Astrosaurs 9

by Steve Cole

  Contents

  Cover

  About the Book

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Warning! Think you know about dinosaurs?

  Talking Dinosaur!

  The Crew of the DSS Sauropod

  Jurassic Quadrant Map

  Chapter One: The Monster in the Dark

  Chapter Two: The Meteorite Mystery

  Chapter Three: The Secret of the Slodge

  Chapter Four: Chased by Monsters!

  Chapter Five: A Super-Quick Getaway!

  Chapter Six: The Secret of the Sabre-Tooths

  Chapter Seven: New Moon

  Chapter Eight: The Wrecking Crew

  Chapter Nine: The Leaving Present

  Chapter Ten: Remote Out-of-Control!

  About the Author

  Also by Steve Cole

  Copyright

  About the Book

  DINOSAURS . . . IN SPACE!

  Meet Captain Teggs Stegosaur and the crew of the amazing spaceship DSS Sauropod as the Astrosaurs fight evil across the galaxy!

  The world of Aggadon is a dangerous place. Meteors crash down from its skies and strange monsters prowl its dark forests. The triceratops trapped there call on Arx for help – and when the astrosaurs arrive they find old enemies at work . . .

  For Christian Richards

  WARNING!

  THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT DINOSAURS?

  THINK AGAIN!

  The dinosaurs . . .

  Big, stupid, lumbering reptiles. Right?

  All they did was eat, sleep and roar a bit. Right?

  Died out millions of years ago when a big meteor struck the Earth. Right?

  Wrong!

  The dinosaurs weren’t stupid. They may have had small brains, but they used them well. They had big thoughts and big dreams.

  By the time the meteor hit, the last dinosaurs had already left Earth for ever. Some breeds had discovered how to travel through space as early as the Triassic period, and were already enjoying a new life among the stars. No one has found evidence of dinosaur technology yet. But the first fossil bones were only unearthed in 1822, and new finds are being made all the time.

  The proof is out there, buried in the ground.

  And the dinosaurs live on, way out in space, even now. They’ve settled down in a place they call the Jurassic Quadrant and over the last sixty-five million years they’ve gone on evolving.

  The dinosaurs we’ll be meeting are part of a special group called the Dinosaur Space Service. Their job is to explore space, to go on exciting missions and to fight evil and protect the innocent!

  These heroic herbivores are not just dinosaurs.

  They are astrosaurs!

  NOTE: The following story has been translated from secret Dinosaur Space Service records. Earthling dinosaur names are used throughout, although some changes have been made for easy reading. There’s even a guide to help you pronounce the dinosaur names on the next page.

  * * *

  Talking Dinosaur!

  How to say the prehistoric names in this book . . .

  STEGOSAURUS – STEG-oh-SORE-us

  TRICERATOPS – try-SERRA-tops

  IGUANODON – ig-WA-noh-don

  HADROSAUR – HAD-roh-sore

  DIMORPHODON – die-MORF-oh-don

  * * *

  THE CREW OF THE DSS SAUROPOD

  CAPTAIN TEGGS STEGOSAUR

  ARX ORANO, FIRST OFFICER

  GIPSY SAURINE, COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

  IGGY TOOTH, CHIEF ENGINEER

  Chapter One

  THE MONSTER IN THE DARK

  “Next stop, planet Aggadon!” cried Captain Teggs Stegosaur as he bundled aboard his space shuttle. A new adventure was beginning, and he could hardly wait.

  Teggs was the captain of the DSS Sauropod, the fastest ship in the Dinosaur Space Service. He and his crew had been sent to the Tri System, a colourful collection of worlds where millions of triceratops had settled. New planets were being discovered in the Tri System all the time – but sometimes, strange dangers were discovered with them.

  That was certainly the case with the planet Aggadon.

  Arx, Teggs’s second-in-command, squeezed into the shuttle beside him. He was a triceratops himself, lean and green and very bright. “I hope my niece Abbiz is all right,” he said worriedly. “She went to Aggadon to help make it a nicer place for everyone coming to live there – and I haven’t heard from her since!”

  “She’ll be fine, you’ll see,” said Gipsy, taking her seat behind him. She was a stripy, duck-billed dinosaur in charge of the Sauropod’s communications. “She’s probably just been busy.”

