The Whale Song Translation: A Voyage of Discovery To Neptune and Beyond

by Howard Steven Pines

  The sound of a familiar musical jingle punctured Dmitri’s reverie. Sounding like the tintinnabulations of a music box melody, the tune reminded him of the bell-ringing announcement on his father’s ice cream truck. Long ago, he’d composed a tribute to his dad to this very jingle. He hadn’t thought about it for many years. He had called it “The Song of My Father.”

  Dmitri stared into space. When a single tear slid down his cheek, Melanie reached out and clutched his shoulders. “I’m so sorry.” She shook him gently. “I didn’t realize you’d be . . .”

  Her voice and her touch brought him back. He turned to face her. “How did you know I should hear that?”

  “The last time you visited me, you mentioned your father’s accident. I wanted to help you so badly, I—”

  Just as she had done earlier, he touched his fingers, ever so gently, to her lips. “After school, the kids streamed into the street to my father’s ice cream truck and his beckoning jingle. It was a mob scene of pure delight. All of my classmates danced around him, waving their quarters, and begging him to be first to receive their treats. They adored him and so did I. Despite the drudgery of a low-paying job, I could see how happy he’d been to bring joy to so many kids. I was so proud to be his son.” Dmitri choked back emotion, pausing to regain his composure. “Those were the happiest moments of my childhood, maybe even of my entire life.”

  Melanie leaned closer, until they were face-to-face, and grasped his hands. “I know your father would be very proud of you—a scientist in the quest of breakthrough discoveries. If he were with us now, you’d probably be asking for his advice instead of mine. So what do you think he’d want you to do? While you’re thinking about it, close your eyes.”

  Dmitri did as instructed and soon felt Melanie’s soft caress upon his temples. While she massaged his scalp, she’d begun to hum the lyrical melody of “Greensleeves.” He luxuriated in the soothing sensations of her tender strokes and floated upon the gentle swells of her voice. As he purred and smiled, the vexing thoughts that had clouded his mind gradually dissipated. Like a fog dissolving to reveal a marvelous hidden landscape, his mind’s eye gazed upon the images of both his true father and his adoptive father figure. Although it was too late to save Michael Dmitri, David Dmitri could still “rescue” McPinsky. To his amazement, the goddess of the mountain had once again transmuted sound and vibration into illumination. He opened his eyes to the sight of her radiant smile.

  “Hey, buster.” Melanie poked a finger into Dmitri’s chest. “Don’t think for a minute you’re going to launch that floating Speakeasy Lab without the assistance of your neighborhood speech therapist.”

  Dmitri responded with a crisp military salute. “Permission granted. All aboard ship.”

  Melanie saluted back. “By the way, Captain, when do we sail?”

  “Lila said we’d better sneak aboard and launch a couple of hours before sunrise. Her pal is piloting the boat. So tell me, how are you interpreting the sounds from the playground right about now?”

  “Like an Ode to Joy,” she whispered, and planted a lingering kiss on his lips.

  A few moments later, Dmitri heard the ringing of a school bell. With a glance at her wrist watch, Melanie said, “Recess is over.” When the joyful buzz of the children’s chorus subsided, she waved an imaginary baton up into the trees and winked. Within seconds, the mynah bird symphony resumed at full-throated intensity.

  WINDWARD SEA FLIGHT

  Kihei Boat Harbor, Maui—pre-dawn, the next morning

  “Don’t splash so loud!” Lila’s fierce whisper pierced the night.

  Frozen in mid-stroke, Dmitri clutched an oar and listened. The once distant voices were much closer now. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.”

  “Shhh, be quiet,” Lila commanded.

  Clad in black, their faces shadowed by dark makeup, the seven coconspirators stealthily rowed a pair of rafts along the quay. Dmitri shared the lead raft with Lila, Melanie, and Greg. Seema, Andrew, and Lila’s friend Tony, who was to pilot the Research in Paradise experimental vessel, followed in their wake. Concealed by the cloak of a new moon, they navigated toward the floodlit glow of the PICES boat dock. Dmitri watched the reflections of onshore lights shimmering on the water. The undulating images conjured up reflections of recent events.

