Astrosaurs 1 Read online

  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 Adventure Begins

  Chapter Two: Bottle Stations!

  Chapter Three: Kidnap!

  Chapter Four: A Deadly Message

  Chapter Five: Showdown on Planet Sixty

  Chapter Six: Dangerous Flight

  Chapter Seven: Mystery

  Chapter Eight: Rumbling the Raptors

  Chapter Nine: Countdown to Carnage

  Chapter Ten: Dropping In

  Chapter Eleven: The Final Challenge

  About the Author

  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!

  Flesh-chomping raptors have kidnapped two top dino athletes. With the Great Dinosaur Games about to start, Teggs and his friends must race to the rescue. But there’s more to the raptors’ plot than meets the eye …

  For Tobey

  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 Dinosar!

  STEGOSAURUS – STEG-oh-SORE-us

  PTEROSAUR – TEH-roh-sore

  BAROSAURUS – bar-oh-SORE-us

  HADROSAUR – HAD-roh-sore

  TRICERATOPS – try-SERRA-tops

  IGUANODON – ig-WA-noh-don

  ORNITHOMIMOSAUR – OR-ni-thoh-MEE-moh-sore

  DIMORPHODON – die-MORF-oh-don

  VELOCIRAPTOR – vel-ossi-RAP-tor

  ANKYLOSAURUS – an-KI-loh-SORE-us

  SALTASAURUS – sal-te-SORE-us

  MAIASAURA – MY-ah-SORE-ah

  STEGOCERAS – ste-GOS-er-as

  EDMONTOSAURUS – ed-MON-toh-SORE-us

  DIPLODOCUS – di-PLOH-do-kus

  TYRANNOSAURUS – tie-RAN-oh-SORE-us

  CARNOTAURUS – kar-noh-TOR-us

  BRACHIOSAURUS – brak-ee-oh-SORE-us

  PTERODACTYL – teh-roh-DACT-il

  THE CREW OF THE DSS SAUROPOD

  Chapter One

  THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

  Space. It stretched on for ever.

  Distant stars twinkled. Comets showed off their sparkling tails. Strange planets hung like bright bulbs in the black sky.

  Teggs Stegosaur stared out at it all in wonder. He was standing on the top deck of a massive space station - the headquarters of the Dinosaur Space Service.

  At last, he thought. After years of training, I’ve made it. I’m an astrosaur! He frowned. But why have I been asked to come to headquarters alone? I hope I haven’t messed up already!

  Just then, a small pterosaur flapped noisily down the corridor towards him. “Admiral Rosso will see you now,” it squawked. “Follow me! Follow me!”

  Teggs gulped, and lumbered after the flying reptile on his four squat, scaly legs. He was a handsome, orange-brown stegosaurus, eight metres long from the point of his beak to the tip of his spiny tail. A line of armoured plates ran down his scaly back like a dozen small sails.

  The pterosaur perched just outside the admiral’s office. “In you go,” it screeched. “In you go!”

  Teggs pushed through the heavy jungle vines that hung down over the doorway. The floor was thick with juicy moss, and the walls were bright with flowers and fruits. Here and there, tall, thick tree trunks stretched up to the high grassy ceiling. Astrosaurs always kept plenty of plants around the place, and not just because they were good to eat. Their spaceships ran on dung, so every meal meant a little more fuel for the engines.

  “Ah! Young Teggs!” boomed Admiral Rosso from behind a vast wooden desk. He was the crusty old barosaurus in charge of the Dinosaur Space Service. “Thank you for coming.”

  Teggs carefully raised his front legs in a dinosaur salute. “You wanted to see me, sir?”

  “I wanted to congratulate you,” smiled the admiral. His scaly head bobbed about on a neck as long as a fireman’s hose – and ten times thicker. “You have passed your final Space Service tests with a record-breaking score. You are without doubt the bravest, most daring – and hungriest astrosaur ever to train here.”

  Teggs blushed and quickly swallowed the mouthful of ferns he’d pulled from the floor. “Thank you, sir. Er, sorry for eating your office, sir.”

  “Nothing wrong with a hearty appetite,” the admiral chuckled. “But I think it’s adventure you’re truly hungry for.”

  Teggs grinned. “My stomach’s rumbling at the thought of it!”

