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

Conlan doesn’t answer right away, just


shrugs and stares into his bowl, his lower lip trembling. “Fine,”


he whispers, but I don’t believe it. I don’t think any of us do.


Composing himself, Conlan clears his throat and raises his voice,


looks at us and nods. “She’ll be fine.”


“What about the—” Dylan starts, but I


kick him beneath the table and he shuts up quickly. The last thing


he needs to ask about now is the baby. Stirring his soup, he


mumbles, “That’s good, I guess. That she’s fine.”


“Yeah,” Conlan says. I get the feeling


we’re keeping him from… well, from whatever he was doing before we


came over here. He glances at Shanley and chews the inside of his


lip before he asks, “Have you been to see her again?” Shanley


shakes his head. With a sigh, Conlan asks, “That surgery you


mentioned, stitching her up inside? Will that work?”


“It might,” Shanley says, sipping at


his soup. “Or it might not, I’ll have to be honest with you here.


Chapter 57