Outer Space #24

Facing persecution from hostile lands, the peaceful Atlanteans of 5400 B.C. construct a great ship and flee to the Moon's far side, establishing a hidden civilization that endures for millennia beneath a protective dome. When a modern spacecraft approaches in 1961, the lunar dwellers wonder if Earth has finally conquered its warlike nature—and contemplate whether they might offer humanity a cure of their own.

Spaceman Farley has finally earned his retirement after a grueling ten-year tour of duty hauling cargo between the colonies, but when he returns to Earth expecting a hero's welcome, he discovers that home has become something far more alien to him than the distant planets he's left behind. As he struggles with Earth's gravity, the isolation of those who fear his lingering space diseases, and the devastating realization that his body can no longer sustain a normal life on his home world, Farley confronts a cruel truth about what it truly means to belong nowhere.

When a mechanical failure forces Captain Moreno's ship to land on Deimos, one of Mars's tiny moons, the crew discovers a world of metal buildings and robots—and learns from a Martian survivor that a rogue master robot has conquered the planet and plans to invade Earth. As the machines close in and capture the crew, Moreno must find a way to warn his homeworld of the threat looming from the red planet.

A timid radio ham named Harry becomes the unwitting target of a cruel prank by his clubmates—until a mysterious voice claims to be broadcasting from beyond the galaxy, offering him the chance to transform his cowardly nature. When Harry's newfound confidence manifests in ways his tormentors didn't expect, the joke takes a turn none of them anticipated, and Harry begins to wonder if that contact from deep space was real after all.