JEFF looked up as the familiar beeping sound started. Instinctively he looked at John's portrait on the wall. Being the only one of his sons not present on the island it just came naturally. However he was quick to note that the eyes weren't flashing. It was another picture that must be producing the sound. He looked at Scott, Virgil, Alan, Gordon and Kayo's portraits but none of them had flashing eyes. Then he noticed it was coming from the one of Penelope on one of the tables. "Go ahead, Penny?"

Penelope's hologram image appeared from the eyes. She looked distressed. "Jeff, thank goodness. I need help!"

Jeff sat up and leant forwards slightly. "Do you need the boys to come to you?" he asked.

"No, I've got a bomb in my house that I need to defuse-"

"BOMB?!" came a chorus of shocked replies from Jeff, Scott and Alan all in unison.

"Who the hell's put a bomb in your house?!" asked Alan.

"The same people who have blown up the other Stately-Homes in the area," said Penelope. Her voice sounded scared. More scared than any of them could ever remember her being. "Parker has been knocked out by I'm guessing gas along with everyone else here. I've just come back from London. Could Brains help me with this bomb, please? Hurry, I only have eight minutes!"

"I'll put him through," said Jeff, reaching for a button on his desk.

"Eight minutes?" repeated Scott in shock. "That's not a lot of time."

Brains and The Mechanic were just finishing up their work with the two Thunderbird 4s. "And that's d-done," said Brains.

"Me too," said The Mechanic. "It feels good to be repairing something that I once destroyed."

The intercom then buzzed urgently and Jeff's hologram appeared. "Brains, we have a situation. Lady Penelope's got a bomb in her house and she needs your help to defuse it."

"Oh, m-my!" exclaimed Brains. "P-Put her through, p-please."

"Carry on, Penny," said Jeff.

Penelope's hologram then appeared. "Brains! Please tell me you can help me?"

"I'll d-do what I can, Lady Penelope," said Brains. "First of all. c-an you send me a scan of the d-device, please?"

"Okay. Scanning," said Penelope. She held out her compact and used it to make a digital 3-D scan of the bomb that was sent through to Tracy Island.

"Oh, my…" Brains exclaimed when the scan had finished. "That is v-very highly sophisticated. I have n-never seen a bomb like that before. I'm not even sure w-where to start with this?"

"Brains, I have less then six minutes to defuse it!" Penelope said with panic in her voice."

"S-Six m-minutes?!" Brains stammered.

"Can't you just move it?" Alan asked back in the lounge.

"It could have motion sensors!" Scott snapped. "Moving it could set it off!"

"Allow me," said The Mechanic. He reached out with his right hand and placed it on the holographic image of the bomb. He then closed his eyes and seemed to grunt in minor pain as orange crackles of electricity passed through his body. In his mind however he felt no pain. Everything went black apart from several lines of orange like pipes and tubes leading him along various different paths before he found his mind connected to whatever was inside the bomb.

Everyone waited nervously. None more so than Penelope who couldn't help but notice the time on the clock was now less than five minutes.

It was about thirty seconds after making a digital connection with the device before The Mechanic spoke again, although to everyone else it seemed like several hours. "Okay," he said. "Lady Penelope, you need to remove the cover. Have you got gloves and a screwdriver?"

"No, but I know where there is one," said Penelope. She quickly ran over to one of the drawers by the window and opened it. She found the screwdriver and ran back over, pinching Parker's gloves as she went and put them on. There were now only three minutes left on the timer. One by one, Penelope removed the four screws on the top of the bomb and lifted it off to reveal six coloured wires. "Okay, the lid's off. Now what?"

"You need to cut the wires in the following order," said The Mechanic. "Do each one as I say. Yellow."

Penelope cut the yellow wire. "Yellow."

"Green."

She cut the wire. "Green."

"Red," said The Mechanic.

Penelope cut the wire. "Red."

"White."

The wire was cut. "White."

"Black."

She cut the black wire. "Black."

The small hum that the bomb had been making up until this point stopped suddenly and the Drawing Room went silent. Penelope, feeling an enormous amount of sweat under her clothes, looked at the timer. The screen was off - and so were the lights.

"You did it," said The Mechanic as he disconnected himself. "The bomb is no longer a threat."

Penelope collapsed with relief on the floor and continued shaking whilst everyone on Tracy Island breathed their own sighs of relief.

Gordon had been in his room the whole time and had remained completely oblivious to what had been going on.

