Starchild Saga

Travel to space for the price of a train ticket-to the Moon for a little bit more. "Slingshot does for the launch loop what Arthur C. Clarke's The Fountains of Paradise or Sheffield's Web Between the Worlds did for the space elevator."-Alastair Mayer Author of the T-Space Series Slingshot is a love story-about a man, a woman, another man, another woman, some gender bending...and a machine, the largest ever built. Slingshot is a mystery-about a missing aviatrix, a conspiracy, a true-believer.Slingshot is an adventure-about following a dream, the ocean-deep, outer space. Slingshot is about constructing the first space launch-loop stretching 2,600 km between Baker and Jarvis Islands in the Equatorial Pacific. It's about high finance, intrigue, unlimited ambition, heroism, fanaticism, betrayal...and about opening space to the common person.The setting is the day-after-tomorrow. Technology has advanced, the web is more pervasive than ever, but human ambition and greed remain unchanged. In Slingshot, Alex Regent, Margo Jackson, and Klaus Blumenfeld reach for the stars as they blend their skills to create the world's first space launch-loop, backed by major software money. Environmental fanatic Lars Watson with his team of young eco-terrorists are funded by opposing financial interests, who will go to any length to halt the project. Reporter Lori Kutcher indiscriminately applies her own personal skills to ensure it is she who reports the unfolding events to a watching world.With a cast of 69, Slingshot takes you from Seattle's world financial district, to the ocean bottom at 5,000 feet off Baker Island, to the edge of space 80 km above. You play with dolphins and battle sharks. You fly and sail and dive, you work and play and love across the vast panorama of an Equatorial Pacific being put to leash to serve humanity's surge into outer space. While its accurate science and precise engineering will appeal to hard science-fiction buffs,Slingshot's major focus is the grand journey, the opening of outer space to the common person by men and women who loom larger than life as they work, play, and love. Dr. Robert G. Williscroft is a retired submarine officer, deep-sea and saturation diver, scientist, author, and a lifelong adventurer. He spent 22 months underwater, a year in the equatorial Pacific, three years in the Arctic ice pack, and a year at the Geographic South Pole. He holds degrees in Marine Physics and Meteorology and a doctorate for developing a system to protect SCUBA divers in contaminated water. A prolific author of both non-fiction, Cold War thrillers, and hard science fiction, he lives in Centennial, Colorado.Dr. Williscroft is a member of Colorado Author's League, Independent Association of Science Fiction & Fantasy Authors, Science Fiction Writers of America, Libertarian Futurist Society, Los Angeles Adventurers' Club, Mensa, Military Officers Association, U.S. Sub Vets, American Legion, and the NRA, and now spends most of his time writing his next book, speaking to various regional groups, and hanging out with the girl of his dreams, Jill, and her two cats.

Jumping from orbit using little more than a spacesuit and a re-entry pack!"The Daedalus Files are four science fiction stories that blend the boundaries of fact and fiction as seamlessly as the late master, Michael Crichton. They're the type of story that leaves you asking questions and discussing with your coworkers in the break room." - Dr. Dave Edlund, USA Today Bestselling Author, The Peter Savage ThrillersSet in the world of Slingshot, Navy SEAL Derek "Tiger" Baily and his SEALS Winged Insertion Command develop the experimental Gryphon hardshell wingsuit from the initial version 7 to the enhanced Gryphon-10 MK 4. Tiger makes a basejump from Slingshot, 80 klicks up, and finally, the team drops from LEO-Low Earth Orbit. Eventually, when the presidential front-runner is seized by pirates for ransom, Baily's 6-man SWIC team must hurtle around the world, staging critical re-entry for a rescue, challenged to solve life-or-death problems with only seconds to spare. Can they survive? Will they effect the rescue? Join Tiger Baily as he and his SWIC team work to perfect the Gryphon and then employ it in combat. Dr. Robert G. Williscroft is a retired submarine officer, deep-sea and saturation diver, scientist, author, and a lifelong adventurer. He spent 22 months underwater, a year in the equatorial Pacific, three years in the Arctic ice pack, and a year at the Geographic South Pole. He holds degrees in Marine Physics and Meteorology and a doctorate for developing a system to protect SCUBA divers in contaminated water. A prolific author of both non-fiction, Cold War thrillers, and hard science fiction, he lives in Centennial, Colorado.Dr. Williscroft is a member of Colorado Author's League, Independent Association of Science Fiction & Fantasy Authors, Science Fiction Writers of America, Libertarian Futurist Society, Los Angeles Adventurers' Club, Mensa, Military Officers Association, U.S. Sub Vets, American Legion, and the NRA, and now spends most of his time writing his next book, speaking to various regional groups, and hanging out with the girl of his dreams, Jill, and her two cats.

