Singed Synapses and Deranged Dendrites

That Noise (tired)

Dr. Boren Borgerson rested his face in his hands. He was getting too old for this level of constant stress. He was tired and overdue for retirement, yet his career as the most esteemed submarine engineer in Norway would be an utter failure without the proof.
"We heard it again," reported the junior military official.
"And Anders found no sonar or video evidence of the sub?" asked Boren.
The young man nodded his head confirming that the answer was a frustrating, 'no, evidence of the Russians...yet again.'
'Those scoundrels,' thought Boren. What do they want with such an inconsequential Scandinavian country? When Boren and his team had first paired with the small navy they didn't have the manpower or weapons to stop one Russian sub, let alone an attack on the country.
"That is the unmistakable ping of the periscope on a Russian sub," Colonel Halver had announced nearly two decades ago. And these sounds were recorded again and again, year after year. But beyond the unmistakable ping- a noise so resonant it now haunted Boren in his sleep- nobody had captured proof of the Russian's presence.
Dr. Valgor Evans put his young hand on Boren's wrinkled arm.
"It's time. We should seek counsel of professor Arges," said the young scientist.
Boren relented as secret as this work had been for years and despite the good professor holding a degree in biology rather than weaponry or engineering, he needed the counsel of a scientist his own age.
The next day the eager young Valgor returned to Boren's subterranean laboratory with the white-haired professor Arges. Boren had assured the military granted him the highest level of clearance possible so he could be told the whole story.
Professor Arges nodded silently as Boren and Valgor relayed all of the various ways they had tried to prove the Russian's most certainly planned to take over Norway.
"And the periscope ping?" asked Professor Arges. "Play it for me now."
Valgor cued up one of the many documented recordings and the good professor closed his eyes to listen.
"Play it again," he requested.
Valgor played the noise a half a dozen times.
When he finished the three men sat for a moment in silence. Then a broad smile crossed Professor Arges' face.
"Boren, we have known each other since graduate school. When you told me of your trials I indeed was afraid for the safety of our country. But now that I've heard it, I just wish you had reached out for my help sooner."
Boren motioned for him to continue.
"I am one hundred percent certain I've heard this sound before in my studies of the ocean. It is the unmistakable sound of a school of herring changing course."
Valgor's jaw dropped and Boren's face turned sheet white.
"Come old friend," said Arges. "Let us go for a strong drink together and wash away our mistakes of the past."