Maverick (Isaac Asimov's Robot City: Robots and Aliens, #5)

Derec Avery controls the web of robotic cities that are scattered throughout the universe, but these cities are not functioning like they should, and some of them are starting to become dangerous. Somebody else is manipulating them; it is Dr. Janet Anastasi, Derec’s mother. In an unintended way, her interference is to the point of provoking a war between humans and aliens. A cataclysm is approaching and Derec has to find a means to avoid total destruction.