Time Future — Maxine McArthur

In this richly realized universe of enigmatic aliens and complex politics, one woman must untangle interlocking mysteries in a race against time.

Halley, commander of the deep, space station Jocasta, is desperate. Her station is blockaded by hostile creatures, communications and key systems are failing, rations are low, and tension between humans and aliens is at the flashpoint. Then a foreign trader is killed--apparently by an extinct monster. The murder is impossible and the clues make no sense. But Halley must now solve the mystery of a locked room in closed space--before Jocasta erupts in an explosion of terror and death.