Plague Planet (The Wandering Engineer) Read Online Free Page B

At one point the old port had been along
the sea next to a growing metropolis. That had changed sixty years ago when a
shuttle accident wiped out over a dozen blocks of real estate and thousands of
people.
    Now the shuttle ports were kept at least ten kilometers away from
the nearest town or city. For some reason this port was on the edge of three
counties that intersected. Apparently they occasionally fought for jurisdiction
over the port.
    The port wasn't as crude as the one on Triang, but it was still a
far cry from the ones on Earth or Mars back in the day. He tried hard to stomp
on such comparisons though. He didn't want to start looking down on them so
much... nor start feeling sorry for what was gone and now for the most part
forgotten. It was best to look at the situation as opportunity.
    The port had a nice strip, paved with crumbling cement. Still it
worked, and whoever had put it in had been smart enough to add the proper slope
and drainage ditches on the runways and taxiways. That was good. They had even
added lines in the pavement to help shed the water when it rained. That was a
very nice feature; it meant the runway wouldn't be slick.
    There were a dozen or so hangers, most were wooden structures. A
few looked rotten. There was a small building for passenger check in and
another next door for customs. The tower nearby was painted in red and white
but looked functional, with big broad windows.
    The port also served as a local and regional airport so it made
sense to have it not only functional but staffed full time. He was glad; it
meant he could feel secure about leaving his shuttle behind unattended. Even if
he did have to pay exorbitant fees for landing, fuel, and parking.
    Hazard had a temperate climate reminiscent of North America with
its pine and deciduous trees. The road leading to Hazard City had willow trees
lining it for some reason.
    The roads were a mix of dirt, gravel, and cement; it looked like
the cement roads didn't hold up well, a road crew was out working on them at
just about every intersection. The work crews had Hodges embroidered on the
back of their uniforms.
    ...*...*...*...*...
    Hazard itself wasn't much to look at; on the periphery were
western style one or two story brick or wood structures. Most were painted in
bland colors, with the general store's bright canary yellow being the
exception. Closer to the center of the city more modern buildings could be found.
Hazard was a new city, one founded after the fall so it was bootstrapping
itself from the ground up.
    According to Sprite's briefing, Hazard had been a town up until
about sixty years ago. A small Podunk town before the port had been relocated
nearby to it. Now it was growing, not without some growing pains. It had a very
high crime rate, something he wasn't happy about. Of course it wasn't his
problem, but there was always the occasional mugger... too bad for the mugger
if he tangled with him the admiral thought with a slight smirk. He could use a
decent work out right about now. He hadn't had one in months. He rolled his
shoulders slightly in anticipation.
    ...*...*...*...*...
    Irons looked around, soaking the spirit of the community in. There
were dozens of species here, Humans, aliens, and Neos. They tended to cluster
in their own species, but here and there he could see some who were obviously
friends or colleagues of other species occasionally getting together for a
friendly chat or a wave hello in passing. It was good to see. It never failed
to amuse him though that the colony had backslid so far. From what records
Sprite had picked up they hadn't backslid too far, but hadn't picked up either.
That was unusual in a way; with the core worlds gone you'd think somewhere a
world or two would pick up and become the new center of things. Apparently with
populations so sparse they were only now starting to cluster.
    Sprite cleared her virtual throat. He frowned, eyes still roving
the area. She wanted something and he wasn't sure