Incredible Science Fiction #2

In "Clean Start," two amoeba-like aliens from the Solar Federation arrive on Earth with a radical mission: to save humanity by wiping it clean and beginning anew. Disguised as humans, they seek a single man and woman to repopulate the planet, but when the female alien captures her chosen human, she doesn’t realize the shocking truth—her partner, missing and presumed failed in his task, was the man she brought to the ship all along.

In "Marbles," the crew of the X-17 rockets toward Mars, awestruck by the distant planets that seem like tiny marbles in the vast sky. But as they near their destination, the crew reports something impossible: the planets shrink in size, revealing they’re no larger than rubber balls. When Enkers ventures outside to confirm the strange observation, the truth begins to unravel—only to leave the command team on Earth questioning whether the crew has lost their minds or if reality itself is far stranger than anyone imagined.

In "Conditioned Reflex," a methane-breathing alien is sent to Earth to study humanity in secret, perfectly mimicking human behavior—down to the habit of smoking cigarettes. Back on his home world, his ingrained reflex triggers a catastrophic chain reaction when he lights one, unaware that his own planet’s atmosphere is dangerously flammable.

In a future torn by war, the Western and Eastern Alliances race to claim the Moon, only to see their ships shattered by an invisible barrier. As the conflict deepens, they uncover a terrifying truth: the barrier surrounds the entire Earth, and humanity is trapped—caged not by enemies, but by unseen alien minds who see humans as dangerous, untamed creatures.

"You, Rocket" delivers a chilling, intimate sci-fi thriller centered on a disembodied human brain—once a rocket engineer—now serving as the sole guidance system for a deep-space mission. Trapped in isolation, the brain struggles to maintain control as the vast emptiness of space triggers a spiral of terror and unraveling sanity.

In "Fulfillment," a pair of human tourists journey into space aboard a rocket guided by a malfunctioning robot, only to crash-land on a distant world they name Millus III. There, the locals revere their ship as a divine being they call Ra, worshipping it as a god in a land they call Egypt. As the tourists prepare for departure, the natives watch in sorrow, unaware of the true nature of the "god" they’ve come to adore.

Dr. Arnold Carter steps into the future, only to be greeted by Garvin in the sterile confines of the Control Chamber, where he’s urged to return home. Though reluctant at first, the doctor is unsettled by the city’s eerie uniformity—identical people, matching homes, and lives dictated by rigid schedules. When he finally seeks to go back, the truth of his situation proves far more unexpected than he ever imagined.

In "Has-Been," a young rocket captain grapples with the harsh reality of being retired from interplanetary combat at the age of 15, his career cut short not by failure but by the cold logic that space belongs to the young. Facing the end of his service with quiet sorrow, he must confront what it means to be deemed obsolete in a war that demands relentless youth.

In a scorched future where myths shape survival, a young man dares to challenge the old tales by venturing into the forbidden "dead place." Guided by legends of a divine being named Hercules, he leads his people into the wasteland—only to face monstrous insects and uncover a forgotten relic: a 1950s washing machine, which they soon begin to worship as the god they once feared.

In "Food for Thought," the un-named Captain, biologist Mason, and crewmate Grock return to a long-abandoned world they once seeded, hoping to find a planet ready for human life. What they discover instead is a twisted evolutionary path that makes Earth’s presence impossible—leading them to make a fateful decision to begin again, unaware that the planet holds a secret intelligence in the form of a sentient tree.

In "The Ultimate Weapon," Gurt, a conqueror who has subjugated countless worlds across a dozen solar systems, sets his sights on Earth—unlike any planet he's faced before, it shows no fear, no panic, no signs of surrender. With his crew at his side, he prepares to test his might against a world that refuses to break, even as he claims it as the final prize in his campaign of domination.

In "Marked Man," Commander Abel Grant faces a court-martial after a controversial decision during a deep-space mission—ordering the disposal of a dead alien admiral’s body to prevent contamination. As he reflects on two decades of service, from battling Venusian raiders to surviving planetary skirmishes beyond Pluto, the verdict brings unexpected consequences. Though the trial ends, a new chapter begins when powerful figures within the government recognize his decisive leadership and promote him to Grand Admiral.

In "Big Moment," a sudden meteor storm unleashes radiation that flips the balance of nature: what seems like plants and animals growing into giants is actually humans shrinking in size, leaving them vulnerable to the world they once dominated. Now forced to flee from creatures that were once familiar, a young woman and her dog must navigate a landscape that’s become both alien and deadly.

In "Kaleidoscope," a lone man on a ruined Earth makes a desperate gamble to end the Venusian conquest by triggering a self-destruct sequence on a derelict ship—only to awaken in a startlingly different reality, where his rebellion was never more than a dream trapped in the wreckage of a forgotten vessel. The story unfolds with quiet tension, blurring the line between sacrifice and illusion as one man’s final act may have been nothing more than a memory lost to time.

In "One Way Hero," Johnny dreams of following in his brother Mart’s footsteps as a spaceman, inspired by Mart’s career until a bout of space fright ends it. Now, Johnny finds a small piece of that dream—working as a cargo loader in a spaceman’s uniform—keeping his brother’s legacy alive, one shift at a time.

In a ravaged future Earth where radiation has twisted humanity, a young woman named Lita and her mate, an un-named man, flee through the ruins, hunted for their rare normality. When they encounter the Lizard Men—creatures born of the same cataclysm—survival becomes a desperate game of trust, fear, and the fragile hope of redemption.