The Long Road Home — Christopher G. Nuttall

In the wake of the Solar Union's stunning victory over the Tokomak - the masters of the galactic community - humanity has been invited to send a diplomatic mission to the Kingdom of Harmonious Order, one of the oldest and most significant races in known space. It is an opportunity that cannot be missed, a chance to forge ties with a powerful ally. And so a lone starship is dispatched to the galactic core to open discussions ... ... But when that starship runs into a deadly trap, she and her crew must battle their way home before they are merely the first casualties in a renewed war.