The Raksulach had been warm and welcoming from the moment the away team had beamed down to the circular meadow on the planet surface, their barbels (not whiskers, he had repeatedly reminded the Captain during the briefing, the soft fleshy protrusions more akin to tentacles than hair follicles) waving curiously, marshy voices full of pleasure at the prospect of completing the delicate negotiations – until Ensign Lewis had touched the Captain’s shoulder to attract his attention to the data on his padd, when immediately the guards accompanying their hosts had straightened from their habitual crouch to their full height and hissed sharply, hands raised, even the elders’ skins changing from rose-gold to blue in an instant.