  Following Lila’s plan, Dmitri had driven Melanie and his SoCalSci associates to the 3 a.m. rendezvous point, a secluded frontage road at the far end of the Kihei boat harbor. After they’d scrambled across the beachfront to the jetty rocks, their flashlights found Lila and Tony perched upon two inflatable Zodiac rafts. Despite the bobbing motion of the lightweight vessels, the ticklish boarding operation had gone smoothly until Andrew stumbled knee-deep into the bay. Once they’d yanked him aboard, Lila and Tony had outlined the plan to circumnavigate the harbor and approach the boat dock under a curtain of darkness and silence.

  As soon as they’d launched, they discovered the difficulty in coordinating their paddling efforts. They seemed to be going nowhere fast and had fallen behind schedule according to Dmitri’s glow-in-the-dark watch. “Okay,” said Lila. “On my mark, pull.” Repeating the command numerous times, they’d synchronized to her rhythm and surged ahead at a steady clip.

  Now, fifteen minutes later, they converged upon their destination. Dmitri’s trepidation intensified as the raft pitched upon the wavelets whipped up by an advancing storm. “Did you hear that?” In this anxious state, he imagined he’d heard an eerie greeting call. Paddling closer to the dock, he cupped a hand to his ear. The foreboding sound had turned into a peaceful symphony of chimes: the rigging cables of many boats beating against their stolid masts. Just an oar’s length away from the Research in Paradise, Dmitri glanced up at the double-decker boat and shivered. Illuminated by the dock lights, the all-white vessel incandesced with a faint, spectral glow—like a ghost ship.

  Dmitri shuddered at the yelping, rowdy outbursts echoing from the pier. He’d read the news reports about a protest blockade to prevent dockside access to their vessel. Fundamentalists had proclaimed the PICES experiment a violation of God’s will and had organized an around-the-clock vigil to enforce their edict. To avoid a confrontation, Dmitri’s teammates knew they’d need to execute their plan to perfection.

  Tony, now officially in command of the Research in Paradise crew, whispered instructions for boarding the fifty-foot vessel. He was the first to ascend the six-foot ladder at the left side of the stern and adjacent to the boarding ramp. Aided by helping hands, the precarious transfer from the Zodiacs up to the passenger deck proceeded without a hitch. Being the last person to cross over, Lila shoved and kicked the two sixty-pound rafts and watched as they drifted away. A friend would retrieve them at sunrise.

  Tony toggled his LED headlamp three times, the prearranged signal to Andrew, Lila, Dmitri, and Greg to untie the ropes tethering the boat to the dock cleats. They tiptoed across the stern’s compact first-level deck, their footsteps illuminated by the headlamps Lila had purchased from a local camping store.

  According to plan, Melanie and Seema disappeared through a door into the enclosed passenger area housing the glass-bottomed observation deck. Andrew and Lila, the two most athletically inclined members of the team, kneeled at the top of the gangway entrance ramp. They clutched oars like shields, arms extended, and prepared for battle. Dmitri and Greg crouched behind them as a second line of defense.

  Dmitri wiped his forehead. He was soaked in perspiration. This was the pivotal moment. Their next action would set them upon an irreversible course. He saw Tony climb the stairs to the spacious, upper-level observation deck. Dmitri knew what to expect. Tony entered the pilot house, perched above the bow, and donned a set of night-vision goggles, a memento of his military service in Iraq. Tony paused while his eyes adapted to the goggles, and after a quick study of the boat’s controls, he signaled down to Andrew and Lila. Dmitri drew a deep breath and held it in, waiting for—

  The engine roared to life, shattering
the night silence, and triggering an instantaneous commotion on the pier.

  “Hey . . . what’s that noise? They’re getting away! Stop that boat!”

  Within seconds, flashlight beams crisscrossed the dock and climbed the boarding ramp, illuminating the shadowy forms of Lila and Andrew. Hearing clanging footsteps and seeing three hefty, flashlight-bearing figures charging up the aluminum gangway, Dmitri braced himself for an ugly showdown. The conspirators, however, had anticipated this contingency. Tony jerked the gear in the reverse direction. Seeing the boat inching away from the slip, the protestors leapt from the top of the ramp. Andrew and Lila wielded their oars like martial artists. With deft strokes to their foes’ shins, they knocked them off-balance. As the boat glided away, two of the dazed attackers screamed expletives and splashed into the water.

