Netherspace (Netherspace, Book 1)

Aliens known as the Gliese made contact with Earth forty years ago. While all traditional attempts at communication failed due to their unfathomable anatomy, humanity managed to open a bizarre trade relationship with them. Through bartering seemingly random items, humans acquired the technology needed to colonize the stars—but the price for faster-than-light travel is steep: live human beings.When the aliens abduct an entire ship of human religious fanatics, Earth’s Galactic Division forces an unlikely team—consisting of a conceptual artist, an assassin, and a precognitive psychic—to travel into the unknown and negotiate their return, unearthing the dark mysteries of the Gliese.