Villa de Leyva, Colombia, February, 2078, Wednesday…

Villa de Leyva was a quiet, out-of-the-way place nestled in the Colombian Andes only 88 kilometers from Bogotá. It therefore caused quite a stir when the UN people drove into town in their white jeeps and trucks. They all parked in the biggest plaza in South America and went to throw down some of the good cerveza and Boyacense arepas.

The locals were quite delighted at the foreigners' attempts at Spanish. They managed to convey that they were there to try to find a place for a new spaceport. That started a whole avalanche of jokes among the locals. Yet it was clear that the UN people were serious about it. They also had the blessings of the Colombian government.

The pueblo's full name was Villa de Nuestra Senora de Santa Maria de Leyva. It had some interesting history. It had been home to one of the Colombian fighters for independence, Antonio Narino. It had also been where Rojas Pinilla had his family retreat. That Colombian dictator had brought La Violencia, a violent civil war, to an end.

Of more interest to the UN scientists was the ancient history. Dinosaur fossils were spread all over because the area had once been a part of the sea that was pushed up when the Andes were created. Thus it was high and it was flat.

It was not the only site being investigated. Altitude and flatness were two qualities. Proximity to the equator was another. Thus there were other sites in Colombia, two in Ecuador, and one halfway across the world in Sumatra.

For Laura Gilroy it was a wonderful boondoggle. She had started out life as a civil engineer who worked on mundane projects, but she had graduated to airport construction. When UNSA had decided they needed a spaceport, she had put in the bid. Her firm won.

She never ceased to be amazed by the UN bureaucracy. It was an infectious disease that led to much inefficiency. Yet, given the state of the world, there was no other organization that could take on some of these large-scale projects. When UNSA had been formed, the scientific community applauded and the politicos groaned. The European Space Agency was now a joke since the EU had split up. NASA was tottering on the brink of extinction. Even the Chinese, who maintained the strongest foothold in space, preferred to lose control of some of the costlier programs rather than foot the whole bill. Of course, that was what bothered the politicos - the loss of control.

Yet Susan found it exciting. She had already been to the moon. She wanted to go to Mars, too, but that might not happen. She figured she could make it happen sooner by working on the spaceport.

"As you gringos say, a penny for your thoughts?"