Strange Worlds #18

When the leaders of three worlds are assassinated on the same night in 2430, a mysterious figure named Tarrano emerges as a dangerous new power—and Jac Hallen, a news correspondent, discovers an unsettling connection: the man behind the chaos may be Taro, an obscure undersecretary from Venus who once harbored feelings for Jac's friend Elza Brende. As Dr. Brende reveals he's developed revolutionary discoveries in his Siberian laboratory—cures for disease and aging itself—the group races to protect his work from Tarrano's grasp, unaware of how deep the conspiracy reaches.

Imprisoned in an electronized tower on Venus, Georg Brende and his companions find themselves caught between the tyrannical Tarrano's conquest of the solar system and Earth's ultimatum to surrender the secret of eternal life. As Tarrano consolidates his power over Mars through propaganda and plays Earth's leaders against one another, a mysterious figure from across the courtyard signals in code—revealing herself as Princess Maida, a fellow prisoner with a desperate plan for escape. With the fate of three worlds hanging in the balance, Georg must decide whether to trust this stranger's offer of help and risk everything.

When Tarrano's isolation barrier falls to Earth's invading armada, the warlord makes a desperate escape with Lady Elza and Jac Hallen—fleeing to Mars with plans to devastate its capital city as a show of power. But as Tarrano returns to Earth with his captives, Jac seizes his chance to fight back, setting off a catastrophic struggle that leaves them all in peril and forces even the ruthless Tarrano to face an unexpected choice.

An American pilot on holiday aboard the Venus Flyer discovers that his fellow passenger, a man posing as a guardian, is a revolutionary fanatic carrying a super-hydrogen bomb set to detonate at midnight over the crowded city of Grebhar. With only minutes to spare and the terrified girl Vela depending on him, Clive must make an impossible choice to save millions of lives.