The Android's Dream

When a diplomatic insult between a State Department bureaucrat and an alien official escalates into a demand for a genetically engineered breed of sheep, the Android's Dream, as the centerpiece of an alien coronation, war with the Nidu Empire hinges on finding an animal that a rival faction has just tried to wipe out entirely. Ex-soldier and mid-level functionary Harry Creek gets the job of tracking down the last one alive, helped by Brian, an AI built from the recorded personality of his childhood best friend, against rivals who want the sheep found dead rather than delivered. John Scalzi's satirical space-opera debut.