by Steve Cole
Chapter Two
IN TROUBLE ALREADY!
Now Teggs had made friends with Dutch, the long bus journey seemed to whizz by. More and more dinosaurs got on board at every stop, all on their way to Astrosaurs Academy – but no flying reptiles were among them. The bus was bulging with bodies by the time Astro Prime came in sight!
From a distance, the planet looked like a red and green ball floating in space. But as the bus zoomed closer Teggs could see it was a real patchwork of places. Huge sweeping deserts mixed with lush jungles. Frozen ice fields gave way to stony sweeps of wilderness. Deep, orange oceans lapped at every different shore.
And on a blue island at the planet’s equator stood the Astrosaurs Academy! “Wow,” said Teggs, as he and Dutch peered out of the window. “So this is our new home while we’re training!”
The bus soared over the academy, and soon everyone on board was chattering excitedly. It was as if a school had been built in the middle of a massive adventure camp. Teggs’s eyes lit up as he saw playing fields, an assault course, a water park and an athletics track, as well as launch pads for spaceships and astro-jets.
Dutch pointed to a huddle of huge wooden huts, hugging the earth like giant woodlice. “What are they?”
Teggs checked his guidebook. “They are the dino-dorms. All the students live there.” He pointed to another building. “And there’s the best place of all – the canteen!”
The bus landed outside a gleaming metal pyramid. An iguanodon wearing the red uniform of an astrosaur instructor was waiting for them.
“Pay attention, you lot!” the instructor shouted. “Welcome to Astrosaurs Academy. You are just in time – your head teacher, Commander Gruff, is about to speak to all new cadets in the main hall. Grab yourselves a uniform and move out!”
“Let’s go!” cried Teggs.
They waved goodbye to the bus driver. Then they ran across the springy blue grass and joined the stream of excited dinosaurs pouring into the pyramid.
The first thing Teggs and Dutch came to was an enormous changing room. Astrosaur cadets wore deep blue tops with ‘AA’ written on the front and a golden leaf on one sleeve. Clothes flew through the air as every dinosaur tried to find an outfit that fitted.
Proudly wearing their new uniforms, Teggs and Dutch followed the signs to the main hall. But when they got there, they found a crowd outside listening to a large, red diceratops. She had two big horns, three big brown freckles on each cheek – and one very big mouth!
“Of course, my Uncle Hiro is a famous astrosaur captain,” she said, preening herself. “He’s taken me to loads of amazing planets . . .”
“Wow,” said a wide-eyed triceratops. “You’re so cool, Damona!”
“I was even there when he fought four hundred T. rexes at the Battle of Bellif lopp!” Damona went on.
“Really?” A yellow pterosaur with quizzical eyes, glasses and a soft voice hopped up to her. “I read that there were only two hundred T. rexes on Bellif lopp.”
“Who cares what you read, beak-face?” said Damona hotly. “I know because I was there. It was definitely four hundred!”
“Then perhaps you can’t count!” said Teggs, stepping between them. “I recorded a TV programme about the battle. Your uncle said there was one T. rex hiding on every island in the Bellif lopp Sea – making two hundred in total!” He pulled his laptop from his rucksack. “Would you like to watch the show and see?”
Some of the crowd started to snigger. Damona blushed and glared at Teggs. Then she flounced away into the main hall.
“What a silly show-off,” said Dutch.
“Maybe it’s just her way of making friends,” said Teggs, turning to the pterosaur. “I’m Teggs, and this is Dutch. Are you OK?”
“Teggs? Dutch?” The dino-bird, blinked several times, then grinned. “Wow! I think I’m sharing a dino-dorm with you. My name’s Blink Fingawing.”
“So you’re our other roommate!” Dutch grinned.
“This is great,” said Teggs happily.
Then the ground started to shake under their feet. “Uh-oh. I think Commander Gruff is on his way.”
Teggs, Dutch and Blink rushed inside and found some seats in the middle of the hall – just as Commander Gruff thumped onto the large stage at the front. He was a giant green seismosaurus. Gruff had fought a thousand space battles – and had the scars to prove it. But now he had retired from the DSS to teach young astrosaur cadets.
