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

No such luck. The knock comes again, this


time followed by Parker’s voice. “I know you guys are in there,” he


Dylan giggles against my neck. “No shit,” he


“Two seconds,” Parker threatens, “and


then I’m going to open this door and drag your naked asses out of


stumbling from the bed. Stepping into his pants, he pulls them up,


hiding smooth, gilded skin. “You open that door, I’m gonna hurt


I kick back the blankets, find my own pants,


lie down and slip into them. “He’s just kidding,” I say. Dylan


should know by now that Parker likes to pick on him. He rises to a


fight so easily, Parker can’t helpit.


But when I reach for my shirt, discarded on


the floor, the door hisses open and Parker comes into the room,


Ellington right behind him. “You guys! I didn’t think you


were really—” He doesn’t finish, just covers his eyes and


back-pedals out of the room, pushing Ellington out, as well. “God,


Chapter 116