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

Shanley sighs. “Terbute isn’t really what


she needs,” he explains. “It’s mostly for first trimester labor


pains but she’s further along than that. These colonists aren’t


doctors. They’re just kids who’ve managed to make due with what


too?” I ask. I can’t imagine how that would make me feel—I hope I


never have to know. In my mind I see Conlan sitting by her bedside


again and I knowI can’t go through whatever it is he must


be feeling right now. I rub along Dylan’s back and he makes a


little contented noise, a sort of rumbly purr, that I can feel


beneath my hand. “There’s nothingyou can do?”


here,” Shanley replies, “and that’s not an option. They don’t want


to leave, any of them—have you talked to the people here?” When I


shake my head, he tells us, “They’re too proud to ask for help, and


now that they know this is the only colony that worked? They’ll


Chapter 55