James Alan Gardner 
Ascending [EPUB ebook] 

Left to languish on the planet of no return, an alien teams up with a professional smuggler to save her people in this sci-fi adventure. Four years after Festina Ramos left Melaquin, the “planet of no return, ” Uclodda Unorr arrives. Unorr is a hired smuggler tasked with gathering evidence of misconduct of the Technocracy’s Outward Fleet. Much to his surprise he discovers that Oar, a resident of the planet and last of her kind, is still alive. Though Oar’s glass-like body is indestructible, her mind grows weak and will soon fall victim to “apathetic hibernation.” Along with her old friend Admiral Festina Ramos, Oar must reveal the true history of Melaquin and expose the ugly deeds of the Outward Fleet before her weary mind surrenders.