I swear I saw this in the rules or the FAQ somewhere, but I can't find it now.

Non-Aggression Pact (for) says:

The first player to activate a system containing enemy ships loses 1 victory point. Then discard this law.

I'm pretty sure Fighters (at a Space Dock) don't count as ships, but I want to have some reference for when we conclude my group's game on Friday.

Hey, that's supra weird ! I was going to quote you the page where it is written, and it seems there is a difference between the pdf on the webpage and the rulebook i've got at home ! I would have swear, like you, that in my rulebook, there is, around the begining of the book, on a left page, a long column that goes all the page long and precisely defines many terms....... but I couldn't find it in the pdf !!! Am I mistaking with another game ? My memory fails now.

All I can find now is the page 12 tiny blue squared definition... so weird... I'm shocked :r

Q: Are Fighters considered ships for the purposes of determining
legal destination systems for “In the Silence of Space”?
A: Yes. A fleet using “In the Silence of Space” may not end its
movement in a system containing any enemy ships (including
Fighters).

This tells me that fighters are considered ships.

Also:

Retreats
When retreating, the retreating player must retreat into a previously
activated system that contains no enemy ships (but
it can contain enemy planets with Ground Forces, PDS, and
Space Docks).

No mention fighters not being included with ships.

Bill

Fighters are ships per the rules, however, there are a number of situations where the cards say "ship" when they really mean "non-fighter ship." I'm not certain about this particular card being one of those cases, though. I'm inclined to say the FT count for this purpose, but I will defer to more experienced players on this matter.

In what cases do they say ship and mean non-fighter ship (when they don't say non-fighter ship explicitly)?

I think you're right that in this case it's a ship. With the expansion it's very careful to usually say "non-fighter ship", but this card is from SE and it just says "ship." Also, it would result in combat, so it seems appropriate that the penalty would apply.

Thanks!

Definition of a Fleet
For the purposes of the TI rules and cards, a fleet
is defined as all spaceships (Fighters, Cruisers,
Carriers, Dreadnoughts, Destroyers, and War Sun
units) controlled by one player in one system at
any given time.

That is from the non-expansion rulebook. I really can't remember anywhere it says ship and means non-fighter ship. It's pretty clear that Fighters are ships.

There's one FAQ entry that is kind of misleading, if I recall, because of how it's worded, but other than that, I agree - there is nowhere else that defines "ships" without including fighters, unless it specifically excludes fighters.

A "ship" is any plastic piece that is not a Space Dock, a Ground Force or a PDS.

Well yeah so in the end I've been right from the beginning of that thread