“Hello there, what are you?”

Matt knew hundreds of languages, and spoke most. He had studied dialects living and dead all his life, and he knew a communication symbol when he saw one. This picked at his deep memory, but still wouldn’t surface. He shook his head, and then read on. The final details almost obscured the geological impact – people were missing – dropped down into the holes and not recovered.

“Wow,” Matt said, whistling softly and then inserting another mouthful of quesadilla. What’s with that? he wondered. Can’t be recovered, as the sinkholes are still active, or something else? Hmm, those damned holes must be deep, he concluded.

And the earth really shall fall, he thought, frowning as he read on. The final pages of the paper surprised him – in the missing-pets section, there used to be maybe a single column of furry faces staring out. Instead there were endless appeals for Bitsy the black and white cat, Big Jim the Rottweiler or Sam the retriever – dozens and dozens, all gone missing.

Times sure have changed, he thought and tore out the sinkhole article and the images from the paper. Matt jumped as his phone buzzed in his pocket, and seeing the unknown number he contemplated letting it go to message. He shrugged – he wasn’t exactly pressed for time, so he stuck it to his ear.

“Hello?”

He listened for a few seconds and nodded. “I’ve been known to do consulting, but my rates are – ” His eyebrows shot up. “Wow, I mean, sure, I think I can make that. A day’s work sounds interesting and coincidently I was just reading about – Yes, I understand.” He hung up and snorted. Government loves spending other people’s money. Still, a day’s consultancy at those rates with all expenses paid would take care of his rent for the next week. Why not? he wondered and looked again at the strange symbol, straining to remember its implication – nothing came.

After a few seconds he had to look away. He took a bite of his quesadilla even though for some reason he felt a bit queasy.

*

Sun Valley, Idaho

Deputy Will Kramer walked the girl up her front steps, and then checked her house from top to bottom before she would let him leave. Her face was pale, which made the dark rings under her eyes all the more prominent.

After twenty minutes, he left her standing in the hallway, every light blazing in the house. He placed one of his police cards on the hall table, tapping it and asking her to call him if she remembered anything, or had any concerns. She never moved a muscle.

Kramer whistled air through compressed lips. She’d gone out for a date with her boyfriend, and something had scared them – a monster, she had called it. Now her boyfriend was missing, and she looked about a hair’s breadth away from running screaming down the street and all the way out of town.