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

He’s got a childish streak in him that I want to hide away from the


rest of the world, an innocence I want to protect. “I didn’t,” he


starts, and then he falls silent again, like he’s changed his mind


about what he wants to say. “Neal.”


“Yes?” I ask. I’m falling back on my


professional air, it keeps the distance open, keeps us apart. When


he doesn’t answer, I add, “We’re on a steady course. The signal’s


getting stronger. I don’t think it’ll take too long to get to the


He sighs as if I’m boring him. “Is that all


we have to say to each other?” he wants to know.


It’s easier to lay all the blame on him. Trying to steer the


conversation to something more personal, he asks, “How have you


“Okay,” I lie, but I’m sure he sees


right through that one, it’s in the way I can’t quite meet his


“Okay,” he echoes. Now we’re both


lying to each other, has it come to this? Softly, he asks, “Are


Chapter 16