Thousandstar
From the back cover:

At the edge of the Milky Way, the treacherous space race for the legacy of the Ancients begins -- a race against time, enemy aliens, and black holes.  For outlawed here Heem of Highfalls and beautiful Jessica of Capella, the extraordinary contest is very simple:
THEY CAN WIN... 
OR THEY CAN DIE.
American Science fiction, Life on other planets, Fiction, Competition, Fiction, science fiction, general
Piers Anthony
Piers Anthony was born in Oxford, England.  When he was four years old, his family immigrated to the United States.  He graduated from Goddard College in Vermont in 1956, the year he met and married his wife, Carol Marble.  After working at odd jobs, he joined the U.S. Army in 1957 for steady income and medical insurance.  In 1958, he became a U.S. citizen.  He became an editor and cartoonist for the Battalion newspaper.  He left the army in 1959 and briefly taught public school before becoming a full-time writer.  Anthony currently lives with his wife on a tree farm which he owns in Florida.