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

Have him bring me more soup.” As Tobin fans his pants to dry them,


He backs away like he doesn’t trust me not


to throw the knife when he turns around. That’s not a bad idea,


actually, but my anger’s already passing. He’s just lucky he didn’t


try this with Dylan, that’s all I have to say. When he’s finally


Back on the bunk, I sit in the corner again,


my legs to my chest, and clench the knife in a tight fist as I


More footsteps. I don’t bother to look up


until Conlan says, “I hear you tried to kill Tobin.”


“Is that what he’s saying?” I ask.


Conlan carries another tray, slides it through the slot in the


door, more soup. No knife this time, I notice, but I still have the


other one in my hand. I feel like a petulant child when I tell him,


spilled trays that litter the floor and doesn’t look at me.


Chapter 76