Destroyer of Worlds(2009)

Larry NivenEdward M. Lerner

The scariest aliens in the galaxy follow a simple rule: destroy all opposition.

The brilliant, xenophobic Pak are fleeing the chain reaction of supernovae at the galaxy’s core. Nothing and no one is going to impede their migration. Devastated worlds -- any civilization that could possibly have interfered -- lie shattered in their wake. And now the Fleet of Worlds is in their sights.

The trillion Puppeteers who inhabit the Fleet might have the resources to confront the threat -- but Puppeteers are philosophical cowards. They don't confront anyone. They need allies to investigate the situation and then take action. Who better than the Puppeteers' newly independent one-time slave world, New Terra?

Sigmund Ausfaller, former Earth intelligence agent and current paranoid, finds himself leading the war against the Pak. With his own allies, the enigmatic, aquatic Gw'oth, Sigmund prepares to face everyone's mutual enemy. And neither humans nor Gw'oth have any intention of becoming cannon fodder.