Pleased to say the Queen is now recovered and having meetings, so I'll post the concluding two chapters of the story...

The journey back to central London took some time, in a vehicle that was horse-drawn. Penny had plenty of time to do further research. She was reading from a guidebook called The Time-Traveller's Guide to Victorian England.

"Big Ben is in the Elizabeth Tower."

"There you go." Talon peered into the cab. "A clue! But where could they hide her?"

"The Tower was built with the rest of the new Palace of Westminster, after the previous one burned down in 1834. It contains the famous bell known as Big Ben... and..." Penny pointed excitedly, and passed the book over to Gadget.

"And a cell, installed for the imprisonment of Members of Parliament who disobeyed the Speaker."

"That'll be where they're hiding her!"

They were approaching Westminster Bridge, but there was no other traffic, even in this pre-motor age. As they began to cross the bridge, they saw why. Two police officers in Victorian uniform came forward to bar their way.

"Now then," said one of them, establishing history. "You can't come this way. There's bin a security alert. No one's allowed access to the Palace of Westminster, or its grounds."

Gadget produced an ID badge.

"You're being used, Constable. I am the Commissioner of Police... in a hundred and something years' time. We have journeyed from the future, to rescue your Queen's great-great-granddaughter from a sinister kidnapping plot."

"Of course, sir," said the other officer. "And I'm Marie Lloyd."

"So much for honesty being the best policy," muttered Talon.

Chimney Gadget stepped down from the cab.

"Officers. There's somethin' oi think you oughter know." He reached into his pockets. "Look... look. Look at this."

Suddenly his hands came out, and threw two big handfuls of soot into the officers' faces. While they spluttered and coughed and rubbed their eyes, Talon leapt down, aimed his control bracelet and fired a series of laser-beams into their faces. They lay down, peacefully, at the side of the bridge. Penny looked aghast.

"Talon!"

"They're only stunned. I find there's a certain kind of policeman you can't talk to."

Everyone got back aboard the cab.

"Come on!"

They drove onwards, towards the Elizabeth Tower.

At the base of the tower, they all disembarked. They could see the door to the cell, but guarding it were two of the reprogrammed Gadgetinis. MAD must have brought them from the present day. Talon swaggered up to them.

"OK, woodentops. Let's have Queen Liz, safe and sound. Aarghh!" He made a grab for his precious hair, as one of the robotic police sliced off one of its spikes. Someone had fitted their truncheons with laser-blades, turning them into rudimentary light-sabres. "Nooo! It'll take me weeks to grow that back."

Penny saw that the Gadgetinis had guns, too – blasters of some kind. This would need cunning.

"Officers, you're here to prevent crime, aren't you? Haven't you seen the WANTED pictures? Look."

Quickly, she brought up a picture of a London-uniformed Gadgetini on her Codex.

"This is what the wanted man looks like. Now, if you see anyone like that, your orders are to deal with them very severely. Can you see anyone who looks like that? Can you? Can..."

She rolled her eyes. The Gadgetinis were looking everywhere, except at each other.

Talon lost patience, and peeped out from behind one of the robocops.

"Over here!"

The Gadgetini spun round, and saw him. At the same moment, it saw its partner. And its partner saw it.

Talon ducked as both Gadgetinis opened fire, blasting the helmets off each other. They rolled dizzily away, before collapsing on the greens in front of the Palace.

It was Gadget's turn now. He strode up to the cell door. Naturally, it was locked.

"Go-go-Gadget Lockpick!"

A series of complex skeleton keys sprang from his Commissioner's cap and began in vain to try to unlock the door. Gadget shrugged.

"OK, cancel that. Go-go-Gadget Supergun!"

An enormous blaster atomised the door. His companions dodged, as bits of it flew in all directions.

They ran inside.

They were lucky. MAD had banked on secrecy, and on the human and robot guards stationed outside. The mini-MAD lair within the cell had no further guards. They could just see the stationary figures of the Queen and her corgis, in suspended animation within large, glass tanks. Talon ran to the control panel.

"OK, baby, come to Talon. Ha! They can't have reprogrammed these since I left. I was way too valuable."

"What are you doing?" Penny went to him.

"I'm trying to reverse the temporal and spatial settings. Send Her Madge back where she came from. The mutts, too. If I can get this right... she'll wind up back at Windsor. I'll throw in a memory-wipe, too, so she forgets she was ever kidnapped."

"Very clever, Talon," said a voice. "But too late."

They spun round to see Dee Skize. She was standing beside another control console, with the obligatory big red button.

"This controls rocket-boosters, cunningly concealed beneath this Tower. One touch of this button will launch the Tower, and the Queen, into space! There'll be a ten-second countdown. Long enough for me to get clear, but not long enough to remove Her Majesty."

"You're insane!" Penny told her. "If you carry out your threat, there'll be a constitutional crisis. They'll send out the Army against you..."

"Not when we rule the Government! I'm already down for Minister of Defence."

Gadget was jumping around on one leg. Everyone stopped, and looked at him.

"I've got a stone in my shoe. Must have been from that bridge. It's no good, I'll have to sit down."

"Uncle Gadget, not there!"

Dee's eyes widened, as he sat down on the console – and the red button.

"No!"

A countdown appeared. 10...9...8...

Talon looked. The Queen and the corgis were starting to dematerialise.

"Out! Everybody out!"

Dee was making to follow them, but Talon was too quick for her. He stuck out a leg, sending her headlong. Then he ran to follow the others.

"Hey. How about that? There's an inner door, too."

He slammed the door, right in Dee's face. Then he ran to Penny.

"Down! Everybody – down!"

There was a blast of rocket fuel.

Everyone watched, as the clock tower of the Palace of Westminster soared off into the sky...