Ed Gantner worked for the government agency responsible for recruiting MacGyver for various freelance operations. He offered MacGyver the rescue mission at the
KIVA Laboratories, a highly classified underground research facility in
Bannon New Mexico, after a mysterious explosion destroyed the facility leaving at least 20 people unaccounted for, including 2 Nobel prize candidates,
Dr. Carl Steubens and
Dr. Sidney Marlowe. In spite of Gantner describing the odds of success, on a scale from 1 to 10, as minus three, MacGyver accepted the mission and Gantner accompanied him to the KIVA labs where he joined director
Charlie Burke and chief of operations
Andy Colson on the main level where they monitored MacGyver's progress, via a 2-way communication radio, as he attempted to rescue the scientists and stop an acid leak which threatened the water supply for the southwest.