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 nod vigorously. “We didn’t,” I tell


them. “Swear to God we didn’t, all we did was sleep, that’s


Ellington doesn’t care. “If I let you do


it,” he hisses, poking me in the chest with one stubby finger,


“then they’regoing to want to do it, and I can’t have that.


We’ve worked too damn hard for this, and it might not be much to


you but it’s all we have. It’s all Ihave, and I’m not going


to let you stroll in here and tear it apart.” For a long moment his


eyes meet mine and I see the challenge in those dark depths, I see


the wantof a fight stewing in him. He’s not going to let


you win,my mind whispers. Anything you say, you’ll regret,


he’ll see to that.When I don’t respond, Ellington steps aside


Conlan looks like he has something more to


say, and I give him my most pleading look, please, I want to


beg of him, we didn’t know, please help us, please—but I


As I’m pulled through the crowd, I can’t


Chapter 69