“You want to book passage?”

“Sure. If it’s a fast ship.”

“Fast ship? You never heard of the Princess Fufu?”

“Should we have?”

“It is a ship that made the LQ Hydrae run in less than five minutes. We’ve out run gankers – and not the local Vipers, I am talking the big Imperial Cutters here. She’s fast enough for you, old man…”

It should be stressed at the outset that Cosmic Flipper Tours is an above board operation. Sometimes its customers require a bit of secrecy, however, and are willing to pay that little bit extra for it. Sometimes, criminals can sneak on board, pretending to be legitimate business men.

Cosmic Flipper Tours likes to accommodate all kinds, and so Commander Altsain set to work on a ship that could get people where they wanted to go, without any kind of unnecessary surveillance.

Enter the Princess Fufu.

The Princess Fufu is an Orca originally purchased by Cosmic Flipper Tours as a short haul passenger ship – with one business class section and the rest economy, she could ferry people around the systems surrounding Rhea. Think of it as a budget Boeing 737.

However, this role did not sit well with Commander Altsain, who wanted to maintain the high class (but at affordable prices) atmosphere garnered by the original ship of the fleet, the Cosmic Flipper.

So, the Princess Fufu was completely refitted. Out came the economy class cabins, and in went the luxury and first class. The builders managed to squeeze a business class cabin somewhere under the shield generator, just in case any peasants came on board (they would not be allowed to mingle with the ‘decent’ people on the decks above). The ship was then taken to Elvira and Ms. Farseer who worked their magic, particularly on the thrusters, so the ship could now start nudging towards 500 metres/second.

The Princess Fufu was no longer a 737. She was Concorde.

However, that still left the problem of getting well-to-do clients across the stars without being scanned. Commander Altsain had talked to other commanders and listened to their ideas – heat sink launchers, running silent, and all the rest of it. But there had to be a better way.

And there was – so long as you have a fast ship.

This video shows Commander Altsain entering Wohler Horizons at LQ hydrae. The commander is notoriously shy when it comes to public speaking, but we can walk through the steps employed here.

While approaching in supercruise, note the view of the station in the holo scanner on the bottom left of the cockpit. Manoeuvre the ship so when it drops out of supercruise the entry corridor is right in front of you. Hit boost. While pounding towards the station at speed, respectfully ask Space Traffic Control for permission to dock. Pray that you are not put into a holding pattern (this has never happened at Wohler Horizons). If you are a nutter, boost again. Otherwise, start moderating your speed as you line up on the entry corridor. You are looking for a brisk but not blinding pace. Enter the corridor – you will find the Orca slips into the slot like a well greased, ummm… Once inside, you are safe. Zero the throttle, and let the docking computer do the rest while you collect tips from the passengers for such a speedy flight.

And that is all there is to it. No re-configuring of utility points, no faffing around with silent running.

So, what next for the Princess Fufu?

Speed. She needs more speed. Lots more speed…