Neal James is a space station navigator whose lover, Dylan Teague, left him for a starmapping mission. But when Dylan radios in a distant signal one night, Neal discovers that he hasn't managed to put the relationship behind him in the two months they've been apart. When he's one of the crew members sent to investigate the signal, he finds that his ex-lover feels the same.<br><br>The source of the signal is a lost colony ship. Only a handful of the original colonists remain, survivors of a deadly disease that killed most of their fellow shipmates twenty years ago. To keep the threat of disease to a minimum, the colony adheres to strict laws, including the prohibition of same-sex relationships.<br><br>When the same fatal virus seems to appear again, Neal and Dylan find themselves in the midst of an irrational panic and hate that threatens to destroy everything the colonists have worked so hard to attain.

Operation Starseed

But he doesn’t play like that. He always likes to have someone left


at the station in reserve, just in case one of the other crews runs


into something out there. So Dylan gets only two fighters, that’s


it. I pray he doesn’t even need that many. Let it be a relay,


nothing more,I think. Beside me Tony’s head drops to his chin


But Dixon’s not through. Looking over the


paper in his hands, he says, “Now the Semper Fidoesn’t have


“Our birds don’t take passengers,”


Milano points out, as if Dixon doesn’t know this. The star fighters


are designed for one pilot, that’s it. No gunner position, no


Dixon silences her with a look. “You’ll take


She flops back into her seat with a groan.


“Those things are a bitch to fly,” she mutters.


“Like piloting a brick,” Parker adds.


With a shake of his head, Dixon says, “We


Chapter 12