Read Online Return to The Deep (From The Deep Book 2) by Michael Bray - Free Book Online

home. They looked at him, pretending not to notice the fresh bruise under his eye, which everyone knew had come at the hands of his father.
    "What do you mean?" Fernando asked.
    "You're all keen to see this thing freed. Why don’t you take matters into your own hands?"
    "I don’t see how we can do anything about it," Clayton said, his usual self-confidence surprisingly absent. “Besides, I thought you were trying to keep out of trouble?”
    Jim didn’t reply to Clayton. Instead, he looked directly at Tom. "You seem pretty certain they plan to move this thing sometime soon, right?"
    "Yeah, it looked that way,” Tom replied, not liking where the conversation was going.
    "Then, why don’t we wait until it's in transit, intercept the transport, and get this fish back in the water where it belongs."
    "That’s insane," Tom said, hoping Jim was joking. "As much as I'm against animal cruelty, I'm not about to go to jail over it. What you're talking about is not only dumb, it’s also highly illegal."
    "Come on," Jim said, the glimmer in his eyes telling the rest of the group just how serious he was, "you've seen those video clips of Greenpeace protesters fucking with the Japs about the whaling they do. All they ever get is a slap on the wrists because the governments know it would look bad to prosecute someone for doing the right thing."
    "This is different to spraying a whaler with a hose," Tom countered. "You're taking about stealing a truck, and then the logistics of trying actually to get the whale back in the water without killing or hurting it. It would be impossible.”
    "No, I’m talking about borrowing a truck for a few minutes. I don’t deny it would be hard, but I still think we could do it.”
     
    "Come on," Tom said to the rest of the group. "Will one of you help me out here? Have you heard this crap?”
    "Let's hear him out," Fernando said.
    "Are you crazy?"
    "I wanna hear it too," Joanne said, holding Toms hand.
    "You're all insane," Tom muttered, pulling his hand away and sitting back in his seat, arms folded.
    Jim waited for a few seconds, and then went on. "Chances are, they will need a big ass flatbed to transport this thing. According to those photos, this thing is 90 feet long. That means they will need a specialist truck driver to drive this whale wherever they intend to take it. All we need to do is pull him over, and convince him to get out, and then take over the vehicle."
    "And who do you think will drive it?" Tom said.
    "I will," Jim fired back with a grin. "I'll also convince the driver that it’s in his interest to just jump out and let us get on with what we need to do."
    "This won’t work," Marie said, her brow furrowed, "it's too risky."
    "Finally, a voice of reason," Tom said.
    "Not really," Clayton cut in. "It seems risky because it’s an extreme move, but imagine the public response if we pull this off. How the hell could they arrest us? What would we have done wrong?"
    "They would lock us up and throw away the key," Tom grunted. “I can’t believe you’re all even discussing this.”
    "No, they wouldn’t."
    "How do you reach that conclusion?"
    "Think about it," Jim said with a grin, "you're seeing things from a ‘them and us’ perspective. Look at it how the media will see it. To them, we will have bravely liberated a fully-grown blue whale and returned it to the ocean, free from a life of misery and darkness at the hands of the government. We’ll be heroes. Public pressure will make all the difference."
    "You know, he's right," Fernando said, "I think we could do this."
    "For God's sake, listen to what you're saying. This is insane."
    "Actually, I agree," Joanne said, looking at Tom. "We can’t just sit and watch this happen."
    "I can’t believe this from you of all people. This isn’t just a game. People could be hurt."
    "This animal is already hurt. I thought you knew me well enough to know how strongly I feel about things like this."
    "I know you feel strongly, baby, I