Mary Jeddore Blakney

When an accident at a quantum physics lab transports Piper Craven to the planet Chuze, the Chuzekks call her an animal and put her in a cage. Earth is already on the roster for exploration, but since there's no evidence of intelligent life there, nobody's in a hurry...

...nobody but Zuke Gevv, that is. Zuke grabs his first chance to start mapping the pretty blue planet and even stops in at an isolated house for soup with a Human. But his unauthorized contact leads to war when the first Chuzekk disease breaks out on Earth.

Free-spirited translator Jade Massilon, imprisoned not for spying but just for being capable of it, catches the eye of a Chuzekk officer named Gyze Quejj. But mothership commander Chegg Jaigg gets in the way because he has secrets of his own to keep.

And through it all, a shadowy presence lurks in the background: an elusive figure known only as Fletcher.

Where Empires Fear to Tread (formerly Damage Control) is the introductory book to the Fletcher Variable series.

The book also contains a bonus story by Luke Bellmason.