The Starchild Compact: A Novel of Interplanetary Exploration

by Robert G Williscroft

Overview

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 Series

The 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?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781968367480
Publisher:	Starman Press
Publication date:	10/30/2025
Series:	The Starchild Saga , #3
Pages:	418
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.14(d)

About the Author

Served 23 years in U.S. Navy and NOAA. Enlisted as a nuclear Submarine Sonar Tech in 1961, selected for the Navy Enlisted Scientific Education Program in 1966, and graduated from Univ of Wash in Marine Physics and Meteorology in 1969. Returned to nuc subs as the Navy's 1st Poseidon Weapons Officer. Subsequently, served as Navigator and Diving Officer on both catamaran mother vessels for the "Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle." Then joined SubDevGroup One out of San Diego as the Officer-in-Charge of the Test Operations Group, conducting "deep-ocean surveillance and data acquisition" - which forms the basis for his bestselling Cold War novel, "Operation Ivy Bells."

Directed NOAA diving operations in the Pacific & Atlantic. Taught 3,000 individuals basic & advanced SCUBA, wrote 4 diving books, developed the 1st NAUI drysuit course, developed advanced curricula for mixed gas & other specialized diving, and developed a NAUI course on the Math & Physics of Advanced Diving. His dissertation, "A System for Protecting SCUBA Divers from the Hazards of Contaminated Water" was published by the US Commerce Dept and distributed to Port Captains world-wide. Served 3 years in the Arctic on science projects, and 13 months at the geographic South Pole with the National Science Foundation.

Has written extensively on terrorism. Wrote a bestselling current events book, "The Chicken Little Agenda - Debunking Experts' Lies," and a children's series, "Starman Jones," in collaboration with Dr. Frank Drake, director of the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe and the SETI Institute.

"Slingshot," the 1st book in the "Starchild Trilogy," is about building the first Space Launch Loop. Book 2, "The Starchild Compact," is based on the discovery that Saturn's moon Iapetus is a derelict starship, and how Earth explorers meet with the "Founders" who originally arrived on the starship and populated the Earth long ago. Book 3, "The Iapetus Federation," is about the World falling under the rule of a planet-wide Caliphate, where the Founders establish the Iapetus Federation, a loose federation of free off-world communities that carries on the traditions of free enterprise and individual accountability throughout the Solar System and beyond.

Member of the Adventurers' Club of Los Angeles and Editor of their magazine for 10 years. Member of Colorado Authors' League and editor of their InPrint. Member SF Writers of America. Lives in Centennial, Colo, with his family.