Outer Space #20

When food shortages threaten both the Lesser and Greater Jovians of Jupiter, leader Osag approaches the chief guardian Targo with a desperate proposition: build a spacecraft and journey to Earth to find sustenance for their dying world. Targo accepts the challenge, and a crew of Greater Jovians embarks on a mission across the stars that will either save their civilization or end in disaster.

On Jupiter, the brilliant scientist Sagor has perfected the creation of synthetic beings called Duplicos to rebuild society after devastating nuclear wars—but a rare miscalculation produces two hideously mutated specimens that horrify the planet's leadership. Ordered to rid Jupiter of these "misfits," Sagor searches desperately through records of distant worlds, hoping to find a place where his rejected creations might finally belong.

When extraterrestrial visitors land on Earth seeking beautiful treasures, they discover gold among the relics of Blackbeard and his pirates—only to watch in bewilderment as the precious metal deteriorates under the planet's harsh conditions. What the aliens cannot understand, human observers centuries later can only speculate about: whether that mysterious golden mass was once part of a pirate's legendary hoard, lost to greed long before the strange visitors ever arrived.

Inventor Peter Harcher's breakthrough discovery of how to fold and compress matter—inspired by a frustrating vacation encounter with a folding chair—attracts the attention of a foreign spy network desperate to weaponize his talent. Kidnapped and forced to miniaturize a devastating nerve-gas weapon, Peter must use his genius and wits to outwit his captors and protect his nation, knowing the stakes are millions of lives.

Greely joins an expedition in search of something he finds absolutely ridiculous—a frozen giant—and endures brutal weather and difficult trek alongside skeptical companions who question his commitment to the absurd mission. As the group pushes through the harsh conditions, Greely's doubts about the whole venture only deepen, leaving him wondering what they'll actually discover when the weather finally clears.

Professor Haines, a deaf scientist, builds a hearing device to restore his own hearing—but when the amplified device accidentally picks up a mysterious radio transmission, he hears alarming words about an invasion set for "Exgen 40th." Convinced the message is real, he and a colleague try to warn authorities, only to be dismissed as cranks, until a crucial test reveals the transmission may not be radio at all. As the truth behind the strange voices becomes clear, Professor Haines must confront a threat that no one else believes is coming.