Project Gutenberg 2023-12-24 Public domain in the USA. 87 Henderson, Gene L. The small bears $aNew York, NY :$bKing-Size Publications, Inc., $c1953. Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The Small Bears" by Gene L. Henderson is a science fiction novella that was likely written in the early 1950s. The narrative unfolds in a mysterious alien landscape, where a crew from Earth investigates a planet that has absorbed previous expeditions. The story delves into themes of alien intelligence and the hidden perils that come with first contact. The plot centers around Dr. Dick Boyette and the crew of the space-cruiser "Assault", who land on a planet that has resulted in the disappearance of numerous ships. As they explore, they encounter small, teddy bear-like aliens that initially appear harmless but are later revealed to possess telepathic abilities capable of manipulating human thoughts. Dr. Boyette discovers that these creatures have led previous crews to their demise by compelling them to jump into a lake of molten rock. Utilizing a truth serum, he learns of the aliens' plan to infiltrate Earth through the guise of pets to incite destructive conflicts. Ultimately, Boyette advocates for an alternative approach, suggesting the introduction of fleas to disrupt the aliens' hypnotic control, proposing a potential avenue for peaceful coexistence rather than annihilation. (This is an automatically generated summary.) 20231209104829henderson 1953 US Reading ease score: 74.9 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Human-alien encounters -- Fiction PS Text Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy 52464 2025-07-28T14:42:52.050898 text/html 28150 2023-12-24T17:02:06 text/html 252281 2025-07-28T14:42:55.380788 application/epub+zip 251078 2025-07-28T14:42:53.474783 application/epub+zip 251078 2025-07-28T14:42:52.578795 application/epub+zip 845785 2025-07-28T14:42:56.714800 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 839265 2025-07-28T14:42:54.838774 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 45662 2025-07-28T14:42:51.872823 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 25890 2023-12-24T17:02:06 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 15279 2025-07-28T14:42:56.858770 application/rdf+xml 25516 2025-07-28T14:42:52.984796 image/jpeg 4069 2025-07-28T14:42:52.780811 image/jpeg 1566404 2025-07-28T14:42:52.074803 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