Incredible Science Fiction #9

"You, Rocket" is a haunting, thought-provoking tale from *Incredible Science Fiction* #9, where a disembodied brain—once that of a rocket engineer—becomes the sole guidance system for a deep-space mission. Trained and conditioned for years, the brain struggles to maintain control as the isolation and vastness of space trigger an escalating spiral of fear and madness.

In "Fulfillment," a young couple on a space tourism trip find themselves diverted by their robot navigator, crash-landing on a distant world they name Millus III. Unbeknownst to them, the planet’s inhabitants revere their ship as a divine being—Ra—and build a civilization around its worship. When the tourists are eventually rescued and return to the stars, the people of Egypt mourn the departure of their god, leaving their faith in the void of the sky.

In "Time To Leave," Dr. Carter steps into the far future, greeted by a man named Garvin in the mysterious Control Chamber. As he explores a city where everyone looks the same and lives in identical homes, moving only to pre-arranged destinations, he begins to question the cost of such a world—until he realizes returning to his own time might not be as simple as he hoped.

In "Has-Been," a young rocket captain grapples with the painful reality of being retired from duty during an interplanetary war—not due to failure, but because he’s simply too old. At just fifteen, he faces a future stripped of the only life he’s known, forced to leave the stars behind as the universe moves on without him.