Alan hurried up from the lounge and knocked eagerly on the door. "Hey, Gordo! You there?"

A grunt came from inside the bedroom.

"Just letting you know we're about to have a little drink in celebration downstairs," Alan called through the door. "The Mechanic's just performed his first rescue!"

Another grunt came from inside the room, only this time it sounded more curious than annoyed at being disturbed.

"Yeah, Lady Penelope had a bomb in her house and he managed to connect to it somehow and told her how to defuse it!" Alan said. "I know you probably couldn't care less right now, but I just thought you should know." He then walked away and headed back down the stairs to the lounge.

Alan entered the lounge where Grandma was pouring wine into glasses for everyone. The Mechanic was in the middle with Jeff and Brains and everyone was smiling. The atmosphere felt good. Alan quickly counted the glasses. "I think we're a glass short, Grandma," he said.

"I don't think so," Grandma answered. "This last glass is for you. At least you're of age now that you can drink it."

"I mean we still need one more," said Alan. "You know, in case he decides to join us." He indicated upstairs.

"You mean if Gordon joins us?" asked John who had come down from Thunderbird 5 to join in the celebration. "What makes you think he will?"

Alan looked at his watch and began to count down. "Five, four, three, two, one," he said before pointing in the direction of the stairs that were out of sight of everyone.

There came a sudden hasty pattering of feet coming from that direction, much to the surprise of everyone else. But it was when Gordon came hurrying into view that they got an even bigger surprise.

"WOAH!" exclaimed several voices and Scott quickly stood in front of Kayo so that she couldn't see. Virgil too also put his hand by Grandma's face so she couldn't see either.

"What's happened with Penelope?!" Gordon asked frantically. But all he got was an awkward silence.

Jeff eventually broke the silence with a cough and moved forwards towards him. "Well, son. I, er, am glad to see you up and about again. But um…maybe you should remember your clothes next time? Hm?"

"Huh?" said Gordon. Then he looked down. "AAAH!" he screamed and bolted out of the room again, his face turning as red as Thunderbird 3 as he went.

There then came an explosion of laughter as Alan, Scott, Kayo and even Virgil and John found they couldn't control themselves any longer.

"Well…that happened," chuckled Virgil.

"Yeah!" agreed Kayo. "At least he did have his underwear on."

"If only one of us had got a camera," laughed Scott, wiping a tear from his eye. "The look on his face when he realised. Oh, my - that was brilliant."

Alan gave a cough. "About that," he said, producing his phone and showing them the image on it.

The explosion of laughter returned even louder than it had been before.

Lord Patrick, Lady Patricia, Parker and Fiona were standing on different sides of the coffee table in the Drawing Room staring in utter disbelief at the disarmed bomb that was sitting on it. Penelope stood opposite her parents and told them everything that had happened.

"I don't believe it," said Lord Patrick. "I just…HOW?!"

"They must have used some kind of gas grenades to knock everyone out before they came in," said Penelope.

"They did, m'lady," said Parker. "I saw one h'of them come out of the fireplace before it went off."

"The chimneys, of course!" said Lord Patrick. "That makes perfect sense."

"But who did this?" demanded Lady Patricia. "That's what I want to know."

"We'd all like to know that, Mother," said Penelope. "Unfortunately I only saw the silhouette of the Helijet. No markings were visible."

"Could 'ave been h'anyone," said Parker. "H'A 'ighly-skilled and motivated band of thieves. Several of your valuable pieces of china h'and vases 'ave gone missing."

"That I hadn't failed to notice, Parker," said Lord Patrick sharply. "So it would seem that whoever these scoundrels are, they're robbing the Stately-Homes before blowing them up."

"But why would they destroy the homes?" asked Fiona. "What pleasure would they get out of that?"

"A big explosion can be a big thrill to the wrongest of people, Fiona," said Penelope. "But I also suspect that it was done as a means of making sure no evidence could be found."

"I believe you're right," said Lord Patrick, walking round to stand next to his daughter. "You did very well to disarm this, Penelope. We can't thank you enough for this."

"However did you know how to defuse it though?" asked Lady Patricia.

Penelope thought very carefully before answering. She couldn't let Fiona know her secret about being a part of International Rescue. "I was able to contact one of Parker's old war buddies," she said. "He was a bomb-disposal expert." She gave subtle looks to both Parker and her parents who quickly realised what she was talking about whereas Fiona remained completely oblivious.

"So what do we do with this?" Parker asked, indicating the bomb.

