Angelmass (new book)

I had to return Poisonwood Bible to the libary. Due to the inability to renew it twice, I was forced to choose a new independent reading book. So, I chose Angelmass, by Timothy Zahn. This novel is another sci-fi novel where humans have expanded their borders to space. Now, I am assume that the moment you read the words "sci-fi", you assumed that this would be another story where humans battle against an unknown race, right? Well, it is true humans meet an unknown force, but it doesn't seem to be hostile. Humans in the late future have established an empire called Empyrean empire, where colonies have settled across the stars. In the colony of the planet "Seraph", scientists have recovered a strange being from a black hole under the identification of an "angel". People in close proximity of these strange creatures find themeslves calm, reasonable, and seem to find it impossible to lie (wish we could do the same). The Empyreans then distributed these creatures throughout their government in hopes of turning political leaders into trustworthy leaders and establishing peace amoung the Empire. (Boy, we need that kind of stuff now, don't we?) However, the top leaders of the empire, the Pax, suspect that there is more than meets the eye and that the angels are a danger to mankind. To confirm their suspicions, they send out academic Jereko Kostas and petty theif Chandris on a ship to ventrue out and uncover the truth about these so-called "angels". The book summary also mentions that tension between the Empyreans and the Pax increase. Just to clear this up, it seems that the Empyreans view themselves as an independent society from the empire, so that explains why these two forces look at each other as rivals. Now, I only just started the book, so I really don't know why Chandris is of any significance in this. Perphaps they need her to demostrate the powers of the angels. Hopefully, I'll read far enough to answer my questions next week.