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

I know Iwouldn’t—that guy didn’t look like the playing


type. Apparently Dylan thinks so, too, because he hugs me and


mumbles into my neck, “That guy’s a dick.”


“Hush,” I tell him, glancing around as


if Ramsey might somehow appear and fly into a fit of rage at


Dylan’s words. Then Shanley and Parker come back here to find us


dead because you’re just being silly,I think, running my hands


along Dylan’s strong arm. That would not be a good turn of


Across from us, Conlan forces a thin smile


and says, “He’s not that bad.” Yeah, right,I think. Here


it comes— “you have to understand…”Surprisingly not. “He’s


just a little rough around the edges,” Conlan explains. “He’s… he


and Ben are the oldest here.” With a nod, he indicates Ellington,


who is still fiddling with the airlock, Maclin nearby as if


standing guard. “When we first started getting sick, I was just a


little kid. I have no memory of the first wave, I guess you’d call


Chapter 63