Thione Aldermann prides herself on having a plan for all of life's little eventualities and never being caught flat-footed. But her contingency plan for first contact is about a decade out of date. Enter Guest, a spiderlike alien, who crash-lands in her back pasture. He's wounded, scared, unintelligible, and worse yet - clueless. Fortunately for Guest, Thione formulates a plan to help him, hide him, and when the time is right, heave him back to whence he came. But nosy neighbors, an untrustworthy sheriff, and paper-thin excuses will make for bumpy ride back home.