| ETERNITY WEEPS by Jim Mortimore |
| Story 58 Synopsis: Earth, 2003. Bernice goes to Turkey to search for any remains of Noah's Ark. Whilst Jason considers Mount Ararat, she goes to nearby Mahser Dagi. Both expeditions believe they have found the right site, and are then attacked by soldiers, who kill most of their party. Jason finds Bernice shot. They use their time rings to call for help. The Doctor arrives with Chris, but Bernice winds up in terrorist hands. Jason demands Chris go back to save her. Meanwhile, Bernice is accidentally teleported to the Moon with Tammuz, a terrorist, who believes himself to be in a secret base whose purpose is to attack his people. He sends Liz Shaw, working there, back to Turkey, holding a deadly chemical which later kills her. Jason and Chris are dosed with a serum that makes them immune to it, but it spreads at a colossal rate. The Doctor gets as many people as he can into the TARDIS to reach the Moon. Bernice berates Jason, causing him to take her time ring and head back 6 billion years to when the Cthalctose built the Ark, which Liz was investigating. He tries to prevent the creation of the contagious chemical that later kills Liz, but instead causes it to happen. When he returns, the Doctor takes a sample of Cthalctose matter from Jason's boots to make an antivirus. But it doesn't work. Chris finally realises he was given the correct formula Liz had created, and the Doctor is able to reverse the deadly chemical, and prevent the destruction of Earth. Bernice and Jason decide to divorce. |
| Review:- The reliably expansive Mortimore returns to the fold with a stirring little thriller about the end of the world. For a change, the story is told through the first-person, with Bernice and Jason alternating chapters. This allows the story to spread more quickly, and the initial mystery of which mountain is the last resting place of Noah's Ark is soon overshadowed by the tribal terror of life in Turkey, and then the danger of great power in the wrong hands... At times, the race to find the Ark, and then to find the solution to Agent Yellow, seems to be just a background issue, whilst Bernice and Jason's marriage falls apart in the foreground. This is a noble idea, but rather showed up by the fact that their problems are pretty small beer compared to the imminent end of the world. Indeed, when Bernice goads Jason into action, leading to his fateful mission to the Cthalctose, there is no stated suggestion that she is in any way in the wrong, which is a heroically optimistic viewpoint. Considering she later became the star of her own range book of adventures, the presumption seems to be that she can do no wrong, or that Jason is too fallible to remain part of her life. That's not quite the full picture that comes across in this book, though. The Doctor and Chris do turn up after a while, the latter still seemingly grief-stricken over Roz, which begs the question what changed after the preceding Bad Therapy? He does prove a useful ally for Jason, though, and of course he comes through with the solution at the end, thanks to his future life. The Doctor shows great skill in piloting a helicopter and synthesizing a solution to Agent Yellow, but often seems to be just another character, which is a bold if regrettable step. His explanation of the book's title seems to sum up his contribution to the book. Liz Shaw's brief appearance and swift death comes out of the blue, thus robbing the event of much emotional impact. Mortimore is open about the grief he felt for his father around this time, and his sudden proliferation of books testifies to this (as do their subject matters). Then again, millions die at the hands of the inimical Cthalctose virus, and though some sense of drama comes from this, it's diluted by distance. Sadly, neither individual deaths, nor those of millions, comes across as meaningful. Whilst the technical material is presumably very detailed and impressive, the idea that Bruce Springsteen would have been elected in 2000 as US President is amusing (presumably the Boss would have been preferable to the real Presidential winner), and the depictions of soldiers as hard, ruthless killers is probably mostly true, there's a lack of heart that stops this book being great. It's a gripping action thriller, but so what? |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy of this book. |