FTLWith a whine of engines shutting down, the shuttle drops out of FTL. The bright colors of FTL change into the equally bright stars and nebulae of normal space. You gaze out through the canopy, trying to find the ship. Suddenly the pilot points his finger at a group of stars and exclaims:

"There she is!"

You stare at the stars, trying to make out which one is the HMS Thorp. Suddenly, the shuttle rotates and fires its engines. When it starts moving you see that all of the stars ahead of you are running lights on the hull of a huge vessel.

"Is that it?" you ask with wonder in your voice.

"Sure is," the pilot replies. "That's the Royal Deep Space Cruiser HMS Thorp. We are headed for that shuttle bay down there." He extends one gloved hand toward a small opening just below a huge weapon dome. Your first thought is that the shuttle will never fit into that small opening, but as the shuttle approaches you understand that the bay just seemed small compared to the dome. In reality the opening, which is several dozen metres across, opens up into a cavernous docking bay.

Shuttle Landing"Shuttle four, carrying passenger number , requesting permission to land at ."

"Shuttle four, permission granted. Take her in." With a roar of braking jets the shuttle slowly sets down on the recepticle. The pilot pops the hatch and stands up in his seat. Then he turns around, extends a hand and says with a smile: Welcome aboard the HMS Thorp