Ascent to the Sun

Three individuals. Two species. One campfire. And everything riding on what happens next. When a human seed ship from a dying Earth crashes into the silva, it enters a world already claimed. The Waya are six-limbed beings with language, law, and long memories. The first thing the humans do is kill one of them. The fragile possibility of coexistence nearly ends before it begins. Katan, an aging, glowjuice-addicted Waya, is sent to watch the survivors.
Not to understand them. Not to trust them. But when two young soldiers named Ricky and Marta cross every boundary they were ordered to respect, something forms between three individuals that neither their commanders nor his kind would allow. The only path forward requires the two young humans to climb to the highest point in the silva, toward answers that will either destroy both species or give them a reason to stop.
Ascent to the Sun is first contact fiction for readers who want more than conquest. For fans of Adrian Tchaikovsky, Ray Nayler, and David Brin.