The Briefcase
Earth, or rather, Planet HJ-983-DFK-372
His briefcase vanished from the bench right before his eyes. He had been standing right next to it; he was certain he hadn't even blinked, yet all that remained of the medium-sized, gray, zippered shoulder bag – containing the laptop with every scrap of data on the alien life signs – was the empty space where it had sat.
His boss would never believe this. He'd just think he'd missed the deadline again and fire him.
*****
Planet GX-534-WDC-7689-S8, alias Gonka
–Excellent work, truly excellent! We managed to bring this… object… here through the portal, didn't we?
–We aren't detecting any signs of life, Sir.
–Splendid! Splendid! So, it's not dangerous, is it?
–The detectors haven't finished the full scan yet, but it'll only take a few more seconds and… done! No, it's not dangerous at all. We detected slight radioactivity, but it's well below the threshold; you could even touch it, Sir.
–Good, but you do it after all, the credit for getting this… object… here belongs to your team. Open it up!
–Yes, Sir! I just need to figure out how… Oh, you just had to slide this thing, and the top popped right open.
–What's inside? Can you lift the contents out so we can take a look?
–There's just one object inside: a flat, black rectangle. I'm lifting it out now.
–Put it in the analyzer!
–Yes, Sir!… It looks like some kind of data storage device, but the signal system is completely unknown.
–Did you capture everything? Did you record the whole experiment? Check the footage to make sure it's all in order!
–Everything is in order, Sir.
–Then send it back to where it came from!
–Sir?… We don't know where it came from.
–Just trace the signal back! Reverse the whole process!
– But Sir… I'm not sure I can manage it right there…
– Do as I said!
– Yes, Sir!
*****
Planet KR-593-DNW-8014-PK-08, also known as Wrhlag
The automated cleaning machine whirred softly as it moved along the sidewalk, vacuuming up everything in its path. The flat, black, square object barely fit through the intake opening. Detecting that its storage compartment was full, the machine shifted into a higher gear and headed toward the landfill on the outskirts of the city.
Hungarian version: https://asfield.webnode.hu/a-s-field-a-taska-sf/