Songs of Thalassa

by Brian Tissot

  The music was a mix of their individual songs, the unique voices of innumerable Nesoi, Ceti, and ballena. They were different species but singing in synchrony and blending like an orchestra playing a well-rehearsed symphony. Each species was singing at a different pitch or frequency, like a different instrument, but they each had their unique signature, which coalesced into music that resonated deep in her heart.

  It’s was an opus so melodic, so full of purpose and passion and yearning for lost love, that it brought tears to her eyes and her body went weak as waves of joy swept through her. I can feel their songs merging while resonating through the oceans, reverberating under the ice, echoing through the deep canyons, and resounding within the caves on the islands and across the inland seas. I hear the humming of the lichens and feel connections to the energy of the rocks, the air, the ocean, and all of Thalassa’s marine life. It’s the song of the planet! She felt the music moving through her body, vibrating in her bones, reverberating in her soul. Tears poured down her face: she had felt the energy from the songs all along! But now she heard the symphony. It’s the spirit of the planet. It’s Thalassa’s song.

  As the shuttle headed into space and the sky faded from blue to black, the songs began to fade. The symphony ended and began again. She knew they were saying something important, but the message wasn’t a language of words. Instead, it flowed through her like pure aloha. Tutu! The song is the divine breath of the planet, its hā. As the shuttle soared away, she pondered the larger significance of the songs. She had time—months—to think about it.

  A colonist from Proxima she had befriended at Cassini put her arm around Sage’s shoulder and asked, “You OK?”

  “Yeah, sure. Thanks, Ellie,” she replied, jolted back to the present, her arms in her lap and her face covered in tears.

  “I saw you crying and thought I better check.”

  “I was thinking about Thalassa and the songs I heard as I left the planet. I’ll never forget it.”

  She nodded in understanding. “But you’re going back to Thalassa after you get Maka, right?”

  “Oh, I am. But I miss it already, and I’m feeling a bit depressed. I mean, I’m going home, to Earth, and I should be happy, yet I’m full of anxiety.” Sage wiped the tears out of her eyes.

  Ellie smiled. “Sounds like you got attached to that place, huh? Yeah, I understand. Proxima’s gorgeous, too, but in a different way. And I’m a bit freaked as well. I’ve been away for two years, and I’m going to see my husband!”

  Sage let out a low moan. “Sheesh, I haven’t even tried to reach my mother. The one person I don’t want to see is Milo. Not yet anyway. He’s probably waiting to pounce in Kiribati, worried about what I’ll say, along with hordes of reporters.”

  “What are you going to say?” Ellie asked.

  “Honestly, I don’t know,” replied Sage. “I spent months in space thinking about it. I know what I need to do, but I don’t have a definitive plan.” A shadow crossed her face. “But I know I want him to suffer as I did. I want to get even. He killed Georgia and Melia, not to mention the rest of Maka’s family. I hope he burns in hell.”

  Ellie recoiled. “Look, Sage, I wish you luck, but I’m staying out of it. The last thing I want is to get caught up in drama when I’m finally going home.” Sage’s face crumpled in defeat, and Ellie said, “But I can help you get home. With my connections at Cassini, I arranged a shuttle flight from K-Geo Station to Hawaii, so we can bypass the El and Kiribati. We can slip around the reporters and drop you in Hilo.”

  She beamed at Ellie. “That would be fantastic. I’ll call my mom. Thank you!” Sage said as she hugged her new friend.

  She smiled at the thought of going home, but after her ordeal, she was already overloaded by the attention at Cassini, and she felt like she wanted to hide in a dark room for a few months. And eat. God, she wanted to eat real food again. Hawaiian food. But first, she had to talk to her mother.

