It was Cruncher! There was no mistaking that ratty little voice, even if it did sound better than it used to.
“As soon as you can!” it came again. Dot looked at the controls by the handlebar of Mr Fruity’s bike. She couldn’t see HOW to reply. Nor could anyone else.
But Cruncher guessed what was going on – or rather, what wasn’t!
“It’s the blue button!” he said. “Hit the BLUE button!”
All these buttons, thought Dot – it’s worse than when I was trying to teach poor old Dinosaur Dad how to use the laptop. Only, now I’m the dinosaur!
“OK!” she said – and hit the blue button, which was right in front of her.
“Zeee-pht!” Up came a little screen, from a little slot Dot hadn’t noticed just behind the cyber bike’s big round headlight. Like everything else on the cyber bike, the screen was shiny and polished.
It flickered for a moment then a picture appeared. It was Cruncher, giving a thumbs-up sign and grinning.
“Good girl” he said. “Take a look at this!” He pointed downwards over his shoulder. The camera zoomed past him to show a REALLY scary scene.
Cruncher’s bike must have been really high up, because way down below him was the mountain of Phargon. Black and enormous, it rose up out of the net plain – so tall that wispy clouds floated around the top of it. It was hard to believe that such a grim place could contain the beautiful book forest and all the clever and kindly Zildiths.
But that thought only flashed through Dot’s mind for a moment – because all around Phargon, like a swarm of wasps, roared the army of the cyber rats! Hundreds and hundreds of them! Even through the little loudspeaker on the screen you could hear the angry noise of their cyber bikes as they revved their engines, again and again. It was a frightening sound.
They swirled around Phargon shaking their fists and shouting. Even though they were so far away, Dot thought she could see Mr Fruity on his cyber bike (someone else’s of course – they’d taken his real one!) standing up in his saddle, shouting and screaming, still in a rage over what Cruncher had done. She shivered.
Drindel gasped. “Oh no!” he said. “My poor Phargon!”
Wizzie had jumped up to look at the screen too. He let out a low growl, deep in his throat. “Come on!” he said angrily. “Let’s get them! I’ve had about enough of these guys!”
“Yeah, great!” said Mr Mouse. “Cool idea, dogbrain! HOW? There’s hundreds of them!”
Dot squeezed her forehead, trying to think. “Stop arguing, you two!” she said fiercely. But WHAT could they do? Phargon was in terrible danger!
“Whatever you’re gonna do” said Cruncher, wagging his finger “for King Rat’s sake, make it quick! My old friends are sure to spot me soon – I got me tucked away in this nice little cloud so they can’t see me, but something tells me it’s not going to last much longer!”
“But… where are we?” said Dot. The cachou tree seemed to know just what to do, but there was just no way of knowing even where they were going.
Oh but there was! Because just as she spoke a dark shadow seemed to fall across the picture on the little screen. Cruncher looked up and grinned.
“You’re right here!” he said. “Right above me!”
And it was true – they’d arrived at Phargon. Peering down through the leaf wings, Dot could see Cruncher just below them, and the swarm of cyber rats much further down, nearer to Phargon.
But Cruncher wasn’t the only one who’d spotted them. Far from it!!
