by Steve Cole
“Come on then, Splarg!” he yelled through the hole in the wall, shaking his spiky tail in warning. “Let’s see what you’re made of!”
And the next second, Teggs had his horrible answer as the Venomous Splarg shuffled into view.
It was huge – at least three times bigger than Teggs – and seemed to be made of lumpy green slime with the odd red feather sticking out here and there. It had three heads, and each one boasted two warty noses and a huge oblong eye. Of course, one of the eyes had an equally huge eye-patch over the top. The monster had two mouths, one on each side of its billowing body.
Teggs gulped as the disgusting creature reached out two giant, slimy paws towards him . . .
“Hello, my dear,” said the Splarg cheerily in a very high voice. “Are you all right? Sorry about the big roar back then, but I was really furious – I just chipped a fingernail!”
Suddenly Teggs realized the Venomous Splarg wasn’t reaching out to hurt him – she was showing off her lovely long pink nails.
“A chipped nail?” came another voice. “Let us file it for you!”
“Yes!” cried someone else.
A gaggle of figures rushed out of the green murk. They were plant-eating dinosaurs dressed in rags – a sauropelta, a gryposaurus, a kentrosaurus . . . They started fussing about the Splarg, filing her broken nail, stroking her slimy skin and delicately rubbing her feathers.
“Where did you lot spring from?” Teggs asked, bewildered.
“We are the crews of the cargo ships that were sucked in by the star pirates,” explained the sauropelta. “My name is Sid. Spiny Jim stole our stuff and made us walk the plank . . .”
“Luckily I was here to give them all a soft landing,” the Splarg explained. “I’m not really venomous, and I don’t eat anyone. I eat the glow-moss that grows down here in the pit. We all do!”
Teggs noticed the softly glowing moss. He was starving, and helped himself to a huge mouthful. “How did you end up here, Splarg?”
“Spiny Jim kidnapped me too,” she said sadly. “He dragged me away from my own planet when I was little, thinking I was some stupid monster he could use to scare his enemies.” She sighed and shook her three horrible heads. “I mean – do I look scary to you?”
“Er . . . course not!” said Teggs quickly. “But if you’re actually a Very Nice Splarg, why do you pretend?” “Because if Spiny Jim found out the truth, he would throw me into space.” The Splarg smiled down at her caring crewmates. “Besides, it can get very lonely in a pit! The more dinosaurs he chucks down here, the more friends I get.”
“It’s not so bad down here,” Sid told him. “Since we can never go back to our planets, we’ve made a new home with the Splarg. It’s actually quite cosy.”
The Splarg smiled and tickled Teggs under the chin. “I’m sure you will be very happy down here with us. You’ve arrived just in time for our sing-a-sea-shanty night!”
“I can’t stay here singing sea-shanties,” Teggs protested, gulping down another mouthful of moss. “I have to find out what Spiny Jim is planning.”
“Oh, I can tell you what that nasty little star pirate is up to,” said the Splarg. “If you will stroke my lovely long hair in exchange . . .” She smiled. “Do we have a deal?”
“I suppose so.” Teggs frowned. “Hang on. You don’t have hair.”
“Yes, I do,” she said, and pulled a long, sticky hair down from her sixth nostril. “Here it is!”
“Oh. Lovely,” said Teggs, pulling a face. And while he tried his best to stroke it, the Splarg explained the details of Spiny Jim’s terrible plan . . . High above the Splarg’s lair, while Arx and Iggy followed Mutty and the magnetrons through the crimson corridors of the space station, Gipsy and Sprite had crawled inside a ventilator shaft and were looking for Teggs.
Suddenly, Gipsy heard a rattling noise ahead. It echoed through the thick darkness. Behind her, Sprite gave a quiet cheep of concern.
“Captain?” Gipsy hooted softly. “Captain, are you there?”
“AYE!” thundered a terrifying voice as the side of the shaft was ripped away by massive claws. Gipsy gasped as the light of the corridor flooded in – and then she gasped again at the sight of a scaly spinosaurus wearing an eye-patch, with a nasty little pterosaur dancing about on his shoulder. A tough-looking crew of dirty dinosaurs lurked behind him.
“Captain is here all right, girlie,” snarled the scary figure, showing off his sharp golden teeth. “Cap’n Spiny Jim, to be exact – leader of the star pirates. And now ye are in BIG trouble!”
