NABE Pinnacle Book Achievement Award Winner!Although 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?While Earth sinks into medieval barbarism, off-world humanity struggles to survive and prosper in the far reaches of the Solar System - and beyond.