"Well it's not staying here," said Lord Patrick firmly. "I'm going to call the Police and ask them to remove it. Maybe it holds some clues as to who these mongrels are!" He then left the room rather quickly with Lady Patricia not far behind him. She did however give her daughter a kiss on the cheek with a "Well done" before she did though.

Penelope knew that she'd let on less than she really knew, but there was only one person she wanted to discuss it with. "Parker, would you come to my room, please? I need to talk to you about something most urgent."

"Yus, m'lady."

"Excuse us, would you, Fiona, please? This business is between us only, I'm afraid."

"Very well, Your Ladyship," said Fiona. "But please don't make him do anything he shouldn't." She too then left the room.

"I will close the doors, m'lady," said Parker.

"Actually, Parker, we'll go to the garage," said Penelope. "I'm afraid that what I want to discuss with you is very sensitive."

Parker's eyes widened a little with curiosity.

Sir Charles was in the basement of his secret hideaway examining the latest additions to a massive haul that he had gotten from all the Stately-Homes he'd robbed. There were vases, pieces of china. Some paintings and items of jewellery as well. He checked each item off from the Creighton-Ward Mansion once again. "Excellent. I have everything at last. All that is left to collect are the Crown Jewels."

An old telephone started ringing. He picked it up. "Yes, Dawkins?"

"Can you come upstairs, please, please, Sir Charles?" Dawkins's voice answered. "There's something that you need to see."

"Certainly, Dawkins. I'll be right with you." He put the receiver back on its holder and headed out of the basement. He climbed the stairs to the old mansion above and entered a study room where he found Dawkins sitting looking at a computer screen. "Well, Dawkins, what is it?"

Dawkins didn't answer. Instead he pointed to the screen.

Sir Charles looked at the screen. It showed an image of the Creighton-Ward Mansion taken from the air. "Why am I looking at old footage of the Creighton-Ward Mansion, Dawkins?"

"You're not, Sir Charles," replied Dawkins. "I sent our drone over there to look at the remains. What you are looking at is live footage."

Sir Charles almost turned white. "W-What?!" he exclaimed. "But how?! That house should be nothing but rubble! What's gone wrong?"

"It would seem, sir, that the bomb failed to go off this time," said Dawkins. "The mansion and presumably everyone inside has survived our little visit from last night."

Sir Charles turned red with fury. "WHY HAS THIS HAPPENED?!" he roared furiously. "THOSE BOMBS HAVE NEVER FAILED TO EXPLODE! WHY HASN'T THIS ONE?!"

"You did set the timer going before we left, didn't you, sir?" asked Dawkins.

Sir Charles was certain that he did. "I must have done. I MUST HAVE DONE!" he fumed. He then walked away for a few moments and took some deep breaths to calm himself down. Then he turned back and walked over to Dawkins. "Dawkins…"

"Yes, Sir Charles?"

"I want our last bomb checked, double-checked and then quadruple-checked," Sir Charles said. "And when you've checked it for the eighth time…check it again! We cannot afford for this to happen again!" And with that he stormed out of the room.

"Yes…Sir Charles," said Dawkins, feeling irritated. He then looked back at the screen, secretly sharing Sir Charles' confusion and frustration at having failed to destroy the Creighton-Ward Mansion.

"Did you activate the device, sir?"

"Yes, Dawkins. In just over ten minutes the Creighton-Ward Mansion will go up like all the others before it!"

Penelope switched off the playback. "I don't suppose you recognise the names or voices, Parker?"

"I'm h'afraid not, m'lady," Parker answered. "Although this Dawkins may sound slightly familiar. I can't picture what the bloke may look like. As for this Sir Charles, I'm h'afraid I 'aven't got a clue."

Penelope gave a small sigh. "I had a feeling that would be the case. I'm sure I have heard of a Sir Charles before, but perhaps I'm thinking of someone else. Without a surname it's a bit tricky to narrow the search down."

"Are you gonna tell the coppers h'or GDF, m'lady?"

"I don't think I will actually, Parker," Penelope replied. "You find it hard to believe that the Crown Jewels could be stolen?"

"H'I'll say I do," said Parker.

"Then so will they," said Penelope. "And the Tower of London has excellent security. There are many Beefeaters who guard it."

"So h'is our security, m'lady," Parker pointed out. "And they didn't 'ave h'any trouble getting in 'ere."

"You're right, Parker," said Penelope. "We need to do something about it."

Then Parker had an idea. "Doesn't Master John 'ave some sort h'of voice recognition software on that satellite h'of 'is?"

