Page 14 - Nutshell 1

“Hey, old-timer! What do you think about the crimson peril?”
But the starfish had clammed up. Algie realized he might as well relax
and wait for the results of Horatio’s brave attempt to stem the red tide.
Nobody else had a chance against the wily and ruthless Rhoda Fighter.
He lost track of time. High tide came and went. Each day passed
much like the one before and the one after. Tidbits came within reach
and he ate. The water remained free of the telltale signs of concentrated
red algae: he could not detect any discoloration, toxic effluvia or blockage
of sunlight.
Suddenly he was not alone: a single splash brought Horatio and his
unit back into the tide pool.
“We did it!” announced the leader of the blue-greens.
“But how?” Algie was shocked. “The reds outnumbered you a
million to one. And Rhoda is one tough character: how did you deal with
her?”
“Ah, well,” said Horatio, “do you remember why I quit the oil
business? I didn’t like the idea of us, the eaters, becoming the eaten.
That’s the law of the sea as well as the law of the jungle: eat or be eaten.
Now the reason the red tide was so eager to attack the West Coast is that
on the other side of the Pacific they are eaten by people.”
“Really?” Bloom was incredulous.