"Divided Loyalty"
(Original air date 11/30/75)
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Steve helps a scientist who wishes to return to the US but the
teenage son is reluctant to follow
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Writers: Jim Carlson & Terry O'Donnell
Director: Alan Crosland
At the OSI, Edna Jackson (Johana deWinter), sister of renowned physicist Dr. Leon Jackson, pleads with Oscar to grant asylum to her brother who wishes to defect back to his homeland after fifteen years in exile, despite the prospect of being sentenced for treason. He is willing to cooperate with the US government and share his research on solar energy in exchange for a safe passage into the country.
Following the assignment briefing, Steve flies to Finland where he parachutes down miles away from any prying eyes. On the ground he navigates around various security systems to finally reach the heavily guarded property.
At the mansion, Dr. Jackson (Michael McGuire) oversees last-minute detail for the trip and allows his son Alex (Radames Pera) to go bid farewell to Boris (Ned Romero), a guard he befriended with while on the island. Alex confides in his friend, a man he’s come to consider as his own father, his suspicion about his father’s urgency to leave early and wishes they could remain a while longer.
Steve continues his journey through the domain and awaits the right moment to jump a fence. Much to his dismay a drunkard guard, Gottke (Lawrence Levine), spots him and starts shooting, but thankfully he misses. At the sound of the alarm, Steve manages to hide on top of a brick wall and watches in amusement the guard trying to have the Chief of Security, Captain Ledbin (Curt Lowens), swallow his outlandish story about a man jumping fences. To Steve’s relief, Lebdin is quick to dismiss the incident as a drunkard’s hallucination.
Steve sneaks inside the mansion through an open window and meets with Dr. Jackson and Alex, who is now reluctant to follow after discovering that they were not returning home as he was originally told, but that they were leaving for the US. Steve worries that the boy’s resistance might greatly diminish their chances of crossing the border.
Steve stuns a guard before all three flee the compound in a jeep with Boris and his men on their tail. All are unaware that Alex has deliberately punctured the radiator hoping to disable the vehicle on the road.
Midway into their destination, the jeep’s radiator fails. They are faced with no other alternative but to continue on foot, but Alex is reluctant. Exasperated, Steve explains the reason that drove his father to return to the US and that contrary to the boy’s belief, Boris and the others are not a friendly bunch but rather enemies eager to get their hands on his father’s solar energy project.
With Steve as the lead they straddle over the invisible laser beams positioned across the road.
Boris and his group discover the disabled jeep that Steve pushed down a ravine. He orders a team to drive on while he and his other men pursue the fugitives on foot.
The threesome pauses to take a breather. Steve proposes an easier way to reach their destination and goes scour an alternate route, leaving Alex and his father alone to catch their breath. The young rebel seizes the occasion to scamper away and meets with Boris’s men Alex wishes to surrender but has a change of heart after witnessing a guard savagely knocking his father over the head.
Steve manages to subdue the two men, after which he assists Alex with his injured father. When he regains consciousness, Dr. Jackson discovers he’s blind. Quickly they steal the jeep and drive away.
They come to an abandon shed and take refuge inside. There, Steve proceeds to a cursory examination of Leon’s eyes and concludes to a temporary blindness. He stresses the importance of father and son calling a truce in order for this mission to be a success, which they do. They say their peace to clear the air.
They press on to reach the abandon mine where the underground tunnel is located but to Steve’s dismay, Captain Ledbin and his men have already surrounded the place. The alternate route is to cross a deep canyon.
They then return to the shack and select the necessary gear to undertake their perilous journey. Before leaving Steve yanks out the steering wheel to disable the jeep.
With a bionic swing, Steve throws the rope on the other edge and secures the other end around a tree. To avert the guards’ attention, he pushes a keg of sand down a minefield to dupe the enemy into believing they are caught in the explosions. Boris believes it’s a ruse and decides to take a different path.
Steve crosses the gorge with Leon hanging on his back. Boris finds Alex just as Steve returns to get the boy and orders him to go back for the scientist.
Boris’s true nature comes to light much to Alex’s chagrin. A argument starts during which Alex tries to disarm Boris. Steve seizes the opportunity to kick the man in the chest and knocks him unconscious.
As Steve crosses the ravine with Alex hanging on his back, Boris rouses and aims at the two swinging in mid air, but can’t bring himself to killing the boy. Instead he wishes him luck in his new life.
Back in Washington, in exchange for Dr. Jackson’s full cooperation, Oscar manages to obtain the court's leniency, thus allowing the scientist to serve his probation at his home with his son.
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