The Hitch Hikers
The Hitch Hikers
Free DownloadThe Rell, a great and ancient Martian race, faced extinction when all moisture was swept from their planet.Then, one day, a lone visitor--a strange, two-legged creature composed mostly of water--landed on Mars …
Book Excerpt
it would have been dismissed as a mere frost patch, if this section was typical. For a radius of many yards the ground was blasted bare by the action of the exhaust and nowhere in sight did there appear to be more than the flimsiest covering of white over the brown sandy soil.
"Not even lichens," muttered Brown in disgust.
But disgust cannot long stand against the magic of a fresh new planet and Brown continued his avid, though barren, search until hunger forced his return to the ship. He had been able to detect no life and was completely unaware of his close proximity to the planet's dominant species. It had been considered neither practical nor particularly desirable to build a microscope into the space suit. Simplicity and the least possible weight had been the watchwords here as with everything designed to go aboard the ship.
In any case, a microscope would have done Brown little good in trying to detect the submicroscopic beings of the Rell.
The Rell, who had somewhat lost th
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3.5
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A pretty good story, mostly from an alien viewpoint. The ending is kind of trite, but a good short read nonetheless.
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The sub-microscopic collective-minded Rell were pretty self-sufficient, not to mention self-absorbed, living at the South polar ice cap. But one day an Earthman comes blundering near their home and they discover that there are other worlds. Worlds with water.
Good story told from the point of view of the aliens.
Good story told from the point of view of the aliens.
07/14/2013