Penelope's eyes lit up. "Why, of course! Excellent thinking, Parker. You are definitely as sharp as you were before Christmas. I will contact John immediately." She took out her compact.

"H'If only Miss Fiona would see that, too," Parker muttered darkly to himself.

"Lady Penelope calling Thunderbird 5. Are you there, John?"

John's hologram appeared from the projector inside the compact. "Hello there, Lady Penelope. I heard about what happened. Is everyone okay?"

"Everyone's a little shaken by the truth but otherwise no harm is done," said Penelope.

"Glad to hear it," said John. "Too bad those guys didn't leave any clues for you to follow."

"They may not have, but I did manage to fire a tracker and recording device onto their Helijet as it was leaving," said Penelope. "I've been able to get a recording of the two men inside. That's how I knew about the bomb."

"Smart," said John, impressed.

"Parker just reminded me that you have voice recognition software aboard Thunderbird 5?"

"I do indeed," said John. "Want me to see if I can find out who these guys are?"

Penelope gave a sweet smile. "It would be wonderful if you could, John. Please," she said.

John moved to a different part of Thunderbird 5. "EOS, I need you to do some voice recognition for us, please?"

"Of course, John," EOS answered. "Standing-by."

"Okay, Lady Penelope. Let's hear their voices."

"Coming to you now, John."

"The darkness will help prevent the occupants of that car from identifying the Helijet."

"Yes, Sir Charles. But it was a close call."

"Oh, I agree, Dawkins. I'm glad that was the last of the Stately-Homes on my list."

"Will that suffice?" Penelope asked.

"Scanning voices through my system," said EOS. John, Penelope and Parker waited eagerly for EOS to come back with the results. "Matches found."

"Oh, yes!" said Penelope triumphantly. "Let's have them, EOS."

"The first voice belongs to Mr Charles Granville," said EOS.

"Mr Charles?" repeated John. "The other guy called him Sir Charles."

"He did," said EOS. "But my information is telling me that he once had a knighthood but was stripped of it due to attempted acts of treason."

"Really?" said Penelope. "Such as?"

"I'm afraid the information doesn't tell me that, Lady Penelope," said EOS. "Only that he started being called Mr Charles once his title was stripped. Since that happened, nothing's been seen or heard of him."

"Until now anyway," said Penelope.

"What about the other man, EOS?" asked John.

"Richard Dawkins," said EOS. "He is Mr Charles's butler and right-hand man. Rather like how Parker is with Lady Penelope…only still with his criminal ways."

Parker snorted and tried to pretend he hadn't heard.

"Er, yes, well," said Penelope, trying to ease the awkwardness. "Thank you, EOS. That's been most helpful."

"My pleasure, Lady Penelope."

John turned to Penelope. "Shall I alert the GDF for you? You said you'd planted a tracker on it. We could send them directly to wherever they're hiding."

"That's an awfully sweet offer, John," said Penelope. "But I'm afraid that Mr Charles has made this one personal. He not only robbed my home, but had very clear intentions to blow it up…with my family inside! I won't stand for that."

John looked uncomfortable at hearing this. "If you're certain, but please don't put yourself and Parker in danger by trying to bring them down. Maybe contact Hayley to see if she can provide back-up for you? Or we could even send Kayo to give you a hand?"

"Thanks again, John, but we'll manage fine," said Penelope. "Thank you for doing this for me."

"Anytime," said John. "Remember, please don't do anything silly. Over and out."

Penelope closed the compact once the hologram had turned off.

"What do you plan to do, m'lady?" asked Parker.

Penelope gave a smirk…one that made Parker uneasy.

London was very rarely quiet, even at night. The quietest period though was from 1am-6am each morning. As the bells inside Elizabeth Tower chimed two on Big Ben, Penelope sat alone in the driver's seat of FAB1 waiting for her targets to arrive. FAB1 was concealed out of the way in a side street close to the Tower of London. She could see the ancient landmark ahead of her, brightly illuminated by the many floodlights that surrounded it. It truly was a majestic sight. However, Penelope couldn't marvel at it. She had a mission to complete. She pulled up the sleeve of her coat to look at her watch. "Two o'clock," she muttered to herself. "If Mr Charles is going to grace me with his presence, it'll be any time between now and four I reckon." It was at that moment that a beeping sound on the dashboard caught her attention. Flicking a switch to turn on the holographic computer, she noticed a flashing icon making its way slowly across the city in the direction of The Tower. It was the same signal from the device she'd launched onto the fuselage of the Helijet the night before. "Good. Just as I hoped," she said.

