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

Dylan glances behind us, grips my shoulder,


pushing me against the wall as he steps in front of me. His hands


find my waist, position me directly behind him so he shields me


from the colonists. “Don’t worry, baby,” he murmurs. I can hear


footsteps running down the corridor, towards us. “I’m not letting


Without thinking, without even wondering if it’s going to work, I


tap in the code Conlan gave me, 23761Please,I


pray, feeling the raised Braille digits beneath my fingers.


“Fuck,” I mutter. I risk a glance over


my shoulder, around Dylan, and they’re coming closer now, Ramsey


and Maclin, not really running because they know we don’t have


anywhere to go. They’re like jackals advancing on a wounded animal,


they’re enjoyingthis, it’s a game to them, I can see the


gleam in their eyes and their evil grins and please no, the code


Chapter 93