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

But suddenly Ramsey’s there, pushing Conlan


aside, and as nonchalantly as I can, I lift the napkin from the


tray. “Go wait down there,” Ramsey says, angry. Conlan hesitates,


but Ramsey gives him a hard shove down the corridor, away from me.


Conlan doesn’t argue, but he’s still looking


at my hand, the napkin I’m holding, and he doesn’t move until I


clench it tight in a fist. While Ramsey glares at him, I slip my


hand behind my back, tuck the napkin into the waistband of my


pants. “Jeremy,” Ramsey warns again. “I said—”


“I heard you.” There’s no malice in


Conlan’s voice as he drifts further down the corridor, hovers where


I can just see him if I turn. How can he talk like that to Ramsey,


who terrifiesme, and not have the balls to stand up to


Ellington? Who’s like a big brother,I think,


overprotective, he won’t even let you make your own


Ramsey scowls at me. Crossing his arms in


front of his chest, he stares until I can’t even swallow, I can


Chapter 87