The Prometheus Project — Stephen Donald Huff

In the distant future of humankind, an unscrupulous government has embarked on a program of colonization, sending one moon-sized transport after another careening into the cosmic gulf, each utterly dependent upon the one gone before. The hapless voyagers of Brigantine are first in the line and tragedy has befallen them. Stranded far from home, their starship must rise from the ashes of a terrible conflagration, and he must lead them from beyond the threshold of a fiery grave. Billions of lives depend upon his success.