Fleet of worlds
Humanity has been faithfully serving the Citizens for years, and Kirsten is among the best and the brightest of the humans.  she gratefully serves the race that rescued her ancestors from a dying Starship, gave them a home world, and nurtures them still. If only the Citizens knew where Kirsten's people came from.  

A chain reaction of supernovae at the galaxy's core unleashes a wave of lethal radiation that will sterilize the galaxy. The Citizens flee, taking their planets, the fleet of Worlds, with them.

Someone must scout ahead, and Kirsten and her crew eagerly volunteer. Under the guiding eye of Nessus, their Citizen mentor, they explore for any possible dangers in the fleet's path and uncover long hidden truths that will shake the foundations of worlds.
Outer space in fiction, Fiction, Science fiction, Exploration, Life on other planets
Larry Niven, Edward M. Lerner
Laurence van Cott Niven — known as Larry Niven — is an American science fiction writer. His best-known work is Ringworld (1970), which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. The Science Fiction Writers of America named him the 2015 recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics. It also often includes elements of detective fiction and adventure stories. His fantasy includes the series The Magic Goes Away, rational fantasy dealing with magic as a non-renewable resource.

Niven was born in Los Angeles. He briefly attended the California Institute of Technology and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics (with a minor in psychology) from Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas, in 1962. He did a year of graduate work in mathematics at the University of California at Los Angeles. On September 6, 1969, he married Marilyn Joyce "Fuzzy Pink" Wisowaty, a science fiction and Regency literature fan. He is an agnostic.

Source: Wikipedia