Poolbear clicked a little switch on the 'Allspeak' panel in front of them. The little screen changed. It said 'Privatetalk'.
"Go on, answer!" said Poolbear, nudging Dot in her side. "She won't bite!"
He clicked the little switch again. This time, the screen said "Yours is The Word" in big blue and silver letters.
Dot didn't know what to say. But it seemed rude not to say anything, with everyone looking round and Zamelqa smiling up at her.
"Erm... " she said. "Erm... erm... erm... " went the echoes again, all round the room.
Then she remembered something her Dad had told her - he sometimes had to do speeches for his work. It was always a good idea to start by saying how pleased you were to be somewhere.
She cleared her throat. Off went the echoes again!
"It's really wonderful to be here in Phargon" she said. "It's one of the most exciting places we've been in all our net voyages!" Her voice boomed out round the vast hall. What could she say next?
Then she had a really good idea. Say thank you!
"We've had a lovely time being shown round by Cambor Zildith and Poolbear Zildith" she went one. "But we can see you have a terrible problem - and we'd like to help you fix it. If we can! We must SAVE THE BOOK FOREST!"
Looking back, Dot didn't know where the last bit came from - unless it
was when she'd seen her Mum and some of the other mums from school go on a march to stop their local hospital being closed. But the Zildiths loved it!
"Hurrah!" went Poolbear. And "Hurrah!" went Cambor. And suddenly the hall was full of cheering Zildiths, smiling and clapping and laughing.
Dot went bright red - she couldn't help it - but it was nice really. Mr Mouse hopped up and whispered in her ear. "They love you, kid! You're a superstar!" And Wizzie was pleased for her too - she felt his cold wet nose pushing into her hand, and she looked down to stroke him, his tail was waving like a feathery flag!
Zamelqa was smiling and clapping too - but after a little while she held her hand up, and the great hall was suddenly silent again.
"Thank you, Dot" she said. "We have all heard of your wonderful work to protect the Net - and we know you are one of the company of InterFriendNet too, just like I am!" *
But then Zamelqa' face fell. "But we are truly in a great trouble. Now, you must know what that trouble is... "
She spread her arms out wide, then bowed her head. Then she looked at Dot again, this time with a sad and troubled smile.
Then she spoke.
"You must know, Dot" she said "that we keep all the memory of the Internet here in Phargon. Without us, that memory dies. As I know Cambor and Poolbear Zildith have told you, each Zildith is the guardian of all the information that comes in on their own day of the year. It is her - or his duty - to make sure that information brought in on that day is held in safety in the book forest. But" and here her face looked more serious than ever " never forget, if a Zildith is lost - as we have lost Drindel Zildith - then a day is lost, and ALL the information we have received on that day is lost too."
Zamelqa paused. Then, with a deep breath, she went on. "As we all know, NONE of the information - the memory - before that day can cross over the day that is missing. Just like no-one can cross a bridge that has been broken in the middle. So, because memory is like a thread that cannot be broken, all that we do here begins to fail. And the longer that failure goes on, the more memory we lose. Until... we have lost ALL that we remember... and Phargon falls!"
The hall was silent. The words "Phargon falls!" seemed to echo in Dot's mind like everything she had said before when she didn't know she was on Allspeak - the system that made everything anyone said boom out round the great hall of the Zildiths.
Then another voice spoke. It was a Zildith wearing a shimmering green turban with a jewel in it - and a cloak with moving pictures of what looked very like Bollywood dancers on it.
"AND we have lost the Children of the Casement too!" this Zildith said, in a very scared and worried voice.
"I know, Khanpoor Zildith" said Zamelqa. "I know! Perhaps Dot can - "
But then another voice spoke - out of nowhere. It was a voice Dot and Wizzie - and Mr Mouse - recognized straight away. And it said:
"Wanna make a deal? You're gonna have to pay!"
* See Dot and Lonely Darren, Chapters 84 and 85.
