Stardock
Before you, tied off to this dock, is the oldest ship you've ever 
seen, cargo hatch open, taking on supplies. The Captain, a broad-
shouldered man, greets you warmly at the top of the gangplank, 
"Welcome to the XSS Supalace, 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 also you're 
forced to ask yourself if she's worthy 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, and the crew is working hard trying to fill her.
Crates are scattered about, as crewmen try to get everything ready
for transit. 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, "that leads to a hidden compartment. It has 
some basic equipment, you might never need to use it, just remember 
it's there."

>ASK CAPTAIN ABOUT CARGO

"Don't worry about it, 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
    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 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 this is your first hop," asks the Ensign.

>SAY YES

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

>EXIT

Main Junction
This is the upper hub for the ship: to get from anywhere to anywhere 
else, you pretty much have to go through this area. There are corridors 
in all horizontal directions, and a ladder that leads down.

There's a large sign here, directing the way to the ship's facilities.

The Ensign quickly enters the galley to the port.

>PORT

Galley
The Ensign grabs a plate of food, while a few crewmen eat at tables that
are littered with empty plates. Someone plays the video game machine that
sits in the aft corner, an open hatchway lies to starboard.

On the counter are a robo-wash and a meal 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."

>TURN ON MEAL DISPENSER

Out pops a warm plate of food.

>X PLATE

Eggs, bacon, hash browns. It looks like they know how to cook.

>EAT FOOD
(first taking the plate)
As you bit into the food it tastes like cardboard and spit it out onto 
the floor, as the crew bursts out into laughter. The Ensign comes over 
and pats you on the back as he says, "Welcome to the Armada."