The Starchild Compact

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The Starchild Compact is divided into two parts. Part one, On the wings of eagles, takes place in a near future world dominated by NATO, the Eastern Block, and the Persian Caliphate. Jon Stock leads a multinational exploration team, consisting of five men and four women, on an expedition to Saturn's moon, Iapetus – which they believe may be an artifact. They voyage to Iapetus aboard Cassini II, a spacecraft constructed of futuristic polymers that is driven by VASIMR engines powered by a gas-core reactor. Cassini II has three sections, so that two can extend on tethers and rotate to create artificial gravity. During the voyage, they experience a major solar storm. While transiting the asteroid belt, they survive an asteroid strike on one of the tethers. They discover a stowaway, Saeed Ismail, an Islamic Jihadist who is deathly ill from the solar storm radiation, and save his life. Despite this, he vows to continue his Jihad. Following a sling-shot boost around Jupiter, they arrive