Maya was hardly tall by Rumreign's standards, but she was large, in a way that belied an origin on a planet at least a little more massive than Rumreign. Moreover, she carried herself with a certain guardedness which, when accompanied by a perpetual scowl, made it clear that any amount of whimsy was out of the question.

Maya had never seen the gate with her own eyes. Maps of the system usually depicted it as a simple ring, exaggerated in size to be visible against the gas giant around which it orbited. Even at its closest approach, from the surface, it was never more than a speck of brightness among a haze of false stars.