by Ryan Stewart
Deep in the Congo, a scientist named Jenny Lowe is running for her life from the machine-gun fire of guerrillas when she comes upon the isolated cabin of a colleague who has always kept his distance despite their identical fields of study – primatology. Finding him dead in his doorway and his cabin ransacked for valuables, she is about to press on when a figure hiding inside catches her eye: a young girl. Acting on instinct, Jenny grabs the girl and they race through the darkness towards the safety of a helicopter: it’s not until the danger subsides that the girl, Lucy, is seen clearly. She is, in a word, different: dark, sleek, and muscular, with features that are proportional, yet very exotic. She proves to be startlingly well-educated – fluent in poetry and mathematics – yet culturally autistic, having been born and bred in the jungle. [..]
