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

He’s asleep now. It’s so quiet down that hall.”


“I want him,” I announce. Conlan’s


smile disappears. “I want him here, with me. You can keep us down


here if you think it’s what’s best but I want him—”


against the bars like he’s the one in the cell and he’s looking out


at me. “You’re not in any real position to make demands, you know


that, right?” Like he has to remind me. “Everyone’s really scared


and that comes out harsher than I intended. Taking a shaky breath,


I add, “He’s my lover. As in I love him. Do you have that here?


Love?” When he starts to answer, I cut him off. “It’s not just sex


or fucking or fooling around. It’s not just making babies or


feeling good. He’s a part of me, youhave to understand


“One of the women miscarried,” Conlan


tells me. I stare at him, shocked, and before I can ask him, he


Chapter 72