Out of This World #14

When Commander Galt leads a mutinous crew fleeing Earth's authorities through space, they discover a small, habitable planetoid that seems like the perfect refuge—only to find they're not alone. Another group has already claimed the world, descendants of a ship sent into space decades earlier during Earth's wars, and the two sides must quickly decide whether to fight or find common ground on their shared new home.

Lowell Benson, a brilliant atomic physicist, begins experiencing vivid recurring dreams of a beautiful woman named Vanla from another realm after collapsing at his lab while perfecting Device 233, a revolutionary matter transmitter. As the dreams intensify, Vanla reveals she's been guiding him through mental powers, and she claims she can help him alter the device to join her permanently in her peaceful world. When Lowell activates the modified transmitter, he vanishes before his horrified colleague Roy's eyes, leaving everyone to wonder what impossible fate has befallen him.

In Pago-Pago, a fearsome legend haunts the island of Asu—locals refuse to venture near a cursed stretch of land where they claim the Fire-Dog dwells, a supernatural beast blamed for the death of an American explorer. When authorities decide to investigate and end the terror once and for all, what they discover in the darkness proves far more scientifically grounded than the island's generations-old myth.

A dying man with a brilliant mind wanders into the woods near his home, only to encounter visitors from the distant planet Zion 5 who recognize his intellect as vital to humanity's future among the stars. The aliens offer him a chance to live long enough to guide his race through space exploration—but when he awakens, he discovers the line between dream and reality may be far thinner than he believed. This 1959 tale explores whether salvation can arrive in our deepest moments of despair.

In "The Spymaster," Jo, a seemingly ordinary pharmacist, hides a decades-old secret: he’s the last of a long line of alien spies sent to Earth to monitor humanity. When a new drugstore threatens to disrupt his quiet life, Jo must choose between returning to his people or staying behind to protect the friends he’s come to value—friends he’s kept hidden, even from himself.