SERUM by Dennis Ogden
In 1999, during East Timor’s violent struggle for independence, Australian marine biologist Professor Marcus Glasson watched helplessly as a brutal militia leader abducted eight-year-old Noi de Jesus.
It has taken eighteen years for Marcus to fulfil his promise to rescue her. What he discovers could help him achieve his dream.
A rare sea worm, found in the volcanic vents under the Banda Sea, is the source of a serum that, when administered to pregnant lab mice renders their offspring immune to all known diseases. The immunity is passed on through following generations, offering the hope of a disease-free world.
Discovering the rescued Noi is newly pregnant, Marcus Glasson sees his chance to test the serum on a human and achieve his dying gift to the world.
As the unborn child’s father was her sadistic abductor, Noi is taken to Yeppoon, Queensland for her safety. There, Marcus succumbs to years of self-testing his own experiments and dies.
Noi is now alone in a strange land with no ID.
Fooled by an offer of help, she is violently assaulted.
As she lies comatose in hospital, the police pigeonhole her as an illegal Asian sex worker. The case is passed to the Department of Immigration. There, researcher Kailee Banks must decide the girl’s origin.
What she uncovers sets her, Noi and her unborn baby on a dangerous course.
Death, greed, corruption, betrayal and the race to find another worm threaten the survival of Noi and her miracle baby.
It takes the Banda Sea to determine the outcome.
