Dick Preston
Background
Dick Preston is an engineer.
During the events of Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe, Season 1 Episode 4 Nightmare Typhoon played by Richard Crane
Commando Cody, Joan Gilbert and Dick listen to the radio as the announcer describes the destruction caused by the weather. Commando Cody calls radar control and asks the location of the unidentified spaceship. He then goes to a large map and shows Joan and Dick the route that the spaceship has been heading, which exactly matches that of the sudden downpours. Dick thinks it is probably The Ruler's work. Radar control tells Commando Cody that the spaceship is heading towards his direction and he decides to use his fuel pack to intercept the spaceship. Dick calls Commando Cody and tells him the exact heading of the spaceship. Commando Cody sees the R-6 drop a bomb and intercepts it and brings it back to headquarters. Commissioner Henderson goes to headquarters and tells Commando Cody, Joan and Dick that The Ruler has temporarily stopped the flooding in order to give his ultimatum. Earth must disperse the protective cosmic dust and allow his occupational forces to take over Earth. The message then continues that they must respond within 24 hours. Commando Cody comes up with the idea to delay message to The Ruler for a few days in order for him to work on a solution for countering the bombs.
Commando Cody comes up with a plan to spread a counter-gas causing the bombs to explode prematurely. He calls Post Number 1 and tells him to inform the other posts of his arrival. When he, Joan and Dick arrive, he gives Clancy the keys to his vehicle and he, Dick and Joan get into the rocket and take off. They dispense the counter-gas and Henderson contacts them and tells them that the spaceship is heading from the Moon to the east coast of the United States. After Commando Cody and the others finish dispensing the gas, they head towards the east coast. R-6 Commander drops bombs over New York City, but his spaceship is then intercepted by Commando Cody's rocket. They use their ship's weapons to attack each other and Commando Cody destroys R-6 Commander and R-6 Pilot's ship, killing them. The gas works and the storms dispel. Back at headquarters, Dick reveals that he was wearing a life preserver the entire time.
During the events of Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe, Season 1 Episode 5 War of the Space Giants played by Richard Crane
Dick is on the phone as Joan reads out coordinates to Commando Cody. Henderson walks into the room and tells Commando Cody that the research building was a total loss and continues that an epidemic has developed in all the areas hit with the explosions. Commando Cody tells him that if they follow the path of the attacks, the next target will be their city. He tells Henderson that he plans on attacking the enemy rocket before its next attack. Commando Cody, Joan and Dick drive to his rocket and Commando Cody tells Clancy that they are taking off right away. They fly the rocket and Commando Cody tells Joan that The Ruler would use germ warfare to wipe out the population. They spot the M-7 and start firing on it. Sanders starts firing back at Commando Cody's rocket. Commando Cody uses the freeze ray and then puts on his fuel pack. He flies to the M-7 and plugs up the exhaust vents, forcing M-7 Captain for turn the power off. Joan then uses a magnetic drag ray to tow the M-7. Joan lands the rocket and Commando Cody and Dick head towards the M-7. They get into a shoot out with M-7 Captain and Sanders and Sanders is shot dead. M-7 Captain runs back into the rocket and Commando Cody follows him. They get into a fist fight and Commando Cody knocks him unconscious.
Henderson stops by the office and tells Commando Cody that M-7 Captain refused to divulge much information. Commando Cody tells him that they found the anti-toxin in the M-7 and it has been passed to the pharmaceutical companies. He shows Henderson the weapon from the M-7 which uses saterium, which only comes from one of the moons on Saturn. He tells Henderson of his plan to destroy the saterium deposits so The Ruler won't be able to recharge his weapons. Commando Cody, Dick and Joan fly their rocket towards Saturn and head towards the moon with the saterium deposits. Dick lands the rocket and Commando Cody flies towards a mine. Dick fires the rocket and Commando Cody barely escapes before the rocket hits the mine. Commando Cody, Joan and Dick return to Earth and Dick wonders about the positive ways saterium could have been used.
During the events of Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe, Season 1 Episode 6 Destroyers of the Sun played by Richard Crane
Commando Cody, Joan and Dick are working when Dick notices it's getting dark earlier than usual. Joan looks out the window and calls Commando Cody over to look at the sun. Commando Cody and Dick walk to the window and see the sun start to fade away. The radio announcer says that astronomers have no ideas about why the sun is being blotted out from the sky. He continues that work in most places has continued, except in farming and that some places are seeing subzero temperatures. Henderson stops by the office and tells Commando Cody and the others that astronomers are baffled. Commando Cody thinks it is due to something The Ruler is doing.
