A loud beep told the recruits to return to there seats and fasten the safety belts as the Shuttle made a hard bank and began the final descent. Thanks to the wonders of modern suborbital travel most of the 90 minute flight had actually been spent with the shuttle waiting to land.<br/><br/>The cool voice of the load-master comes over the loudspeakers. "Attention passengers, we will be on the runway for less than 120 seconds before departing. Please be ready to exit the vehicle as soon as we stop moving." As she talks the ground approaches with surprising speed.<br/><br/>While the Orbital insertion burn, 20 minutes of weightlessness, and the atmospheric re-entry, had all been exciting, somehow the feeling of an old navy pilot landing a several hundred ton SSTO shuttle as if it were a fighter on a carrier deck managed to put them all to shame.<br/>The landing gear slammed into the runway hard as the hybrid rocket/air-ram engines went into full power reverse thrust. Jets of hot plasma shooting past the windows. and bringing the shuttle to a complete stop in the exact midpoint of the runway.<br/><br/>Outside the shuttle, the fire crew drove alongside and began to spray the craft down, releasing huge gouts of steam as the water hit the smouldering heat-shield and still glowing engines. More than half of the shuttle's time on the ground would apparently be dedicated to cooling it before it was safe to allow the passengers and cargo out.<br/>As the craft cooled, the load-master, a woman in a form fitting grey UNSF bodysuit emerged from the cockpit and instructed the passengers to proceed down to the cargo bay where a single pallet of cargo was secured. There was room for at least twice that much, but apparently this shipment was planned to optomize turnaround time. "When the door opens, follow the arrows and get the fuck off the runway, Also, you should cover your ears and don't try to watch the shuttle as it lifts off. If you go blind and deaf they won't discharge you, but you'll wish they did." She explains, as she detaches the secure toggles on the pallet.<br/><br/>After 80 seconds of cooling the light turns from red to green and the cargo bay doors begin to open and a wave of searing heat and splashes of cold water assault you. You hear a voice shouting "MOVE MOVE MOVE!" from the blinding sunlight outside.