The alien climbed out of its landing craft. They had been sent down to investigate the simian inhabitants on this planet, a backward world with only limited space flight. The spacecraft was hidden in a large area covered by deciduous woody plants called trees in the local language. The alien knew several of the languages spoken here since it had spent the last nine months studying the world's satellite communication transmissions. The craft also had a cloaking device that made it practically invisible. No one would find it without knowing where it was.

The alien stood about six feet tall and had two strong legs and four arms with four fingers and two tendrils on each hand. They had soft skin covered with a light covering of greenish-brown fur. They were hermaphroditic with both a receptive sexual channel and a retractable external sex organ below it. They also have four nutrient-producing glands on their chest, two on each side, also covered in light fur. Their face was pleasing to look at, round with a wide mouth and two large eyes, which looked surprisingly human, except that the pupils were sideways slits. They had a small external olfactory gland. The alien wore no clothing since its fur provided enough protection and warmth. They had a belt where tools and pouches hung.

The alien headed toward the small population center of about 5,000 individuals a few miles away. The alien had landed on the sun-wise side of the largest body of water on the planet.

(The creature is in California.)

(This story originally appeared in A Hard Choice. I pulled it out because that story is enormous and my part doesn't get any eyes.)

_(Author's Note: I've started a tip jar over at Ko-Fi. Drop-in and say hi!)_