Epilogue

[Lorna]

The part that really gets my mind churning is the short Epilogue.
Part 1: Two wounded ancestors survive. How much longer do they survive? I didn't give them much chances. They are wounded. They are stranded on an island during winter with no more food, except for each other.
The people are going to return and check the island to make certain the ancestors have been eradicated.
Part 2: What IS the creature that lures, traps and eats the squirrel? At first I thought someone else survived the plane crash, but a squirrel would be familiar with the scent of a human, though the "white skin and a head covered in long, heavy black fur" might be humanoid from a dying squirrel's perspective. It wouldn't be an ancestor, as we know them from the novel, because they devour EVERYTHING and don't leave bones and fur behind. Unless, it's an ancestor that has survived into adulthood and is now on its' own.
Or is the creature an escaped, presumed dead, experiment from some other genetic manipulation lab.?

[Budd]

I think it is what happened with Jian's eggs. not sure how these eggs would have survived to maturity or where they were even emplaced.

[[deleted user]]

I think Budd is right. Remember the squirrel thinks "I'm inside something dead" - the eggs were in Jian. They had terrific growth. She died. Somehow one survived by consuming her. It would be more human and have better problem solving - and less feral nature.

What I missed somewhere along the way was how/why they had the crests.