Things That Shouldn't Be

Chapter 1, Part 2: Mountain Mayhem

ONE

Mid-morning sunlight filtered through maple and birch leaves to coat the forest floor in an emerald blanket. Laura breathed slowly, deeply as she crept through ivy, occasionally scanning the ground to make sure she wasn't wading into poison ivy. Apart from the buzzing of insects and a few squirrels running along tree limbs, the forest was quiet. Laura could have spent all morning, just taking in the environment and relaxing, in different circumstances. But she and Theo had a job.

Laura held a pair of long, white binoculars to her eyes. She scanned the forest slowly, left-to-right, then back again. "The full-spectrum analyzer isn't picking up any relevant biosignatures," Laura whispered as she turned a dial around the eyepiece. The view changed colors as she surveyed the forest. "At least, not in infrared or ultraviolet."

Theo was approximately fifty meters to Laura's left, but she heard Laura clearly through the communication earbud in her right ear. "Yeah, I don't see a bloody thing, either. What about comm frequencies?"

"Nothing from far-infrared down. So, no technosignatures, either. All right, meet up," Laura said as she turned to face Theo. She reached behind herself and fumbled around her backpack for a water bottle. She found it, pulled it out of the side-pocket, and unscrewed the lid. She took a slow swig. It wasn't a particularly warm day, but the added weight of a full backpack took more effort than Laura found comfortable. She screwed the lid back on and slid the bottle back in the pocket as Theo approached.

"Two hours," Laura said as she stretched an arm above her head, "and we haven't seen anything."

"So, the little beastie was alone."

"No, it's more than that. Even if the goblin was alone, it had to come from somewhere. Laura motioned around the forest floor. "It makes sense that it didn't leave tracks, we've seen it levitate. . .somehow. But there's no trace evidence at all."

"It's weirder than that. We're assuming he's non-native, right?"

"Obviously. Get on with it."

"So, he needs food, water, and protection. And, if we're assuming a certain amount of sentience, there'd be signs of tool use, traps, shelters, those kinds of things. But we haven't seen any of that."

"We must be missing something." Laura bit her bottom lip. "Maybe its shelter is underground. Maybe it hunts instead of traps."

"Or maybe it gets dropped off and picked up."

Laura laughed. "Good Lord, you really do think it's an alien."

Theo turned her head to the side and leered at Laura. "I think it could be an alien. It's definitely a non-human intelligence."

"It definitely appears to be. There's too much we don't know to jump to any conclusion. The only thing we seem to know for certain right now, is that there's nothing out here to find. We're heading back." Laura ran a finger along her watch and pulled up a map. She turned until a blue dot moved to the top-center of the watch's face. "This way," she said as she started walking."

Theo pulled up to Laura's right side and matched her pace. "What do you think the goblin is?"

Laura glanced up from her watch to scan the ground for obstacles. "Like I said, there's too much we don't know."

"Bullshit. You have a hunch, same as anyone else would. What is he?"

Laura sighed. "My hunch? Okay. I think it was created."

Theo was silent for a moment. "Yeah, all right, makes sense. He is a mix-match of animal parts. You think the DNA analysis will bear that out?"

"Possibly. And that would only be part of the answer. That wouldn't explain the tech it was wearing, or why it's out here, or why it's alone."