"Where the heck is she?" yelled President Burger. "You should never have left her on her own!"
One of the security team coughed nervously. "Actually, sir, it was you who told us to..."
"Shut up! Don't you dare speak to the President like that!"
Inspector Gadget was looking grim. His maximum commitment to his job always came when Penny was in danger. He was still holding his briefcase.
"We were on the course nearly two hours. She could be miles away, by now."
Talon looked at the floor. He was holding the handle of his own case.
He met Brain's eye.
"Hey, don't look at me like that! This has nothing to do with me."
"We need to report this at once, Mr President," the male agent said. "To our HQ... and to Metro City."
"What about the press conference?" the woman agent asked. "It starts in fifteen minutes."
"There's one thing," another agent said. "When this gets out, Mr President... you'll get lots of public sympathy."
"Hey!" The President brightened considerably. "You're right! The President's daughter... kidnapped... by enemies of the people! This could get me re-elected!" Everyone stared at him. "Though... obviously, we need to find Miss Gadget too. Now, I need to shower and change and get ready to tell the nation this brilliant piece of... bad news."
He made his exit, followed by most of his team. Only Brain saw Talon mouth something very rude after him.
Brain moved nearer to Talon. For the first time, he sensed something new in the boy... concern for another. Talon even put out a hand to pat the dog.
"Brain... I know you and me haven't always seen eye-to-eye... but we both care about Penny, don't we?"
Brain grunted agreement.
"Then we need to find her." Talon hesitated. He held up the case. "And, if there's a ransom, I'll hand this over to get her back. Now, where would she be? Ah, I'm not cut out for this Nancy Drew stuff. Being the bad guy is easy."
Inspector Gadget came over.
"Where would they have taken her, Talon? You know the MAD set-up, even better than I. Where could they have their lair?"
"I know their systems," Talon said. "They froze me out... but I can try and hack back in. See if I can find anything."
"Would you start that straight away?" Inspector Gadget reached out a hand and took Talon's case. Talon was too late to stop him. "Let me take that for you. Now, please?"
Talon gave the case an anguished look... then heard Brain growl at him. He sat down, opened a Codex screen from his wrist and set to work.
At three, Inspector Gadget was forced to go into the press conference and stand behind the President with the other agents. President Burger was in a suit and sounded positively enthusiastic.
"I have terrible news. Forget the virus, forget the election, this is much worse. My beloved daughter... what's her name... Amanda... has been kidnapped."
There were gasps of horror, and electronic flashes were going off, all around the room. Everyone was writing and recording furiously.
"She paid me an unexpected visit at lunchtime today, and it seems that, while I was still on the course, someone, somehow, got in here and took her. Now, rest assured we have the best security team in the world on this, and also the help of Inspector Gadget, the world-famous detective."
Gadget smiled modestly. Then his face clouded as he remembered who had really been kidnapped.
"Now, I've seen some very scurrilous stories today about Mandy not being Mandy, but these are fake news, fake news, and we will stop at nothing to get her back. I will return to the Tower shortly, and will address the nation at four o'clock."
On the screens around the room, headlines were already appearing, and social media posts were appearing alongside. For once, everyone had love and sympathy for Burger. Thoughts and prayers abounded.
Inspector Gadget had had enough. He slipped out of the room and returned to the VIP lounge. Talon was busy at the Codex. He gave a yell.
"Ah! Success. I've found a transmission. Someone contacting Uncle Claw. Must be Dee. It's coming from..."
He stared at the holographic screen.
"It's coming from somewhere near the Ivory Tower itself. But there's security everywhere. Where could you hide a MAD lair?"
Gadget checked his guidebook. "Somewhere... big... but secluded..."
"Separate from the Tower itself..."
"But handy..."
"The Presidential Park?"
"The National Museum?"
"The Inter-State Theater?"
"McArdle's Donut Emporium?"
"McArdle's...?!"
"Forget I said that."
"So where... where?"
They both became aware of Brain leaping up and down, standing on his hind legs and pointing at the sky. At the same moment, Talon and Gadget gave a yell.
"The Elizabeth Monument!"
"Excuse me!" Gadget ran out of the Club House, followed by Brain and Talon, towards the official cars. A bored chauffeur/agent stood beside it, reading a paper. He gave a yell as the newcomers made for the front car.
"Hey, you can't take that! That's the President's – ow!"
He yelped as Talon kneed him somewhere very uncomfortable, and thrust him aside. Gadget was already heading for the driving seat.
"Don't forget the cases!" yelled Talon. "Bring all the cases!"
Gadget hadn't time to argue. He had already brought all the cases he could find, and he and Brain threw them into the trunk. Talon winced.
The three agents sprang into the car. They headed back towards the main road.
"Now, can you remember the way, Talon?"
"Er..." In the front passenger seat, Talon switched on the sat-nav. "Allow me?"
They shot along the roads, back towards the capital.
In the city centre, protestors were still shouting and waving placards. But there was already a different atmosphere around the Ivory Tower, thanks to the Amanda announcement. When they saw the Presidential car, people shouted support and the women blew kisses, and a police officer cleared a route for them to the Elizabeth Monument. He saluted smartly.
Gadget turned the car in towards it, and screeched to a halt. He and Talon and Brain pushed their way past tourists with their cameras, and towards the plain white structure. Gadget looked at it.
"Now, where's the door?"
Talon ran his hands over the smooth white surface. An enormous blonde woman gave him a filthy look.
"Hey boy, you get your hands off of our national monument."
Talon hadn't time to kick her. "I bet you vote for Burger, don't you?"
He scanned the monument with his control bracelet.
"Here! It's here! Now, if I can just crack the code..."
In seconds, the bracelet was generating fifty million passwords. Then the agents heard a series of clicks.
All the tourists gawped, and were taking photos, as a gateway began to open. It was moving slowly. Inspector Gadget stepped forward.
"Go-go-Gadget Crowbar!"
The crowbar emerged from his head and levered the gateway upwards.
"Go-go-Gadget Skates..."
"Er... Inspector? There might be steps in there..."
Gadget yelled, and disappeared down the staircase. Talon led Brain downward.
"I did try and warn him."
They found themselves underground, in the typical MAD lair. There was a Lair System computer bank along the whole of the far wall, lighting up the dark chamber. Sitting on the ground in a corner was Penny, still dressed as Amanda, bound and gagged with laser technology. Sitting on chairs around the room were the MAD agents, eating sandwiches and cookies and drinking milk. Gadget looked indignant as he got up, still rolling around on skates.
"Hey! That's my picnic!"
"And a very expensive one, too," said Dee Skize, as she stepped from another corner. "Five million dollars, to be precise."
Talon saw the open briefcase on a table nearby. It still had Gadget's muffler in it, and the travel Monopoly.
"Now, I believe you have three other cases. The five million dollars, the Covid vaccine... and the nuclear codes. So here's what happens. We'll release Penny... if you hand all three cases over to me."