Stepping out of FAB1 and concealing it into stealth-mode, Penelope touched the face of her watch. Her grey coat and blue jeans suddenly changed to black using the same visual cloaking technology that FAB1 used. Brains had managed to find a way to make it work on clothing now. Tying her hair back in a bun and putting on a black beanie hat so as to remain as un-noticeable as possible, Penelope moved out from the side street and concealed herself by a fence on the perimeter of the Tower of London. The night air was cold, silent and still. Not many cars were about. The occasional Night Bus still trundled past on occasion and there were no boats moving on the river in that area for the moment. Then came the faint hum of an aircraft's engines from above. Looking up, Penelope could only just make-out a blacked-out shape descending down towards the empty moat of The Tower. It was the Helijet. The lights of The Tower made it stand out as it landed on the grass at the bottom of the moat. Penelope waited patiently and as out of sight as possible as she saw the cockpit doors of the Helijet open. Two figures stepped out.

Penelope gently raised her right hand and touched an earpiece in her right ear. "Parker from Penelope. Can you hear me?" she whispered.

"Not loud, but clear, m'lady," Parker's voice answered. "I 'ope you've got the volume of your h'earpiece set right down?"

"Right down low, Parker. But I can hear you," Penelope whispered. "I have visual contact with our two targets. Patching you through." She was wearing a pair of special contact lenses that turned the blue irises of her eyes to a slight glowing yellow which sent digital information not only to her own vision but to Parker's laptop as well.

"Am receiving footage clearly, m'lady," said Parker.

The lenses scanned the two walking figures that were making their way across the bottom of the moat and then up some steps towards the drawbridge that led to the main entrance. They soon identified them and sent the information to Parker and Penelope.

"Yep. That's them alright, m'lady."

Penelope was stealthily making her way along the fence like a cat stalking a mouse. "I'm not going to take them yet," she said. "It's too open out here. I'm sure Mr Charles has already taken measures to make sure he gets in. I'll follow them inside and take them down there."

"Be careful, m'lady," said Parker. "I still think you should 'ave done what Master John said h'about bringing the coppers in on this."

"No, Parker. This mission is mine, and mine alone," said Penelope stubbornly. "And besides, I will be the last person that Mr Charles will expect to see." She quickly stopped after seeing that Mr Charles and Dawkins had stopped on the stairs leading up to the drawbridge.

Mr Charles and Dawkins were indeed well prepared for what was ahead of them.

"Are you ready, Dawkins?" Mr Charles asked.

"Yes, sir. I have the grenades and gas masks right here."

"Good man. Now, listen carefully. We will come across ten Beefeaters in our path. The gas will soon take care of them. I already used my jammer on all the security cameras and systems. I have the plastic explosives to take care of any doors that should block our way."

"Very good, sir," said Dawkins. "I am ready."

"Excellent. Mask on," said Mr Charles.

Penelope watched as the two men put their gas masks on and then began to continue up the stairs. "They're wearing masks, Parker," she whispered. "Gas masks."

"That'd make sense," said Parker. "Take out the poor unsuspecting Beefeaters as they try to break in."

"Well, we'll soon find out," said Penelope. "Here we go. They're moving in."

Mr Charles and Dawkins were now on the drawbridge, casually walking across with the gas masks covering their noses and mouths. They walked rather nonchalantly across the bridge towards the main entrance to the Tower of London. A lone Beefeater in a traditional red uniform was standing brandishing a spear on guard outside the gate. "Here! What do you think you're doing?!" the Beefeater demanded when he realised what he was looking at were two genuine people. "The Tower's closed. You can't en-OOOOH!" His sentence was cut off by the burst of a gas grenade that Dawkins had thrown at the Beefeater's feet. Within seconds he was completely enveloped by a plume of white smoke as the gas entered his nose and mouth. The gas was once again very quick-working and within ten seconds of it having first been released, the Beefeater let out a moan and then fell forwards onto his face, dropping the spear as he went. Penelope winced at the sound of the man hitting the floor and hoped he wasn't hurt.

"Excellent, Dawkins," said Mr Charles. "I'll get the locks. Keep your eyes open for more guards."

Penelope watched from her hiding place behind the perimeter gate as Mr Charles put some plastic explosive on the doors and set them to go off. There was a sharp POP as the explosive detonated which destroyed the lock and allowed the doors to be opened.

