| The River of Stars | |
|---|---|
| Season 1, Episode 11 | |
| |
| Air date | December 17, 1995 |
| Written by | Marilyn Osborn |
| Directed by | Tucker Gates |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous Stay with the Dead |
Next Who Monitors the Birds? |
The River of Stars is the eleventh episode of Season 1 of Space: Above and Beyond.
The episode aired December 17, 1995 on the Fox Network.
When the 58th are trapped inside a damaged space APC stranded deep inside enemy territory on Christmas day, they receive a cryptic transmission which tells them how to "hitch a ride" back to safety upon an incoming comet's orbit.
Summary[]
The Wild Cards are on a transport in a convoy heading back to the USS SARATOGA together with four others, when they are attacked by aliens. Shane and Nathan try their best to minimize any casualties but they are hit anyway on the left propulsion engine and the transport drifts through space. After the Marines have reviewed the damages they find out that they are out of radio contact and fuel and far behind the enemy lines.
The three of convoy transport return to the SARATOGA where McQueen is worried about the Wildcards and he questions the surviving pilots. There is much confusion whether the 58th squadron is still alive or dead. The Colonel asks for a search team but Commodore Ross is doubts that they are still alive. Vanessa is able to repair the radio transmitter but they are only able to receive incoming messages. Because it is Christmas, Shane had hid her Christmas presents for her friends in the cabin of the transporter and she hands them out. She gives Paul a book of poetry, Vanessa is given a combat knife with a special engraved dedication and Nathan receives warm socks. Cooper cannot understand the ritual of handing out presents on Christmas and wants to sneak out but Shane sees him and gives him a present as well: a CD by the Sex Pistols because ever since Pags gave them his Rock'n'Roll history lesson on Mars, he has liked rock music. Paul is somewhat embarrassed to have received a present and wants to give it back to her because he does not believe in God anymore. Later, Vanessa and Shane try to explain the sense of Christmas to Coop, who sheepishly confesses that he has missed these lessons at the In Vitro education facility. When they tell him of the Immaculate Conception of Jesus, he muses that Jesus must have been an In Vitro as well. Their peaceful contemplation is destroyed when one of the pipes to the oxygen tanks breaks and Hawkes' CD is destroyed. He is sad that this has happened but tells Shane that this is not important because he is glad that she thought of him. Shane tells him that although he does not understand why people celebrate Christmas, he has the true spirit for it. While waiting they listen to McQueen transmitting them passages from the Genesis which had been recorded by the Apollo 8 crew when they rounded the moon on Christmas day ninety-five years ago in 1968.
Through their transmitter they also receive strange coded signals and at fist they decipher. Paul and Cooper notice a comet called Jelena Wembley which will hit them in a few hours. The Saratoga crew has received the same strange signals and McQueen assumes that the Wild Cards must be in the Ypsilon-Iridianus region although Ross tells him that could be also a trap of the Chigs. Ross plays them "I'll be home for Christmas" on his guitar over the radio. Suddenly, the coded signals are received again and Paul figures out that these must be telemetric information and when he uses the given parameters, he discovers that the comet is enroute with the Saratoga and that the information can help them ride the comet back home.
Paul prepares himself to go outside the the transport torepair the damaged engine and as a talisman, Nathan gives him his picture tag of Kylen because Shane told them earlier that Kylen has become some kind of religious belief to Nathan which protects them all. Paul has some difficulties in repairing the engine and the others watch him nervously through the transport's viewport. When he succeeds, they prepare to ride on the tail of the comet, Paul instructing Nathan and Shane to fire the maneuvering thrusters for only 56 seconds and he himself will navigate them by using an old-fashioned instrument. But before he does so he opens Shane's present and reads aloud from it. Meanwhile, McQueen has sent out a rescue team to the co-ordinates of the comet and at first they cannot find any trace of the Wild Cards but the Marines are surprized when they see the transport riding on the tail of the comet.
Back on the SARATOGA, the Wild Cards celebrate a proper Christmas. Cooper has bought a Christmas present for Shane and when he gives her a voucher for bowling she is touched but Cooper is bewildered that she hugs him fiercely and runs off. Nathan tells him that she hates bowling and Coop did not remember it. Paul wants to give back the picture tag to Nathan but the marine refuses and Paul gives it to McQueen wishing him a Merry Christmas in the name of all the Wild Cards. McQueen wonders if the aliens have given them all a very special Christmas gift by transmitting the telemetry of the comet.
Cast & Characters[]
Main Cast[]
- Morgan Weisser as 1LT Nathan West
- Kristen Cloke as 1LT Shane Vansen
- Rodney Rowland as 1LT Cooper Hawkes
- Joel de la Fuente as 1LT Paul Wang
- Lanei Chapman as 1LT Vanessa Damphousse
- James Morrison as LTC Tyrus Cassius "T.C." McQueen
Recurring Cast[]
Additional Cast[]
- Leslie O'Neil as Lewis
- J. August Richards as LT Thomas
- Christopher Kirby as Kelcher
- Robert Crow as Reynolds
- Tyrone Batista as Lieutenant
- Sashe Annete (as Sharon Annett) as Communications Officer
- Billy Maddox as Larkin
- Christopher Wiehl as Ensign
- Robert Arevalo as Horn
Crew[]
Director[]
Writer[]
Executive Producers[]
- Glen Morgan (executive producer)
- James Wong (executive producer)
- Stephen Zito (co-executive producer)
Producers[]
- Tim McHugh (producer)
- D. Howard Grigsby (producer)
- Herb Adelman (co-producer)
- Ken Dennis (associate producer)
Music[]
- Shirley Walker