The Sling And The Stone

A Soviet orbital station rises into being as four men settle into life above Earth, and the promise of scientific triumph quickly reveals a darker strategic purpose. Pyotr Diavilev, a cautious Russian scientist, is awakened by army men and quietly taken into custody, his fear eased only by their unsettling courtesy as he is carried through the night toward an unknown fate. Then he is confronted with the impossible: a gleaming rocket-like vessel in the desert, a launch that succeeds, and the shocking realization that manned spaceflight is already a Soviet reality. Once aboard the station, Diavilev meets Krylov and learns that the platform can direct atomic missiles anywhere on Earth, making it a weapon of terrifying global reach. Krylov also discloses an even stranger secret: a hidden second moon, a small dark body known to only a few. Diavilev is assigned to calculate and correct its orbit, mass, and speed, drawing him into a tense blend of wonder, danger, and political power. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.