Astounding Stories #194

In "The Striped Ones," Tim Kilray, Laura Rawlins, and Jonathan Jaynes find themselves hunted by cat-like aliens who seek to transform the most vulnerable among them into their own kind—striped and subservient. As the line between resistance and surrender blurs, the trio must rely on courage and quick thinking to survive an invasion that threatens not just their lives, but their very identities.

In "The Red Pirate!" from Astounding Stories #194 (1988), Jo, a whaling boat mate, faces a brutal choice: endure the unforgiving sea or trust the ruthless Russian pirates who stalk the waters. When a monstrous creature rises from the deep, its wrath blurs the line between hunter and hunted—leaving no clear victor, only the cold truth of survival.

In "They Call Me...Space Pirate," a notorious interstellar raider lands on a seemingly primitive world, only to discover its inhabitants are not the backward people he expected—but a hidden race of psychic "homo superior" who effortlessly subdue him and his crew. Written by an unknown author and illustrated by an unknown artist, the story unfolds in just five pages, turning the tables on a space-faring outlaw with a twist that redefines power in the cosmos.