The Maltarians are a race evolved from an amphibious lifeform that was prominent on Maltar III, a world far from the known worlds. Though not known to them until much later, the Maltarian’s sentience was actually the side effect of an experiment by the Kamir, before they went on to create the Hive Mind. The Kamir considered the experiment a failure and left the Maltarians to their own devices. It was fortunate that the experiment did succeed in giving the Maltarians formidable intelligence, for they were able to adapt and overcome this abandoning quite well. Another side effect of the Kamir’s experiment gave the Maltarians the ability to see across dimensions, although only briefly. This was why they were considered a failure; the Kamir were after all true cross-dimensional entities.