SF Drabble #134 “Alshain”

It was my grandfather who named it Jackpot. They had no idea what to expect when they arrived at Beta Aquilae, so finding this planet was like “opening your wallet to discover the winning lottery ticket,” to use his words.

They almost called it ‘Arbor’, which would have been just as appropriate: the single continent is covered by a rich forest of fruit bearing trees, more than a hundred separate species.

All the fruit is edible. The largest land animal is a squirrel-sized lizard. They’re edible too, technically, but they taste awful. Gramps never bothered thawing the fertilized cattle ovum.

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