"I've gotta get up to the Control Room earlier than this," the man pants.

    "Don't worry, Captain Williams.  We won't leave without you," Muldoon jokes.  Captain Williams laughs, then turns to face you.

    "Are you one of the passengers?" he asks.  You nod.  He puts his hand out and introduces himself:  "I'm Captain Joel Williams, of AGN - 2176  Starfalcon.  How do you do?"

    "I'm Shawn Astrid," you say, and shake his hand.  "I'm feeling fine, but a little tired though."

    "You're here to watch the launch?"  Williams asks.

    "I've never watched one before," you say, "what's it like?"

    "It's pretty intense to watch, but there isn't much talking," Williams says.  "Mostly, just the Navigator talks, and the rest of us sit back and enjoy the ride."

    The lift gets to the Control room and you, Williams and Muldoon step out.  Then Williams ushers you to the seat in the center of the room: the command chair.  Muldoon takes her seat at the controls.

    The launch begins, and you feel the ship suddenly become weightless as Muldoon reports that the antigravity system is turned on.  Then, there is a jolt, and you are pushed back in your seat.  The horizon tips back at an odd angle, and you feel the engines hum as the ship is propelled into outer space.  Just when you think the show is over, however, Muldoon turns on the hyperdrive, and the stars disappear.  Then they reappear, but they're all stretched out and they go whipping by in a blur of motion.

    The two hours slip past in a blur of stars, and just when you least expect it, a gray blur comes up alongside the Starfalcon.  As the ship angles in closer and closer, there is a feeling of the ship moving over waves, and then you immediately recognize what that gray blur is:  the U.S.S. Farragut.  The ship moves even closer, while still humming along in hyperspace, and a giant door in the side of the Farragut allows the Starfalcon to move into the ship itself.  You almost panic when you notice that Muldoon's hands aren't on the controls anymore, but then you realize that the Starfalcon must be inside a tractor beam.  The ship is guided in to a safe landing on a brightly lit landing pad.

    Even though you saw the Farragut from the outside, you are still surprised by how big it is on the inside.  You didn't realize just how big the Farragut is until you've actually stepped off the gangway and out into the emptiness of the giant landing bay.  There are five other ships, just the size of the Starfalcon, parked in this room, and there's still room for huge flat spaces.  Hundreds of cargo crates sit on pallets to be loaded or unloaded.  This ship must be like a floating city, you think to yourself.

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