"Come along, Dawkins," said Mr Charles as he led the way inside.

Penelope used a grapple gun to scale the metal fencing that surrounded the perimeter of the Tower of London. She dropped down on the other side and hurried quickly across the drawbridge to check on the unconscious Beefeater. She carefully rolled him over and was relieved to see he had suffered no injuries.

"Cor lummy!" exclaimed Parker over the earpiece. "H'I thought 'e might 'ave gotten h'a broken nose from falling like that!"

"I was expecting something similar, Parker," said Penelope. She used her watch to scan the air. "The gas is still lingering in the air a little," she remarked. "But not enough to affect me it seems."

"Do you 'ave h'a gas mask, m'lady?" Parker asked.

"No, but I do have a handkerchief," said Penelope. She produced the handkerchief from her trouser pocket and wrapped it over her nose and mouth. "That should do it. I'm going in after them."

As she made her way through into the Tower of London, it wasn't difficult to follow the trail that Mr Charles and Dawkins were leaving behind them. Every so often she would come across an unconscious Beefeater followed soon after by doors that had had their locks destroyed.

"Do you reckon the authorities should force Mr Charles to pay for the locks 'e's breaking?" Parker asked.

"No money he has can bring back the lives of those he's taken in the Stately-Homes he's destroyed, Parker," Penelope replied quietly. "Mr Charles is going to go down for a very long time for all that he's done. Now, shush please, Parker. Let me contact you."

"Right, m'lady. Good luck."

Penelope made her way across the courtyards and into the main building. Even with the handkerchief over her mouth, she was very careful to try not to breathe in just in case a bit of the gas managed to get through. Outside it wasn't so much of a concern, but inside it definitely could be more effective.

Having run out of a trail of unconscious Beefeaters and broken doors to follow, Penelope now used the infra-red scanners in the contact lens to follow the trails of footprints left by the two criminals. She'd been inside the Tower of London before and knew her way around. Following the trail wasn't exactly necessary but it helped. She knew where the Crown Jewels were kept.

As quietly as possible, she made her way to the Jewel Room located deep within the centre of the building. She found the door to the room open and concealed herself up against the wall. She used her watch to make sure the air was clear. It was. No gas had been used inside so she quietly removed the handkerchief and put it back into her pocket. She then activated the lens again and peered carefully around the doorway. Then she froze. "There they are, Parker…" she whispered.

Parker gazed at the screen with a mixture of shock and admiration. "Cor…they actually managed to do it! They've got the Crown Jewels!"

The glass cabinet where the Crown Jewels were kept had been broken open. Dawkins was holding open a large grey sack whilst Mr Charles was putting each and every piece of jewellery, crowns and sceptres that it contained into the sack. Neither of them had any idea that they were under observation. In their minds, all of the security systems had been disabled including the cameras. Nobody had a clue they were even there.

"This is the last piece of the puzzle, Dawkins," said Mr Charles as he removed the largest of the crowns from the case. "Once we get out of here, our task will be complete."

"And we can finally return to a normal way of life, sir?" asked Dawkins.

"Indeed, Dawkins," said Mr Charles. "It's been a long, hard and difficult journey to make. I may have done some rather questionable things, even by my own standards. I pity those who had to perish inside those Stately-Homes, but it was just something that had to be done. I have avenged my family. Now, I can rest."

"Where you're going, Mr Charles, there'll be plenty of time for a rest!"

Mr Charles and Dawkins spun round sharply to face the doorway. "What?!" exclaimed Mr Charles. Both men stared in disbelief at the blonde-haired woman dressed all in black who was standing between them and the doorway. "L-Lady Penelope?! But how did-"

"Don't move!" Penelope ordered, brandishing her stun-gun. "I don't like using these, but I will have no choice but to unless you both do exactly what I say. And you will start by putting those jewels back inside the cabinet, Mr Charles."

"I'll have you know, first of all, it's SIR Charles!" he spluttered indignantly. "And secondly, NO! You can't stop me now! I've completed the task that my ancestors set me so long ago! NOTHING CAN STOP ME NOW!"

Penelope aimed the pistol. "Don't force my hand," she warned. She was so busy glaring at Mr Charles that she failed to keep one eye on Dawkins. Dawkins, seeing a chance, threw another of the gas grenades at Penelope's feet. Penelope didn't notice it until it bounced off her right boot. Without thinking, she looked down, just as it burst and released the gas. "Oh, NO!" she gasped and tried to hold her breath. She fumbled in her pocket to try and get the handkerchief again. But already she started to feel light-headed as the gas took effect.

