Mal is sitting there smugly confident that he knows exactly what is going on, and he is the cleverest person at the table. Fortunately, he’s too polite to actually say this out loud.
Look for me this weekend at the Ottawa Comiccon! I’ll be in Artists Alley at table #597. And you know who else will be there? That other well-known “Mal” in science fiction, Nathan Fillion! If you hear a big fangirl squeal on Saturday, that’ll be me.
Oh, clearly Mal is the cleverest. Yup.
Nathan Fillion?! I am SO jealous! I hope you get the chance to meet him!
Doesn’t Mal mean THROUGH a higher dimension rather than TO a higher dimension. The alternative Earth has the same number of dimensions as the original Earth.
Yeah, that made me wrinkle my forehead when I saw that, too. I know there are supposed to be like 11 dimensions or something like that, but going into extradimensional cosmology is a bit much for me at 7 a.m. my time.
Hmmm… perhaps “dimension” is the wrong word?
Hmmm… perhaps “All things considered, our best guess is we’ve translated through a higher dimension to…” “…what you might call a parallel universe”
Maybe simply replace “to” with “in”. Someone/something can move in a dimension, but not to a dimension, if we keep it in physical/mathematical correct terminology. But people write/say “to a parallel dimension” as often. But correctly it would be to a whole parallel room/system of our usual dimensions, parallel on a dimension we can not observe. But if you use “to dimension”, as short for “to parallel system of dimensions”, it would not be scientifically correct to name it higher without evidence. If they moved in a higher dimension, they could have moved in a positive or negative direction.
And I hope for them it is an exotic higher dimension they moved in, like a binary one, where you can only jump between two positions. If it is a smoth linear movement, with an unlimited amount of positions and/or a one direction thing, like moving in time, they will never get back.
The good news on the getting back is that they ended up in the same dimension as the Hiawatha. That would suggest a limited range of destinations. I also think that jumping to a “Higher” dimension sounds wrong, I think through a Higher dimension might work, or to an alternate dimension.
P.S.: A smooth linear movement is very unlikely, as they came out in the same position, as the first jump. Stays the direction problem. If and how can they move backwards?
When I hear “Higher” dimension, I’m thinking a more energetic dimension. Imagine electrons jumping from one electron shell to the next higher energy electron shell. The electron change from one shell to the next means that a whole new set of rules for existence must be followed. For this case I would expect the whole ship, from crew to hull, will have remolded into some other form, more than likely killing all hands and warping the matter of the ship into something unrecognizable.
To say that they moved to or into an alternate universe seems plausible because there is the possibility that a transition to another universe could involve nearly the same physics rule set. This would preserve both the crew and the ship and allow the story to continue in a (more or less) logical fashion.
…And also allow Tara to continue writing a really good story.
Just went to your “Links” list for the first time. It is a very close match for my “Strips I Wish Would Start Updating Again” list. Exceptions: Girl Genius and Gunnerkrigg Court, still updating nicely.
I think you can leave “to” in there just fine. After all, Mal DID say he doesn’t have the time to explain properly.
I love the look on his face when the yammering starts. “This is PRECISELY why I didn’t want to just give the supposed conclusion.”
Those Dalek-builders did a good job of it, didn’t they?
The Daleks were definitely one of the show’s highlights!
Just reflecting once more on how much color adds to the setting. I know doing color requires more time and effort. Just writing to let you know it is much appreciated.