…how an ordinary schoolgirl became an

INTERNET VOYAGER!

BLARP-BLARP-BLARP! BLARP-BLARP-BLARP! BLARP-BLARP-BLARP!

This time the alarm was louder than ever - and inside the Mopples' van it was deafening! Dot put her hands over her ears to block it out and squeezed her eyes shut.

Then a computer voice spoke - calm and cool as always, but what it had to say sounded really scary.

"HyperDataStorm - ALERT! HyperDataStorm - ALERT!" it went. "Secure all ports IMMEDIATELY! Abandon TASKS! Abandon TASKS!"

Then the alarm went off again. BLARP-BLARP-BLARP! BLARP-BLARP-BLARP! BLARP-BLARP-BLARP!

With a hiss the link to Adrienne's search engine disappeared, and with a clang the doors to the Mopples' van slammed shut. Dot jumped - that meant she was cut off from Adrienne and Mr Mouse!

"What's HAPPENING?" she shouted to Ron, hardly able to hear herself over the BLARP-BLARP-BLARP! BLARP-BLARP-BLARP! BLARP-BLARP-BLARP! "HyperDataStorm - ALERT! HyperData - "

Ron leant over and punched a big red round switched on top of the dashboard of the van. He wasn't smiling any more, and Deirdre was looking serious too. "Tell you in a minute dear" she said. "But quick now, just sit down 'ere and strap yourself in tight" she said, pointing to a pair of seats in the middle of the front of the van. "Quickly now, luvvie! And where's that naughty little doggie of yours!"

With a snuffle and a whine, Wiz appeared from the back of the van, climbing over a pile of bubble wrap, electric wires and old newspapers - he was looking very guilty, with his feathery tail sweeping down low. There was some chocolate on his whiskers.

"Oh WIZ" said Dot. "WHAT did you think you were doing? Naughty bad boy!"

"Never mind all that now Dot" said Ron, who'd strapped himself into his seat and was checking that Deirdre's seat belt was properly fixed too. "Let's just get ol' Wiz in this special doo-dah 'ere - we 'aven't got much time now!"

Wiz sat down straight away between Dot and Ron, obviously feeling very bad, and let Ron put a criss-cross strap tightly over his body. You could tell he was trying to make up because he normally hates being held down like that, even when you're playing with him.

"I'm sorry Dot" he muttered. "Hadn't had any chocolate for AGES and I do so love Yorkies!"

Dot gave him a pat and was just going to reply when there was a big rattling noise along the side of the van - like hail when it hits your car windows. Ron nodded grimly. " 'Old on tight" he said. "THAT'S just a log-on! The best is yet to come, as they say!"

Looking out of the window, Dot could see they were still hovering alongside Adrienne's search engine just like before - but now there was no link between the two engines, and just like in Ron's van everything was shut down tight. Through the window Dot could see Adrienne tapping away on her computer - the white one this time. She looked up and gave Dot a wave - then went back to her computer, her little squirrelly paws moving faster than ever on the keyboard. Mr Mouse was nowhere to be seen.

The Search Zone sky all around them looked just like before - or was it? Now it had a strange kind of yellowy shine on it, as if it had been polished like the brass letterbox plate at Dot's house. WHAT was going on? She turned to Ron to ask, but before she could open her mouth, the computer voice spoke again.

"PREPARE! PREPARE!" it went, as calm as ever. "Scanner shows HyperDataStorm Factor 6.2! Repeat - 6.2!"

"Right" said Ron. "It's gonna be a big bad 'un all right. 'Ope they got that shielding right last time we took 'er in!"

"Well you would go to Engine Heaven Repairs wouldn't you!" said Deirdre. "Never liked that lot - cheapskates I call 'em!"

"Well we'll know soon enough now" muttered Ron.

Sometimes Dot wished she were a bit more like Mr Mouse. He'd just have said "Know WHAT, already!" She was dying to find out what was happening - and Ron and Deirdre had clearly completely forgotten she hadn't got a clue what was going on!

She cleared her throat a bit nervously. "Er - could you just - "

"Oh sorry dear" said Deirdre blinking her big owl's eyes at Dot. "We were in such a tizzy we forgot you won't know what all this is! We've got a big bad bit of Internet weather coming. It's called a HyperDataStorm - happens when too many computers round the world all crash at the same time when they're on the net. It's probably got something to do with that Open Port thing us Mopples are all supposed to be mustering to sort out. Why do these nasty people make all these viruses, that's what I'd like to know!"

"Never mind all that" said Ron. "Better tell 'er quick - we 'aven't got long now!"

"Well dear" said Deirdre. "What's going to happen is a bit like a very big wind and snow and hail and rain all at the same time, like what you get in your real world - only, much worse. It'll be - "

But Deirdre didn't have time to finish what she was saying. Suddenly, once again, there was the rattling along the side of the van, but much much louder this time. There was still nothing to see though - just for a moment. And then:

CRAKKETA CRAKKETA CRAKKETA! It was a deafening noise, like a very loud clap of thunder, but with a strange sound to it, like pots and pans being thrown around in a metal sink. The bright shine on the Search Zone sky got brighter and brighter, so that it was really hard to look at. Dot squeezed her eyes so they were nearly closed and covered Wizard's face with her hand.

" 'Ere she comes!" said Ron grimly.

CRAKKETA CRAKKETA CRAKKETA! came the thunderclap sound again. Then, suddenly, the whole van began to shake - shake so hard that everything looked blurred. Wiz let out a yap of alarm.

Dot opened her eyes - she couldn't help it - to see an incredible sight.

The whole Search Zone sky was splitting open - like someone was pulling open a giant zip, right down the middle of it. And behind the zip everything was black - black as the darkest night!