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

We almost trip over each other in our haste


to follow him. In the stairwell, he slows down enough to quiet his


steps and we tiptoe after him, Dylan’s hand curved around the back


of my thigh possessively. At the top of the steps, that hand slides


between my leg, rubbing at hidden flesh, and this time it’s


mewho stumbles through the doorway, I can’t seem to


remember how to walk. “Watch it, babe,” Dylan purrs. I don’t have


to turn around to see his smile—I can hear it in his voice.


Ahead, Ellington storms down the darkened


corridor towards the men’s quarters and Dylan pulls me along after


him. But before we reach the sleeping room, Ellington turns and


disappears into a narrow serviceway. “Where—” I start, but Dylan


ducks around the corner, me right behind him. I try to stand my


The serviceway is pitch black, so dark my


eyes almost hurt and I look behind me to make sure I haven’t been


Chapter 65