Stardock
Before you, berthed at this dock, is the oldest ship you've ever 
seen. Her cargo hatch is open, and she's taking on supplies. The
Captain, a broad-shouldered man, greets you warmly at the top of
the gangplank. 

"Welcome to the Trans-26, let me show you to your duty station." 
With a firm handshake, he turns, entering the transport.

>EXAMINE TRANSPORT

Not only is she at least a hundred years old, but you struggle to 
believe that she's really fit to fly. Crewmen work hard 
to re-fuel her, while crates are loaded in one at a time.

>FOLLOW CAPTAIN

You follow the Captain into the ship.

Cargo Hold
This space is vast: big enough to carry supplies and equipment for 
several regiments. The crew is working hard trying to fill her,
struggling to get everything ready for transit. Crates are scattered
about, and an open hatchway lies aft, leading further into 
the ship.

"See that panel over there, with two rivets instead of one?" asks the 
Captain, turning to you. "It leads to a hidden compartment, stocked
with a few essentials. It's strictly for emergencies, you'll probably  
never need to use it, but remember it's there."

>ASK CAPTAIN ABOUT CARGO

"Don't worry, it's just a standard re-supply mission," responds 
the Captain. "Now let's go." With that the Captain heads aft, out of 
the cargo hold.

>AFT

Secondary Junction
This is the lower level of the hub; from here you can go forward to 
the Cargo Hold, starboard to the Main Airlock, aft to the Engine Room 
and port to the Armory. You can also see a ladder, leading up the the 
upper level of the hub.

"Follow me," says the Captain as he climbs up the ladder.

>FOLLOW CAPTAIN

You follow the Captain up the ladder.

Main Junction
This is the upper level of the hub; from here you can go forward to the 
Bridge, starboard to the Radar Room, aft to the Crew Quarters, and port 
to the Galley. You can also see a ladder, leading down to the lower level 
of the hub.

"Let's get you to your duty station," says the Captain as he enters
the radar room.

>READ SIGN
Reading clockwise, starting from the fore, there are arrows marked: 
"Bridge", "Radar Room", "Crew Quarters", and "Galley". An arrow 
pointing down is labeled "Cargo Hold", "Main Airlock", "Engine Room",
and "Armory".

>I
You are carrying:
  an OmniTrans (being worn)
    an Omnibus Galacticus datacard
  a uniform (being worn)
    a personal ident badge

>X OMNITRANS
The one gadget no Xulthe'en crewman would ever be without, the 
OmniTrans doubles as a translator and portable database. It has  
two slots for datacards; at the moment the first is occupied by  
the Omnibus Galacticus, while the second is empty.

The OmniTrans will translate anything written in any known form 
of language; simply SCAN the writing (or the object it is written 
on) and a translation will appear on the display. Alternatively, 
LOOK UP <subject> will bring up all relevant information stored 
on the inserted datacards.

>LOOK UP XULTHE'EN IN OMNITRANS

You look up the Xulthe'en in the Omnibus Galacticus, and find a 
small section about the name. The name is derived from Xul, the 
name of the star in the primary Xulthe'en system. Strangely, the 
name was not coined by the Xulthe'en, but instead by the Zal'tacs, 
the first aliens to pass through the system. (In the Zal'tac tongue, 
it translates as "Children of Xul".) It is conjectured that the 
Xulthe'en, not having hitherto felt the need to give their species 
a name, accepted the Zal'tac term as a sign of friendship.

>SCAN SIGN
The OmniTrans displays:
"Bridge", "Radar Room", "Crew Quarters", "Galley", 
"Cargo Hold", "Main Airlock", "Engine Room", and "Armory".

>STARBOARD

Radar Room
The room is filled with equipment: computer banks, radar systems, even a
prox-tar, along with three operating stations. The Captain is talking with 
the Ensign in charge when you walk in. An open hatchway lies to port.

On the desk are a large cup and a prox-tar.

"Sir, yes, sir," replies the Ensign to the Captain.

"You'll be in good hands," says the Captain, patting you on the shoulder
as he walks out of the room.

"So, is this your first hop?" asks the Ensign.

>SAY YES

"Well, it won't be so bad," says the Ensign, patting you on the shoulder.
"Let's get something to eat." With that, the Ensign exits the radar room.

>EXIT

Main Junction
This is the upper level of the hub; from here you can go forward to the 
Bridge, starboard to the Radar Room, aft to the Crew Quarters, and port 
to the Galley. You can also see a ladder, leading down to the lower level 
of the hub.

The Ensign heads quickly to port, into the Galley.

>PORT

Galley
The Ensign grabs a plate of food, while a few crewmen eat at tables
littered with empty plates. You can hear a mixture of rock music and loud
explosions coming from the aft corner: someone's playing on the video game 
machine, and doing rather well by the sound of it. An open hatchway lies
to starboard.

On the counter are a robo-wash, a meal dispenser and a drinks dispenser.

You can also see the Ensign here.

>ASK ENSIGN ABOUT EMPTY PLATES

"Don't worry about those," says the Ensign, "once we're done in here
we'll just turn on the robo-wash and he'll take care of it."

>PRESS MAIN ON MEAL DISPENSER

Out pops a warm plate of food.

>X PLATE

Eggs, bacon, hash browns. It looks like they know how to cook the
basics, at least.

>TAKE PLATE
Taken.

>PRESS COFFEE ON DRINK DISPENSER

"Hang on," says the Ensign, putting a cup in the cup-holder for you.
"Can't have you making a mess on your first day!"

You press the "Coffee" button and, after a bit of gurgling, the dark
liquid that passes for coffee around here gloops slowly into the cup.

>TAKE CUP
Taken.

>SIT DOWN
You sit down at one of the tables, pushing the detritus of its last
occupant out of the way. The Ensign sits down beside you.

>EAT FOOD
As you bite into the food, you discover that it tastes like cardboard.
Before you can stop yourself, you spit a mouthful onto the floor, and
everyone in the room bursts out laughing. The Ensign pats you on the
back as he says, "Welcome to the Armada!"
