// HACKER NEWS — CYBERSECURITY
The Siberian Ice Maiden and the Scythian World
Asana lay on her back outside her tent, looking up. The grass beneath her was smashed flat and shorn by the grazing teeth and hooves of the herds: horses, sheep, and cattle. Above her, wisps of cloud left scant trails across an otherwise clear sky, driven by the slightest summer breeze. The stars seemed particularly beautiful to her tonight, shining bright and clear on the open stage granted them by the dark of a new moon.
She wondered how many more times she would be able to lie here and look up at the night sky. The pain in her chest was nearly unbearable now. Asana knew more about plant medicines than most of her people—which of the herbs and flowers growing high up in the Altai Mountains were useful and which were harmful—but nothing she’d tried so far had helped. When all treatments failed her, Asana had turned her sights on the five towering peaks that surrounded the plateau where she now lay. These mountains contained powerful spirits, who might choose to aid her and rid her of this pain.
Thanks for reading Perspectives: Past, Present, and Future, by Patrick Wyman! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
Listen here and be sure to subscribe to Past Lives:
Driven by hope, Asana had insisted on riding up here from the lowlands along with the herds and the rest of her people. She was still young, entering her twenty-fifth summer, and had made the same journey dozens of times. The king and nobles had suggested that she stay behind, that the ride on horseback through the hills and high passes would be too much for her, suffering as she was. Asana refused. Divining the will of the gods and spirits who watched over and interfered with their world was Asana’s purpose, and the forces in these high places were calling to her.
Then, she fell. A wolf howled and her horse spooked, throwing her from her saddle and down onto the unforgiving ground. Something gave way in her right shoulder. Her hip ached. The spirits of the mountains hadn’t been calling to her to offer aid, she realized; they had summoned her to the place where she was meant to die.
Asana found the notion comforting. She coughed, though whether that was from her new injuries or left over from the potent medicinal fumes she had been inhaling inside her tent earlier was hard to say. Agony stabbed into her torso from every direction. Her vision blurred. Through the haze, the stars twinkled, and she began to drift.
A cool breeze blew down from the five mountains and brought her back. For a moment, Asana forgot it all. Her eyes cleared. The stars above shone clear and bright. She smiled and pondered rising to her feet and going back inside the tent. The fumes would help with the pain. But no, Asana decided. She would stay here a while longer and enjoy the stars.
Hello, my friends. I’m your host, Patrick Wyman. Welcome to another episode of Past Lives.
I’ve got a couple of quick announcements before we dive into today’s episode: First, I will be in New York City on September 29th at 7 PM at the Caveat in the West Village for a live show with the fantastic Claire Aubin, host of the history pod This Guy Sucked, and Manny Fidel, co-host of the pod No Such Thing! We’re doing an “Assholes of American History” draft, and it’s going to be an awesome evening, so come hang out, laugh, and maybe even learn a new thing or two. If you’re in the greater New York area or can get there, you absolutely should. Again, that’s September 29th, 7 PM, at the Caveat in the West Village. Click the link in the episode description to buy your tickets now!