Seeker

"Seeker won the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 2006. When Alex Benedict, interstellar dealer of antiquities, examines a seemingly unremarkable artefact, he is convinced it is from the infamous Seeker - a transport ship which fled the religious dictatorship in 27th century America. With the help of his pilot, Chase Kolpath, he follows a deadly trail to the Seeker, now strangely adrift in a system barren of habitable worlds. But their discovery raises far more questions than it answers, drawing Alex and Chase into the very heart of danger."