INCIDENT IN GENEVA: Human Survivors in the Distant Future

Charles Handler and his wife Carole are en route to Epernay, France when they decide to stop off in Geneva, Switzerland to visit the largest high-energy particle accelerator in the world. While in the collider’s tunnel, 574 feet below the surface, a freak accident hurls Charles into an alternate universe. He finds himself in what had been Connecticut, five centuries into the future.

Drastic climate changes with severe storms and rising sea levels have reduced available land for habitation and forced people to flee to higher ground. Charles learns that the people are survivors of a nuclear war and a worldwide pandemic. He finds that society, political structure, religion, and customs have all radically changed. Many of the social changes seem to be beneficial while others are baffling and difficult for him to accept until he learns that everyone has been genetically modified to eliminate aggressive behavior and greed. Marriage has been replaced by renewable contracts, and the family is no longer the basic unit of society.

Despairing of ever returning to his wife and family, Charles is accepted into the community and finds work where vegetables are processed into food. Charles falls in love with Lyn, a worker at the Comfort House, but is subsequently punished for his socially unacceptable actions. When an acquaintance is found murdered in his unit, Charles is a suspect, but he is eventually cleared of the charges. Finally elected to the Council, Charles introduces some changes that improve safety and working conditions. A warrant from the World Court leads to his arrest on charges of attempted manslaughter of the Human Race. After a hearing in Geneva, the charges are eventually dismissed, and he returns to Lyn. Charles has lived in the community for 20 years. He has friends, understands the people, and has the satisfaction of having subtly introduced some behavioral changes in the local population. He is content.

Some descriptions of sex.