Chapter Seven
THE GOLDEN PERIL
Gipsy thought fast. “Cool,” she said with a big smile. “Just the captain I was looking for!” Even as she spoke, she was nudging Sprite away with her foot – the pirates hadn’t seen him yet, and the longer he stayed free, the better.
Spiny Jim scowled. “Ye are dressed in a spacesuit, missy,” he observed. “Where did ye come from?”
Gipsy was glad her spacesuit hid her astrosaur uniform. “I’m, er . . . a stowaway,” she said. “I was hiding on board one of the ships you stole.” If she could only trick the pirates into trusting her, it would be easier to help her friends. “And now I want to join your band.”
“Join us?” squawked the one-eyed pterosaur, flapping his wings.
“That’s what she said, Pollysaurus!” Spiny Jim chuckled, and his crew roared with laughter. “Sorry, missy. We don’t have girls in our gang, because girls be rubbish fighters!”
Gipsy whacked him in the chest with a hoof jab. As Spiny Jim staggered back, she whipped away his golden cutlass and cut through the belt in his trousers. They fell down around his ankles and tripped him up. The other pirates gasped in shock.
At once, Pollysaurus blasted Gipsy with a dung-ball. But Gipsy deflected the steaming missile with the golden sword and it landed with a splat in an allosaur’s eye!
Amazed, the other star pirates wondered what to do. But then Spiny Jim got up and adjusted his trousers. “Well, girlie, perhaps ye can fight a bit,” he admitted. “But if ye wants to join our band, ye must first fight the most fearsome swordmaster on board. The deadly, the diabolical . . . Alan the ammonite!”
The pirates parted as a pale pink shell with a portable water tank came rolling out towards Gipsy. She glimpsed something small, wet and squishy hiding inside it behind a diver’s mask, and frowned. “You want me to fight this thing? How?”
Suddenly, a huge silver sword thrust out from beneath the diver’s mask and almost poked Gipsy in the tummy! She jumped back as the shell rolled towards her, the sword slicing through the air with deadly force. The pirates laughed and cheered.
“Many a dinosaur has underestimated Alan the ammonite,” sneered Spiny Jim, slapping his wooden leg. “And many a dinosaur has wound up with one of these because of it!”
Gipsy gulped and gripped her golden cutlass as the killer shell came rolling towards her.
Alan swiped at her ankle, but Gipsy blocked the blow and kicked him away. The shell flipped up in the air and squirted salty water in her face. Gipsy wiped her eyes – in time to see Alan attacking again! She just managed to deflect his strikes, but he kept bouncing in the air, swinging his sword, driving her back towards the wall of the corridor . . .
Suddenly, with a super-swift movement, Alan whacked the cutlass from Gipsy’s grip! Desperately she spun round in a circle and socked him with her tail. The blow knocked him across the floor – but all too soon he skidded to a halt. With a hiss he started rolling back towards her, sword extended, travelling at thirty miles per hour . . .
A second before he spun straight into her, Gipsy leaped high in the air. The ammonite went whizzing onwards – he couldn’t stop in time! With a squeal, he slammed into the wall and the point of his sword got stuck there. Gipsy trotted over and brought her hoof down on the top of his shell. Alan fell to the ground with a crunch.
Gipsy picked up his sword as well as her own. “I’m the winner!” she shouted.
&nb
sp; The other pirates stared, speechless. Then they cheered and roared in admiration, gave her big hugs and raised her up onto their shoulders. Gipsy forced a smile. It looked like she had fought her way into the star pirates’ ranks. But Teggs still needed help, and she had no idea where Arx and Iggy might be. What was she going to do now?
In fact, Arx and Iggy were still following Mutty and his two droids. The pirate seemed to be taking the magnetrons into the very centre of the space station.
At last, he stopped outside a large golden door. Arx and Iggy watched as he tapped out a special security code on a keypad beside it. The door slid slowly upwards, and Mutty scuttled inside. The loading droids clanked after him with the magnetrons.
Keeping low to the ground, Arx and Iggy shuffled inside using the droids as cover.
“Wow,” breathed Iggy, staring around. They were in a massive, gleaming control room – the walls, floor and ceiling were all made of solid gold. “This room must be worth a fortune!”