“All right, you horrible lot!” he growled, chewing on an unripe banana as if it was a cigar. “Right now, you are simply dinosaurs. But if you train hard, you might just become astrosaurs!”
The cadets clapped loudly.
“You must be brave!” said Commander Gruff. “You must have guts!”
Teggs patted his tummy and smiled at Dutch and Blink. “I’ve got lots of guts.”
“You must be hungry for victory!” Gruff shouted.
Just then, Teggs’s tummy gave a huge rumble and the whole hall burst out laughing.
“NO ONE DISTURBS MY SPEECHES!” bellowed Gruff. He stretched his neck all the way to the middle of the hall and glared down at Teggs. “What’s your name, cadet?”
“Um . . . Teggs, sir,” said Teggs, his heart sinking.
“Get out!” Gruff barked. “I’ll see you later.”
Teggs felt everyone staring as he got up and plodded from the hall. Damona stuck out her tongue as he passed, and his cheeks blushed bright red. Only here five minutes, he thought, and I’m in trouble already!
But just as he reached the front of the hall, there was an almighty crash above the stage – and part of the ceiling started to fall in! Commander Gruff jumped away as a giant, struggling monster forced its way through the hole and dropped to the stage below with a THUMP. Teggs stared in horror as the monster reared up, roaring with rage and baring its savage teeth . . .
There was a T. rex in the heart of the Astrosaurs Academy!
Chapter Three
THE DARING DINOS
Panic broke out in the hall. Dinosaurs jumped up, yelling in alarm as the enormous meat-eater stomped towards them. Commander Gruff reared up to face the T. rex, but it grabbed his neck and threw him to the ground with a CRASH.
“Commander!” Teggs yelled. But Gruff didn’t move. “Dutch, Blink, look after him. I’ll try to hold off the T. rex.”
“Everyone out!” shouted Damona, shooing people towards the doors. “Quickly and calmly! No squashing!”
While Damona cleared the hall and Dutch and Blink tried to drag Gruff out of danger, Teggs ran towards the monster. “Take this, meathead!” he cried, whacking the T. rex on the knee with his spiky tail.
The T. rex growled and tried to bite Teggs – but then a speeding baseball bounced off its nose and stopped it in its tracks.
“Got you!” Dutch whooped. He pulled more baseballs from his rucksack and started lobbing them at the monster’s head.
Meanwhile, Blink flew up into the air. He flapped around like a mad moth with wind, pecking the T. rex in the ear. At the same time, Teggs stamped on its foot. The T. rex didn’t know who to squish first!
“Hey! I’ve found a wire in its ear!” yelled Blink, tugging out a bright red lead. Sparks began to fly from the monster’s eyeballs.
“It must be a robot!” Teggs realized. “But where did it come from?”
“Out of my way, you lot,” said Damona. She had finished getting everyone outside. Now she lowered her horns and charged at the sparking T. rex. WHAM! She hit it so hard that both its legs fell off! With a clanking, clanging KER-KROOM! the robot broke down.
“Well done, Damona!” said Teggs. “That was some charge!”
“It was, wasn’t it?” she agreed. “I suppose you were quite brave too.”
“You all were,” said Commander Gruff, getting up again. “Well done, cadets. You handled that exercise very well.”
“Exercise?” Teggs echoed.
“I love exercise!” said Dutch.
“The comma
nder means it was just a test, silly!” said Damona.
“Exactly,” Gruff agreed. “The first thing I do with any new group of cadets is test how they respond to deadly danger.”
Blink polished his glasses on his wing. “I suppose that if you want to be an astrosaur, you must expect the unexpected!”
“Too right.” Gruff turned to Damona. “You got everyone out double-quick, cadet. Now let’s see you get them back in again!”
“Yes, sir!” Damona saluted, then ran out to round up the other students.
“And as for you, Teggs . . .” Gruff pulled a clump of ferns from the wall and gave them to him. “Keep your tummy rumbles under control and sit back down.”
Teggs scoffed the ferns, saluted and went back to his seat with Blink and Dutch. “Phew!” he said.
Soon all the cadets were back inside, staring at the wreck of the robot T. rex.
“That was just a little test of your bravery,” Gruff growled. “And let me tell you – if you ever meet a real T. rex, screaming and shouting will not help you!” He chomped some more on his unripe banana. “Now it’s time to talk about your first mission.”
