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

Vallery shrugs. “Off duty?” she asks. “I


Ellington continues, “I’m sending you eight random files from the


colony’s med lab, along with information about the colony itself.


There is no armament to speak of—I believe Jeremy told you that


“Jeremy?” Vallery asks, cutting him


“Conlan,” he adds. “You spoke with him


He waits. When it’s apparent he’s waiting on


us,I hit the transmit and tell him, “Yes, he’s been in


contact with us since the comm-link opened.” Data fills the screen


in front of me, the files he’s downloading to our DAQ system. “Get


Shanley in here to look at this,” I whisper, and with a curt nod,


Vallery leaves the nav deck. Into the transmit, I laugh and admit,


“You know, we’re all very excited about this.” Less than a half


hour now and we’ll be down there, shaking hands with these guys,


“As are we,” Ellington replies, but


Chapter 34