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

Out in the corridor, the two of us finally


alone, I let him wrap his arms around my waist and nuzzle my neck.


“My room,” I tell him. I don’t want any interruptions this


We’re still twined together in my sweaty


sheets when they page us to the nav deck. No vidscreens this time,


just our names echoing through the ship as we hurry to dress, and I


get one of the jumpsuits up to my hips before I realize it’s too


tight along my thighs, it’s not mine. “Here,” I say, tugging it


down as Dylan starts to zip up the jumpsuit he’s wearing, my


The page comes again. “We’re on our way,” he


mutters to no one in particular, stepping into his own jumpsuit. He


stands in the open doorway, watches me zip up, waits while I pull


on my boots. I can feel the weight of his gaze on my ass, my legs,


when I bend over to scoop the sheets back onto the bed. “I love


you,” he says suddenly. “Just so you know.”


“I know,” I tell him, waving my hand


Chapter 31