Blink blinked excitedly. “Wow! A mission already!”
“As you know, astrosaurs are excellent explorers – and so must you be,” Gruff bellowed. “SO! You will get into teams of three. First thing tomorrow morning you will be taken to the land of Quarrik. It is a deserted wilderness. Each team must build a camp and then go off to explore. To win your Planet Explorer medals, you must find something extraordinary and rare and bring it back to the academy for a show-and-tell. The best one will win a special award.”
“How long do we have, sir?” called Damona.
“Twenty-four hours,” said Gruff. “You will camp out overnight and an astro-jet will pick you up the next morning. But until then you will be completely on your own.”
“Awesome!” whispered Dutch, and Teggs and Blink both nodded.
“Class dismissed,” said Gruff. “But before you go, you horrible lot . . . you can clean up the mess this robot made and fix that hole in the roof!”
Later, tired and covered in dust and dirt, Teggs, Blink and Dutch staggered back to the dino-dorms. Their room was large but quite bare. The only furniture was two beds and a large nest, three desks, three wardrobes, a couch and a fridge.
“The fridge could be larger,” said Teggs.
“Eh?” Blink blinked. “It’s the size of a shuttle!”
“Exactly!” said Dutch. “But we’ve got starship-sized appetites!”
“Well, we had better get unpacking.” Teggs struggled to pull a large bush out of his bag. “I’ve got so much food in here I should call it a rucksnack!”
“I’ll give you a hand,” said Dutch. He took an enormous leafy bite. “Or do I mean a mouth!”
“Hey!” Teggs grinned. “Save me a bit. Go and eat Blink’s grub.”
“Yes, I’ve got a nice crunchy bug salad here,” said Blink. He stuck his beak in a lunchbox and sucked up a big pile of speckled leaves and deep-fried insects. “Mmm! Care for a pickled earwig?”
Dutch pulled a face. “Maybe I’ll pass.”
The three new friends explored the rest of the room. Blink flapped into his nest and neatly arranged each stray stick. Teggs bounced on his bed, testing the springs.
Meanwhile, Dutch opened his bag and started chucking his clothes carelessly over his shoulder.
A huge pair of pants landed on Blink’s head. “Oof!” he twittered. “What are you doing?”
“Unpacking, dude,” said Dutch.
“But you’re making such a mess!” Blink grinned. “Brilliant! I love sorting out messes!” And as Dutch went on emptying his bag, Blink swooped about the room, catching things and folding them neatly. “I think I’m definitely going to like it here,” he cried, blinking busily away. “New uniforms, new friends . . . and we’ve had our first battle already!”
“Speaking of the battle,” said Teggs. “I thought we made a pretty good team against that robot. So I was wondering . . .”
“Would we like to be on your team for the mission tomorrow?” Blink looked at Dutch and they both nodded. “Yes, please!”
“That would be way cool!” Dutch added.
“Excellent!” said Teggs, jumping off the bed. “I bet we will find something amazing in the wilderness.”
Dutch nodded. “And build a brilliant camp too!”
“But what shall we call ourselves?” Blink wondered.
“I know,” Teggs declared. “The Daring Dinos!”
“Awwwwwwesome!” roared Dutch. “Now let’s celebrate by eating ten dinners in the canteen!” He held out his hand. “Do we dare?”
Teggs and Blink put their hands on top of his and they all shouted together: “WE DARE!”
Whooping, the Daring Dinos raced outside. As they ran over the blue grass, Teggs saw a shooting star fall from the sky. His mum had always said you were supposed to wish on a falling star, so Teggs did.
“I wish that the Planet Explorer mission tomorrow is the wildest mission ever!” he said.
The shooting star lingered in the sky for a few moments, almost as if it was listening. Then it dropped out of sight behind the distant mountains.
Little did Teggs know that his wish was going to come true – but not in a way that anyone could expect . . .
Chapter Four
JOURNEY TO PERIL
At sunrise the next day, all the astrosaur cadets trooped down to the launch pads to collect their camping kits and get on the astro-jets.
Blink was super-excited. He was zipping about like a budgie with a firework up its bottom. “A mission!” he cried. “Our very first astro-tastic mission!”
