Wasteland of Flint — Thomas Harlan

In five short centuries, the mighty Empire of the Mexica, descendants of the ancient Aztecs, spread out to conquer the Earth. Now they have left their homeworld and set their sights on the stars.

But the universe it finds is a dangerous place Filled with hidden powers. Humanity is only a minor space-faring species on the fringe of a ferociously political arena where ancient and enormous alien empires are engaged in millennia-old struggles for supremacy.

Now, on a desolate, barren world far from the heart of civilization, Gretchen Anderson, a young human xeno-archaeologist, is about to discover an awesome, long buried secret that could alter the galactic balance of power forever.