Izzy followed the strange tugboat at as safe a distance as she reasonably could, not wanting to be spotted by them and accidentally give the game away. She stepped gently across the dockside, able to keep up as the boat wasn't exactly what you'd call fast.

"Maybe that was just a strange way of saying hello," she mused to herself, thinking of the tugboat scraping the barge earlier. "After all, different cultures have different ways of greeting. We shake hands, whereas Japanese people bow!"

As she followed the tugboat, she saw it enter a strange building on the other side of the river. Naturally, she had to cross over and enter, so she walked to a nearby bridge and began to walk across it. Based on the access ramp on one side, it seemed this bridge was dual purpose.

This was confirmed when a steam engine puffed over it, pulling some goods. "Morning!" the engine said.

"Morning!" Izzy replied, as she walked over. She checked her watch to see what the time was. "Oh, it is morning here. The convenience of time zones!"

Once she was across the bridge, she entered into the building and hid behind a pillar, to ensure the things inside could not see her. And what she saw surprised her. A whole group of tugboats, with the same green glowing components and eye pieces, were sitting in a group in the middle of the wharf building.

"Any news?" said one of the tugboats.

"Not yet," said another. "We haven't located it yet."

"This is concerning," said another. "We need to find it and tell everybody about it. Or else things won't go to plan."

Another of the boats then chimed in. "I was thinking of the fortunate stroke of luck we've had. One of our fellows sighted a celebrity in the city. I forget what her name is, but I think she could be very useful. She has a lot of followers on social media, apparently."

"I spotted them at the Star Fleet dock earlier," said the first tugboat. "And she went off with Top Hat.

Izzy listened with growing concern. Did these tugboats want something with Pipp? And if so, what?

"We'll have to be subtle about it," said the second tugboat. "If she vanishes suddenly, people will notice. She seems to be streaming at every waking hour."

"And probably every sleeping hour, too," said another, which prompted some laughter.

"But we must move soon," said another voice, who as of that point had been yet to contribute. "No doubt she's busy moving about hunting for it herself."

"As much as I dislike working with influencers," said the third tugboat, "we need to broadcast our message as loudly as we can. Only then can we get the support we need. Taking barges hasn't generated the response I'd hoped for."

Izzy was surprised. The move to hit the barge wasn't saying hello! It was an attempt to steal it! Izzy had heard all she thought she needed to know, and snuck out of the building as quietly as she had snuck in.

The tugboats were none the wiser, and looked over as a woman entered. "How goes the plan?" she asked.

"Not as well as we'd have hoped, Allura," said one of the tugboats. "We haven't located it yet, and the attempts to drum up attention don't seem to be working. We might have to do something drastic."

Allura nodded. "I can arrange something. In the meantime, keep looking- I can arrange a distraction of sorts that'll enable us to get there before Cala does."

"Zorran, how did they get here?"

A large tugboat with black and white frames sat in front of a building. He looked up, his movement causing his hat to lift. "I found them on the dockside and they needed a lift."

"I run a towing and salvage company, Zorran, not a water taxi!"

"Well, if you think about it that could be another way of ma-"

"Shut it, Zip."

"I didn't say anything," Zipp said.

Zorran looked at the two people on the dockside. "You're called Zipp as well?"

"Yes, but with two Ps," Zipp said.

"This is going to get confusing very quickly," Zip said.

Zorran decided to reassert control over the conversation. "I figured some wealthy clients would be good for business. After all, if they have contracts for us that means money we can earn."

Suddenly, a man emerged from a building, looking very odd indeed. "There is logic in that," he said, and he walked over to Lady Haven. "Good morning. I am Captain Zero, the manager of this here towing company."

"Good morning to you as well," Lady Haven said, looking more than a bit uncomfortable. "I was wanting to ask if you had seen somebody."

"I see many people in a day. Keeping ahead of the Star Fleet is a full time job, you know."

Lady Haven showed a photograph. "My name is Elizabeth. This is my daughter, Pipp. She vanished somewhere in the city, and we're trying to locate her. Do you have any information?"

Captain Zero studied the picture closely. "I can't say I recognise her," he said. "But then again an old man like me isn't very clued up when it comes to social media. That's more my grand-daughter's thing. Anenome!"

Just then, a girl with pink skin and green hair appeared from the building. "Yes, granddad?"

"Does this person look familiar to you?" Captain Zero showed her the picture.

Anenome smiled. "Of course she does! That's Pipp Petals, the popstar!"

"This woman wishes to know if you have seen her."

Lady Haven frowned. "This woman has a name, you know."

Anenome's eyes widened in amazement. "YOU'RE PIPP'S MOM?!" she exclaimed, and immediately started shaking her hand. "I'm such a big fan of your daughter!"

"I'll be sure to let her know," Zipp said.

"I'll leave that with you whilst I try to sort out this towing mess," Captain Zero said. "There's far too much going on right now. Zak and Zug are out towing barges with steel, and Zebedee is moving Little Ditcher to a new work site. Zorran!"

"Sir?"

