Phantastische Geschichten #5

In the isolated colony of a distant world, mothers are torn from their newborns by a distant government that claims to protect them. When years pass and the separation becomes unbearable, the mothers rise in protest, storming the government building in a desperate bid to reclaim their children. What they discover is shocking: the children are born with strange, alien forms—shaped by the planet’s harsh environment—but their love for them remains unshaken.

In a world where oceans are life, a desperate aquatic people seize an Earth vessel, hoping its waters will save them. But when they finally reach Earth’s seas, their triumph turns to tragedy—because the saltwater they now swim in is the very thing that kills them.

In 5th century China, Emperor Yuan learns of a villager who has built a flying machine—a large kite with working wings. Fearing the weapon could be used to breach the Great Wall and threaten his kingdom, he orders the inventor executed and the device destroyed.

In the scorched aftermath of a forgotten war, a tribe of descendants from the old world stumbles upon a strange new presence: spacemen who arrive with beads and blankets, offering a fair trade for their land. When the tribe agrees to exchange what remains of Manhattan Island, the visitors make a chilling promise—either the tribe will be destroyed, or they’ll be confined to reservations once their new masters take full control.

In "Dem Nachwuchs zuliebe," two prospectors stumble upon a mysterious flying saucer that swiftly transports them across light-years to a future Earth where only women remain. The saucer reveals itself as a time machine, and the men learn they’ve been brought forward to help repopulate a world where men have vanished due to radiation. Though they return to their camp moments later, the discovery of unfamiliar roses on their sleeping bags suggests their journey was no dream.

In "Der Lehrer vom Mars," a Martian educator arrives on Earth to teach his native language, only to face relentless hostility from his students, who mock him for his origins. When the truth emerges about his son’s sacrifice in defending a human during a space pirate attack, the students’ prejudice begins to shift—though the full weight of that change remains uncertain.

In "Der Pionier," a disgraced professor, once celebrated for his work in space flight, retreats to a remote barn to rebuild his dream after being forbidden from experimenting. Haunted by obsession and isolation, he constructs a new rocket engine, unaware that his past actions have drawn the attention of authorities. As the world closes in, he clings to a delusion of heroism—believing he's being prepared for a final, glorious flight, when in truth, he faces the end of his life.