"The worst horrors are always man-made, but nothing Man has made exists outside of Nature, from a certain point of view. Is Man part of nature? Does man exist beyond, above or outside of Nature?
In concept there is nothing for Man that Nature has not perfected. Really the only difference between humans and animals is that humans do not obey instinct the way that animals do. Even the most intelligent and social animals, showing anthropomorphic qualities even, are still just following the game-plan. Man does not follow any kind of game-plan.
In the Realms of Man: duplicity, hypocrisy, violence and greed are never more common than honor, self-sacrifice, invention and altruism. It is a simple equation, if we did not behave at least as often as we misbehaved then we would not be successful. There are billions of us and we are Lords of Earth, capable of defending the planet from space-rocks and eradicating diseases. We are successful." Karish explained.
"What are the worst horrors...then?" Natina asked, again. She had just asked her mentor this as they hiked together past the Matthes Glacier. The field expedition was camped and the two older women had opted to go for a hike. Natina had gone with them, curious about what they discussed.
"Really horrors need certain things to occur. They need opportunity and circumstance. There is a context that sets up how horrible something is, it must register in our minds as wrong and scary. Horrors need morbidity and danger and can frighten us second-hand if we believe the danger is nearby." Chassa spoke up from the front of the line of three hiking women. "Horror doesn't need anything else. Atrocity, pain and corruption are simply aspects, but they are not necessary for man-made horror."
"So proper horror is more like a collaboration of Nature and Man. Where they meet and cause a disturbance. That is where and when horror occurs." Natina replied after a moment of hiking in silence.
"This is the place." Karish pointed and stopped.
All three women stared at the very old glacier. Around it were dry trees, a hill of broken rocks and a dune of sand. The Sierra Nevada of the east were desolate and diverse in their terrains. Here was ice on the edge of a wasteland where a corner of the forest met.
"Muerte Helada is the name of this glacier. Long ago the geology of this region held a lake up there. Underground rivers fed this slope with fresh water. That is the origin of this glacier. Ten years ago it was all the way down here. This glacier was originally formed during the last ice age and now it is melting before our very eyes." Karish told her companions.
Chassa got into the pack she had brought, a small backpack that contained some folded markers with little red flags. She offered three markers to each other woman to unfold and carry up the slope and said:
"Shall we?"
They each climbed dutifully and planted the markers along the edge of the gray ice. Natina got out her phone and took a dozen pictures as well.
"So we were not just going for a walk?" Natina muttered to herself on the way back down.
"I believe that this is an example of what is occurring in these mountains. The Matthes Glaciers are all melting. This is among them, this small but very ancient glacier. It has everything to do with our research." Karish told Natina when they reached the trail at the bottom.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
They hiked back and there was no further conversation, as each woman considered for herself what the expedition might uncover.
They reached camp. That night was a freefall, into almost a week, flying by in a blur of activity. Core samples were taken of the Matthes Glaciers. Last-but-not-least there were samples taken from Muerte Helada as well.
The expedition ended and a return to the labs brought months of research into what they had found.
"You named it? The glacier? How did you know what it contained?" Natina asked Karish one night, back at the lab.
"It is a long story." Karish sounded tired. Her old bones ached. She was ready to pass the torch to Natina. So was Chassa.
A legacy of science, a sisterhood of science. Karish sighed. At least that is how things ended up for her. She and Chassa had worked together dealing with the endemic pneumonia for decades.
"Tell me." Natina requested quietly.
"I lost my husband and my own daughter. Thousands died that first year. It was Valley Fever, except it was different. It was a much older species, something that had existed before the last ice age and probably evolved into the coccidioides that exists today. We had some drugs for treating severe cases of the disease, but there were so many cases. I left the medical field and started doing research. This is where all my years of detective work have led me."
"All of that I know." Natina nodded. "So how then, did you discover this?"
"Nightmares." Karish admitted. "I have nightmares where I see all of this clearly. It is that clarity that horrifies me. I can even hear the cries of pain and fear."
"From the hospital?" Natina had not even been born yet, at the time when it began.
"The wards were full of those that were dying. Most of them were children. It was a dark time and it happened again and again. The cycle of dry weather, the rains would come and then the dust would blow through the streets. Many cities, many towns and many thousands were infected." Karish elaborated. "In the past we called it Valley Fever and although it was hazardous and infected maybe a hundred thousand a year, it was not even like the flu and people rarely died from it. Then this came and it was the same, except the infection grew and painfully killed most people that caught it."
"So you suspected it was a fossil, instead of something new?" Natina still hadn't gotten her answer.
"I knew because I was haunted by my dead loved ones. I had an immunity already, as do you and many others who are alive today in this region. Then there was the serum." Karish reminded her.
"Chassa's serum. She is a genius." Natina smiled.
"Yes. And I still needed to know. I needed to know if it was something we had dug up. Valley Fever often comes from the dry broken ground of development. The dust rises after the rains..." Karish leaned on her hand and stopped talking for a moment. She was very tired.
"So you started looking." Natina offered.
"Yes. When I looked in Sierra Nevada I wondered if it could have come from the glaciers. This new species was not new, it was old. Its spores had landed on the ice and frozen and survived. When the ice melted they resumed their reign of terror. They got into the soil and they spread upon the clouds of dust, dust storms." Karish said solemnly. "And I knew what I would find because I had dreamed of it. In my mind I knew the answers."
"Now I am looking at the proof of it. We found your spores in the ice, it is an ancient monster. Something from the old world that has come back to spread horror." Natina responded alertly. Karish admired her energy.
"Our populations are dense and it hits many at once. We live in its path, developing neighborhoods on the edge of the deserts and dry forests. We created the circumstances for it to kill so many at once." Karish pointed out.
It was at that moment that Natina thought about their hike to Muerte Helada and something Karish had said. She repeated it now for the old scientist, her own words:
"Lords of the Earth...by eradicating diseases" Natina concluded.
"You say?" Karish looked up. The analog clock ticked quietly in the lab, but they could both hear it in the silence.
"We know its nature. We stopped it from causing more harm. And now we look back at its origin and we can see all the mystery and fear unveiled. We are master over this...this thing..." Natina realized.
"It is an agent of Nature." Karish advised.
"Yes, but Man defies Nature. We dream and make it real" Natina sounded sure.
"And that is where you are deceived." Karish knew this and more and said: "Because we only just followed a nightmare till the morning light of dawn awoke us. When night falls it will come again, someday."