Teggs grinned through a yawn. He had spent most of the night checking his alarm clock to see if it was time to get up yet. He couldn’t wait to get started.
Dutch had barely slept either. Now he was actually sleepwalking to the astro-jets, snoring like an elephant!
Suddenly, a pink ankylosaur with a blue bow tied around her big, clublike tail sneaked up behind him and shouted, “BOO!”
Dutch jumped in the air in surprise, and his rucksack fell off his back. It landed on Teggs’s toe.
“Ow!”
Teggs and Dutch both glared at the ankylosaur, whose bumpy body quivered as she giggled away. Damona walked up to her with a big smile. “Good trick, Netta. You really made the diplodocus jump!”
“I’ll make you jump in a minute!” Dutch retorted.
But suddenly, a small, nimble boy dinosaur with the head of a turtle and the tail of a snake went zooming over Dutch’s back and made him jump again! Damona and Netta laughed even louder. “Nice one, Splatt!”
“So this is your team, is it, Damona?” asked Teggs.
“Meet Damona’s Darlings,” she replied. “Netta is super-strong and Splatt is a super-speedy dryosaurus. We are going to be the best team at Astrosaurs Academy.”
“No contest!” said Splatt, whizzing around Dutch in a circle.
Dutch tried to sit on him, but missed and sat on a big thistle. “Ouch!”
Blink came flapping down beside Damona. “I think you’ll find that we are the best team, actually,” he said proudly. “The Daring Dinos!”
“The Dino Dimwits, more like!” Damona laughed. She walked off with Netta and Splatt. “See you in the wilderness, boys!”
Dutch scowled. “Dudes, I think those three could be trouble.”
“Good.” Teggs grinned. “I like trouble.” He put an arm round Blink and his tail round Dutch. “Now, let’s get on board and get ready to win that special prize. Do we dare?”
“WE DARE!” they yelled together.
The astro-jets took off and soared away through the bright blue sky. In minutes, the academy was just a speck in the distance.
The dinosaurs were all squashed in together with their camping kits, ready to parachute down to the surface once they reached the drop zone. They flew over an orange sea and a range of purple
mountains. Then Teggs saw the land beneath them grow grey and grotty. Soon there was nothing to see but bare hillsides and stony plains and the occasional twisted tree.
“We have now reached the land of Quarrik,” Blink announced like a tour guide. “I read about it in a book. It’s five hundred miles north of the academy, west of the Backplate Sea. There are loads of really interesting caves—”
“Put a sock in your beak!” called Netta, and some of the cadets laughed.
Blink looked sad.
“Don’t worry about them, Blink,” said Teggs. “If they don’t want to know that’s their problem. What else is in Quarrik?”
“There are some very steep cliffs and very deep valleys,” Blink went on, perking up a bit. “I hope we get to explore some of those!”
The astro-jet started to slow down and a red light flashed above their heads. “I think we’ve reached the drop zone,” Teggs realized.
“And I want to jump first!” Dutch declared, as a hatch opened up in the side of the jet.
He lumbered over and jumped out without a second thought. “Awwwwwwwwe-soooooome!” he yelled.
“Me next!” cried Damona and Teggs together. They squeezed out through the hatch and dived into empty space.
“Whoaaaa!” yelled Teggs in delight. Here he was – a six-ton stegosaurus – flying like a dino-bird! Soon, the sky was full of dinosaurs plunging downwards. They opened their parachutes and floated to earth as gently as leaves in the autumn.
“Wow!” Teggs shouted, as he hit the ground beside Dutch. The parachute fell over him like a stripy cloak. “Let’s do it again!”
“No time for that,” squawked Blink, landing beside them. He hadn’t needed a parachute, of course. “We must find a cool place to camp.”
Already, the other cadets were zooming over the wasteland, as busy as ants, hunting about for the best places. Blink led the way up a hill, poking his beak here and there. “I’m glad I read that guidebook now. Somewhere around here there’s a really good cave . . .”
Teggs bounded to the top of the hill. “How about this one?” he said.
Blink flapped over to see. “That’s it! This will give us extra shelter.”
Dutch beamed. “And it’s close to that little stream for drinking water and washing too! Top work, Blink!”