  Two days later as they entered K-Geo—the space station connected to Earth’s space elevator—Ellie’s friend met them with a shuttle. With a quick disguise of hats and glasses that Sage thought would never work, they miraculously dodged the crowds, and he piloted them down to Hawaii on a small spacecraft. As they dropped below the clouds over the immense Pacific, Sage was blown away by the size of Earth’s largest ocean, since she was now accustomed to Thalassa’s smaller world. As the Hawaiian Islands came into view, she smiled at the beauty of the tiny, precious string of islands in the vast Pacific. It was like Earth from space. They descended toward Hilo, flew over the eastern slopes of Mauna Kea, crossed Hilo Bay, and touched down at the old Hilo airport, which had been modified decades earlier for shuttle flights.

  The door opened, she said goodbye to Ellie and thanked her friend, and walked out into the hot, humid, fragrant embrace of her home island. Glancing at the blue ocean, she felt the warm trade winds pass gently through her hair. She took a deep breath and smiled inwardly, “Welcome home, girl.”

  As she exited the airport, screams erupted from a huge throng of people holding signs, balloons, and piles of leis. Her mother stood at the head of the crowd, surrounded by Auntie Kēhau, Uncle Steve, and all her cousins, with Lani in front frantically waving, her arms covered in leis. Despite her apprehensions, Sage’s anxieties melted away at the sight of her ‘ohana, bringing a huge smile to her face.

  Standing before the crowd, she paused to reflect on just who was coming home. The woman that left was angry and confused. But no more. Now she knew who she was with absolute clarity. She was focused and determined to achieve her goals. Through her ordeals, she was forced to confront her inner truth, which swept away her insecurities and fixation on past mistakes and helped her tap into her innate power. No longer was she her worst enemy. The new Sage was fully present with a singular goal: to save Maka and protect Thalassa. She stepped into the crowd.

  Chapter 35.

  ‘Ohana

  The aroma of burnt banana and steaming pork wafted through the air as another emu was pulled out of the ground in her honor. She managed a weak smile amid the cheering, barely heard above the din of the blaring Hawaiian music. Before her, bent tables were crammed with dishes of lomilomi salmon, Huli Huli chicken, lumpia, manapua, poke, chicken long rice, mac salad, poi, haupia, and piles of fruit. Exhausted and stuffed, her neck overflowing with leis, she sat next to Lani as a small throng of people peppered her with questions.

  It seems like anyone she ever knew showed up at the luau, and everyone wanted to know the details of her survival. Normally she would’ve loved the attention, but instead she was overwhelmed with the activity, sounds, and food after her off-planet experiences. Everything was beginning to grate on her, and Earth’s stronger gravity made her feel heavy and worn out. Importantly, she didn’t want to talk about Milo’s stunning betrayals—at least not yet anyway—and holding back her anger took a huge amount of effort.

  Watching her mother walk gracefully through the crowd, Sage smiled at the memory of her joyous tears as she described finding her father. She gave her mother the puka shells and his journal and was comforted that it gave her peace. “Thank you, honey,” her mother had said with a gentle hug while whispering in her ear. “This means so much to me. I can’t begin to tell you how pleased I am that you found him.”

  Although the celebration was limited to ‘ohana, Great-Auntie Halina—Tutu’s sister—had invited several Hawaiian elders who engaged Sage in probing questions about her experiences and insights. They each greeted her with a honi—nose to nose, exchanging breaths—amid long moments of silence, probing Sage’s aura after her experiences. Her tutu had been highly respected among the elder community in the islands, and never had a native Hawaiian raised in the traditions of such a kahuna traveled off-world and returned. Moreover, the Nesoi were now well known on Earth thanks to Milo and his upcoming exhibit, and scientists quickly drew parallels with the ancestors of whales, which pi
qued the elders’ interest.

  One kahuna exchanged breaths for a long time then held Sage at arm’s length and looked at her gravely. “You have reached the fifth level, you are an ‘imi loa. The task before you is one of great responsibility. You must not fail.” Then she lowered her eyes and walked away.

