It is november, the year 2254, and a nuclear holocaust has just been released on the earth. the phrase 'mutually assured destruction' becomes a grim reality and all life on the planet is extinguished. however, there are survivors there are colonies within the solar system and in nearby star systems. in orbit on board the colony vessel nelson mandela, matt logan and his hard bitten squad of deep space marine corps veterans view the destruction of their home planet. the colony ship is manned only by a crew of inexperienced youngsters, the senior personnel spending a last night on earth before embarking on the longest journey so far undertaken by man. the vessel also contains a 'cargo' of 5,000 colonists, bound for the distant planet eden, where they were due to set up a third colony. hell beyond eden tells the story of matt logan and his struggle to preserve this precious remnant of human life that he is sworn to protect. as the home planet of humanity is destroyed beneath him, he launches the nelson on its voyage to eden, only to find that there are forms of hell other than that typified by the inferno below.