| SLEEPY by Kate Orman |
| Story 48 Synopsis: The Doctor lands the TARDIS on Yemaya 4, to check out a report of a colony wiped out in a fire. He falls victim to a virus which is affecting the colonists and giving them psi-powers. Chris is also infected, and he points out that the virus was deliberately given with DKC inoculations, and the virus is now airborne. DKC arrive to take charge. The Doctor sends Benny and Roz back 30 years in the TARDIS, where they find an experimental computer, GRUMPY. They narrowly escape with their lives, having shown the machine its future. It tried to escape captivity, eventually crashing down on Yemaya 4, amnesiac. It has given the colonists its memories. DKC want to destroy the machine, now dubbed SLEEPY, but it sacrifices itself to destroy the DKC warship and give the colony its freedom. |
| Review:- An everyday tale of a stricken colony and an exploitative Company, and a mad machine... After a modest start in the preceding Warchild, the whole psi-powers saga kicks into gear here, with a bunch of innocents used as test fodder for all sorts of powers, and what chaos results when the tests have to be stopped. The impressive opening, with the Doctor hallucinating and unsure which is the dream, sets things up, and once he recovers, things start to happen. Chris, in particular, is not happy about succumbing to the virus, and Roz isn't either. His later delusions point to something big underground... The sideline with Benny and Roz travelling back 30 years brings in FLORANCE (from Transit), and also the big computer, GRUMPY. Since Kate makes great play with these AIs (see also Seeing I, with Kisumu before it becomes DKC), they fit in quite well. One key moment for the ongoing arc is Madhanagopal, who for one page talks about the Brotherhood, whom we have yet to meet, but who know of the Doctor. Less enthralling are White and his merry band of thugs. Carbon copy bad guys, their telepathic skill is no more impressive than ace marksmanship would be. The pivotal scene where they all join together to try and break the Doctor feels solely like a set-up to make Yellow suddenly interesting, and she ends up switching to help the colonists, whilst White goes mad. But then, he's not alone, and the GRUMPY side-plot comes back to prominence in the simplest way, as he turns out to be the powerful force luring the colonists out. His loss of his past is a rather crude metaphor for the way war criminals try to hide themselves in society instead of facing punishment, and its eventual self-sacrifice is the right concluding moment, but does leave the feeling that the story isn't actually over. The Doctor's initial weakness is later replaced by a dreary coda in which he makes a bargain to keep everyone alive, yet fails. One is left to wonder why he doesn't make that same effort more often. Otherwise, he seems well in control, running rings around White and needing SLEEPY to save the day. Benny is also the victim of unsubtle preparation, with her thoughts turning to having children - unaware that she is about to meet the man of her dreams (sort of). Chris and Roz' relationship continues to bore, as he fancies her, and she treats him like a fool. His psi-illness becomes a mark of his weakness, rather than strength as it is with many of the other colonists. On the whole, this is another Orman exercise in smugness, enlivened only by the external trappings she has to include. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy of this book. |