"Breakfast ready?"
"Yes, my somnolent lord. There also have been six calls for you." She ticked them off on her fingers. "Isaac Trigg; then Captain Bascom. Then Isaac Trigg again. After that Sawyer called; then Isaac Trigg. Finally, Isaac Trigg called to say he was on the way up."
He said, "Let's eat."
"Aren't you curious?"
"Yes. But I'm also hungry. Can't you tell me while we eat?"
She sat down. "Sawyer called to let you know that Frazer has analyzed the amoebas."
Matt looked at her sharply. "Well, what did he find?"
"They aren't carbon life at all. They're silicon life!"
Matt stared at her in disbelief. Theoretically, of course, it was quite possible. Silicon had the ability to form complex molecules very closely akin to carbon compounds. Somehow, though, he had never seriously considered life manifesting itself in anything but carbon-based protoplasm.
The girl went on before he could ask any questions. "Sawyer also said that although they had examined sample after sample of the water, they were unable to find a trace of the normal microscopic organisms usually present.