Trying to intercept a freighter making an unauthorized flight into the Necrosis asteroid belt, Buck and Wilma stumble across a plot by Wilma’s old adversary Corliss to poison Earth’s atmosphere. Despite this terrifying development, there is nothing the Earth forces can do to penetrate the dense asteroid belt. Doctor Huer recommends reinstating the retired Noah Cooper and the rest of his 69th Earth Space Marine squadron – but Cooper, embittered ever since his young protege’ Wilma flunked his entire squad out of active duty due to their age, wants nothing to do with the potential suicide mission.
written by David Bennett Carson
directed by Phil Leacock
music by Stu PhillipsCast: Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers), Erin Gray (Wilma Deering), Tim O’Connor (Doctor Huer), Peter Graves (Noah Cooper), Elizabeth Allen (Roxanne Trent), Robert Quarry (Commander Corliss), Woody Strode (“Big Red” Murphy), K.T. Stevens (Harriet Twain), Eddie Firestone (M.K. Schultz), Dan Sturkle (Eli Twain), Katharine Wyberg (Alicia), Robert Hardy (Clayton), Duncan MacKenzie (Westlake), Clifford Torknett (War technician)
Notes: With this episode’s focus on deafness and sign language, Katharine Wyberg, a student from the California School for the Deaf, was cast as Alicia. However, the episode still came in for criticism due to its coda, which revealed that Alicia would be undergoing surgery to “cure” her deafness.
LogBook entry by Earl Green