Space War #21

While Earth's space fleets battle distant enemies, Ensign Ahern scouts an uncharted planet for resources—only to find a barren, hostile world that fills him with dread. When a small creature attacks him, his impulse toward kindness rather than violence sets in motion a revelation that transforms everything he thought he knew about the place and its hidden inhabitants. "An Ugly World" is a thoughtful tale about how compassion can break through deception, published in Space War #21 (1963).

Luther Wells is just a fifty-two-year-old mountain hunter and his dog Tigue when a fearsome alien scout from a feline planet descends on their remote terrain, convinced that destroying this "cowardly" human will be an easy kill. What the superior being doesn't anticipate is that hunting instinct runs deeper than reason—and that a lifetime spent tracking mountain cats has prepared Wells for exactly this kind of encounter. The alien's contempt for mankind becomes his undoing when he discovers that victory on this forsaken world comes at a price he's not willing to pay.

Major Grady of the Space Patrol hunts the dangerous outlaw Sato across the galaxy, tracking the defeated leader of the IXI Group as he attempts to rebuild his forces and strike at Earth. When Grady corners Sato on the planet Keeg, he discovers his quarry possesses a terrifying ability that turns the tables in a way he never anticipated. A tense confrontation unfolds as Grady faces an enemy more formidable than he bargained for.

A young ensign stationed at the remote outpost on Elgee 7 in the Purple Galaxy begins to suspect that the shape-shifting alien invaders—creatures capable of assuming any human identity—have infiltrated the command staff. As paranoia and space madness blur together, he struggles to distinguish genuine sabotage from delusion, watching his superiors act with suspicious coldness while unsure whether he can trust anyone around him. Trapped between his duty to report what he's witnessed and the growing fear that the enemy may already be among them, he faces an impossible choice.