The Enterprise is asked to play host to a representative of the Eremoids, a race the Federation has been negotiating with for mining rights. The representative, Verka, seems puzzled by many aspects of human behaviour, requesting complete privacy in his quarters and believing he is about to be attacked for a minor offence towards Colt. Spock informs Pike that every other Eremoid who has visited an alien ship has been killed in a fight over a trivial matter.