I never thought I'd be quoting Sherlock Holmes on these voyages."

Izzy, meanwhile, was standing on the back of Ten Cents, with her arms out. "I've always wanted to do that reference!" she said.

"You're supposed to do it at the front, not the back!" Ten Cents said. "Besides, referencing Titanic carries a fine."

Izzy was about to reply, when suddenly there was a bang from the barge, and a ship seemingly bounced off it.

Ten Cents looked round. "Oi! You scraped the barge, you twit!"

Izzy looked at where the vessel was going. It was a small tugboat, about the same size as Ten Cents. But it was painted entirely black, and seemed to have a pair of strange green lights on it.

Izzy thought this was probably leading up to something. "I'll just go and check that out," she said, hopping off Ten Cents as he docked and making her way along the dockside.

"Sorry for the dent," Ten Cents said. "That tug wasn't looking where he was going and- hold on a moment. Where's Izzy gotten to?"

"What is up, everybody?"

Pipp had taken to looking around her from the deck of Top Hat. She seemed to have her eyes open in wonder as she looked about the city.

Top Hat did not share her sense of excitement. "This smell is awful," he complained. "Whyever do I continue working with this motley crew?"

"Don't talk badly of Motley Crew!" Lord Stinker, a barge loaded to the brim with garbage, said. "They recorded some very good songs. Besides, garbage is important. If we don't move the garbage, it'll all pile up. And people will complain."

"I know it needs to be done," Top Hat said. "I just don't understand why I didn't get Frank and Eddie. They are so much easier to work with, and usually clean too."

Pipp was completely oblivious to the conversation. "Now then, I know that you can't smell this, but it is somewhat wiffy here. Good thing we have this stunning skyline!" She spun the phone round, took a snap, then hit upload. "Good thing I remembered to upgrade to an international data package, but the WiFi is actually pretty good out here."

Top Hat looked around. "We'll have to take the narrow canal," he said. "This is hard enough at the best of times, and the high tide won't make it any easier."

"Come on Pipp, where are you?" Zipp said, searching through the house. She had been going for a while, and unfortunately had had no luck at all. "This makes no sense. Shouldn't she be streaming by now?"

"Ah, Zipp, there you are!" said Lady Haven, having suddenly appeared. "Have you seen Pipp anywhere?"

"Nope. Just searched the house from top to bottom." Zipp sighed and put her face in her hands as she sat down. "It's not like her to just vanish."

"That is concerning," Lady Haven said. "I've received a very strange message claiming to be her, but the number isn't recognised and it doesn't feel like the way she normally types."

Zipp took a glance. "That's AI generated," she said.

"How can you tell?" Lady Haven asked.

Zipp pointed to several suspicious features. "Firstly, the sun is in the wrong place in the sky for the current time of day. Second, if you look closely the fabric on her clothes doesn't look right. And third, I'm pretty certain Pipp doesn't have three hands. That and her thumb is on the wrong side in one."

"You'd make quite the detective," Lady Haven said. "Truth be told I had my suspicions, but I chose to run them by you nontheless."

Suddenly, Zipp's phone started buzzing loudly, so she pulled it out. "This is big," she said. "Stream from Pipp?" She swiped to one side and suddenly the image started.

There was a lot of wind in the background, which made making the voices out rather difficult.

"What is up, everybody?"

"This smell is awful. Whyever do I continue working with this motley crew?"

"Don't talk badly of Motley Crew! They recorded some very good songs. Besides, garbage is important. If we don't move the garbage, it'll all pile up. And people will complain."

"I know it needs to be done. I just don't understand why I didn't get Frank and Eddie. They are so much easier to work with, and usually clean too."

"Now then, I know that you can't smell this, but it is somewhat wiffy here. Good thing we have this stunning skyline!" The camera suddenly span, and Pipp was clearly visible before the frame changed. "Good thing I remembered to upgrade to an international data package, but the WiFi is actually pretty good out here."

Lady Haven swiped to the image section of Pipp's uploads, and studied the picture closely. "Good Heavens!" she said. "How did she end up all the way over there?"