  “Probably,” agreed Iggy, the ship’s engineer. He had popped his head out of a hatch in the ceiling, tangled in wires. “Either that or one of those monsters has got her!”

  “Don’t be daft, Iggy!” said Teggs crossly. “Of course she hasn’t been got by the monsters!”

  But secretly, Teggs was as worried as Arx was.

  At first sight, Aggadon had seemed a quiet, peaceful world. That was why so many triceratops wanted to move there. But just a few weeks after the advance group landed, a massive shower of meteorites – rocks in space – had fallen from the sky.

  And not long after that, the first mysterious monsters had been spotted.

  No one had seen them clearly – they lurked in the planet’s deep forests, and their terrifying roars alone were enough to make everyone hide under their beds. Where had the monsters come from and what did they want?

  That was what Teggs and his crew had to find out. But since there was nowhere to safely land a ship as big as the Sauropod, they were taking one of the shuttles.

  “That’s the dung boosters plugged in,” said Iggy, swinging down from the ceiling. “We’ll go faster than ever now!” He cleared his scaly throat. “Sorry, Arx. I didn’t mean to upset you before.”

  “Never mind, Iggy,” said Arx kindly. “Let’s just get going. The sooner we arrive on Aggadon, the sooner I’ll know if Abbiz is all right.”

  “Stand by for blast off!” ordered Teggs. “Three . . . two . . . one . . . GO!”

  The shuttle zoomed away from the safety of the Sauropod in a cloud of stinky smoke. Soon the little ship was entering Aggadon’s atmosphere.

  It was night-time on the planet. An enormous sea-green moon glowed in the sky like a giant lightbulb. Iggy steered them over grey mountains and deep brown forests until the triceratops’ camp came into sight. At the moment it was only a few large huts, halls and caravans. Some of the buildings were only half-built. Others seemed to have fallen down.

  “The place looks deserted,” said Gipsy.

  “Maybe everyone’s having their dinner,” said Teggs hopefully. He was not only the bravest stegosaurus that ever soared through space, but also the hungriest!

  Iggy landed the shuttle in a large clearing in the forest. Arx was the first to come out. “Abbiz?” he called. “It’s your Uncle Arx! Where are you?”

  But there was no reply. The camp was as quiet as a whisperfish with headphones.

  Teggs clambered out after him, and started munching on a tasty-looking plant growing by his feet. “Gipsy, perhaps you should hoot one of your special ‘hello’s?”

  “Yes, sir.” Gipsy was a champion hooter thanks to her hollow head-crest. She took a deep breath and hooted at top volume: “HOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOO-OOOHHHHHH!”

  And almost at once, she was answered with a deafening, horrifying roar: “GRRRRR-HHHHHHH-HRRRRRRR!”

  Iggy jumped in surprise. “It’s a monster!” he cried. “It’s come to get us!”

  “I saw something move!” said Gipsy breathlessly.

  Teggs had seen it too – a towering, shadowy shape, half-hidden behind a tree. The green moonlight glea
med on a pair of enormous curved fangs . . .

  “Change into battle gear, everyone,” Teggs ordered. He whirled his bony, spiky tail around over his head like a powerful club. “I’ll hold it off.” While his crew rushed to obey, Teggs galloped to the edge of the clearing, ready to fight the monster.

  But suddenly he heard a high, bloodcurdling scream from the opposite direction. Teggs spun round. A moment later Arx came charging out of the shuttle at top speed, his combat suit only half on, his battle helmet dangling from his horns.

  “That was Abbiz screaming!” the triceratops cried. “She’s in trouble. Come on!”

  Chapter Two

  THE METEORITE MYSTERY

  Teggs hurried after Arx in the direction of the scream, trying to catch him up. He had never seen the triceratops move so fast.

  “Hold on, Abbiz!” Arx yelled, the back end of his combat suit flapping behind him like a funny cape. “I’m coming!”

  Abbiz screamed again. The noise was coming from behind a long, low building. Putting on their fiercest faces, Arx and Teggs sprinted round the corner. But because Arx’s combat suit was only half on, it slipped down around his ankles and tripped him up!

  “Whoa!” he cried, and fell head over all four heels. Again and again he somersaulted before crashing into a large tree.

