Phantasm swoops down on two drug dealers fleeing through Beggar’s Canyon, behind the University of Washington campus. At the McKinley Observatory on the campus’ north end, a bolt of interdimensional energy explodes into the telescope and consumes student Jackie Carter. When the light fades Phantashia stands in her place.

Dr. Jackal, reporting on a convention of osteopathic physicians, is near enough to recognize a good chance for publicity when he sees it. He and Phantasm meet security guard Tom Revere, who saw Jackie enter but not exit. Phantasm tries to communicate with the strange floating girl, who says she detects a powerful mystic source nearby that can cause terrible natural disasters — evidently Tom’s 1954 Washington class ring.

Since this is a residential campus a crowd is quick to gather, along with police and reporters, notably Melanie Polka of Channel 30 Action News. Naturally, showboat Jackal tries to attract attention.

The heroes take Phantashia to see Tom’s son John, a psychologist at Samaritan Hospital. Dr. Revere seems to think that she is normal for wherever she’s from — just unaccustomed to earth society. Dr. Jackal and Phantasm meet Dr. Doctor, a pediatrician who wears a costume to entertain the kids.

Tom takes Phantashia to his house near the university, and sits her down with a stack of National Geographics and James B. Olsen’s book, Super Powers and the Superpowers, to get acquainted with Earth. That evening, his housekeeper Olga, sans glasses, mistakes her for a prowler and clobbers her with a frying pan.

The next day, Phantasm is contacted by Martin Chance, who represents their mutual employer, Mark Hudson of Hudson Electronics. Mark’s father, James, founder of Canadian Defense Department H, supposedly died of heart failure years ago — but Mark has unearthed evidence to the contrary.

Rogue Defense Ministry scientist Bartholomew Woodrue may have switched minds with the elder Hudson shortly before his death. Woodrue, who often used the alias Mark Bennett, could very well be dead, and Hudson alive.

Captain Canuck, Canada’s premier hero and leader of the independent Northguard hero team, is in reality RAF Captain Mark Bennett. It could simply be coincidence, it could be that Hudson/Bennett is unaware of the situation. At any rate, Martin Chance wants Phantasm to clear his employer’s name once and for all.

The Hudsons were hounded out of Canada in the ensuing scandal, and moved their electronics operations across the border to Bellevue, near Seattle. Chance tells Phantasm that Heather Hudson, James’ wife, committed suicide soon after her husband’s death — that’s two friends to be avenged.

Woodrue has been linked to a classified Allied project code-named Spookshow, as one of the October Directorate, a council of ten scientists that usurped control of the project from the post-war Allied governments. Emil Gargunza was a co-founder of the Directorate.

Orchid, an assassin who’s motto is “If looks could kill”, shoots at Phantasm several times without success, but thwarts efforts to capture her. She does leave her calling card, an orchid.

Fred Kendall, the plant supervisor at Hudson’s household appliance assembly plant, receives a bomb in the mail, which is “defused’ by Dr. Jackal. Although Kendall did serve under Hudson in the Ministry circa 1970 — 1976, he has no idea why someone would want to kill him or blow up the plant. If there have been any previous bomb threats, he hasn’t heard of them.