"Date With Danger" Part 1

(Original air date 02/20/78)
smdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdm

Steve battles a computer intent on killing him
smdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdmsmdm

Story: Wilton Schiller

Teleplay: Wilton Schiller & John Meredyth Lucas

Director: Rod Holcomb

In a stylish office building, computer engineer George Cloche (Robert Walker Jr.) drops by the offices of Datamate Dating Services, his former place of business, to pick up his mail. He won’t have it redirected to his office down the hall for it provides him with an opportunity to court Emily Patterson (Elaine Giftos) the lovely new owner, who, to his dismay, keeps snubbing his advances.
Following another rebuff, Cloche heads down to his modestly-furnished office where he sits behind the computer to do some hacking into the OSI main frame in which all confidential data are stored.
Two computer technicians (Paul Tully & Raymond Davis) find the intrusion dubious and report the break in.


Oscar’s suspicions fall on Communications Chief Joe Canton (Noah Keen) and picks top computer engineer Harold Bell (Robert Walker Jr.), Cloche's real identity, as his temporary replacement, asking him to pay particular attention to the Ryker satellite project in which most of the money embezzled was invested.
Steve won’t believe his friend Joe is guilty of embezzlement and espionage. He stresses the fact that other people with access to the computers stand more to gain from this project. Believing his friend has been framed, Steve sets out to clear his name. He asks to review the computer memory core in hopes to locate the illegal terminal.
Steve discovers a twenty-third terminal linked to the main computer when in reality only twenty-two are active. In his office, Cloche is alerted of the entry. Quickly he presses a key that orders the OSI computer to self-destruct.


Steve informs his boss of the illegal link. Having caught part of the phone number that matches three different establishments, he chooses the most obvious, Datamate.
When be bumps into a locked door, Steve opts for a bionic entry through the office window. As he begins rummaging around, Emily shows up. Frightened by the intruder, she brandishes a chair, threatening to smash it on his head should he make a false move while she calls the police.


Steve swiftly releases the lock on the door to prove the office was open when he entered. Still wary of the stranger, Emily keeps him at bay with her weapon until she learns of his true identity.
She casually begins relating the story of how she came to buy the business from a guy who could never get it off the ground. She hopes to boost the business by keeping the former clients and recruiting new ones.
Steve explains that there’s a strong possibility that her computer might be illegally linked to the OSI main frame. When she accesses it to retrieve the information, it blows up.


While Steve lends a hand to Emily in repairing the damages, she tells him about George Cloche, the man who sold her the business. At Steve’s request she provides him with a physical description should run into him while getting lunch for the two of them.
Emily is smitten and hope the feeling’s mutual.
Steve goes down to Cloche's office hoping to meet the man but Cloche pretends that no one's home. Later when he returns from the delicatessen, Steve gets a glimpse of Cloche as he drives out of the underground parking.


Entering the Datamate offices, he learns that the fire destroyed the information they were seeking, but that a special backup memory might be able to help them trace that illegal line. Instead of a list of potential suspects, the computer provides them with a single address and the initials J. C., no doubt corresponding to the name Joe Canton. Could be a trap but nevertheless Steve is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery. He reluctantly agrees to bring Emily along.
Meanwhile Cloche taps into the Acme Wrecking Company computer system to switch the order of demolition to the apartment building where Steve and Emily are heading.


The two investigators enter the apartment in question but find nothing significant that can lead to a clue. As they turn to leave, a huge ram slams into the walls. Both Steve and Emily barely escape with their lives.
Steve walks up to the foreman (Robert Hackman) demanding an explanation. Could it have been a computer error? Steve comes to believe that someone wants him out of commission and is using computers to do the job.


In Oscar’s office, Emily explains that computers do not commit blunders; programmers do. She resents Oscar’s insinuation that she might be the one pulling the reins. He finds it odd that those unfortunate incidents started occurring after Steve began investigating her company and since the infamous Mister Cloche doesn’t appear to exist, the suspicion logically falls on her. The two get into a slanging match, ending with Emily storming out of the office.
At Ryker Industries, the company designing the new communications satellite, Cloche meets with Fowler (Harold Brandt), his inside man. The man assures him that everything is proceeding accordingly and that he’ll have the satellite reprogrammed before the launch.
Cloche informs him of the nosy parker Austin and asks to do away with the computers in his office as a precautionary measure. Fowler fears for his job should the OSI discover that he’s been tampering with the satellite equipment.
Steve and Emily break into Cloche’s office to find it empty. Steve starts rummaging through waste paper hoping to find a clue.


He drives back to the OSI to inform Oscar of his finding: the Acme Wrecking Company demolition order that Bell was asked to investigate. Could it have been conveniently placed on the floor of Cloche’s office to incriminate Bell? Right now their main priority is to locate the elusive George Cloche who is a potential threat to national security.
Meanwhile, professional hit man Arnold Banner (Luke Askew) receives his instructions to kill Steve Austin.


Cloche and Fowler gain access to the office late at night to start moving out the equipment but to their surprise, the computers are already gone. Cloche suspects the OSI might have discovered their scheme. Fowler suggests dropping the project but Cloche won’t have it. As Harold Bell, his alternate personality, he may yet be able to retrieve the equipment.
He heads out to his van inside which he alters his appearance from Cloche to Bell.
Emily contacts Steve with the news that Cloche spoke to her on the phone. She tried to lure him into her office but her attempt failed. Oscar assigns an agent (Eric Lawrence) to ensure her protection in case Cloche should show up unexpectedly.


Joe Canton curtails his vacation to return to HQ where he learns of the accusation against him. Appalled he seeks Steve’s help in proving his innocence. He knows his computers, his babies has he affectionately refers to them; but now they are frightening him for they appear to have taken control.
At Datamate, a bomb threat has everyone evacuating the building. Emily contacts Steve to gen him upon the current situation. He suggests her to follow instructions and that he’ll meet her later at her apartment. A computer takes note of the address over the phone and instantly sends it to Banner who plans to be on site when Austin shows up.


At gunpoint he orders Steve to climb on the roof of the apartment building where he intents to execute his contract.


Part Two

Return to Episode Guide     Return to Homepage