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"Writing about the future, I have a vested interest in there being a future for me to write about."
- John Brunner
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| Genetically Modified Food | ||
| Plants that are modified to produce specific combinations of flavors. |
What to eat when you land on an alien planet? If you are fortunate, you will find the planet inhabited by friendly aliens who can read your mind and modify local fruits and vegetables to your taste.
| Several days after the last of them had been landed Lazarus was exploring alone some distance from the camp. He came across one of the Little People; the native greeted him with the same assumption of earlier acquaintance which all of them seemed to show and led Lazarus to a grove of low
trees still farther from base. He indicated to Lazarus that he wanted him to eat.
Lazarus was not particularly hungry but he felt compelled to humor such friendliness, so he plucked and ate. He almost choked in his astonishment. Mashed potatoes and brown gravy! ". . . didn't we get it right? - . ." came an anxious thought. "Bub," Lazarus said solemnly, "I don't know what you planned to do, but this is just fine!" A warm burst of pleasure invaded his mind. ". . . try the next tree . . Lazarus did so, with cautious eagerness. Fresh brown bread and sweet butter seemed to be the combination, though a dash of ice cream seemed to have crept in from somewhere. He was hardly surprised when the third tree gave strong evidence of having both mushrooms and charcoal-broiled steak in its ancestry. ". . . we used your thought images almost entirely . . ." explained his companion. ". . . they were much stronger than those of any of your wives . . ." Lazarus did not bother to explain that he was not married. The little person added, ". . . there has not yet been time to simulate the appearances and colors your thoughts showed does it matter much to you? . Lazarus gravely assured him that it mattered very little. |
| From Methuselah's Children,
by Robert Heinlein. Published by Astounding Science-Fiction in 1941 Additional resources -
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