  Teggs winced as a flurry of crimson coconuts fell from the leafy treetops and almost buried Arx. Then he glimpsed a tall, towering creature disappear into the thick shadows of the forest. Teggs started to run after it, but soon gave up. It was already too far away.

  “Uncle Arx!” a small pale green triceratops cried, getting up from the grassy floor and dusting off her dress. “You scared off the monster! You saved my life!”

  “Abbiz!” Arx shook a coconut from his frilly head. “Thank goodness you’re safe!”

  Teggs trotted up and knocked away the rest of the coconuts with a sweep of his tail. Arx and Abbiz bumped horns ten times in triceratops greeting.

  “Captain Teggs, this is my niece,” said Arx proudly.

  Abbiz was young and pretty with honey-coloured horns. She shook Teggs’s foot politely. “Hello, Captain. I’ve heard so much about you. I’m glad you’re here!”

  “Pleased to meet you,” said Teggs, itching his back with a tail spike. “What happened?”

  “When the monsters started roaring tonight, everyone hid in the dining hall as usual,” Abbiz explained. “After a while, I came out to see if the coast was clear. But it wasn’t – a big monster was right outside! I . . . I think it was trying to knock down the building!” Her big eyes filled with pride. “But then Uncle Arx scared it away with his amazing gymnastics display.”

  Teggs smiled knowingly. “Yes, that was very impressive, Arx.”

  Arx blushed and scratched his horn. “Erm – all in a day’s work . . .”

  Just then, Gipsy and Iggy ran up. Gipsy was wearing her bright blue combat suit and Iggy had put on his special stun claws and electro-tail. “Is everything OK?” asked Gipsy.

  “It is now Uncle Arx is here!” Abbiz beamed.

  Arx introduced her to everyone. But Iggy found he couldn’t shake hands with Abbiz – he was too busy scratching. “I itch all over!” he complained.

  Teggs frowned. “So do I,” he said – just as Arx and Gipsy said it too!

  “You’ve all got monster’s itch,” said Abbiz gravely, scratching her tummy. “Whenever the monsters come close, we’re left feeling itchy. Chas thinks we’re allergic to them.”

  Gipsy itched her snout with her hoof. “Who is Chas?”

  But even as she spoke, another triceratops stuck his horns out of the dining hall. He was big and blue, and wore the tall grey hat of a triceratops leader. “Abbiz! I’m glad you’re all right, but you really shouldn’t have run outside like that.”

  “This is Chas,” said Abbiz. “He’s in charge around here.”

  “Aha!” Chas lumbered outside, smiling with relief. “You must be the astrosaurs.” Teggs said hello and introduced his crew. “Come inside for some fern stew, all of you – and I’ll tell you our unhappy story . . .”

  Teggs, Gipsy, Iggy and Arx followed Chas and Abbiz into a large room made from a strange grey rock. Like a school dinner hall it was filled with tables and chairs – and a triceratops was hiding under each and every one!

  “Most of my people are timid and shy,” Arx explained to Iggy. “They scare very easily.”

  “But you don’t, do you, Uncle Arx?” said Abbiz proudly. “One day I want to be an astrosaur, just like you!”

  Nervously, all the triceratops crawled out of hiding and returned to their seats. Clanking dinner-bots served up the fern stew. Teggs scoffed his helping in a single gulp before anyone else had even started! Chas produced a small remote control and sent the dinner-bot off to fetch some more.

  “They are not proper robots,” he explained. “Just bits of junk I threw together.” He smiled nervously. “It’s a bit of a hobby of mine, making remote-controlled gadgets. Takes my mind off . . . the monsters.”

  Teggs smiled as the dinner-bot wobbled back over with another plate. “How many triceratops are staying here?”

  “Fifty of us came here to build homes and grow food, so that other triceratops may leave their overcrowded planets and have happy lives,” said Chas. “But Aggadon has become a scary place, ever since the night the meteorites fell from the sky.”

  “I’ve never known a night like it.” Abbiz’s tail went all wobbly at the memory. “First the skies went cloudy and dark, blotting out the moon and every single star.”

  “That must have taken some doing,” said Arx. “Aggadon’s moon is massive!”