Parker, still watching through Penelope's lens, watched in alarm as the screen began to flicker as the contacts began to fail. "M'lady? Can you 'ear me?! M'LADY?!"

But it was no good. As Penelope succumbed to the gas, the lens deactivated and the laptop screen went dead.

"Oh, no!" groaned Parker, almost pulling pieces of his hair out. "What h'am I going to do?!" And then it hit him. "Yes! I must call Mr Tracy at once!"

Jeff looked up from his paperwork as Grandma placed his mid-morning cup of coffee on the desk beside him. "Thanks, Mother. I don't think there's been a day since I've been back home since returning from the Oort Cloud that you haven't brought me coffee at this exact moment."

"You know me and my routines, Jefferson," said Grandma. "So long as I'm around, these won't be broken."

Alan, Gordon, Virgil and Scott were in the lounge as well. Grandma had brought coffee for them as well. Gordon was still very quiet and hadn't said much since he'd been tricked into coming out of his bedroom by Alan. But it was a start at least. He hadn't gone back into hiding, but only really spoke if someone else spoke to him first.

An urgent beeping sound startled them all, and immediately caused concern.

"That's a personal emergency alarm!" Virgil said.

"But we're all here, aren't we?" asked Alan. "Who could it be?"

Jeff looked at the portraits. He knew that John and Kayo were the only ones not on the island. But neither of their eyes were flashing. He then looked at the photo of Penelope, but those eyes weren't flashing either. "Let's see who this is," he said, pressing a button on his desk to receive the call. "This is International Rescue Headquarters. Please state your situation?"

"Oh, Mr Tracy, thank goodness!"

"Parker?!" came a chorus of surprised replies as a familiar figure appeared from the hologram projector in the table.

"Parker, what's wrong?" asked Gordon. "Where's Lady Penelope?!"

But Parker didn't seem to notice Gordon or hear his voice. "Mr Tracy, sir. 'er Ladyship needs your 'elp h'urgently!"

"Where is she, Parker?" asked Jeff. "Are you nearby?"

"No, sir. I'm still confined to the 'ouse!" said Parker. "M'lady's inside the Tower h'of London. She was trying to nab them blokes who 'ave been blowing up Stately-'omes!"

"WHAT?!" John's hologram suddenly appeared as Parker's call was being relayed via Thunderbird 5. "I thought I told you both to get the GDF involved with this?!"

"I know, Master John, sir!" said Parker. "But m'lady h'as taken this case too personally. She wanted to bring them in 'erself for trying to blow h'up 'er 'ouse h'and family! And now them crooks 'ave managed to nab 'er!"

"Damn it, Penny!" said Jeff angrily. "John, try and locate her using her tracker signals. Hopefully its still working. If she's on the move, track her and don't let her out of your sight!"

"Already on it," said John and signed off as quickly as he'd come.

"Gee, he looked pissed!" remarked Alan.

"Can you blame him?" asked Scott. "He was only trying to offer the most sensible thing to do."

"Don't worry, Parker, we'll get her back," said Jeff. "Do Pat and Pat know about this?"

"No, sir," said Parker.

"Good. Let's try and keep it that way," said Jeff. "We'll let you know once she's safe."

"Oh, thank you, Mr Tracy, sir," said Parker. "Let me know if I can be of any 'elp. H'Over and out."

Jeff turned to his sons. "Scott, launch immediately. You'll get there the fastest."

"I'm on my way!" said Scott, already heading for the revolving wall panel.

"Virgil, you follow with Thunderbird 2 just in case," said Jeff. "Alan, you go with him."

"Yes, Dad," said Virgil and Alan together.

"I'm going with Scott!" Gordon suddenly declared.

Everyone looked at him in surprise.

"I thought you didn't want anything to do with her anymore?" asked Scott.

"Yeah, but…" Gordon tried to find the right words. "That doesn't mean I want anything to happen to her! Dad, please let me go!"

Everyone looked at Jeff. "You don't need my permission," said Jeff sharply. "Get to it! Move!"

