In the Garden

Amber avoided relationships; relationships caused pain. Now, she found herself drawn to the young professor of her religious history class. He understood her, and he understood lessons the past could teach. Few people currently alive remembered those lessons. The one-world society in which she lived had tried to solve problems of the past, problems like racism and religious conflict, without discerning the underlying problem. That was partly why Amber had been drawn to a study of history. A dimple and a twinkle in his eye had drawn Amber to the professor.

It is the third century of the atomic era. Most people are genetically altered to eliminate racial features, but not Amber or her new husband Jerry. Religion has also been outlawed, and the young couple have just escaped religious persecution. What will the sanctuary they have arrived at be like?

This is the third of the In the Garden series, a tale set 3 centuries in the future. Amber and Jerry are living in a prison-turned-sanctuary that is part of a rescue coalition. They find themselves involved in rescuing several people who have been targeted as undesirables because of their faith, or rumors about their involvement in outlawed religion. And Amber is expecting their first child. What will happen when over a hundred outsiders come to this sanctuary shortly before she is to give birth?