Category: Space: Above And Beyond

In the midst of a mail call, Hawkes and McQueen resign themselves to being left out of the festivities – there are no families to write letters from home to in vitros. But the two then face an even worse dilemma. In an effort to bring order to the ranks, the top brass have decided to make a motivational film about the efforts of in vitros fighting alongside natural born humans in the war against the Chigs. Hawkes buys into the idea of becoming a role model for his people, but McQueen wants nothing to do with the documentary.

written by Richard Whitley
directed by Winrich Kolbe
music by Shirley Walker

Guest Cast: Steve Hytner (Reporter), Robert Crow (Crow), Charles Carpenter (Cameraman), Gibson Frazier (Ed), Loren Chase (Mrs. West), Darren Gray Ward (Lt. John Hill), Kate McCalley (Doctor), Bob Clendenin (Mank), Scott Heath Dorel (Sailor #1), John Battle (Supply sergeant), Jermaine Mentell (Sailor #2), Jennifer Burns (Ann), Michael Wachtel (Marine #1), Rock Reiser (Armed guard), Ted Mann (Slow Talker), Carl Gilliard (Ophthalmologist)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Under fire on the planet Minerva, the 58th take shelter in a tank dubbed “Pearly,” piloted by the only surviving member of its original crew. With the Chigs hot on their trail, the Marines’ only hope of survival is the well-worn tank. But a small group of AIs is also on Minerva, and they see Pearly’s power supply as their own salvation – and even if it means forcing the humans to sacrifice their own safety and their only means of defense, the AIs won’t hesitate to take it.

written by Richard Whitley
directed by Charles Martin Smith
music by Shirley Walker

Guest Cast: Doug Hutchison (Elroy El), Martin Jarvis (Major Cyril MacKendrick), Adam Goldberg (Sgt. Louie Fox), Guy Garner (Marine), Kimberly Patton (Feliciti)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

A disastrous meeting with Chig fighters on a routine patrol leaves Hawkes seriously wounded – and leaves Ross with only one conclusion: the 58th has reached a point of total burnout. The Wild Cards are given a weekend of R&R aboard Bacchus, a mobile pleasure center. Some of the 58th find it hard to resist the temptation to stay there, but one of them is even worse off. Injected with human drugs by a doctor who didn’t realize he was an in vitro, Hawkes becomes a danger to himself, his career, and his comrades in arms.

written by Julie Selbo
directed by Thomas J. Wright
music by Shirley Walker

Guest Cast: Janet Gunn (Suzie), Jennifer Crystal (Nurse Larlee), Coolio (Host), Julius Branca (Bartender), Vincent Guastaferro (Man), David Scott Gordon (Guy), David Duchovny (Alvin)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

When the 58th is forced to scrub a mission because their fighters haven’t been prepped, they begin to feel uneasy. This suspicion grows as stranger things begin happening – including a surveillance device found in the cockpit of Vansen’s ship. The presence of high-level visitors aboard the Saratoga adds to their paranoia. All of their ships have been bugged, as it turns out, but when those bugs are removed, a routine escort mission becomes a firefight. Is someone in the command ranks trying to take out the 58th?

written by Howard Grigsby
directed by Jesus Trevino
music by Shirley Walker

Guest Cast: Ronald G. Joseph (General Oliver Radford), Tim Hutchinson (Military Officer), David A. R. White (Ensign Lewis), Edmund L. Shaff (Chaplain), Eric Whitmore (Commando), Pato Hoffmann (James Dark Moon), Christopher Kirby (Technician), Robert Crow (Officer Crow), Onico Edain (Colonel)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

The 58th is assigned to play just a small part of a massive Earth effort to take a Chig airstrip on Demios. Though seemingly insignificant, control of that installation guarantees control of the surrounding sector. Though the invasion is expected to come at the price of a great loss of life, the airstrip is taken with great ease and very little resistance. Only when the 58th sets up shop at the airstrip do they realize that their target is a trap designed to lure as many Earth carriers to this sector as possible for a Chig ambush – and help may never come.

written by Matt Kiene & Joe Reinkemeyer
directed by Thomas J. Wright
music by Shirley Walker

Guest Cast: Granville Van Dusen (General Weirick), Iqbal Theba (General Siraj), Jennifer Balgobin (Lt. Rice), Bill Kalmenson (Commander Preising), Mark Adair Rios (Lt. Smith), David St. James (Admiral Broden), Josh Abramson (Lt. Nelson), David Jean Thomas (General Alcott), David Cooley (Lt. Feeley), Edmund L. Shaff (Chaplain), Keith Rosary (LIDAR Operator), James Kiriyama-Lem (General Ming), Chrisopher Villa (Marine), Nancy Linehan Charles (Admiral Vetter)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

An elaborate mission to draw a large portion of the Chig defense away from their home planet is falling right into place. The Wild Cards are sent in to place landing beacons on a Chig-occupied moon which will be the Earth forces’ next target. Not only do they fend off a Chig ground patrol, but they discover a new life form of a kind never seen. Suddenly, the attack on this moon brings up the possibility of genocide…but even if a way can be found to warn the seemingly gentle, harmless creatures of the impending assault, nobody knows if the beings can be trusted not to share that information with the enemy.

written by Glen Morgan & James Wong
directed by Vern Gillum
music by Shirley Walker

Guest Cast: Don Pugsley (Colonel Rabwin), Derek Mark Lochran (Pasty), Robert Crow (Communications officer)

LogBook entry by Earl Green