Touch-and-Flee Emergency Hyperdrive System

The Touch-and-Flee Emergency Hyperdrive System was a system installed aboard RE-105 personnel shuttles. When activated, it instantly bypassed all safeties built into the shuttle and took a of one-one thousandth of a light year (approximately 9 billion kilometers) in whatever direction the shuttle was currently pointed.

Drawbacks
Because it bypassed safeties, the Touch-and-Flee was considered rather dangerous even by its designers; while most pilots could effectively point their ships away from any in-system planets, they might collide with asteroid fields or other objects large enough to generate a hyperspace. The Touch-and-Flee was designed to be used only when the shuttle was facing destruction and could not safely compute a full hyperspace jump in time.

In addition, in large star systems, even a 9 billion kilometer jump might not take a ship out of the system, allowing the shuttle's attackers to track and quickly pursue it. The Touch-and-Flee was intended to provide a brief respite from attack just long enough for the ship's to plot a full jump.