1968, Intelligence One Headquarters….

Doctor Benton Quest had been put in charge of a project of investigation, and was now holding a meeting with his most trusted team members: his son Jonny Quest, his adopted son Hadji, field agent Race Bannon, who was also Jonny’s and now Hadji’s constant bodyguard when the team was on dangerous assignments. Also present were Young Samson (currently in his teenage boy form) and Space Ghost, who was making one of his rare visits to earth, the first in fact since his confrontation with the Sandman. Space Ghost’s allies Jan and Jace were there too, while Blip, Goliath the Dog and Jonny’s dog Bandit were exploring together out on the lawn as animals do.

“My superiors at Intelligence One are usually reluctant to call in super powered people from outside the organisation, simply as a matter of national security. Some consider them too much like wild cards or unknowns. However, I persuaded them to let me make this exception, after they persuaded me to take on three similar cases which occurred in the last two years. I think they were playing on my extreme devotion to my kids as a widowed father, because all three cases involve the most extraordinairy disappearances of kids without a trace.”

“I was wondering if I should get involved in earth’s affairs, but since six of my worst enemies have been defeated recently, and since I too have adopted children, I’d be glad to lend my assistance,” said Space Ghost.

“The same goes for us, since we are the kids he’s talking about,” said Jace.

“And I might even serve as bait for whoever or whatever’s responsible, if that’s where this is going,” said Young Samson, “Anyone who kidnapped me wouldn’t know what they were in for.”

“I-1 wouldn’t be interested in finding lost kids, when the conventional authorities can perform searches of their own, but all 3 cases involve kids disappearing without even a trace of a body or any personal effects,” said Benton, “The first was in 1966. A pilot with a lone boy passenger reported that his plane was in trouble, and then his radio went dead. The plane was later found crashed, with the pilot dead at the controls from multiple broken bones and severe fractures. I performed a second autopsy on him myself. There was no trace of the boy named Tod anywhere. The owners of the plane said that the only thing missing was a parachute, but if the boy did parachute to safety, why didn’t he find his way back and let people know? Race, show them the vicinity of the pilot’s last reported position on the poster map.” (See origin theme of Dino Boy in Space Ghost 1966 series for part of this).

“Goliath and I faced a similar situation when our plane was attacked by Baron Von Skull,” said Young Samson, “But that was nowhere near your problem.” (See Young Samson 1967 episode “Baron Von Skull”).

“Tell us about the second,” said Space Ghost.

“That was last year. This time there were two boys, Tom and Tub. They went missing from their Uncle’s endangered boat ‘The Sea Explorer’ and were never seen again. Divers found no traces of the body at the bottom of the sea in that area. (See Moby Dick origin theme in the 1967 “Moby Dick and Mighty Mightor” series).

Race used the wooden pointer to show them the area on the map again.

“That IS near where Goliath and I fought Salamandro, and we have reason to believe that he might have escaped.  He could have built more undersea equipment and abducted those kids if they stumbled upon his attempts to rebuild his criminal operations,” said Samson, “I think I’d better take that one on with Goliath to help me search that area.” (See Young Samson 1967 episode “Salamandro”).

“The area where Tod disappeared is uncharted and largely unexplored,” said Benton Quest, “I propose to load some equipment aboard Questor Two and fly there with Race.”

“Would you like to go with them, kids?” asked Space Ghost, “It’ll give you a chance to study scientific methods under Doctor Quest. We’ve seen so much action, that I haven’t had a chance to teach you what little I know.”

Jan and Jace accepted the suggestion, with Benton’s encouragement.

“I thought mixing at least some of our teams would add new perspectives to our searches and analyses,” said Benton, “Of course Goliath needs to remain with Young Samson in order for his powers to kick in when Samson turns his on. But when I explain what little detail I have of the third disappearance of kids, maybe I can entrust Hadji and Jonny to the safe company of anyone who can surround himself and them with a force field like yours, Space Ghost.”

“I guess that means the third case falls to me to investigate. Tell me what you’ve got,” said Space Ghost.

“It’s the strangest of the lot. No danger, no reported peril. No typhoon affecting a boat at sea. No plane in trouble. Just two teenage twins, Chuck and Nancy, disappeared with no explanation at all after exploring on the coast of Maine. It makes the least sense of all three cases. Well boys, do you want to go on assignment with Space Ghost?” (See the Shazzan origin theme in the 1967 show).

“Do we ever!” said Jonny.

“Then you can take Jan’s and Jace’s seats in the Phantom Cruiser,” said Space Ghost.

“This base has its own animal shelter,” said Race, “We usually take Bandit with us, but in this case we don’t want to risk losing him in a place where a boy can disappear for two years.”

“We’ll still take Blip,” said Jan and Jace, “His inviso-belt has enabled him to rescue all of us, even Space Ghost, in the past.”

“Alright, I need hardly remind you all that security is a very high priority. Samson was cleared by a five star general. Space Ghost was vouched for by the highest authorities who called him to solve their problems with the Sandman. All of you kids, no matter who you work with on this case, must not give anything away to civilians or others you run into in the field,” said Race, “Our superiors have entrusted us with finding out what happened to Tod, Tom, Tub, Chuck and Nancy, and hopefully with returning them unharmed. We don’t want any of our secrets getting back to any criminal element which might be responsible for their disappearances. If the same criminal element is responsible for all three, then we might be up against a global organisation aimed right at our youth.”

“Race is right,” said Benton, “Samson we can lend you a plane, since you won’t need one of our pilots. I can also lend Bandit’s aqualung to Goliath. Hadji and Jonny head for the Phantom Cruiser with Space Ghost. Jane and Jace bring Blip in from outside and join Race and I in Questor Two’s hanger.”

After two years of three cases of disappearing kids, now three search and rescue missions were under way.