Commando Cody tells Henderson, Dick and Joan that the astronomers think perhaps someone is affecting the atomic reactions on the sun. Commando Cody, Joan and Dick drive to his rocket and he calls Post Number 1 and tells him to clear the other posts. Post Number 1 calls post number 2 and tells him Commando Cody is on his way. Commando Cody and the others arrive at the rocket and he asks Clancy if everything is ready and then has Clancy drive the car back. They take off in the rocket and as Dick turns on the dispersal ray, it fails to work. They reverse course and Commando Cody tells them that someone must have put something in the protective cosmic that blocked the dispersal ray. Commando Cody tells Henderson that someone from Station 8 added something to the cosmic dust.
Commando Cody goes back to the office and tells Henderson that Baylor managed to escape, but he left enough paperwork to figure out that The Ruler is using a ray machine to block the sun from planet M-27. Commando Cody, Joan and Dick get back into the rocket and fly towards planet M-27. Dick notices the rocket is slowing down and Commando Cody tells him they might as well turn off the rockets. Commando Cody puts on his fuel pack and takes a nuclear bomb with him and flies towards M-27. He lands on the ray weapon and drops off a nuclear bomb. The bomb goes off, destroying the ray machine and Dick and Joan pick up Commando Cody in the rocket. Commando Cody has Dick head towards towards the tower underneath the ray machine. Commando Cody bombs the mountain with the tower, destroying the tower and then he, Joan and Dick head back home to the news that the sun has returned to normal.
During the events of Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe, Season 1 Episode 7 Robot Monster from Mars played by Richard Crane
The Ruler's Robot breaks into Commando Cody's office and Baylor communicates to Commando Cody, through the Robot, that he must hand over the plans for his rocket and also how to get through the cosmic dust field. Commando Cody goes to the safe and then pulls out a weapon and sprays the Robot with it, making the Robot stop moving. Henchman and another henchman go to Commando Cody's office and use the nerve gun to stun the guard. They break into the office and as they are breaking into the safe, Commando Cody and Dick walk out of the lab and the Henchman shoots Dick with the nerve gun. A fight breaks out and when one of the henchman escapes out the window, Commando Cody runs after him. Meanwhile the other Henchman grabs Dick and drives away with him. Dick wakes up in in a chair in Baylor's office and Baylor tells him the chair will make him follow their commands.
After the chair works, Baylor tells Dick to go back to Commando Cody's office. As Joan and Commando Cody are about to leave the office Dick walks in. After Dick tells them a story about waking up in a hotel, Commando Cody and Joan leave to go speak with Henderson. Dick grabs a briefcase from the safe full of Commando Cody's paperwork and brings them to Baylor and the Henchman. Baylor looks through it and discovers the only thing the papers don't explain is how to get through the cosmic space dust. He asks Dick if he knows how and Dick tells him it would take a couple of weeks to duplicate. Baylor has Dick call Station 8 Superintendent in order to allow one of The Ruler's spaceships through the cosmic dust. The N-6 lands and Dick is brought aboard the rocket and it leaves for the planet L-36.
Dick is brought to The Ruler who looks over what Dick brought. Dick turns on his two-way radio badge and Commando Cody and Joan listen in on Dick and The Ruler's conversation, including where Dick is being held. Planet M-27 Guard Leader tells The Leader that a rocket is headed their way. He asks The Ruler if he wants him to move his things to the bomb shelter, but The Ruler doesn't thinks Commando Cody will bomb the planet. He then tells Planet M-27 Guard Leader to have one of The Ruler's Robots go to the location where Commando Cody is likely to land. Joan uses the Robot to attack the guards and break into The Ruler's lab. Commando Cody follows behind and a fight breaks out. The Ruler disables the Robot and then escapes. Dick and Commando Cody go back to the rocket after grabbing the briefcase of papers and Dick daydreams of putting The Ruler in the thought machine and making him do the dishes.
During the events of Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe, Season 1 Episode 8 The Hydrogen Hurricane played by Richard Crane
The Moon starts to suddenly get closer to the Earth. Commando Cody, Joan and Dick watch as it gets closer from their office. It starts to slow down and then stops and Commando Cody tells Joan maybe a meteor hit it and caused it to move. The phone rings and Henderson asks Commando Cody if he saw what happened and what effects they should expect on Earth. Commando Cody tells Joan to call the observatory to get the exact coordinates of the Moon and then tells Dick to get the world weather maps of the last 24 hours. Commando Cody calls Point Barrow Weather Station 2-3 and asks what their local barometric pressure is. Joan is told that the Moon shifted 20 degrees. Commando Cody tells Joan to contact Weather Station 1-4 on Tierra del Fuego, but when she radios them, they don't respond. Station 8 Superintendent calls Commando Cody and tells him the storm is overloading the circuits and they need to be shut off. Henderson asks Commando Cody what is wrong, and he tells him that there is trouble at the cosmic dust generating station. Commando Cody tells Joan to go with Dick in the rocket to the dust blanket level so they can relay information back to him.
