The Interplanetary Guild of Human Affairs sends out dozens of delegations to planets all around the galaxy. Four of the Guild’s employees -- Star, Nate, Fara, and Josh -- grew close on one such delegation, and over the course of five years on assignment, developed a comfortable, happy relationship.<br><br>Then the assignment ends, the group returns to the new human homeworld, Reyhan, where they receive new orders. For the first time in years, they are going to be separated. Between the far-flung locations and length of assignments, there is no way to know when they’ll be together again.<br><br>But Star is not one to simply take what the world throws at them. As a respected bodyguard and security officer, Star’s existence revolves around protecting precious things. Nothing in the galaxy is more precious than their partners’ happiness. With countless variables to consider and dozens of ways it could all fall apart, will it be possible for the group to stay together?

Home

I stayed up late reading paperwork and sending messages, sorting out our options. While we ate dinner, Josh and I had discussed the future. Fara had confided in him, expressing the same distress that Nate and I had discussed in the bath. She and Josh had reached the same conclusions: they didn’t want to be away from us for three years, but they couldn’t give up their careers, and they couldn’t expect either of us to, either. Josh wouldn’t leave Fara, no matter how strong his feelings towards Nate. He had a professional sense of loyalty to her built up from a decade of teamwork, and there would be no changing that.


Chapter 9