  Adding to the growing chaos, a media circus was camped outside her house, anxiously waiting for an interview. Instead, they had settled for an occasional comment from family and friends leaving the celebration. She wasn’t in the mood to talk—especially about Milo—and only made oblique references to her abandonment. Through Auntie Kēhau, she learned his version of their expedition and his viral surfing video, which excluded her epic wave. Although she was disturbed about his lies and fabrications, she was even more upset about Maka’s exhibit opening in two weeks, followed closely by the CITETS meeting in Lausanne. These were significant events, both for Maka and the future of Thalassa, and she had to do something. But what? She knew she had to confront Milo and get Maka back, but she wanted something more permanent. I must protect Thalassa!

  Inwardly, she was furious at Milo and wanted to avenge Dina and Georgia’s deaths and set the record straight. Although she had mulled over what to do for months in the shuttle, she wasn’t ready to confront him until she had a complete plan. She knew it would be easy to vent her anger and tell her side of the story, but that wouldn’t accomplish her goals. No, returning Maka and protecting Thalassa would require more strategy. The last thing she wanted was a public battle with Milo. It would end with her word against his, and he had Moshe to back him up. Also, she heard that Milo was seriously pissed at her escape from K-Geo and the week he wasted in the El trying to head her off. Although he had repeatedly attempted to contact her, her ‘ohana had served as an effective shield against his endeavors, at least so far.

  Adding to her anxiety, it was strange to be home; she felt like an alien. Glancing up at the forested slopes of Mauna Kea sweeping down to the azure sea around Hilo Bay gave her a new appreciation for the incredible beauty of Hawaii. But it was like a dream witnessed from afar. She knew part of her was on Thalassa; she ached over the death of Melia and missed Two-Spot. But the land was verdant, and she was astounded by its lushness with towering ‘Ōhi’a trees and rolling bright-green meadows carpeting the landscape, the air filled with the sounds of singing birds, croaking frogs, and buzzing insects. Although she missed the simple beauty of the jumbled red-orange-yellow lichen-covered landscape of Thalassa, the Earth was a veritable Garden of Eden by comparison.

  As she pondered the sudden shift in her perceptions of her home planet, her great-aunt Halina stood before her. With a severe look on her face, Halina opened her hand to reveal a large white piece of carved ivory connected to a braided cord. She bent over and placed it around Sage’s neck, then kissed each cheek. “Your tutu would have wanted you to have this. It was your great-great-grandmother’s. As you may remember she was ali’i from Hāmākua.”

  Sage was stunned at the beauty of the sacred gift and the reminder of her family’s genealogical connections to Hāmākua, which her tutu made her memorize long ago. She immediately recognized the necklace. “A niho palaoa lei?”

  Halina clasped her hands to her cheeks as a smile broke across her stern face. “Yes, my child. It’s a tooth of the mighty Palaoa, the sperm whale, connected with braids made from the human hairs of our ancestors. Thousands of strands, many people, much time. It has great power and connection to your family ʻaumākua. The tooth was taken many years ago from a whale washed up at Waipi’o Valley, a sacred place for all Hawaiians. The lei has great mana and will guide you. Your tutu wanted to give this to you, but didn’t think you were ready. I believe you are now.”

  Warmth radiated through Sage’s body as her recent experiences connected like random leaves flowing down a stream. She had seen the ancient connections to the ancestors, the Koholā of Thalassa, and by their love—and death—she had embraced Tutu’s vision of her inoa pō. Now, an object of great power was around her neck; a gift from an ancient whale found in a sacred place, the towering green valley she saw in her dreams, connected to her through the hairs of her ancestors. Tutu was right, she thought, there is a spiritual connection between whales and Hawaiians. Overcome with emotion; she gently hugged her great-aunt then pulled back to look at her. “Tutu said the Koholā are our link to the ancestors. What more do you know?”

