Babylon 5: Book 4 - Clark's Law
                    Author Jim Mortimore
                     Boxtree Paperbacks

                      Reviewed by Sue

When the Narn invaded the planet inhabited by the Tuchanq, they
thought they were enslaving a relatively peaceful race. But when
the Tuchanq got their chance to overthrown their captors, they did
so with an blood-thirsty enthusiasm. One Tuchanq in particular,
noMir Ru, was responsible for the death of more than forty Narn
who had been imprisoned. She was the one who had been chosen by
lottery; none of the other Tuchanq knew that she was the
executioner. But she took on the task gladly, painting herself
black so that she couldn't be seen, and singing a Song, an
important part of her heritage, as she slew the Narn one by one.
One Narn cried how 'The dark is singing', thus giving her a new
name, D'Arc. The hungry Tuchanq, heading for Babylon 5, were glad
of the Narn who travelled with them - in self-heating tins, having
been tipped into their food reprocessors, flavoured and coloured.

The Tuchanq hoped that Babylon 5 would be able to help them, but
the shock of seeing Narn on the station was too much for some of
them and a fight broke out. Several of the Tuchanq and Narn were
stunned by the security forces and for the Tuchanq this was a
disaster, for they never slept and loss of consciousness turned
them into psychotics. Their only cure was to be killed and reborn,
which could be done in a ritual fashion.

Reluctantly this was agreed to by the station personnel, but D'Arc
had already escaped the medical section and was roaming the
station, desperately seeking a new Song to replace hers which had
been broken by her unconsciousness. The only way to do this was
for her to take another's Song, and for that to happen, the other
person had to die. Finding her target, she closed in ...

President Clark had taken over after the mysterious death of
President Santiago and was trying to make his presence felt as
leader of the Earth Alliance. His brutal laws on capital
punishment decreed that D'Arc should also die as a result of her
actions. But the D'Arc who was responsible for the killing no
longer existed. As a result of her experiences and actions, her
mind had been wiped clean. Can she be held totally responsible? Is
it morally right to exact the penalty on her?

This is a harsh story from the Babylon 5 universe, but extremely
well written. The descriptions are brutally graphic and the story
compelling. Whatever your initial views on capital punishment, I
can guarantee this book will make you look more closely at them.
The regular crew play second fiddle to new characters whose lives
become intertwined with D'Arc, though she herself is a major
character who is rarely seen.







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