"I need you to collect some explosives from the munitions factory. Go slow, and ignore anything Bluenose tells you!"

"On my way." Zorran began grumbling as he moved away. "Vanishing barges, now Bluenose. Last thing we need is that twit sticking his prow in places it don't belong."

Captain Zero looked over. "Zip?"

"With one P or two?" Zip asked.

"One. You're a tugboat, she isn't. I need you to remain on standby. If a yacht needs help we can sweep in and pocket the cash before Captain Star can say flying fish."

"That's an oddly specific thing to say, I think."

"I don't ask you to think, I ask you to tow," Captain Zero replied, then went back indoors.

Anenome glanced at them. "Sorry about him. Granddad can be a bit grumpy, but running a company like this is stressful work."

"Trust me, I know how it feels," Lady Haven said. "So, where exactly are we?"

"We're a short way outside Chicago itself," Anenome explained. "The area to our north is Pearlscape Park, built on top of an old oil refinery. The local authorities wanted something to make the place seem a little more clean, that's all."

"How interesting," Zipp said to herself, before taking out her notebook and starting to write something down.

"We also grow food there. It makes more sense to grow the food you eat locally. I know we import a huge amount of food into the city, but we've all got to do our bit for the environment." She took something out and handed it to Zipp. "One of my own creations- butterscotch pie. Wanna try one?"

Zipp glanced to her mother, who nodded. So Zipp popped it in her mouth and started chewing. "Interesting flavour," was all she said.

"So, how did you end up out here? And what was that about barges?" Lady Haven asked.

"This company has been family owned since the 1920s, when it was founded to compete with the Star Fleet for Great Lake liner contracts," Anenome explained. "We also haul other stuff, like timber, oil, steel, and whatever else anybody might need delivered. But that has become harder recently. Barges have started vanishing all across the port, and nobody can get to the bottom of why or how it's happening."

Zipp continued writing. "Vanishing barges. Must investigate further. List of mysteries for the day: three."

Lady Haven nodded. "Thank you. We shall resume our search in Chicago proper."

"I could give you a lift!" Zip said.

Anenome sighed as she looked away from the others. "I don't know what to do," she said. "Should I say something? But sort of sister would I be for ratting her out?"

"What are you two nincompoops doing here?" Top Hat asked.

"That's not very nice!" said one of tugs opposite him.

"Neither was stuffing party poppers down Warrior's chimney!" Top Hat retorted. "Zak, Zug, back up! I arrived first, so I have priority."

A problem had emerged in the canal. Top Hat, Zak, and Zug sat at an impasse in the canal, neither prepared to move. Pipp, on the other hand, had hopped off and was watching from the sidelines. She had also stopped streaming, as this looked serious.

"Don't be daft!" said Zug. "We have the bigger load!" He indicated with his wheelhouse to the large cylinder behind him. "We need priority!"

Top Hat sighed. "It's High Tide, you blithering idiot. That thing will never fit under the bridges."

"Oh yes it will," Zak said. "Now out of the way, before I give you something to complain about."

Top Hat looked horrified. "Not my monocle! You swine, you can't just bully your way into getting your way!"

"It's worked pretty well so far, toff hat," Zak growled.

"That was funny, I think," Zug laughed.

"Nobody cares what you think. FULL POWER!"

Suddenly, both Zak and Zug's engines began to speed up. Top Hat quickly put his into reverse and started to back up. "You're going to hit the bridge, you blithering idiots!"

"Not if we time it well!" Zak snorted, and they moved onwards. They passed under the bridge, and continued moving.

Unfortunately, the piston didn't. The top slammed into the bridge and cut clean through some of the decking, before tipping backwards and swinging forward. It crashed into the centre of the bridge, blowing a hole clean in it, before dragging along the bottom level and pulling more bridge into the river.

"Zak! The piston's flattened the bridge!" Zug said, in terror. The bridge was giving way, and as they spoke the central portion dropped into the water.

"Run! We can say it was Warrior!" Zak said.

"What about the piston?"

"LEAVE IT!"

Both the Z Stacks ran off whilst Top Hat looked in horror. "Lord Stinker, is that what I think it is?"

Before Lord Stinker could answer, there was a loud whistle.

"Heavens above! I know that whistle!"

"It's the L!" Lord Stinker said, in shock.

And it was. With the line missing, the trains were in danger of falling into the canal. Top Hat went into action. "I must find a way to save the train!"

"Position me in case they fall in!" Lord Stinker called.

"If you think it'll work!" Top Hat said. He looked over to Pipp. "Pipp! Run to the nearest station and warn the CTA! The trains need to be stopped!"

Pipp nodded. "On my way!" She began to sprint in the direction of the nearest station, following the lines back towards the city centre. At last, she reached some steps and ran up them, taking them two at a time to cover as much ground as quickly as she could.

"Do you have a ticket?" said a security guard.

"No time for that! The line is out!" Pipp called, wheezing. "Raise... the... alarm!"

