Alder's World Part One: Mass 17

From The Dryden Experiment's founder and Chief Editor Joel Stottlemire comes a new novel set in the fabulous Dryden Universe's Primer.
Pushing past the boundaries of chartered territory, Lieutenant Commander Samuel Alder and the crew of the League of Planet's deep space research vessel, "The Duster" encounter a mysterious protoplanetary disc and become embroiled in a struggle for survival that challenges the role of humans in a universe more wonderful, more spectacular and more terrifying than they ever imagined.