Project Gutenberg 2010-05-07 Public domain in the USA. 91 McCain, Vernon L. The Hitch Hikers The Hitchhikers Produced from If: Worlds of Science Fiction, November 1954. Produced by Greg Weeks, David Wilson and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "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.) http://book.klll.cc/files/32284/32284-h/images/cover.jpg Reading ease score: 64.8 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. en Science fiction Short stories Martians -- Fiction Mars (Planet) -- Fiction Human-alien encounters -- Fiction PS Text Category: Short Stories Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy 59844 2025-07-13T08:08:02.572530 text/html 56686 2010-05-07T12:52:00 text/html 75429 2025-07-13T08:08:04.853523 application/epub+zip 74229 2025-07-13T08:08:03.261510 application/epub+zip 45525 2025-07-13T08:08:02.904490 application/epub+zip 171617 2025-07-13T08:08:06.175501 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 161367 2025-07-13T08:08:04.488489 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 74407 2022-09-15T03:52:43.705709 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 47088 2025-07-13T08:08:02.378513 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 47004 2010-05-07T12:51:52 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 19957 2025-07-13T08:08:06.300484 application/rdf+xml 27154 2025-07-13T08:08:02.961510 image/jpeg 4197 2025-07-13T08:08:02.933503 image/jpeg 70047 2010-05-07T12:52:02 application/octet-stream application/zip 17967 2010-05-07T12:52:00 application/octet-stream application/zip 70641 2025-07-13T08:08:02.584536 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog