The Mansly Affair — Jason Ellis

This is a futuristic thriller spanning one hundred years in which the question concerning whether there are other intelligent life forms in the universe is finally answered and a universal government is created. The Mansly brothers are imprisoned together on an off world penal station for the murder of their parents and trade conspiracies, yet they maintain their innocence and decide to redeem their family name unaware their lawyer on earth, Julia Graden, is about to discover evidence that will prove this. During the brothers adventure they encounter the Tedaran race, a self sufficient, religious and solitary species devoted to their way of life, about to enter a catastrophic time in their lives, after which only a number of them will survive. One of the survivors, Grayell, discovers part of the truth about his race which causes him to question his strongest beliefs as they travel through the universe in search of a new home.