Banks, Ian M. “The State of the Art.” The State of the Art. San Francisco, CA: Night Shade Books, 2007.

“I shook my head. Roghres snorted. Tel put her spoon down. I sampled some of Li’s unusual dish while he continued. “I had the ship take a few cells from a variety of people on Earth. Without their knowledge, of course.” He waved the sword vaguely at the table behind us. “Most of you over there will be eating either Stewed Idi Amin or General Pinochet Chili Con Carne; here in the center we have a combination of General Stroessner Meat Balls and Richard Nixon Brugers. The rest of you have Ferdinand Marcos Saute and Shah of Iran Kebabs. There are, in addition, scattered bowls of Fricassed Kim Il Sung, Boiled General Videla, and Ian Smith in Black Bean Sauce… all done just right by the excellent — if leaderless — chef we have around us. Eat up! Eat up!

“We ate up, most of us quite amused. One or two thought the idea a little too outre, and some affected boredom because they thought Li needed discouragement not accomplices, while a few were just too full already. But the majority laughed and ate, comparing tastes and textures.

“‘If they could see us now,” Roghres giggled. “Cannibals from outer space!”