Lt. Col Alex Anderson, chief engineer of the Jump Engine project, explains what’s going on without using any engineering terminology at all. Ostensibly this is because he’s trying to speak in layman’s terms, but really it’s because if I attempt to write it the result will sound all wibbly-wobbly spacey-wacey. And no one wants that. You may think you do, but trust me, you don’t.

And now here’s your quick guide to this rarely-seen character! Alex made his first appearance for a scant couple of pages back in Chapter Two, and we met him again briefly during the Pathfinder flashback. He was next spotted talking with the Galaxion’s chief engineer Anna Ito in the opening page of Chapter Three, and then he vanished into the background until he showed up in Fusella’s office in Chapter Seven. It’s rare for his orbit to extend beyond his work zone.

If you’d like to read about my weekend at the Ottawa Comiccon, check out this week’s blog post!