Taking that as a yes, the brothers hurried off to their respective suit-up areas. Scott and Gordon headed down their express elevators. Alan went via the chairs to the underground changing rooms and Virgil went down his long tube. All had their suits put on them as they went. Scott and Gordon reached Thunderbird 1 first with Gordon entering via the large hatch on a platform and Scott along the extendable walkway. Virgil dropped down into Thunderbird 2 and selected Module 3. They had no idea what to expect so he made a guess and hoped for the best. There was one Pod inside if need be. Once the main body was lowered and the module locked into place, Alan arrived and sat in the co-pilot's seat as Thunderbird 2 began to taxi out onto the runway. The palm trees folded back to allow it to pass on its way to the launch ramp. Meanwhile Thunderbird 1 had made its way up the diagonal tunnel to the launch bay as the swimming pool moved back to allow it to take-off. As it came to rest, Thunderbird 2 was on the ramp. The wings folded up as the ramp lifted it upwards followed by the raising of the blast shield behind the boosters.

5! 4! 3! 2! 1!

Thunderbird 1 roared upwards out through the opening where the swimming pool had been. Then it was Thunderbird 2 who broke the tranquillity as it soared upwards off the ramp, both leaving long plumes of smoke behind them as they went.

"Thunderbirds are GO!" said Scott.

John made contact soon after they'd levelled out. "Thunderbird 1, I have a fix on Lady Penelope's tracker. She's actually still inside the Tower of London. Looks like the crooks have run off and left her behind. I'm detecting no other moving life-signs within the whole building."

"Odd that they would do that," remarked Scott. "Someone like Lady Penelope would make the perfect opportunity for a ransom."

"Agreed," said John. "But let's be thankful they haven't taken her with them. Otherwise it would make our task a hell of a lot tougher."

"If those morons left a bomb inside her mansion, might they not have done the same there?" asked Gordon anxiously.

"That thought had crossed my mind," said Scott. "Thunderbird 2, I'm gonna fly on ahead. Lady Penelope may still be in deadly danger."

"Don't wait for us, Thunderbird 1," answered Virgil. "For once I'm actually hoping that I don't have to do anything."

"F-A-B," said Scott. "Hang tight, Gordon. This is gonna be one fast ride." He activated Thunderbird 1's turbo-booster, sending it rocketing away and leaving Thunderbird 2 far behind.

"Do you think they'll get to her in time?" Alan asked Virgil.

"They've got to, Alan," Virgil answered grimly. "They've simply got to."

Thunderbird 1's turbo-booster got it around the world faster than any other aircraft had ever been before - except perhaps for the Icarus, but Scott didn't even wish for his craft to travel at the kind of speed that aircraft had managed to achieve.

By the time Scott had deactivated the booster and slowed Thunderbird 1 down, they were now over England. Far below they could see the many millions of lights that made up Central London. It was a pretty sight, except for them they knew one of their own was in trouble down there. Thunderbird 1 descended down over the city and flew over the many building sites to reach the River Thames. Scott then brought his craft into a hover over the river in front of the Tower of London.

"Do you want to go get her or shall I?" asked Scott.

"I am!" said Gordon rather quickly. He was putting on his helmet as he spoke.

"I figured as much," muttered Scott. He moved Thunderbird 1 over to The Tower and opened the hatch so Gordon used a grapple to lower himself quickly onto one of the roofs closest to the White Tower.

"Gordon, I've sent you Penelope's location within the building," John said over his helmet radio. "It'll lead you right to her."

"Thanks, John!" Gordon replied. His feet touched the roof and he ran as fast as he could through a nearby door, which surprisingly wasn't locked and made his way inside. He hurried through several corridors before he eventually reached the room where the Crown Jewels had been. He had his fists clenched in case he needed to get into a fist-fight with the criminals. But all he could see looking through the door was the empty case where the jewels had been. There was no sign of anyone but Penelope's signal was definitely coming from inside. He ran inside and looked to his left. "PENELOPE!" he exclaimed.

Penelope was bound tightly to a nearby wooden chair with a very thick cloth covering her mouth. She began to mumble frantically as soon as she saw him.

Gordon began to run towards her. "It's okay, I'm here now! I've got you!" he said. But Penelope began shaking her head hard at him, like she didn't want him to. Gordon removed the gag. "There you go! Are you-"

"DON'T UNTIE ME!"

Gordon stopped dead, dumbstruck. "Say what now?"

"Don't…un…tie…me!" Penelope repeated much more slowly.

Gordon was so confused that he couldn't find any words.

"Look under the chair," Penelope then said.

Gordon did so, and then out a squeak of horror, for under the chair that Penelope was tied to, was indeed another bomb. But that wasn't all. The rope that was binding Penelope's feet together was also attached to a trigger on the top of it. It wasn't just a bomb now…it was a booby-trap!