Ocean: War of Independence Read Free Page B

that’s the most effective way to get attention—and I think it is—we need to do it.”
    “All right, but maybe we could limit the demonstration to twenty-four hours? That would inconvenience a lot of people, but we could then give them back the bridge and move our demonstrations downtown and elsewhere, not staying in any one place for too long. Of course, the police are likely to respond with mass arrests, but they can’t keep everyone in jail, and gradually we’ll wear them down.”
    “Good idea. And it goes without saying that you and Professor Greco need to be especially careful, because of the arrest warrants on all of us.”
    “Right. We need to set up the first demonstration fast, in order to keep the authorities from getting wind of it and setting up their own police barricades. I had a meeting with the event organizers this morning, and we can converge on the bridge from both directions in vans and other vehicles that are packed with more than a thousand people. The vehicles will stop in the middle of the span, stopping traffic, and our demonstrators will stream out, plugging everything up. At the same time, we’ll have pedestrians and bicyclists walking the sidewalks in each direction, and congregating in the middle. We’ll also have people fanning out all over the parking areas on the south and north ends of the bridge.”
    “Your demonstration sounds like a military operation, like something Dirk Avondale would set up. I’m impressed, Monique.”
    “Thank you. I do see it as a tactical operation, and I want us to take over everything to do with that bridge. My friends have even arranged with some hardy souls—mountain climbers and rock climbers—to ascend to the tops of the towers and hang large ocean-rights banners. People can begin appearing on the bridge about the same time as you set up the floating barricade across the channel. It should take you what, two or three hours from now?”
    “Sounds about right. Like you, J.D. and I have already made our preparations, getting the marine animals ready for action.”
    “Just leave the land operation to me. I have links to environmental groups, university students, bicycle clubs, and even sailing clubs. We can also fill the water with boats. It will be big! I promise you that. They’re all ready to go, waiting for our instructions.”
    “All right. Tell them to move forward.”
    Within moments after they concluded the conversation, Gwyneth began to form large-bodied marine creatures into a cordon across the channel, a quarter mile east of the bridge. There were humpbacks, blue whales, orcas, dolphins, whale sharks, sunfish, and a host of other animals. She even brought in a plesiosaur and placed it near the center of the barricade for effect—a genetically ancient creature with a small head, sharp teeth, and a very long neck. The animal kept turning its head this way and that, like a dinosaur or a Loch Ness monster, and would make for good publicity photographs.
    By suppertime, Gwyneth had set up the floating barricade across the entire channel, stretching from San Francisco to Marin County, and had used additional animals to turn back surface ships and boats. On each side of the blockade, Jacqueline Rado and J.D. Watts had infested the waters with a security force of white sharks and great barracudas. The available sharks were in great number, with many of them having come from their breeding ground in Tomales Bay to the north. There were perhaps a quarter as many barracudas, but the combined security force seemed to be more than adequate.
    J.D. was showing some talent in handling the barracudas, but he was not entirely comfortable with them yet. Nonetheless, the marine animals appeared to be trying to do as he wished. Jacqueline, in addition to her skills with these creatures and with sharks, had an affinity for shorebirds (as did Kimo), and she had attracted a number of rare species from the Point Reyes National Seashore north of San Francisco.