The jar that he had been carrying, Matt saw, was filled with some liquid that radiated a pale yellow light. Was it phosphorescing? He ran his hand through his coal black hair, his blue eyes narrowed. "I thought so!" Sawyer muttered. "I thought so. Come here, Frazer. Take a look." The biochemist rose, looked through the microscope. "Well, I'll be damned!" he ejaculated. "Where did you get that specimen?" "Never mind. Isaac, you and Matt come see what you think." When it came Matt's turn to put his eye to the aperture, he could distinguish nothing at first. Then he made out dozens of minute amoeba-like organisms squirming in the specimen on the slide. Their resemblance to amoebae, he saw, was only superficial. Each one of the minute organisms was glowing like a very small incandescent light. He glanced up in bewilderment. "Well," said Sawyer, "What do you make of them? Are they plant or animal?" "Where did they come from?" Matt asked. "The river. That's a specimen of river water." The fat man pointed at the bottle. "I tell you, Salt River and the Ohio are alive with these organisms. Have you ever seen anything like them before?" The three men shook their heads. "What do you think, Jesse?" Matt asked the biologist. "What do I think? I think they're the first evolutionary step of the life spores that invaded Earth!" "The life spores?" The fat man nodded emphatically, crinkling an extra chin. "An alien life form starting up the evolutionary ladder. I'm positive that they're neither plant nor animal...." "Then what are they?" Matt interrupted. Jesse Sawyer shrugged fat shoulders. "I don't know. I want Frazer to analyze them if he can." "An alien life form!" said Matt speculatively. "Two dominant life forms on the same planet...." He broke off as the eerie wail of sirens rent the building. "The Amazons! They're here!" he cried. From the northeast corner of the building there came the staccato roar of a machine gun. "The roof!" Matt cried and dashed for the elevator. The four men ran out on the landscaped roof. They made hurriedly for a tight knot of men and women at the opposite rail. Megaphones roared suddenly as Captain Bascom called through them: "Don't approach any closer! We've machine guns trained over the grounds!" His voice was the voice of a giant through the electric megaphones. Matt reached the rail and peered down. "Where are they?" he asked. "There!" Lynn cried, pointing. Thirty stories below, Matt could see the grounds lit by the flood lights as bright as day. At the edge of illumination, he could make out tiny shadowy figures. Suddenly, someone grasped his shoulder. "Never mind the women," he heard Sawyer's voice grate in his ear. "Look at the river!" Matt raised his eyes. Salt River and the mile-wide Ohio were broad glowing ribbons of light. "The alien amoebas!" he gasped. VII For moments, Matt Magoffin stared silently at the luminous rivers. Then he turned to Lynn.