In the near future, a young mother leaves behind a book for her daughter before she embarks on her space journey to the outer solar system in an attempt to communicate with extraterrestrial creatures. Sections from her book are interspersed with her husband's verbal recollections of their love story, which he addresses to their young daughter.

In the far future, a Welsh woman temporarily moves to a space colony on a distant planet with her husband, Owen. The woman regals her space-born daughter with tales of the wonders of Earth, and her daughter develops a great longing for Earth that eventually puts her life at risk.

The asteroid work crews don't have much to do but tell tall tales to each other. One man tells a particularly riveting account of an expedition where he met a strange parasitic species that inhabits human bodies and barely escaped unscathed—or did he?

An explorer tells the tale of his time on another planet before making a strange request.

The first manned trip to Pluto discovers some fascinating and alarming information. A trip to Pluto uncovers information that changes science and human history as we know it.

The first man to walk on Mars recounts a trip with a strange alien companion across the planet to his disbelieving crew.

Earth is colonizing the people of Venus, and a Venusian royal protects an Earth general as he concludes his imperialist takeover on the planet. In the face of an even worse enemy, she is able to bring the two sides together to save the planet.

When a talented linguist makes contact with the Martian species and is invited into their inner circle, he uncovers a culturally rich civilization in danger of going extinct.

In the near future, a new planet has been discovered, but excitement at this discovery quickly turns into fear and hysteria as livestock are mutilated and lights begin to appear in the sky.

A Jesuit biologist and his team work to uncover the mysteries of a planet in the hope that it can be inhabitable for humans. But as he interacts with the native inhabitants, he realizes he has a decision to make: protect the planet or let those on Earth use it for their own selfish needs.