Joan and Dick arrive at the rocket ship and Clancy backs their car out of the blast area. Dick and Joan take off in the rocket and Commando Cody tells them to head towards a storm area. He rewires the machinery and then uses his fuel pack to fly to the rocket ship. He, Dick and Joan then fly to the Moon. Commando Cody sees the RG-12 following them and a fight breaks out. The RG-12 flees from the battle and Commando Cody shows Dick and Joan a thermal detector he invented. He uses his fuel pack to scan the area of the Moon for thermal scans and then flies to the location where it detects heat. Krug and his men are killed by the hydrogen blast and Commando Cody returns back to Earth with Joan and Dick.
During the events of Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe, Season 1 Episode 9 Solar Sky Raiders played by Richard Crane
Commando Cody is testing out his insignia radio as Joan and Dick are driving below him. A car speeds by them and then comes to a stop, forcing Dick to come to a quick stop. Nordahl and Kirk force Dick and Joan out of their car by gun point. They tell them they want information on the secret frequency caller and Joan uses her two-way radio badge to warn Commando Cody to leave. Kirk and Nordahl take her radio badge and Commando Cody lands and helps Dick and Joan while Kirk and Nordahl run away. Kirk uses the badge to tell Commando Cody that in two hours, he will receive a message from The Ruler. Commando Cody, Dick and Joan return to the office and wait for the call along with Henderson so they can try and track where the call is coming from. The Ruler comes on the radio, but it turns out to be just a recording of him. The recording says that Commando Cody will receive seven messages and after each message the people of Earth will learn of a multiple way that Earth will be destroyed. Joan calls monitoring who gives her the location of where the message was coming from. She gets off the phone and tells the others that it seems brighter outside. They all come to the window and Commando Cody uses a polarizer and sees that there appears to be a second sun in the sky. Commando Cody tells Henderson that the Earth can survive two suns, but only through stringent worldwide emergency measures.
The phone rings and the Security Commission asks to speak with Henderson and then Commando Cody tells them how they should react to what is happening. Commando Cody, Joan and Dick drive to their rocket and Commando Cody calls Post Number 1 and tells him to let the other posts know they are coming. They arrive at the rocket and Clancy tells Commando Cody that everything is ready to blast off. Commando Cody, Dick and Joan fly in the rocket and go above the dust cloud. Commando Cody realizes there is no added gravity from the second sun and that there is still only one true sun in the sky. The Ruler sends another recording and tells Commando Cody to look up in the sky, which now appears to have three suns. Henderson calls Commando Cody and tells him that people are saying it is the end of the world. Henderson tells Commando Cody that the Security Commission wants to have a meeting and Commando Cody and the others take the rocket back to Earth. At the office, Commando Cody, Joan and Dick are trying to figure out how The Ruler is adding more suns. Joan mentions a mirror like mirage and Commando Cody gets an idea and tells Dick and Joan to make a single phase scanning unit and to bring it on the rocket. Commando Cody rendezvous with the rocket and he, Joan and Dick use the density detector to target the extra suns. They shoot at the rocket ships that are acting as refractive surfaces and cause the extra suns to disappear.
During the events of Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe, Season 1 Episode 10 S.O.S. Ice Age played by Richard Crane
Radar Station Baker 12 contacts Commando Cody and tells him of an unidentified rocket in the area. Commando Cody flies his rocket to the area and sees the rocket leave. Joan wonders if the rocket could have dropped something off, but Dick reminds her of the cosmic dust blanket. Dick lists off a series of cities affected by earthquakes and Commando Cody figures out the Earth has shifted. Henderson walks into the office and asks Commando Cody what is going on. Professor Kirkson tells Dick that the sun was under observation and the position of the sun has changed according to Earth and the Earth is still tilting. Commando Cody puts on his fuel pack and flies into the air. He flies over the Pacific Ocean and tells Dick and Joan to take the rocket and meet him later. They arrive at the rocket and Dick asks Clancy if Henderson called him and Clancy tells him the rocket is ready to go. They pick up Commando Cody and he tells them to head towards the North Pole. Commando Cody calls Henderson and tells him the Earth is being tilted by a giant magnet. The radio goes out as they get closer to the North Pole. The rocket starts to malfunction and Joan calls Henderson and Commando Cody tells him where they are going to crash. Commando Cody and Dick leave the rocket while Joan stays behind. Commando Cody and Dick get a dog sled team from a local village and head towards where the magnetism was coming from. They come across a cave and Commando Cody goes inside it. Commando Cody runs out of the cave after reversing the machine. He and Dick race away with the dogs and the Earth's tilt returns to normal, causing an avalanche. Commando Cody and Dick abandon the buried dogs and return to the rocket. Henderson calls Commando Cody and tells him the Earth is back to normal and congratulates him.