  With Lila and Andrew fully engaged, the third interloper landed on the lower deck, scrambled to his feet, and bulldozed past them. Like an NFL linebacker charging the quarterback and snorting like an enraged bull, he tackled Dmitri. They hit the deck together with a crashing thud. Hearing the grunts, groans, and the thrashing of limbs, Dmitri’s teammates joined the fracas. Lila and Andrew grabbed the attacker by the legs, pulling him clear. Greg’s left foot delivered an immobilizing blow to the assailant’s groin. Dragging him to the gunwale, they hoisted him overboard to be reunited with his thrashing companions.

  By the time the invaders had scrambled out of the water, Tony had maneuvered well away from the dock. He shifted into forward gear and gunned the engines. The Research in Paradise accelerated away from its bondage. Dmitri’s heart beat a crazy rhythm in his chest. He fully expected to hear the shrieking siren of a Coast Guard cutter bearing down on them. For an interminable minute, he listened to the steady soliloquy of the boat’s engine as the enemy’s voices gradually faded away. His face hurt and he shivered in the darkness, but he also felt waves of relief. He’d overcome his own worst fears. The team, his team, had triumphed over their adversaries.

  “We did it!” hollered Andrew.

  Lila let out a whoop. “Yeah! The forces of evil have been vanquished.” The giddy duo exchanged hand slaps.

  Hearing the commotion, Melanie and Seema bounded outside.

  “Guys, that was amazing,” said Melanie. “How did you get rid of them?”

  “The years of aikido paid off.” Andrew waved an oar, triumphantly, above his head. “I practiced stick fighting every day in class. The basic idea is to knock your attacker off balance, and in this case, into the water.” He gave them a whirlwind demo as he spun and thrust the oar at an invisible foe. “And Lila was fantastic!”

  “I was captain of my college field hockey team.” Lila laughed. “I pretended the oar was the hockey stick and their ankles the pelota.”

  Lila and Andrew’s shipmates showered them with mirthful accolades, rejoicing in the dim illumination of their headlamps.

  “We look like a school of flashlight fish,” said Greg.

  “What’s the story with those cool Ninja outfits, Lila?” asked Dmitri. “They remind me of a Bruce Lee movie.”

  “Would you believe these are old Halloween costumes,” replied Lila. “I even found one that fit Andrew’s scrawny frame.” She covered his face with her palm.

  Even Andrew shared in the collective laughter.

  Seema spoke through a torrent of giggles. “Do you guys realize how ridiculous our faces look?”

  “Yeah,” replied Andrew, licking his lips, “and it doesn’t taste very good either.” Andrew’s finger traced a streak across his mascara-encrusted cheek.

  “I can solve that problem.” Lila rushed inside. She returned bearing a big, cloth bag. “Here you go.” She passed out hand towels and mocha Frappuccinos, enough for everyone.

  “Thank you!” Melanie raised her bottle like a celebratory libation and proposed a toast to her friend’s thoughtfulness.

  After they’d wiped away the makeup, they went upstairs for some fresh air. Savoring their mochas, they watched silently as the shore lights receded into the distance.

  Melanie’s probing flashlight beam revealed a blue welt under Dmitri’s right eye. “Poor baby, what happened?”

  “Don’t you know?” Greg slapped Dmitri on the shoulder. “Dr. Dmitri here put his body on the line. The guy who tackled him was a brute, too.”

  Dmitri dabbed gingerly at his eye. “Ouch,” he groaned.

  “My hero,” Melanie cooed and hugged him.

  As the scudding boat bounced upon the rough seas, Dmitri felt a bit queasy. Nevertheless, he was thrilled. They sailed, unimpeded, toward an opportunity to revolutionize the mindscape of language and intelligence. The weight upon his conscience—that he’d sanctioned this desperate action—lifted, and he experienced the buoyancy he imagined an astronaut might feel upon launching into earth orbit. They heaved through the water at a speed of about fifteen knots in the windward direction, west by southwest, through the Kealaikahiki Channel and into the leeward waters of Maui County. They’d planned to get as far away as possible from the primary shipping lane known as the Lahaina Roads.

  “Hey, mates.” Tony’s husky voice boomed down from the pilothouse. “It’s an hour before dawn and over ninety minutes until we arrive at our secret destination. Why don’t you all go below deck and catch forty winks. We’ve a long day ahead of us.” As Tony gripped the wheel and stroked his bushy beard, he reminded Dmitri of the archetypal image of a brawny sailor.

