"The Deep" is a science fiction novelette by American writer Isaac Asimov.

In In Memory Yet Green, Asimov wrote that his motive in writing the story was to deliberately test whether one could do anything in science fiction, so he invented a society in which mother love was considered obscene.

The Race is a technologically advanced alien society with telepathic abilities that lives underground on a planet with rapidly depleting energy resources.

A sentry sent by The Race to establish a teleport on Earth suffers shock when exposed to unfamiliar aspects of human life, including maternal bonding, weather changes, and the inability to communicate telepathically.

In both works, a race of highly inhuman aliens is on the brink of extinction due to their sun dying, and decides to use Earth as a source of energy.