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

“Then we’ll be back at the station in


no time,” she says, flashing us a quick grin before turning back to


the panel. Only now I don’t want to return,I think. I


squeeze Dylan’s hand in mine and wonder how we’ll ever manage to


part when this whole thing is over and I have to leave him


The carrier’s still on course, the signal


growing stronger every hour, and by midnight Vallery all but throws


us off the nav deck, telling us to go get some sleep, come back in


the morning. “Just don’t come knocking when I’m getting my groove


“Don’t worry,” she promises, “I


Back in my room we lie together on my bed,


wrapped around each other so comfortably, I don’t think either of


us will get up any time soon. “I told her about you,” Dylan says


when I ask him about Vallery. With a laugh, he adds, “Jesus, how do


you think I made it through these past few months? There were times


I was ready to just turn the Semper Fiaround and race back


Chapter 20