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

The static disappears as the connection is


closed. “Bye to you, too,” Leena mumbles. She looks around the room


and her gaze stops on Shanley, kneeling by the console and already


setting up our DAQ system to transmit the files the next time


Conlan calls. “They’re real keen on knowing all they can find out


about us, aren’t they? What’s your armament? What’re the results of


your decon tests? But what did we learn about them?”


“Nothing,” Johnson says. Vallery nods


in agreement and Johnson glares at me like it’s my fault, I


should’ve talked to the guy, not Dylan. “We didn’t learn


With one hand he traces the seam of my jumpsuit along my inner


thigh. When I try to cover the spot nonchalantly, he begins to pick


at the seam, pulling the material up around my fingers because he’s


bored and restless and he wants to get this party started, he


doesn’t want to wait another two hours until we land, he doesn’t


Chapter 30