Timewyrm: Genesys

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Timewyrm: Genesys
Doctor Who book

Series	Virgin New Adventures
Release number	1
Featuring	Seventh Doctor Ace
Writer	John Peel
Publisher	Virgin Books
ISBN	ISBN 0-426-20355-0
Set between	Survival and Timewyrm: Exodus
No. of pages	230
Release date	June 1991
Followed by	Timewyrm: Exodus

Timewyrm: Genesys is an original Doctor Who novel, published by Virgin Publishing in their New Adventures range of Doctor Who novels. It was the first book in that series.

Like all Doctor Who spin-off media, its canonicity in relation to the television series is unclear.

1 Synopsis
2 Plot
3 External links
- 3.1 Reviews

[edit] Synopsis

In ancient Mesopotamia the Seventh Doctor and Ace together with Gilgamesh face a mythological Gallifreyan terror — the Timewyrm.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Somewhere in space above the planet Earth, two spaceships were locked in a desperate battle. One, commanded by a ruthless cybernetic woman, was shot down by the other. That woman was the only survivor. Her escape pod crash landed somewhere in ancient Mesopotamia, not far from the city-state of Kish. Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, found the escape pod while engaged on a spying mission against Kish. The woman, who claimed to be the Goddess Ishtar, tried to lure Gilgamesh into helping her. Gilgamesh wisely refused, and Ishtar became enraged, vowing that she would have her revenge.

On board the TARDIS, Ace awoke startled to discover that she had no memory of who or where she was. She got dressed, explored her surroundings, and eventually came to the console room of the time ship. There, the Doctor informed her that he is responsible, accidentally of course, for the removal of her memories. But before he had an opportunity to set about correcting his error, the Doctor triggered a message from his own past in the form of a holographic projection of the Fourth Doctor. Recorded during the events of The Invasion of Time, the fourth Doctor's warning concerned a mythological creature known only as the Timewyrm. After the Doctor restored Ace's memories, the TARDIS guided the travelers deep into Earth's history, where their battle against the Timewyrm would presumably take place.

Back in Uruk, some of the noblemen were not happy with their King Gilgamesh. Two in particular, Gudea and Ennatum, plotted against him. They sent a messenger to Kish warning them that Gilgamesh would be returning on another spy mission. This message was delivered to the High Priest Dumuzi in the Temple of Ishtar, a Temple graced by the presence of its divine namesake. Dumuzi, thoroughly under Ishtar's mental domination, received the message, and Ishtar plotted her revenge against Gilgamesh. Agga, King of Kish, was not pleased that Ishtar had chosen to visit his city. She was ordering the construction of strange, highly intricate metal designs throughout her Temple. Agga knew that Ishtar was immensely powerful, and he feared for the safety of his people. Particularly his daughter, Ninani.

At the very moment that Gilgamesh and his trusted Neanderthal friend Enkidu were ambushed by the Kishite guards, the TARDIS appeared. The Doctor and Ace immediately become involved in the melee. Ace used some of her nitro-nine explosives to frighten the attackers away. Gilgamesh and Enkidu were grateful for the assistance, and Gilgamesh mistook the strangers for the Gods Ea and Aya. The Doctor left Ace in a pub with Gilgamesh and Enkidu while he investigated Kish. Gilgamesh attracted some unwanted attention, and in order to avoid a brawl, Ace sang a song to entertain the publicans. She attracted the attention of Avram, a traveling songsmith, who told her that Ishtar was present in Kish. Immediately suspicious, Ace decided to set off for the Temple of Ishtar, along with Avram, Gilgamesh, and Enkidu, certain that the Doctor would be there, and would need her help.

In Kish, seeing her father's fear of Ishtar, Princess Ninani foolsihly planned to oppose the Goddess in any way she could. She sent for a young Priestess of Ishtar, En-Gula, so that she might learn more about Ishtar, and possibly find a way to fight her. En-Gula was also afraid of Ishtar, and willingly joined Ninani's conspiracy. As En-Gula creeps back into the Temple of Ishtar following her meeting with Ninani, she came across the Doctor, who was seeking an audience with the Goddess Ishtar. The Doctor was surprised that Ishtar was apparently present within her temple, which was not the response he was expecting. Thinking that he may be on to something, the Doctor allowed himself to be taken in to meet the Goddess. The High Priest Dumuzi drugged the Doctor into apparent unconsciousness so that his mind could be devoured by Ishtar. At that point, Ace and her party arrived. Thinking that the Doctor was in danger, Ace recklessly threw some more nitro-nine around, causing serious damage to the Temple. Ishtar, recognizing Gilgamesh, became enraged and vowed revenge upon them all.

