Seasons

First published as part of the anthology 'Alien Stars', and subsequently included in the anthology 'Dealing in Futures' as one of the examples of Joe Haldeman's best work, Seasons is a Heinleinian novella of scientific arrogance and misunderstanding that shifts frequently between perspectives and manages to breathe life into multiple protagonists in the first few pages.
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The novella commences in medias res with a group of scientists hiding in a cave, fearing for their lives, hoping not to be discovered by the Plathys, the intelligent species they were observing. But of course they are discovered, and as they flee the formerly docile Plathys—who have turned suddenly and inexplicably violent—we shift back and forth between the perspectives of Maria, Gabriel, and Brenda.