"Where is it, mom?" Zipp asked.

"That's Chicago!" Lady Haven said, pointing to one of the building. "See that? That's the Sears Tower. I recognise it from my visit there many years ago. We have to go and help her! No doubt the poor dear is scared out of her wits!"

Zipp thought to herself. "But how are we going to get there?"

"The exact same way we got to Sodor a year ago!" Lady Haven said. "Pack your equipment, Zipp! We're finding the Magic Railway!"

Author's Note

Hello again, my fine fellow sailors, and welcome to another chapter! This time around, we focus on the return of many beloved characters of both the Thomas and Tugs fandoms, with more mystery building up as well.

The hotdog fact that Izzy mentions is entirely true-Chicagoans do frown on people putting ketchup on their hot dogs. They go to great lengths to dissuade people from doing this, to the point of one stand I ate at charging extra for ketchup. Naturally, I ate it the Chicago way, and am glad I did.

Pipp being called Philomena is an allusion to the final issue of Set your Sail (which this story is an adaptation of). One of the panels in the comic reveals that Pipp's true name is Philomena, meaning that Pipp is a nickname. Unfortunately, this doesn't make a whole lot of sense given that in the English language Pipp (with three Ps) is short for Phillippa. Furthermore, Queen Haven doesn't use it when scolding her in The Jinxie Games, compared to how she uses 'Zephyrina' to indicate her displeasure with Zipp's actions. I'll be sticking to Phillippa being her full name if that's OK with everybody.

And now the moment you've all been waiting for... the introduction of the Star Fleet!

Ten Cents is based on a San Fransisco Harbour Switcher from the 1920s, and his name reflects this. Despite this, he speaks with a UK regional accent, which has been preserved here.

Warrior is based on a London tugboat; central London used to have a thriving dockyard until containers forced operations to move to Tilbury in South London. As such, Warrior has a South London accent.

Top Hat is inspired by railway tugs, which often had very tall bridges to enable the pilot to see over obstacles and barges. This is probably what inspired Top Hat's ability to move his head up and down. In terms of accent he speaks with an extremely posh RP accent, with the top hat and monocle only reinforcing the aristocratic image (FiM used the same technique to indicate Fancy Pants' social class).

Big Mac is a freelance design, incorporating elements of both Glasgow and Baltimore tugboats. The fact he shares the name with an MLP character sometimes causes confusion (confusion made more notable by the fact the fanbases of MLP, TTTE, and Tugs somewhat overlap). In the US adaptation of the show, Salty's Lighthouse, the character's name was changed to Big Stack, presumably to avoid incurring a lawsuit from McDonald's.

OJ is one of the most beloved characters in the show, and was a favourite of the show's production team as his paddle wheels meant his model was very stable during filming. Composer Mike O'Donnell commented OJ was his favourite character as well. In terms of design he is based on Eppleton Hall, a Newcastle tugboat currently preserved by the National Park Service in San Fransisco. In Salty's Lighthouse, the character was renamed Otis partly due to the then-ongoing OJ Simpson case. OJ is one of several characters who has been recast for this story owing to Timothy Bateson passing away in 2009; here he is voiced by Welsh actor Michael Sheen.

Sunshine is also based on a San Fransisco tugboat, although precisely which one I am not sure. His Geordie accent is partly a reflection of actor Shaun Prendergast's origins. Introduced in the very first episode, he and Ten Cents went on to become the show's mascots. I am aware the above image shows him in the livery he carried when working for the salvage company, but it was the only image I could get to embed properly.

Anenome and Calla Lily are two new characters introduced for the Set your Sail comics. I'll delve into them a bit more in a future chapter, but rest assured they'll become important later on.

The two scenes with Izzy and Pipp combine elements from several Tugs episodes. If you know your Tugs well, you can probably see where some of this is heading.

The final scene with Zipp and Lady Haven is adapted directly from the comic, though as before Lady Haven has been reworked (as Queen Haven shows an astonishing level of stupidity in the original scene).

Next time, the mysteries shall deepen! So see you then, landlubbers!