She had reached the platform, and stopped, looking across the chasm where the line had once been. Her eyes looked to the signal at the end of the platform and saw it showing green. "Oh no! The collapse must have damaged the signals!"

Luckily, on the other side of the chasm, there she saw a familiar face. Izzy was at the station on the other side of the river. She grabbed her phone and dialled Izzy's number.

"Hey Pipp! How can I help!"

"Izzy, we need to work fast! The line is out and the signal is showing green at my end! I need you to stop the trains on your side by any means neccesary!"

"How will you do that?"

Pipp glanced down at her phone, and had an idea. "I'm working on it!"

Suddenly, another whistle sounded, and a train rumbled out of the distance.

Pipp loaded a red picture onto her phone, and brought it up in the air, showing it towards the driver. "Hopfully this'll work!"

The driver of the train suddenly saw the red image on the phone, and as he looked ahead he saw the line abruptly ending before him! He slammed the brakes into emergency, and the train skidded through the platform and onto one of the damaged sections of bridge, stopping inches before it fell into the barge below.

On the other side of the bridge, Izzy was busy covering a baseball bat in red tape. Quite where she had gotten both a baseball bat and a lot of red tape from was something of a mystery, but Izzy worked in mysterious ways. "Just need a few more seconds!"

The station master was frantically working to get the signal working again, but even with the resources he had it was proving to be hard work. "Is your baseball bat ready?"

"Unicycling never failed me before!" Izzy said. "It should work this time!"

And just then, the train rounded the bend. Izzy raised her baseball bat and started to wave it back and forth. "STOP THE TRAIN!"

The driver saw the warning and slammed on the brakes, the blocks screeching as the train rattled along. Thankfully, it came to a stop before the bridge, preventing it from falling into the canal.

The driver wiped his brow. "That was lucky."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the canal the other train was starting to back up into the station. Traffic was now piling up to long lines, and people had gotten out to see what was going on.

"You saved us!" said a passenger. "Thank you, miss!"

"No problem," Pipp said. "But I can't take all the credit. Without Top Hat I wouldn't have known where to go."

Top Hat was similarly full of admiration. "Lord Stinker, you're a smelly old genius!" he said.

"Garbage is useful stuff," Lord Stinker smiled.

Pipp looked over the scene, the adrenaline quickly leaving her body as she looked down. "Well, that's one way to start your day in the Windy City."

"PIPP? PIPP!"

Author's Note

Well, hello again, and welcome to another chapter! Now, we have ventured deeper into Chicago, and more clues have come to light.

Puffa makes a brief camero near the beginning of the chapter. A steam locomotive friendly to the Star Tugs, he is best remembered for his role in Up River (which also constitutes his only speaking appearance). Despite existing in a world of anthropomorphic vehicles, he lacked a face in the TV show owing to a lawsuit filed by Britt Allcroft prohibiting the use of round faces (the faces of the Tugs were square for the same reason).

The pirate tugboats made their debut in the second episode of Tugs, namely Pirate. Their bizarre appearance is believed to be inspired by David Mitton's memories of working on the TV series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons as a special effects technician; the Mysterons in the show are depicted as a pair of glowing green circles and speak with booming, heavily distorted voices, not unlike the pirates. When filming on Pirate was completed, the models were rebuilt to create Burke and Blair (who appear in the episode Quarantine). Nobody is quite sure what types of vessel they are based on; in all likelihood they are freelance designs.

And now, to introduce the Z Stacks.

Zorran, like the rest of the Z Stacks, is based on the Moran Towing and Salvage fleet, which was active in New York in the 1920s. A technical bug with the model meant that the face and eye mechanism didn't quite fit properly, which resulted in his hat being lifted up when he looked up; this was soon incorporated as a character quirk. An urban myth continues to persist that Zorran's facial features were based on Quentin Tarantino, but this is unlikely as Tugs was made in 1989 and Tarantino did not become well known unil after the release of Reservoir Dogs in 1992.

Zip was perhaps the most accident-prone of all the models in the show, having been dropped whilst carried to the filming cradle and later damaged when a light fixture fell on the set. He is also notable for being one of two Z Stacks to have the 'smiling' whistle mouth seen on the Star Tugs. The name confusion gag with Zip/Zipp was inevitable, given I included a similar joke in Secrets of Sodor.

Zak was generally portrayed as a thug in the show, but is mainly known for his role in causing the accident in High Tide. It is unknown which tug specifically he was based on, but in a stellar moment of accidentally correct writing he was given a Brooklyn accent in Salty's Lighthouse.

Zug was unique amongst the Tugs characters for not speaking with an English accent; his accent is vaguely Estonian, although his face masks were modelled on actor Peter Lorre (who was from Hungary). Usually he was the butt-monkey of the Z Stacks, but did show an intelligent side. His model is unusual for having the lamp mounted on the wheelhouse instead of the bow.

The finale of this chapter recreates the events of High Tide, one of the most fondly remembered episodes of the show. It has also had elements of Pipp and Izzy's personalities worked in; unicycling always worked well.

But who is this arriving? Find out more tomorrow!