  “It was very mysterious,” Abbiz agreed. “Then, a few hours later, the black clouds suddenly cleared – and the sky was full of shooting stars!”

  “As you know, hundreds of meteorites crashed into the planet,” Chas went on. “The ground shook like a million mammoths were disco-dancing in metal boots. And not long after that, anyone working in the forests started feeling extremely itchy.”

  Abbiz nodded. “And not long after that, the first monsters were spotted . . .”

  “Have they actually attacked anyone?” asked Iggy.

  “Only the buildings we hide in,” said Chas. “They’ve already knocked down three cabins, two dinner-bots and the toilet block! I myself was lucky to get out alive!”

  “Is it coincidence that the monsters appeared just after the meteorite shower?” Gipsy wondered.

  Arx looked round at them. “Maybe those space rocks that hit the ground weren’t space rocks at all.”

  Iggy blinked. “Then what were they?”

  “Monster spaceships in disguise!” he cried, causing several triceratops nearby to hide back under their chairs.

  “Of course,” said Teggs. “The monsters could have travelled here inside those lumps of space rock . . . This could be just the beginning of a massive monster invasion!”

  Chapter Three

  THE SECRET OF THE SLODGE

  That night, the astrosaurs kept watch for monsters around the triceratops’ camp.

  “Thank you,” said Chas as he headed for his hut. “We shall all sleep better tonight with you on guard.”

  “See you at breakfast,” said Teggs. “Then I think I’ll organize a little monster hunt!”

  A distant, defiant roar echoed out of the forest.

  Teggs was aching to try and catch a monster, or at least get a proper look at one. But although the moon was very bright, he knew he couldn’t risk a big battle in the dark forest in case his friends got hurt.

  The hours ticked by, but the monsters stayed away.

  When dawn came, it came quickly. The green moon slipped down behind the mountains. Then the sun rose up like a big pink grapefruit, tossed into the air by a giant.

  Soon the triceratops all came out of their homes, yawning and stretching on their way back to the dining hall. Teggs spoke into his communicator: “Anyone spot any monsters? I didn’t.”
>
  “No sightings in the south,” said Gipsy.

  “I heard lots in the north,” said Arx. “It sounded like they were running through the forest, knocking down trees!”

  “It was totally quiet in the west,” said Iggy, sounding disappointed. “Didn’t see a thing. Not a sausage.”

  “Well, hopefully we’ll see a veggie sausage in the dining hall!” Teggs licked his lips. “Meet you there in five minutes – Teggs out.”

  Soon the astrosaurs were tucking into their breakfast. Abbiz and Chas joined them at their table.

  “Here’s the plan,” Teggs said through a mouthful of fried vines and creepers. “Arx, Gipsy, I want you to find some of these meteorites and study them closely.”

  “I’ll show you the way to the nearest ones,” offered Chas.

  Teggs nodded, pleased. “Meanwhile, I want the dimorphodon to scan the whole planet to see where the meteorites landed – just in case there’s a pattern.”

  “I’ll let them know, sir,” said Gipsy, and she quickly twittered into her communicator using the dimorphodon’s dino-bird language. They were the Sauropod’s flight crew, little flying reptiles who helped work the ship’s switches and levers. “They’re working on it, Captain!”

  “Thanks, Gipsy,” said Teggs. “Meanwhile, Iggy, you and I will go looking for the monsters. We’ll start in the north – that’s where Arx heard them crashing about last night.”

  “I want to come too!” said Abbiz. “You might get lost.”

  “We can’t get lost,” Teggs told her, holding up a little red disk. “I’m carrying an astro-tracer. It sends a signal to the tracker on Gipsy’s wrist, so she can find me wherever I am.”

  “But there are bogs and quicksand and swamps and all sorts of horrible things in the northern forest,” Abbiz persisted. “You need me to guide you safely through!”

  “She’s right,” said Chas. “Abbiz’s job is to make the forest safe before the other triceratops get here.”

  Teggs smiled. “On second thoughts, maybe a guide would be useful!”

  “Yay!” cheered Abbiz, bouncing around the breakfast hall.

  “Don’t worry, Arx,” said Iggy. “We’ll make sure she’s safe.”

  “And I’ll make sure you’re safe!” Abbiz cried, slapping him happily on the back. “Let’s go!”