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.The smallfish get the easy meal.The larger fish get their parasites picked off.If they didn't have the smallfish around, if they ate them all, they'd end up covered in parasites.Both ofthem get what they need; it's what's called a commensal relationship.""I saw a turtle back there eating what looked like a sponge," Edmund said."What does the sponge get?""Eaten," Bruce replied with a shrug."Predation is predation.But.thattype of sponge grows over live coral as well as dead.If it was left uncheckedit would spread over the whole reef, killing it.Tide and currents along with storms would eventually wipe the remnant coralout.So the whole ecosystem would die.If you killed all the turtles, it mightnot come to pass, there are other things that eat sponges and they wouldincrease as their food source increased, but you begin to understand a smallbit of the complexity of the web of life that is a coral reef.Take away thedamsel fish and algae grow unchecked.Parrot fish eat the live coral, butPage 134 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmltheir fecal matter is almost pure sand because of the rock they have to ingestto get to the polyps; their shit is what you see as crystal white sand.Butthere'ssomething in particular I'd like to show you; it's not far.""Let's go," Edmund said, turning away from the cleaning station.Down the section of patch reef a large coral head rose up in the middle of anexpanse of low rocks.It was about three meters high and two across, taperinga bit like a teardrop.It was colored a faint green, as if it had some algaeall over it.Sections of it were covered with the mosslike growths he'd seenelsewhere."This is Big Greenie," Bruce said, coasting to a stop and letting the currentcarry him past the coral head."It's a species called green coral and it isthe oldest living organism on earth.""I thought that was some tree in western Norau?" Edmund said, peering at therock."And is it alive?""Oh, yes," Bruce said."See the fuzzy patches?""I'd noticed them before," Edmund admitted."They look like it's covered inmoss.""Those are the live polyps," Bruce corrected."They're actually related tojellyfish.Think of them as upside down jellyfish surrounded by a rock shell.They're filter feeders; they extend tendrils that catch plankton as it passesby.Once a year they reproduce, releasing clouds of sperm and eggs to drift onthe wind.But Big Greenie, here, has been doing that for seven million years.""Damn," Edmund said, impressed."It very nearly died," Bruce continued."Water conditions in themid-twenty-first century were terrible.There was, as it later turned out, anormal climactic shift to higher temperatures, then the cycle reversed andthere was a sharp temperature decline, a mini ice age.All of those createdtemperature stresses.Toxins released by industry into the water, diverstouching the reef, industrial fishing that removed vital species, all of itnearly killed something that had lived for millions of years.There weresections of this reef where less than ten percent included live polyps; thatwas a recipe for disaster.""Your point?" Edmund said, dryly."You are, as I mentioned, very focused, Edmund Talbot.But while it'simportant to focus on the trees, sometimes you have to let the forest speakfor itself.I'm showing you the oldest tree in the forest because I thought itwas something that you could focus upon.This is what the Work is all about;ensuring that the reef, Big Greenie included, is never brought to thoseconditions again."Edmund thought about that for a moment, kicking against the current to carryhim back to the coral head.He dropped down to the bottom and looked at itclosely, then backed up when he saw the head of a very large moray stuck backin a crevice near the coral's base.Finally he swam back to where Bruce was waiting patiently."I understand what you mean," Talbot said."There's a 'but' there," Bruce replied."There's a huge 'but' there," Edmund admitted."The first 'but' is that theconditions that you're talking about don't apply.Won't apply.To get to the conditions you describe will require industry,major industry.Which cannot exist given the explosive protocols.""Toxins can be created without internal combustion," Bruce said with a frown."Not on large scale, without internal combustion or electrical energy.Thefirst is prevented byMother under the explosive protocols.And any power production gets sucked upby the damned Net.So you cannot have large-scale industry.You have no idea what I'd give rightnow for a couple of tons of sulfuric acid, for example, but producing it in aPage 135 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmllow-tech environment is a stone bitch."Bruce opened his mouth but Edmund raised a hand."Give me a second here." Edmund grinned."You had your say.If we win thiswar, the entire system comes back online and all the conditions before theFall hold.You'll be able to replicate all your needs again.There won't beany industry, any more than there was for a thousand years before the Fall.Nor will there be any more visitors, because there aren't that many people andeven with the natural population increase that is going on, there won't bemore than a billion and a half, two billion max, in thenext hundred years.There's also a maximum even past that point; you can onlysupport so many humans on preindustrial agriculture.You forgot nutrientrun-off in your litany, by the way.""It's in there," Bruce said, grimly."Flora bay was nearly killed by it.Andthe bay is the nursery for half the ecosystem in this region.""But that won't happen because you cannot transport the fertilizers from wherethey are to where they are needed," Edmund snapped."God knows we're runninginto that already in Raven's Mill.My point is that while the war is going on,the reefs are still out of danger.But you are not.""So you've said," Bruce shrugged."But New Destiny doesn't have a reason toattack us.""I'm not talking about New Destiny," Edmund replied.They had drifted awayfrom the coral head on the current and were headed in the general direction oftown."Your people are excessively vulnerable.And they are valuable to morethan just us and New Destiny.We passed a settlement on the way here in Bimiisland.With your underwater abilities, you're a priceless asset to a grouplike that.How long until they come to the conclusion that since you'reunwilling to assist them, they should force you to?""How are they going to do that?" Bruce said, angrily."I don't know," Edmund replied with a shrug."But some of them, maybe not now,but soon, will figure out a way
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