"Target: Steve Austin"
(Original air date 11/27/77)
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Steve teams up with a female agent to ensure the safe transport
of a nuclear charge to a remote testing facility
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Writers: Donald Gold & Lester Wm. Berke
Director: Ed Abroms
In Caliornia, Special Program Director Frank Tracy (Quinn Redeker) picks up Steve at the airport to drive him to the OSI Test Center under the utmost of secrecy. Annoyed by the man’s evasiveness to questions relating to all the cloak-and-dagger, Steve insists on being fed the details of this new mission he was to embark on.
Frank’s muteness was imperative to prevent any leakage of information through possible concealed taps. He explains that an enemy group has successfully managed to infiltrate the OSI security system in order to appropriate themselves a highly classified project involving an A-bomb. Unbeknownst to them that a woman with her face swathed in bandages is eavesdropping on their conversation and watching their every move
As Steve exits the elevator on the 40th floor, the woman detonates the small explosive inside the lift that sends Frank plummeting down to ground level, but luckily he meets with a smooth landing thanks to Steve’s bionic prowess.
After recovering his bearings, Frank introduces Steve to his partner, Joan (Lynnette Mettey), a sharpshooter agent with a black belt in karate. Posing as honeymooners vacationing in the South of California to avoid arousing suspicions, they will be tasked with delivering a highly explosive nuclear charge to their test center in the middle of the desert.
Rudy is called in to describe the chemical components making up the two solutions kept inside a container. Under controlled manipulation, the charge will generate enough energy to feed the entire city of Los Angeles in electricity for many years. However if mixed together prematurely, the liquids become extremely unstable and as deadly as nitro-glycerine. He therefore stresses the importance of keeping the ride as smooth as possible to avoid triggering an explosion.
Steve and Joan inspect their love nest, unaware that the Winnebago is bugged. The enemy operative enjoys eavesdropping on their conversation while her doctor removes her bandages to reveal a Joan look-alike.
Steve and Joan sets out on their journey with an helicopter hovering ahead to ensure their safety.
Halfway down the road, Joan offers the weary driver a soothing massage that works wonders for stiff necks. They drive by a roadside panel advertising delicious apple pies and contact the pilot to inform him of a brief stop.
While Steve gets the goods Joan keeps an eye on the precious cargo. Two motorcyclists accost her with offers of a good time. She turns them down politely but when they insist, she gets rough and slugs them both, much to Steve’s astonishment.
The pilot gets suspicious about a tiny van tailing the RV and decides to let Steve and Joan know about the nuisance. Steve suggests keeping the vehicle within sight and to inform them should it get too close.
Inside the van the look-alike gets ready to assume her role. They follow at a safe distance all the way to a tunnel inside which a car blocks the road. Steve offers to assist the convivial elderly couple in getting their vehicle back on track, unaware that a switch is taking place in the Winnebago.
Joan is rendered unconscious and taken away while the twin takes her place with Steve being none the wiser.
A few miles down the road, Steve goes out to inspect a malfunction in the air conditioning system while the enemy agent gives a set of instructions to her cohorts. Their orders are to assume the pilot’s identity and contact the RV with an urgent message from Frank Tracy suggesting a different road. They add that the helicopter will stop hovering over their heads to avoid attracting attention. Steve is wary of the sudden change in path and reluctantly follows orders, believing that Oscar has his reasons for doing so.
The pilot notices the RV veering off course and attempts to communicate with Steve, but Joan having switched radio frequencies, the call doesn’t get through. He therefore contacts Oscar who suggests forcing the caravan to stop by landing the chopper a few feet ahead.
The pilot hails the RV to stop and to his surprise, he comes face to face with two armed men (Carl Reindel and Ian Abercrombie) who impel him to assure Oscar Goldman that the Winnebago is experiencing minor transmission trouble.
Steve notices the van closing in and puts the pedal to the medal in an attempt to shake it. He then stops the caravan and goes hide in a thicket to wait for the van to ride by before pushing a tree across the road to block their passage. They men start shooting at Steve as he dashes back to the Winnebago. A stray bullet manages to nick the container, thus setting the two solutions into motion.
Wary of his partner’s strange behavior, Steve sets out to confirm Joan’s identity by asking for her special massage. When she fails the test, he swirls the vehicle to the side, making her lose balance long enough for him to grab the gun in her purse. He locks her in the back and pursues his course.
Their unexpected detour left Steve with a formidable task of bringing the heavy RV across a decaying bridge. After inspecting the boards, he decides to chance it. A tire breaks a plank, jostling the caravan.
He stops and goes inspect the container and notices that the situation is now critical. The two liquids are slowly coming in contact and there’s no predicting the exact moment an explosion might occur. He does his best to limit the damages, after which he scales down the bridge to lift the vehicle up and fills up the hole to proceed to the other side.
He parks the vehicle to give the cargo another check unaware of two unwanted visitors who had managed to sneak inside the RV while he was busy repairing the hole in the bridge. The couple is none other than Albert (Boris Aplov) and Jessica (Paula Victor) the charming elderly couple he helped back in the tunnel where the switch took place; a decoy contracted by the enemy. They free the fake Joan and take the wheel to proceed to their rendezvous where they will meet with their client. Sitting in a corner under house arrest Steve reiterates the danger of an imminent explosion but his warning falls on deaf ears.
In an open field our twin meets with Hellerman (Curt Lowens), an influential power in the world of espionage, who hands her half the loot in trade for the nuclear unit that he intends to test before forking over the rest of the agreed sum. As the exchange takes place Steve seizes the opportunity to stun his captors, grab the unit and flee. The chopper tries vainly to stop his course but Steve effectively dodges the nuisance to finally hurl the unstable container in the air where it explodes.
Days later at the OSI Test Center, Steve learns that all enemy agents have been apprehended and that the pilot of the helicopter was found safe and sound. He goes to the RV where he finds Joan cooking a delicious apple pie. He bids farewell to Frank and Rudy and with an elfish wink tells them he’s off on a romantic ride.
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