Under the moon's pale light, Emma moved through the forest, detection device humming in her hands. Chloe's voice crackled through her comms. "Strong energy spike ahead near the old logging road. Be careful."
Emma slowed her pace as she approached a clearing. At first, only shadows—then the air shimmered and a camouflaged structure materialized. A sleek, angular craft sat half-embedded in earth, its surface pulsing with faint energy. Around it, figures worked with disturbing efficiency, loading massive wooden beams into its hull.
As she watched, their human disguises rippled and dissolved. Their true forms emerged—lean beings with leathery skin, elongated limbs, and eyes that glowed like embers in the darkness.
One figure—larger, bearing ritual scars across its face—snapped its head toward her position. Its guttural, clicking language burned directly into her mind. "Intruder! Eliminate!"
Emma stumbled backward. "Chloe, they're here!" she hissed. "Not human! They're harvesting something from the wood!"
"Move now!" Chloe commanded.
Emma bolted as the aliens pursued, their movements liquid and predatory. They navigated the forest with unnatural speed, glowing eyes tracking her through the trees.
A branch snapped inches from her head as one lunged. Emma ducked, rolling beneath fallen timber. The creature hissed in frustration, its elongated fingers scraping bark where her head had been seconds before.
She scrambled through underbrush, heart thundering against her ribs, the creatures closing distance with each stride.
---
Emma burst into her lab, slamming the door and engaging every lock. "They're real!" Her voice shook with adrenaline and confirmation of the impossible. "Extraterrestrial beings, harvesting our forests!"
Chloe spun from her workstation, face drained of color. "I'm searching protocols for alien contact," she said, fingers flying across keys. "Which don't exist for this scenario!"
"We need to alert authorities," Emma pressed, still catching her breath.
"With what proof?" Chloe countered. "They'll think we're insane."
Emma's gaze fell to the wood samples on her desk. She picked one up, studying its cellular structure with new understanding. "Whatever they're extracting, it's essential to them. Vital enough to cross galaxies."
Her fear crystallized into determination. "This isn't random deforestation. It's methodical extraction." She placed the sample under the microscope with steady hands. "They're taking something our trees produce naturally. Something their world has lost."
Chloe moved beside her, voice dropping to a whisper. "If they need it badly enough to mount an invasion..."
"Then Earth is already at war," Emma finished. "And we may be the only ones who know it."