Xenite.Org: "D Minus Zero" was the first Ashley Edward Miller/Zack Stentz script to be shown on air. It was generally well received by the online fan community. Nonetheless, were there any scenes in the episode you would rewrite if you could use Harper's time machine to go back and "fix" things?
Ashley Miller: I don't know how much I would rewrite, aside from Tyr's line "They killed themselves to cheat us of our victory." That was way too Klingon for my tastes, and to this day I wish he had said, "They saved us the ammunition." Ah, well. Aside from that, I would probably re-edit the episode to include a deleted scene where Dylan enters the ship's "who are we fighting" betting pool. It's a nice little bit of business that speaks volumes about Dylan and how he sees his world.
Xenite.Org: "The Mathematics of Tears" puts the characters into a very vulnerable state. Dylan, Rommie, Beka, and Harper are all on the Pax Magellanic when the AIs decide the game is up. Is it risky to do this with so many main characters? Does achieving plausibility become more difficult when you have to ensure that four characters don't buy the farm?
Ashley Miller: No more so than contriving reasons why the same seven guys on a ship with several hundred people seem to get in all of the trouble. The truth is that not having the luxury of a red-shirt means we have to earn the drama a little more... sometimes it means we have to create a nice guest character and kill him/her horribly. But in the final analysis, it's the same difference as far as our regulars are concerned -- and probably more honest.
Xenite.Org: If you were offered the chance to ride Andromeda through a battle with the Drago Kazoff, with Dylan at the helm and Tyr manning the weapons systems, would you immediately accept the ride, decline, or dither about it?
Ashley Miller: No question about it. I'm there.
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Xenite.Org: If you could use Harper's time machine to go back to, say, the 1940s to bring forward 2 actors to appear as guest-stars, who would you pick? What sort of roles would you want to write for them?
Ashley Miller: I don't know about the 40's, but I'd love to write Richard Burton as a Nietzschean. Or William Holden as a grizzled Lancer officer. Those guys have incredible presence -- their intelligence and toughness just leaps off of the screen. And those are exactly the kind of characters with which we attempt to populate the Andromeda universe: smart, tough, charismatic bastards who seem to have seen more than their share of nasty situations.
Xenite.Org: Is the Slipstream going to be more fully explored on a technical level? Or will it always just "be there"? Are there aspects to Slipstream science you'd like to see explored in future episodes?
Ashley Miller: Let's get one thing straight: there's no such thing as Slipstream "science". While we strive for consistency with our treatment of this highly convenient plot device, it's still a highly convenient plot device. However, I think we are going to learn some interesting things about slipstream down the road. Watch and see.
Xenite.Org: Who dreams up Harper's racial epithets (like "Chinheads" for the Perseids)?
Ashley Miller: We all do. "Chinheads" sounds like something Zack or I would have come up with. Probably me, because I'm basically an insensitive jerk like Harper.
Xenite.Org: Have the humans of Earth become culturally homogenized, either because the show is set thousands of years in the future, or because of the Long Night itself?
Ashley Miller: No. Earth is a wacky place, chock full of coffee bistros and pizza cantinas.
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