Is Saturn's moon Iapetus really a derelict starship?"Hard sci-fi reminiscent of Arthur C. Clarke or James P. Hogan, with a geopolitical twist worthy of Tom Clancy or Clive Cussler." -Alastair Mayer, Author of the T-Space SeriesThe Starchild Compact is an adventure of heroic proportions, commencing on a planet 500 lightyears distant, arriving here just a few years from now, and ending up in the far distant expanses of the Universe.Is Saturn's moon Iapetus an artifact? To find out, Jon Stock takes his international exploration team on a 1.4 billion km journey to Saturn, but will Jihadist stowaway Saeed Ismail succeed in sabotaging the mission? On Iapetus, Jon Stock and his team meet the Founders. Where are they from? How did they get here? How will they impact Earth and the Solar System?Will the Founder's presence signal the end of humanity, or will it pave the way for a joint push to the distant reaches of the Galaxy? Dr. Robert G. Williscroft is a retired submarine officer, deep-sea and saturation diver, scientist, author, and a lifelong adventurer. He spent 22 months underwater, a year in the equatorial Pacific, three years in the Arctic ice pack, and a year at the Geographic South Pole. He holds degrees in Marine Physics and Meteorology and a doctorate for developing a system to protect SCUBA divers in contaminated water. A prolific author of both non-fiction, Cold War thrillers, and hard science fiction, he lives in Centennial, Colorado.Dr. Williscroft is a member of Colorado Author's League, Independent Association of Science Fiction & Fantasy Authors, Science Fiction Writers of America, Libertarian Futurist Society, Los Angeles Adventurers' Club, Mensa, Military Officers Association, U.S. Sub Vets, American Legion, and the NRA, and now spends most of his time writing his next book, speaking to various regional groups, and hanging out with the girl of his dreams, Jill, and her two cats.

A moon-size derelict starship, global Jihad, a space-born federation of free republics, worm-hole transportation, extended Human lifespans, nominated for Nebula and Prometheus Awards!"This novel piles mind-blowing concept upon mind-blowing concept, all of it rooted in rigorous scientific speculation and theory." - Professor John B. Rosenman, Norfolk State UniversityAlthough presumed dead, Saeed Ismail resurfaces following the events of The Starchild Compact to lead a global Jihad.Aided by Founder Asshur, besieged Israelis on Earth make their way to Mars. Under Rod Zakes, the Iapetus Federation expands to include the human-settled parts of the Solar System, protected by Dmitri Gagarin's Federation Security Force.While global Jihad rages, the Starchild Institute on Iapetus develops a form of worm-hole transportation, but will this new technology be ready in time to rescue Sam Houston and all that is left of the United States, the beleaguered Lone Star Federation? Can worm-hole technology solve the task of moving millions of people from Earth to Iapetus?When the Starchild Institute develops Human longevity, can Humans cope with lifespans od hundreds of years or even longer?While Earth sinks into medieval barbarism, off-world humanity struggles to survive and prosper in the far reaches of the Solar System-and beyond. Dr. Robert G. Williscroft is a retired submarine officer, deep-sea and saturation diver, scientist, author, and a lifelong adventurer. He spent 22 months underwater, a year in the equatorial Pacific, three years in the Arctic ice pack, and a year at the Geographic South Pole. He holds degrees in Marine Physics and Meteorology and a doctorate for developing a system to protect SCUBA divers in contaminated water. A prolific author of both non-fiction, Cold War thrillers, and hard science fiction, he lives in Centennial, Colorado.Dr. Williscroft is a member of Colorado Author's League, Independent Association of Science Fiction & Fantasy Authors, Science Fiction Writers of America, Libertarian Futurist Society, Los Angeles Adventurers' Club, Mensa, Military Officers Association, U.S. Sub Vets, American Legion, and the NRA, and now spends most of his time writing his next book, speaking to various regional groups, and hanging out with the girl of his dreams, Jill, and her two cats.