Project Gutenberg 2020-05-22 Public domain in the USA. 98 Winterbotham, R. R. (Russell Robert) 1904 1971 Winterbotham, Russell Robert Winterbotham, Russ Winterbotham, R.R. Lynch, Don (Artist) The Thought-Men of Mercury Produced from Planet Stories Fall 1942 Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The Thought-Men of Mercury" by R. R. Winterbotham is a science fiction short story published during the early 20th century, likely in the 1940s. The narrative unfolds on the planet Mercury, where two Earthmen, Terry Hall and Cappy Upjohn, encounter a telepathic alien species that possesses the ability to read and influence thoughts. The story delves into themes of fear, intelligence, and the power dynamics between species. As the Earthmen navigate the twilight landscape of Mercury, they face the reality of captivity by the alien beings, known as Mercurians, led by the creature Chomby. Terry's initial fear contrasts with Cappy's bravado, revealing their differing approaches to danger and survival. The two humans soon realize that the Mercurians are not only intellectually advanced but also desire to learn about the concept of fear and its role in human society. The tension escalates as they attempt to escape, ultimately leading to a confrontation with Chomby that reveals a critical detail about the flourobeam gun's safety catch, allowing them to reclaim their freedom. The story concludes with a reflection on bravery, fear, and the complexities of interspecies interactions. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 86.4 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Human-alien encounters -- Fiction Telepathy -- Fiction Mercury (Planet) -- Fiction PS Text Category: Short Stories Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy 52440 2025-07-24T14:16:55.928787 text/html 28555 2024-10-18T03:34:06 text/html 288067 2025-07-24T14:16:57.687773 application/epub+zip 286883 2025-07-24T14:16:56.282817 application/epub+zip 78654 2025-07-24T14:16:56.076776 application/epub+zip 324967 2025-07-24T14:16:58.982772 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 317522 2025-07-24T14:16:57.492772 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 109585 2022-09-28T04:23:12.493426 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 45730 2025-07-24T14:16:55.818775 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 25864 2024-10-18T03:34:06 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17593 2025-07-24T14:16:59.105762 application/rdf+xml 27410 2025-07-24T14:16:56.157801 image/jpeg 4800 2025-07-24T14:16:56.116790 image/jpeg 472956 2025-07-24T14:16:55.940829 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 en.wikipedia