  Halina managed a fragile smile, then sat down next to Sage with her hands in her lap as Lani leaned in to listen. “Well, according to the Kumulipo, our creation chant, whales helped sing humans into existence, and they watch over us. They are our guardians, the record keepers, and the messengers from our ancestors. Then Halina looked down in despair. “But, oh, we have not taken care of the Koholā! We have disrespected Kanaloa’s gifts and disrespecting your gods has bad consequences.” Her face grew ashen. “Almost 3 million whales were killed in the 20th century alone! Can you imagine that number? Can you imagine what one of those precious creatures must have felt as a harpoon pierced her body, her heart? Why? Oh, she must have cried. For oil! For light! For frilly corsets! Damn us to hell! And although we stopped hunting them over a hundred years ago, we continue the slaughter by destroying their ocean ecosystems, their ‘āina. Few remain in the polar seas, their last refuge. And that will end soon as the industrial fires of Earth burn on. Oh, the gods must be disappointed in us!” She shook her head. “Or maybe they stopped watching long ago.”

  With no words to put to her feelings, Sage dropped her eyes, and Lani held her face in her hands. Halina continued, “Such arrogance! We humans think this planet is ours. That we’re the chosen ones, but how wrong we are! What promise we had! What great things we could have done! But no. Instead, we used our tools to maim and kill and hoard because we never learned the most important lessons of our connections to the Earth: empathy and compassion for all living things. The Western circle of aloha is too small; their ‘ohana too limited. People have no humility before the Earth, the greatest gift given us. At least we Hawaiians practice mālama ʻāina. We care and nurture for the land because it takes care of us. We know the importance of ‘ohana and aloha!”

  She leaned forward and softened her tone. “I sometimes imagine what the world would be like if whales ruled the Earth.” Then she shook her head and smiled. “But of course, they would never rule it. They would unite everything with their love. It’s all they know; it’s all they are. All they care about is swimming and singing and loving each other. What a wonderful place that world would be. What aloha! Why can’t we learn from them and all the other beautiful creatures on this planet?”

  Then, she stood up, and a stern expression returned to her face. “That’s all I know about the Koholā. You take care of that necklace and let it guide you on your journey.” Then she slowly walked away and vanished into the crowd. Sage almost cried watching the frail, thin, ancient figure disappear. For with Halina, she saw a personification of the remnants of Hawaiian wisdom in the world. She was the last of her kind. Time is running out!

  “Wow,” Sage said to Lani, “I remember conversations with my old auntie, but nothing like that. It’s as if I am meeting my family anew. Given my past behavior, I was prepared for the worst, but everyone is just happy to see me.”

  Lani gently replied, “When your mother talked about you, she always said the ‘ohana may be bent but never broken.”

  Sage noticed a gray hair on her mother’s head that wasn’t there before as she gave a warm touch to everyone she greeted, handed out compliments, and had a reassuring hug or smile for those that needed it. Her mother showed compassion and made everyone feel part of the ‘ohana. She radiated warmth and aloha. How could I have missed that about her? I misjudged my mother and her innate gifts. Why was I so mad at her? Why did I push her away? Now, she couldn’t remember the reasons, but she knew she had to reconnect with her, and soon.

  Chapter 36.

  Ci
rcle of Aloha

  Several days later, after everyone had left, she sat with her mother on the lanai as they had their first significant talk in years. “How are you doing, honey?” her mother said, putting her arm around her. “You seem withdrawn.”

  “I’m fine,” Sage replied with a sigh. “It’s great to see everyone, but it’s a bit overwhelming.”

  Her mother gave her a reassuring hug. “I can only imagine what you must have gone through. I’m here when you’re ready to talk.”

  Sage changed the subject, not ready to open up. “Mom, one of the kahuna called me an `imi loa. What does that mean?”

  “Oh, that’s a big compliment. That means you’re an explorer, a kumu—a teacher of sorts. Someone who seeks life but in a way that can achieve great things. It’s a calling to a higher purpose, a real honor.”

  Sage looked confused “A teacher? I mean, explorer I get, but…”

  Her mother gently stroked her hair. “I’m not surprised. You’ve always had a way with words, and you’re so passionate about everything. You teach just by being who you are. You are pure aloha, honey, and always have been. I knew you’d come back to me.” Then she lowered her head as tears came to her eyes. “You’re just like your father. He loved everyone so much. He was all heart.”