There was another lengthy wait while a shiny air sampler mounted above the closed portal scanned for contamination.

A stocky woman stood by a closed portal.

He stopped beside the closed portal, turned about, and crouched with his ear to the door.

"Dear," he said through the closed portal, "could you tell me what this is all about?"

It didn't take much imagination on Silence's part to picture the alien crew massing on the other side of the closed portal.

The Chinger jumped over the unconscious General and went to the control panel beside the closed portal.

The commodore worried his thin lips, darted a look at the closed portal before speaking again.

The twin explosions reverberated satisfactorily, though muffled by the closed portal.

Ardmore stood staring at the closed portal, busy arranging his preconceptions.

His eyes glanced at the folder, then back at the cut, then toward the closed portal.