Susan Bannister is the main character of Pala Mepaj's story "Susan's Story". She was born in Colorado to Kurt and Penelope Bannister, who loved traveling the world. One day, on their way to Indonesia, a storm shipwrecks the boat they're on, and they end up stranded in the jungles of Borneo, where they all must learn to survive, including little Susan. Eventually, the parents and the crew die off, leaving a now grown Susan alone (aside from the animals, of course). She has adapted to the wild life, and now knows everything there is to know about living in a place like Borneo. One day, a group of men from New Orleans, Louisiana; Raymond, Jeffries, Wendell, Razor, and Jim, arrive, claiming they are there for research purposes. Susan is suspicious of the group, as she has heard that many who go to Borneo and other jungles and forests are there to exploit and financially benefit from it, rather than out of any sincerity. Despite this, she lets them stay, provided they behave. She becomes close with Jim, who is the only one who is genuinely interested in the land, as well as her. One day, she overhears Raymond and the men, sans Jim, talking about getting rich and hsomething about "boss", and she realizes they were in fact poachers. She approaches them and fights them, but Jeffries hits her with a blowdart and the men capture her. She does escape and goes to warn Jim about the truth. A few weeks later, the "boss" arrives: Dutch poacher Johannes Van Nuys, who is well known in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia. She gets captured again, and Van Nuys mocks her. She escapes with the help of Jim, and Jim calls his contacts in Jakarta, the capital, and gets the authorities over to arrest Van Nuys and the American men.
