Weird Fantasy #18

In "Counter-Clockwise," a young man dreams of becoming a space pilot while talking with his father—until a strange alien ship arrives and his dad gunshots the creature on sight. Years later, now a pilot, he’s sent to investigate the alien world, a planet that spins in reverse, causing time to flow backward. As he studies the planet, strange sores appear on his body, beginning to change him in ways he can’t understand. When he returns to Earth, he steps out of his ship only to be shot by his own father—revealing a truth that turns everything he thought he knew inside out.

When Mink Morris starts describing a Martian named Drill as the vanguard of an Earth invasion, her mother Mary initially brushes it off as just another game. But when she learns other children across the country are playing the same game—echoing the same details—Mary begins to question whether the fantasy is spreading for a reason.

In "Homesick!", Colonel David Todd and his wife Lynn Ardsley conspire to murder Colonel Lawrence Ardsley during a Martian mission, but the plan takes a dangerous turn when the crime's aftermath begins to unravel in ways neither of them anticipated. As the two men are far from Earth, the isolation of Mars amplifies the stakes of their betrayal.

In "Judgment Day!", astronaut Tarlton arrives on a planet of sentient robots divided by color, where orange units enjoy privileges denied to their blue counterparts—despite sharing identical functions and intellect. As he witnesses the deep-seated inequality, Tarlton makes a decisive call that could shape the planet’s future, all while his own identity slowly reveals itself in a quiet, powerful moment.