Later, the Doctor was angry at Ace for her interferene, explaining that he was merely feigning unconsciousness to gather information about Ishtar. The Doctor revealed that the intricate patterns Ishtar was having worked into the walls of the Temple was some kind of massive electronic transmitter which she could use to control thousands of human minds over vast distances. Ace's explosives had damaged the transmitter, but it would only be a matter of time before Ishtar was able to enslave the entire planet. The party, which now included En-Gula and Avram, returned to Uruk to plan their next move. In Uruk, they all enjoyed a wonderful feast prepared in honor of Gilgamesh. At the feast, Avram entertained the court with a song about a mysterious God-like being known as Utnapishtim. The Doctor believes that there is more to the legend of Utnapishtim than mere fantasy. It was decided that Gilgamesh, Ace, and Avram would travel across country to seek out Utnapishtim, while the Doctor, Enkidu, and En-Gula stayed behind to keep an eye on Kish.

Ace's party traveled for a few days before reaching the extinct volcano where Utnapishtim was said to live. Avram, who had been there before, led them to two "scorpion men", in reality robotic guards designed to repel intruders. Within the volcano, they were led to a large lake, guarded by a single man. Gilgamesh, getting impatient, attacked the man. Ace was forced to disarm the guard of his laser gun, to avoid allowing Gilgamesh to be killed in contravention of known Earth history. Ace diplomatically resolved the situation, and the party used a small boat to travel to the center of the lake. There, Utnapishtim resided in the remains of a vast spaceship. He told how he had pursued Qataka, a ruthless criminal from the planet Anu, across vast stretches of space. He claimed that Qataka had been destroyed, but that his ship had been badly damaged in the fight. He sadly confided to Ace that his people would not be able to remain long within their wrecked ship, and that when they ventured out into the world, a destructive war with the humans would be inevitable. Ace told Utnapishtim that Qataka was not destroyed, that she was calling herself Ishtar and planning to take the Earth for herself. Utnapishtim agreed to help Ace destroy Qataka/Ishtar. He created a computer virus that would attack Ishtar's cybernetic body.

Meanwhile, the Doctor, Enkidu, and En-Gula secretly returned to Kish to consult with Ninani. The Doctor hoped Ninani could help him get back into Ishtar's temple undetected. Ninani was willing to help, but they were discovered by Agga. King Agga was so afraid of the punishment for his daughter's treachery against Ishtar that confined all of them (except his daughter) to the dungeons. Agga explained to Ninani that Ishtar claimed that she had a device which could destroy all the world, and that he believed her. He tried to convince Ninani that they could not afford to oppose such a powerful creature. Ninani waited for her father to leave, and then set about to rescue the others from the dungeons.

The Doctor, Enkidu, En-Gula, and Ninani return to the Temple of Ishtar, but they are discovered immediately by the Goddess, who was expecting this. Ishtar immediately took control of Ninani's mind, much to the anguish of Agga, who was helpless to stop any of this. The Doctor pleaded with Ishtar to show mercy, but to no avail. As Ishtar prepared once again to consume the Doctor's mind, an explosion rocked the temple. Ace had returned, vis a small flying craft piloted by Utnapishtim, along with Gilgamesh and Avram. As the battle began, the Doctor realized that Ishtar had rigged a cobalt bomb to explode in the event of her death. The bomb was powerful enough to destroy the planet. As Ace and the others attempted to destroy Ishtar, the Doctor was forced to try to save her. But he needn't have bothered, as Ishtar was in control anyway. But when she attempted to consume Ace's mind, Utnapishtim revealed that his computer virus had been implanted within all of their minds. By attacking Ace, Ishtar had doomed herself. Explaining about the bomb, the Doctor explained to Utnapishtim that they had to return to the TARDIS at once. Avram and the Doctor carried an unconscious Ace back to Utnapishtim's craft, while Utnapishtim collected the bomb.

Back on the TARDIS, the Doctor needed to find a way to keep Ishtar's mental processes going even after the virus destroyed her body. Using the TARDIS telepathic circuits, the Doctor mentally summoned the Third Doctor to assist with the technical aspects of the plan. The Doctor used one of Ishtar's mental implants, which she used to control people's minds, and wired it into the TARDIS telepathic circuits. In effect, he was able to download Ishtar into the TARDIS, keeping her alive long enough to disarm of the bomb. But when the Doctor went to delete Ishtar's mind from the TARDIS circuitry, he discovered that she wasn't there. She had quickly adapted to the TARDIS, and was using its systems as a replacement body. The Doctor tricked her into moving her consciousness to the TARDIS's secondary control room, which he then jettisoned into the Time Vortex, certain that the uncontrollable forces of the Vortex would destroy her.

The Doctor returned everyone to Mesopotamia, and assisted Utnapishtim in repairing his ship, making sure that the people of Anu could find an uninhabited planet to call their new home. Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor and Ace planned a relaxing steamboat ride down the Mississippi River. But the Doctor noticed the Time Path Indicator, which meant that they were being followed by another time machine. Ishtar had not been destroyed by the Vortex after all. She had assimilated the TARDIS components into herself, and emerged as a new and altogether more powerful threat: the Timewyrm! Knowing he had to stop the Timewyrm at any cost, the Doctor set the TARDIS to collide with the creature, which would have destroy them all. The Timewyrm evaded his trap, however, and escaped. Using the Time Path Indicator, the Doctor was able to track the Timewyrm through time and space. The TARDIS arrived in London in the 20th century, and the Doctor and Ace set out to find and destroy their new enemy.