Thanksgiving Day

Short Story by Jay Werkheiser

Colonists on new planet lose their ability to make food and find out all the local stuff is toxic. Scientists try to solve the problem, deal with marital issues, and prevent grunt-worker upheaval. Success! Time for a Thanksgiving Feast!

Okayish story, but the science (biochemistry) was confusing. Not anything wrong with it, just had to read it a second time to get what it was they actually figured out and why that mattered. And I still think they could have solved the problem without realizing the science here if the toxicologist had just used a wider variety of samples. But he was under a lot of stress so I shouldn't be too mean. The civil unrest problems of the colony are the real meat of the story despite the science focus and this is done well enough. 2.5 out of 5