Slow Freight

Rance Collier is among Earth's first pioneers through the vast wilderness of spacetime. But the maiden voyage of the "Starfinder" is marred by warped power plays and dirty politics. Then the ship's nav systems are fouled by the wake of a passing ship---a "nonhuman" ship. This first encounter is complicated by the ensuing damage to the alien ship, which requires vast transfusions of matter and energy in order to make repairs. And that matter and energy happens to be the nearest star system; Sol.

Before human politicians can react, the alien ship devours a handful of Saturn's moons and sets its planet-swallowing course straight for Earth.