Variant X

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Australia s strict quarantine rules have been breached and an alien strain of Dermatobia hominis, the human botfly, has crossed with the harmless native variety, creating a new and deadly strain which flourishes with all the vigour of an introduced species. The Top End has been abandoned as people flee a killer whose eggs hatch upon contact with human body heat, allowing the larvae to burrow under the skin. Scientists race to find a biological remedy. Thirteen-year-old Adam Wilde s father is searching for a variety of botfly safe to humans and genetically dominant to the deadly Variant X. He establishes a floating laboratory on a tributary of the Amazon and here, with his wife and son, he works in cooperation with the local Indians. Adam s tranquil existence on board Carlotta is disturbed by the arrival of an old friend and colleague of his parents. Jerry Loundes has come to help and has brought his fourteen-year-old daughter Sharma with him. Adam resents Sharma s intrusion and she, in turn, is hostile towards Adam and his family. In the heat and humidity of the forest, tension builds and things start to go very wrong.