The Ancient Ones — David Brin

We never expected that inventing Star-Drive would lead to this!We were first! Humans invented star drive, bringing light and movement to the galaxy, forging a grand alliance with all races. (Well, most of them.) It seemed the galaxy was ours to lead and to share!Till we met demmies.Oh, they' re not so bad. They mean well. Impulsive and exasperating, sure. Often brilliant, cheeky, moronic, volatile, always astonishing... did I mention exasperating?And lucky.Gradually, it dawned on humanity— Hey, that' s what WE wanted to be! In ancient sci-fi dreams, we pictured ourselves as the impulsive-lucky ones, not wise-patient elders. Only now...... they reverently call Earthlings the Ancient Ones. And demmies are having all the fun!Dr. Alvin Montessori is Human Advisor aboard the mostly demmie-crewed star cruiser Clever Gamble, orbiting Oxytocin 41, where something weird is going on. It starts when the crew unreels a humongous hose down to the surface...... and their first contact team discovers a whole lot of 'something weird.'