Symphony — Douglas Smith

The colony ship, The Last Chance, has fled a plague-poisoned Earth with the remnants of the human race. Launched before completion of its biosphere, the ship is only partly self-sustaining. Humanity has to find a new home--and time is running out.

It isn't called The Last Chance for nothing. W

When they find the planet, it seems a dream come true. Earth-like, breathable atmosphere, unpopulated. They name it Aurora, for the beauty that dances in its skies.

At least, it had seemed beautiful at the time. Now they aren't so sure. Now people are dying.

Gar Franck is the ship's communication expert. When signs point to a non-human intelligence on the planet, Gar becomes the key to communicating with it. But how can he communicate with an alien being when he can't even talk to his autistic son, Anton, or his increasingly distant wife, Clara?