During the events of Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe, Season 1 Episode 11 Lost in Outer Space played by Richard Crane
Commando Cody and Dick are in their rocket when they spot one of The Ruler's rockets. Baylen and R-7 Crew Member appear to be fighting and Baylen jumps off the rocket. Commando Cody has Dick fly underneath Baylen and Commando Cody puts on his fuel pack and manages to grab Baylen and bring him into the rocket. Commando Cody questions Baylen and Baylen tells him that he is from Mercury and was captured by The Ruler during the invasion of Mercury. Baylen asks for Commando Cody's help in freeing the Mercurians. Commando Cody and Dick return to the office and tell Henderson about Baylen. Henderson doesn't trust that Baylen is really from Mercury and calls Mercurians a very intelligent and hard working people. Joan worries that The Ruler will use Mercury as another base of attack against Earth. Commando Cody suggests they go and investigate Mercury to see if Baylen is telling the truth. Commando Cody, Joan, Dick and Baylen fly in the rocket. The rocket starts to go in circles and Commando Cody realizes a cable is pulled away. Commando Cody and Baylen put on space helmets and go outside the rocket to reset the cable. While Commando Cody is fixing the cable, the rope holding him to the rocket frays causing Commando Cody to fly off the rocket. Joan turns the rocket around and manages to catch Commando Cody.
Baylen directs Commando Cody where to land and Dick lands the rocket. Baylen tells Commando Cody that he knows where some of the Mercurians are hiding. Commando Cody puts on his fuel pack and Dick and Joan watch him fly into the air. When Joan and Dick return, Baylen points a pistol at them and then puts handcuffs on them. Baylen calls Narkos and tells him where the rocket it located. Joan turns on her two-way radio and Narkos tells Baylen that he and R-7 Crew Member stole the Mercurian sacred jewels and they plan on betraying The Ruler and selling them on Earth. After hearing the conversation, Commando Cody returns to the rocket and sneaks up on Baylen and takes his pistol. Dick puts his handcuffs on Baylen and Baylen steals a gas bomb and then throws it on the ground. Everyone in the rocket collapses and Commando Cody falls out of the rocket. Narkos and R-7 Crew Member get to the rocket and take off. Commando Cody recovers and takes off after them. He lands on the rocket and sneaks inside. He gets into a fight with R-7 Crew Member and then Narkos and Dick trips Baylen and pins him to the ground. Commando Cody knocks Narkos unconscious and takes over the rocket. Commando Cody tells Dick and Joan that their next job is to free the Mercurians.
During the events of Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe, Season 1 Episode 12 Captives of the Zero Hour played by Richard Crane
Narkos calls The Ruler and tells him that he has captured Commando Cody and his rocket. The Ruler tells him that he will go to Mercury to fly Commando Cody's rocket himself. Narkos gets off the radio and Commando Cody has Dick handcuff him. Commando Cody calls Henderson and tells him he doesn't know if The Ruler has invaded Mercury and the Mercurians are hiding in the hills. He then tells Henderson that he plans on trying to capture The Ruler. Dick lands the rocket and Commando Cody, Dick and Joan walk to where they plan on ambushing The Ruler. Joan tells Commando Cody that she is worried that Narkos and the other prisoners on the rocket might get free and steal the rocket again. Commando Cody tells her that he removed the needle valve out of the main fuel line so no one can fly the rocket. Mercurian Captain yells out and a group of Mercurians take Commando Cody, Joan and Dick hostage. Joan tells Mercurian Captain that he is making a mistake, but he tells her that the Queen of Mercury ordered him to capture everyone from their rocket and bring them to her. The Queen of Mercury apologizes to Commando Cody and tells him that The Ruler captured her capitol and she had to flee into the hills. Commando Cody uses his fuel pack to fly back to his rocket and tells the others to meet him there.
Dick. Joan and the Mercurians reach the rocket and Commando Cody tells them to hide. Commando Cody tells Mercurian Captain to get gas from the Queen of Mercury to use against The Ruler. Dick notices that The Ruler has started the pile chamber and Commando Cody uses his ray gun to melt the metal hull enough to cover the exhaust vent. Mercurian Captain returns with the gas right before the R-1 Captain starts attacking Commando Cody and the others. The R-1 Captain starts to bombard Commando Cody and he uses his fuel pack to fly towards the R-1 rocket. He and Dick disguise themselves as the R-1 crew and walk towards Commando Cody's rocket. They take Narkos and R-7 Crew Member hostage and make them walk into the rocket. A fight breaks out and Baylen is shot dead. The Ruler accidentally shoots R-7 Crew Member dead and Commando Cody shoots Narkos dead. The Ruler is handcuffed and Commando Cody, Dick and Joan fly away in their rocket. Henderson contacts Commando Cody and Commando Cody tells him that they captured The Ruler. Henderson tells him they just received a message that emissaries want to negotiate a universe of peace.