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

She brightens this whole place with that laugh, that smile, and I


know I could’ve fallen in love with this colony from the start, if


Ellington suggests we might want to head up to the sleeping


quarters. He chases us out of Marie’s room and into the corridor,


and now he stares at the floor awkwardly, shuffles his feet,


doesn’t look us in the eye when he mumbles, “You know how it is.


With the virus, a lot of people are scared, you can appreciate


that. So I don’t really think it’d be a good idea if you two…” He


trails off, unsure of how to continue. I know what he’s going to


say. He doesn’t want Dylan and me sharing a bed again. Hell, after


what happened last time? I’m a little leery of it, myself.


“I know—” I start, but Dylan squeezes


my hand almost painfully, he doesn’t want to make this easy for


Ellington, not after what he put us through. I fall


Chapter 120