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

reminds us, nodding at the doorways that link our room to the ones


on either side. He speaks quietly, as if he doesn’t want to disturb


anyone. Except us,I think as I kick off my boots and step


out of my jumpsuit. It covers Dylan’s on the floor. You’re all


about busting our rhythm, aren’t you?


Ellington jerks his thumb at the empty bunks


where Parker and Shanley napped this afternoon. Beyond them I can


see another set of bunks, a sleeping shape on each. He doesn’t have


to say anything else—I can read the words clear enough in his


shadowed eyes. You’re not alone, that look says, so don’t


fool around.“Breakfast is served in the commons at eight,” he


says. “Hopefully your friends will be back by then.”


“Hopefully,” I echo. He waits until I


crawl into my bunk, pull the covers up over myself, turn away from


him and face the wall before he walks away. Sure, there are two


other people asleep in this room. Sure, we’re not alone. But right


Chapter 67