But Arx was more interested in what was inside the room. Big computers and banks of controls were connected by huge clumps of coloured wire. Another pirate, an old raptor, was running about between them, flicking switches and pushing buttons. Mutty went over to join him, peering at screens and studying read-outs.
“I recognize this equipment,” Arx murmured. “It was taken from the ships the star pirates attacked. They’ve built this control room out of stolen electronic parts! But why?”
“And why use so much gold?” Iggy wondered.
“Spiny Jim is mad about the stuff,” Arx explained.
The droids dragged the magnetrons towards a large slot in the middle of the floor. Arx and Iggy watched as they put them in place.
The control-room raptor chuckled. “Once the magnetrons are connected, the Gold Magnet will be ready at last!”
“Gold Magnet?” Iggy echoed.
“Oh dear,” said Arx. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
‘We shall rip out the gold from every planet we pass,” cried Mutty, hopping about from foot to foot.
The old raptor nodded. “Gold in mines deep underground, gold bars in the bank, gold coins in pockets . . .” He chuckled, rubbing his hands together with glee. “It’ll all be sucked up into space and stuck straight in our central storeroom. Soon we will be the richest dinosaurs of all time!”
Chapter Eight
DEADLY DISCOVERIES
Back in the pit, Teggs shook his head in horror as the Splarg finished explaining the star pirates’ wicked plans. “I knew that Spiny Jim loved gold, but using a Gold Magnet to steal every last bit in the Jurassic Quadrant?” Teggs pushed the sticky hair back up the Splarg’s nostril. “He’s crazy!”
“He may be crazy but he’ll never be caught,” said the Splarg. “Thanks to the smoke screen around this space station, the star pirates can come up close to the planets they want to plunder and no one will ever know!”
“They’ll leave every world in space poor and penniless,” Teggs agreed. “We must stop them.”
“How can we?” protested the Splarg. “There’s no way out of this pit, believe me. I’ve been here for years and years, and I would know if there was—”
Suddenly, a big door opened up in the mossy wall behind her!
“Oh.” The Splarg frowned. “How embarrassing.”
Sid and the other cargo-ship crewmembers scurried away from the door, but Teggs held his ground. “Who’s there?” he demanded.
And Sprite the dimorphodon flapped out!
“Sprite!” Teggs beamed and clutched the little pterosaur to his chest. “It’s so good to see you. Where did you come from?”
“Cheep,” said Sprite.
“You found a service tunnel leading all the way from the air vents to here?” Teggs cried. “Fantastic! Have you brought help?”
“Chirp,” said Sprite.
“What? Gipsy and Iggy are here too, but Gipsy’s been caught and is in the most terrible danger? Why didn’t you tell me sooner? We must save her!” Teggs turned to the cargo-ship crewmembers. “Come on, everyone. You’ve been prisoners of the star pirates for far too long. Help me save my friend and defeat the star pirates – before they ransack the whole Jurassic Quadrant!”
Sid nodded. “We’ll always be grateful to the Splarg,” he declared, “but it’s time we got our own back. We’ll teach Spiny Jim to steal our ships, won’t we, boys?” The other crewmembers roared in agreement, and rallied around Teggs.
The Splarg looked hurt. “But . . . you can’t leave now!” Big teardrops welled up in her two good eyes. “It’s sing-a-sea-shanty night tonight. I was going to make moss pancakes!”
“Come with us, Splarg,” Teggs urged her. “If we beat Spiny Jim and his gang, you can go back home!”
“This pit is the only real home I know.” The Splarg sniffed quietly. “Very well – push off and leave me alone!” She turned her back on them all. “I’ll have a lovely time singing sea-shanties all by myself. Just see if I don’t!”
The crewmembers looked sad, and Teggs felt awful. But there was too much at stake to spare the feelings of a lonely Splarg.
“Right then, boys,” Teggs cried, charging through the wide-open door and into the cramped service tunnel. “It’s time to spring a surprise on Spiny Jim and his potty pirates. There’s not a moment to lose!”
Back in the Gold Magnet room, Arx and Iggy were still hiding behind the loading droids while Mutty and the raptor fiddled with the controls.
“We have to stop them,” Iggy murmured, glancing at a screen behind them. “We are still in Sector Twelve. The Sauropod might be close by. If we could only make contact somehow!”
“I wonder,” said Arx quietly. “I think I understand the Gold Magnet’s controls. And if the Sauropod really is nearby, perhaps we could use it—”
“Use it how?” asked Iggy.
