Elsewhere

by Dean Koontz

“Sorry, Ed. I should’ve taken you seriously.” He put the package on the workbench and tugged at the knot and stripped away the string. As someone on the front porch rang the doorbell again, someone began to hammer insistently at the back door. He took the lid off the box and then hesitated. The object was swaddled in plastic bubble wrap. Hide it well, Jeffrey. Save yourself and your girl! A man appeared at the window, veiled by the sheer curtain, a shadowy form backlit by the bright morning sun. Jeffy quickly unraveled the bubble wrap. The key to everything resembled a sleek smartphone, maybe five inches by less than three, but the stainless-steel casing featured neither buttons nor a charging port, nor any markings. The black screen wasn’t inset, but seemed to be an integral part of the case, as if the device had not been manufactured, but had been built one atom at a time by some 3-D printer more advanced than anything currently known.

Jeffy didn't take Ed seriously but now he's opened the box and looked at the contents.