  Charged by the mochas and the adrenalin rush of their clandestine adventure, the team opted instead to prepare for the day’s activities. They descended the stairs to the glass-bottom tourist portion of the boat, now converted into a makeshift Speakeasy control room. Temporary workstations consisting of two portable folding tables and four chairs, secured to the floor by suction cups, hugged the cabin’s perimeter. Two large LCD flatscreens had been mounted to the wall above the workstations. Andrew, Seema, and Greg powered their laptops and initialized the various signal processing and statistical analysis programs that were the essential tools for this unique experiment.

  In the ambient illumination of the cabin’s LED ceiling lights, Greg did a double take at the sight of Dmitri’s face. “Hey pal, you look wasted, and your shiner’s getting worse. Why don’t you and Melanie take some blankets topside and lie down under the stars? We’ve got things under control.”

  “Ditto, boss,” added Andrew. “Seema and I are about to start testing the Speakeasy interface to the underwater hydrophones and speakers. Go take a nap. You deserve it.”

  “That’s a great idea.” Melanie yawned. “We’ll return the favor and fetch you guys at dawn. It’s fantastic to watch the color of the water changing in the morning light.”

  “I’ve never experienced a sunrise on the open ocean,” said Seema. “Please don’t forget to call us.”

  “I promise.” Melanie grabbed Dmitri’s hand and as they ascended the stairs, arm in arm, Dmitri could hear the faint voices of Andrew and Seema.

  “So Seema, whaddya think of the boss’s new girlfriend?” asked Andrew. “Pretty hot, huh?”

  “Men. That’s all you ever think about. She is a speech therapist and a linguist, and since you asked, I’m very happy for Dr. Dmitri. He deserves someone like Melanie. And he’s been a bachelor for a long time. In my country, a man in his late thirties can be a grandfather.”

  “You’d make a cute grandfather.” Melanie laughed as they arranged a bed of blankets inside one of the two rubber life rafts tethered to the deck.

  “Oh no, you heard them too?”

  “My dad once told me you can’t keep a secret on a boat.” Settling into their improvised nest, they snuggled together. “Dmitri, my injured hero,” Melanie crooned, delighting him with her puppy-dog eyes. “Before you fall asleep, I want you to know that being here with you is better than any luxury cruise.”

  “I have to admit it’s been quite a day,” Dmitri replied with a big grin. “First the Mission Impossible getaway sequence and now I get
to share the Love Boat with you.” He reached over and took her head gently between his hands. Her lips were soft and pillowy, and he thought for a moment he’d fallen asleep on them—that the night was all a big dream. But it wasn’t a dream. Melanie kissed him back.

  As they lay down and watched the pulsating cloud of stardust, Dmitri was reminded of his first camping adventure with his dad and brother. Enjoying the soothing sound of the boat skidding across the ocean, he realized he was falling in love with the Islands and with the goddess beside him. Why not take a one-year sabbatical in paradise and devote himself to his new-found love and her bright and appealing son, Mark? During their few encounters, he had grown quite fond of the boy. He’d won Dmitri over during their very first conversation, when he had asked Melanie’s son about his age. With quiet confidence and a straight face, Mark’s binary-correct answer had been, “two cubed plus one.”

  Cuddled cheek to cheek with Melanie, he meditated to the rhythmic warmth of her breath, mumbling as he drifted toward sleep.

  VICTORY AT SEA

  Kealaikahiki Channel—dawn

  “Dmitri, wake up,” Melanie whispered into his ear, gently shaking his shoulder. “You have to see this.”

  “What’s that sound?” Half-asleep, Dmitri squinted into the twilight. Melanie pointed to starboard and he turned his head, startled by the pair of dolphins that squealed enthusiastically and flew through the air like airborne torpedoes, pacing the boat.

  He stood, pulling Melanie along with him, and shivered in the chill of the brisk morning breeze. Leaning over the railing, he thrilled to the sight of a pod of dolphins riding the bow wake, like a winged formation of surfers. The cetacean escort party hurdled alongside the Research in Paradise: taking turns leaping out of the water, jabbering at them, and cavorting about like the happiest creatures in the sea.