Venlanta Rising — Frank Carey

A sci-fi space opera of 32,100 words. For three thousand years, the Venlantens have lived among humans in relative peace, especially now that artificial Nutrient has been developed. Recently, something has changed, causing the Venlantans to die in mysterious and violent ways. Dr. Shanna Syron, a brilliant Venlanten historian, has been hired by a Venlanten industrialist to join him and his crew on an expedition to their people's lost homeworld in a desperate attempt at finding a cure for the malady killing their people before it's too late.