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

The scanner digests Shanley’s input and


beeps again. “You’re clean,” Shanley says, finally flashing me a


quick smile. “I just had to coordinate with your profile back on


the carrier. Sorry if I had you worried for a second there.”


I look up, I find him staring at me with wide eyes as deep as the


sea, his finger still in his mouth. “You okay?” he asks, the words


And because I am, I lean over and plant a


kiss on the tip of his nose, which gets him smiling. “Do it again,”


With another laugh, I nod at Shanley, turned


from us as he slips the lancet with Dylan’s blood into the


hemoscanner. “When he leaves,” I promise.


“No,” Shanley says before he can even


Dylan pouts so hard, I have to laugh. I


don’t think I’ll stop, I’m thrilled, I’m not sick, thank the


Chapter 112