The Hitch Hikers by Vernon L. McCain
"The Hitch Hikers" by Vernon L. McCain is a science fiction short story written in the early to mid-20th century. The narrative revolves around the Rell, an ancient Martian race on the brink of extinction due to the desiccation of their planet. The story explores themes of survival, intelligence, and inter-species interaction as the Rell encounter a human spacecraft and its pilot, Captain Leonard Brown, who arrives on Mars in search of
evidence of life. In this engaging tale, the Rell observe Brown's arrival and grapple with the implications of this strange, water-based creature on their hostile and arid planet. The narrative alternates between the Rell's group-mind perspective and Brown's exploration of Mars. As the Rell seek to understand the nature of this human being and his spacecraft, they realize that the human's bodily moisture and the water within the ship present them with a unique opportunity for survival. Eventually, the Rell manage to infiltrate Brown’s body, leading to an unexpected symbiosis. The story concludes with Brown returning to Earth, celebrated as a hero while the Rell coexist within him, resulting in a surprising outcome in the context of interspecies dynamics and the idea of life beyond Earth. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | McCain, Vernon L. |
|---|---|
| Title | The Hitch Hikers |
| Alternate Title | The Hitchhikers |
| Series Title | Produced from If: Worlds of Science Fiction, November 1954. |
| Note | Reading ease score: 64.8 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. |
| Credits |
Produced by Greg Weeks, David Wilson and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Science fiction |
| Subject | Short stories |
| Subject | Martians -- Fiction |
| Subject | Mars (Planet) -- Fiction |
| Subject | Human-alien encounters -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 32284 |
| Release Date | May 7, 2010 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 118 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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