The Emperor's Daughter

It has been nearly a thousand years since humanity discovered the means to travel between the stars and mankind has spread throughout the galaxy in search of new planets to colonize. They have discovered that life developed on hundreds of planets, but have yet to find any sign of intelligent life outside of Earth. Empires have formed, alliances forged, and wars fought, all between humans. Kale is a former slave of the Dominion, a ruthless empire ruled by genetically enhanced human beings. He is a jack of all trades with his own ship, running errands, messages, passengers and cargo from one side of the galaxy to the other. When he takes on a mission to pick up a wealthy man's daughter from a fringe planet, he finds that some missions aren't as simple as they seem. Her rescue takes him on a course that leads to the destruction of a corporation, the use of new technology, and a jump to the farthest reaches of the galaxy to uncover an ancient secret, one that will change the fate of mankind. In man's quest to discover intelligent life, they forgot to look within.