Secrets of the Unknown #9

In "A Million Light-Years Away," Ben, restless with life on Earth, dreams of the vast challenges of space travel—until he finally joins a mission to Uranus. There, he discovers a civilization that has surrendered to machines, their once-ambitious people now idle and adrift. His journey through alien skies reshapes his perspective, bringing him back to Earth with a quiet, renewed appreciation for the life he left behind.

In "Those in a Trance," a composer discovers his latest composition holds an uncanny power to induce hypnotic trances in listeners, leading him to plan a daring heist during his next performance. But when the detective who loathes music—forced to attend by his wife—switches off his hearing aid, the stage is set for a tense game of wits that neither man fully understands.

In "Two Times Two!", the Rroosskkaans, locked in a tense standoff with the United Planets, resort to a desperate gamble: a duplicator ray meant to multiply their forces for conquest. But when the machine goes awry, their plan spirals into chaos as the planet itself begins to unravel—overloaded by an endless flood of duplicates, it loses its orbit and sends its people tumbling into the void.