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

These people here, they’re myage. For all the talk I’m


spouting about the signal, I’d be lying if I said I don’t want them


to succeed. They’re our neighbors out here for the next five years


or however long it takes to map this system, and I won’t be able to


eat, live, and breathe on the station knowing there’s a group of


kids out this way dying for want of what I’m taking for


The hope I see in Shanley’s face tells me


he’s thinking the same thing. “Kitt can fly the Semper Fi?”


he asks. I nod, I’m sure he can. “How long did it take to get down


I think back to the nav stats displayed on


the vidscreens when we landed. “Three hours, almost four,” I tell


him. “So let’s say we meet with the committee tonight, you tell


them the plan, they let you go and you can be back at the carrier


by midnight, right?” He nods tentatively, but yeah, that sounds


about right. “You just need to get some supplies, that won’t take


Chapter 56