Weird Science-Fantasy #1

In the quiet isolation of a distant colony, mothers are torn from their newborns under the guise of proper upbringing—until years of separation spark a rebellion. When the truth finally surfaces, the children are revealed to be altered by the planet’s strange environment, their forms unlike anything expected. Still, the mothers march forward, not with anger, but with love, ready to embrace the children they’ve never held.

In "Fish Story," humanoid fish beings from a dying freshwater planet seize an Earth vessel that drifts into their oceanic world, drowning its crew to claim it as their salvation. With hope in their gills, they pilot the ship back to Earth, only to find their new home utterly inhospitable—its oceans are saltwater, a fatal poison to their kind.

In 5th century China, Emperor Yuan’s reign is shaken when he learns of a villager who has built a flying machine—a large kite with working wings. Fearful that such a device could allow enemies to breach the Great Wall and invade the kingdom, the emperor orders the inventor executed and the machine destroyed.

In the scorched aftermath of a forgotten war, a tribe of descendants from the old world stumbles upon a group of spacemen who arrive with strange gifts of beads and blankets. When the visitors offer to trade for their land—once the heart of a great city—the cavemen, curious and cautious, agree to the exchange. But as the spacemen make their promises, a quiet dread settles over the group, hinting that this "fair trade" may come with a price far greater than the land itself.