But before Arx could reply, the loading droids suddenly clanked away from the magnetrons – leaving the astrosaurs in plain view!
Mutty saw them at once. “Intruders!” he rasped.
The raptor jumped in the air, rubbing his claws. “Dinner, you mean!”
“I’ll hold off them off, Arx,” cried Iggy. “You fix the controls!”
The raptor bounded towards him. Iggy sent a burst of energy from his stun claws that knocked the raptor flying. But at the same time, Mutty pounced and brought Iggy crashing down to the floor.
Meanwhile, Arx charged over to the Gold Magnet’s controls. He jabbed buttons frantically while using his tail to change the sensor settings on the magnetrons. He had a plan . . . but did he have enough time to put it into action?
Iggy struggled with Mutty, trying to get the pirate’s hook away from his face. “You should be careful with that thing,” he gasped, shoving the pirate back. “You might tear my uniform!”
“We’ll do a lot more than just tear your uniform, me hearty,” growled a voice behind him. Iggy had a sinking feeling. He turned to find that a huge spinosaurus with a pterosaur on its shoulder was looking down its nose at him.
“Oh no,” cried Arx, still fiddling furiously with the controls. “It’s Spiny Jim!”
“Pollysaurus,” snapped Spiny Jim.
“Stop that tri-serra-plops!”
Iggy gasped as the pterosaur flapped into the air and bombarded Arx with steaming dung-nuggets.
“Munch on these, horn-head!” screeched Pollysaurus. “SQUAWK!”
Arx was quickly driven back from the Gold Magnet controls, choking and gasping for breath – just as star pirates poured into the room. Mutty, the raptor, an allosaurus – even a crazy spinning shell – all grabbed hold of Iggy and forced him to his knees. Arx tried to help him but was sidetracked by a pair of carnotaurs.
“Arx, did you fix their machine?” Iggy asked hopefully.
“I was too slow,” wailed Arx. “I didn’t manage to do anything!”
“Well, well.” Spiny Jim stared at Arx and Iggy as the pterosaur landed back on his shoulder. “Lucky we came
along when we did. We was just showing our new pirate-girl the finished Gold Magnet,” He looked behind him and whistled. “Come on, girlie, don’t be shy!”
Iggy stared in amazement as a familiar figure charged up to him, waving a sword. It was Gipsy! “Leave this scaly space-dog to me, me hearties,” she snarled, shooing Mutty and the other guards away.
Iggy gulped in alarm. “Are you feeling all right?”
“Better than YOU are going to be!” she snarled. “I’ll teach you a lesson you will never forget . . .” She lowered her voice and winked at Arx. “A lesson in breaking out,” she hissed. “I’m only pretending to be on their side. Get ready to make a surprise attack!”
“No, Gipsy,” Arx told her loudly. “There are too many of them!”
“The green one knows her name!” squawked Pollysaurus. “She’s an astrosaur! She’s an astrosaur!”
“I— I’m not!” Gipsy protested.
But Spiny Jim tore a hole in her spacesuit to reveal her astrosaur uniform beneath. “Thought you could trick me, eh?” he snarled, snatching Gipsy’s sword away. “Well no one makes a fool of Spiny Jim.”
“No one needs to,” Gipsy retorted. “You do a fine job all by yourself!”
Spiny Jim shoved her towards Arx and Iggy. “You will pay for this,” he rasped. “All of you!”
“Arx,” groaned Iggy. “You gave Gipsy away! Why?”
But Arx couldn’t – or wouldn’t – answer. He could only watch helplessly as the star pirates closed in on the astrosaurs, their huge jaws drooling . . .
Chapter Nine
“ATTACK ALL PLANT-EATERS!”
“Wait!” Arx snapped. “Before you deal with us, at least give us a demonstration of your Gold Magnet.”
Spiny Jim held up his claw and his pirates paused. “Why should I?”
“Because I think you’ve made the whole thing up,” said Arx. “Gold Magnet? Pile of pirate pants more like!”
“We don’t be making it up,” hissed Mutty.
Arx waggled his horns rudely. “Prove it then!”
Iggy stared at Arx. What had got into the triceratops? First he had blown Gipsy’s cover. Now he actually wanted the star pirates to ransack a whole planet, just so he could stay safe a little longer!