Nilz Baris was a Human male who served as the Undersecretary for Agriculture in the United Federation of Planets' Planetary Development Corps in the 2260s. In 2267, Baris was assigned to supervise the transfer of a shipment of quadrotriticale from Deep Space Station K-7 to Sherman's Planet. A man named Arne Darvin was assigned to be his aide, but what Baris did not realize was that the original Darvin had been killed by the Klingon Imperial Intelligence agent Gralmek, who then assumed Darvin's identity.