  “That’s why I’m putting you in charge of your very own spaceship,” said the admiral. “I’m making you a captain!”

  “Captain? And my very own spaceship?” Teggs s beak dropped open in amazement. This was a dream come true!

  The admiral pulled aside a curtain of jungle creepers to reveal a window. Through it, Teggs saw an amazing spaceship. It was shaped like an enormous egg, with six thick prongs sticking out. At the end of every prong sat a slightly smaller egg. Teggs supposed these were the shuttles.

  Teggs whistled in wonder. “That’s my ship?”

  “That’s her,” beamed the admiral. “The DSS Sauropod, finest in the entire Dinosaur Space Service. That ship – and you, Captain Teggs – have been chosen for a very important mission.” He unrolled some star charts with his long tail. “Recognize this?”

  “That’s the Jurassic Quadrant,” said Teggs. “The part of space we call home.” He pointed to one half of it with a tail spike. “Those green planets are in the Vegetarian Sector. The red ones are where the carnivores live.”

  “Yes, those mean old meat-eaters,” said the admiral. “We’ve all come a long way from dear old Earth. Such a shame that beastly space rock walloped into it.”

  “Yes, sir.” Teggs shuddered. If the dinosaurs hadn’t discovered space travel before the meteor hit, they’d all have been wiped out! “Do you think anyone will ever live on Earth again, sir?”

  “Who knows?” sighed the admiral. “But we dinosaurs
have thrived in outer space. Earth is just a titchy speck compared to the vastness of the Jurassic Quadrant!”

  Teggs nodded keenly. “And there’s still so much of it to explore!”

  “That’s where you come in,” said the admiral. “You’re now a fully trained astrosaur captain. Your mission is to explore space in the DSS Sauropod. To go in peace … To spread the way of the plant-eater …To keep an eye on those greedy meat-eaters … And to protect our people, wherever they may be.”

  Teggs nodded even more keenly. “I’ll need a crew,” he said.

  “I’ve already got you one.” The admiral swatted a button on the wall with his tail, and the window turned into a scanner screen. It showed a picture of a green triceratops with three proud horns and a parrot-like beak.

  “This is Arx Orano,” said the admiral. “He’s a very well respected astrosaur. He’ll be your first officer.”

  Teggs smiled. Then the image changed to show a pretty duck-billed dinosaur, striped all over.

  “This is your communications officer, Gipsy Saurine,” said the admiral. “You can see from her snout that she’s a hadrosaur. Her mind’s as sharp as a raptor’s claw and she loves a challenge.” He smiled. “That’s why I’ve put her on your ship!”

  ‘I’m glad to have her on board,” said Teggs.

  The picture changed again. Now it showed a tough looking iguanodon on his hind legs. His arms were thick and strong.

  “And this is Iggy Tooth,” said the admiral. “A top engineer. He can turn a clawful of scrap into a space motor before you can say ‘ornithomimosaur’.”

  Teggs gulped. He wasn’t sure if he could say that at all.

  “He’s also very good in battle,” the admiral said. “So if you ever find trouble – find Iggy fast!”

  “I will,” said Teggs grimly. “So, when am I off on these exciting missions?”

  “Oh, soon. Very soon.” The admiral cleared his throat. “But there’s a little something I need you to do first . . .”

  Chapter Two

  BOTTLE STATIONS!

  “A taxi service!” huffed Captain Teggs for the hundredth time. “The finest ship in the fleet, the best crew … and the admiral turns us into a taxi service!”

  Gipsy turned her long, flat snout towards him. “Not just any taxi service, Captain,” she reminded him. “We’re in charge of the Vegetarian Sector’s top athletes. We’ll get them to the Great Dinosaur Games in style!”

  Arx nodded his frilly head. “It’s the biggest space sports contest ever. Every race in the quadrant is coming to Olympus for the games. And when those miserable meat-eaters see the DSS Sauropod arrive, think how impressed they’ll be!”

  “I suppose so.” Teggs chewed grumpily on some ferns from the wall of his control pit. “How long before we arrive?”

  “Right now, we’re just passing the moons of Minnos,” said Gipsy. “That’s the halfway point. Then, once we’ve swung round Planet Sixty, it’s straight on to Olympus. We should arrive tomorrow night.”

  “The games start the day after!” Arx added.

  “And nothing to do until then,” sighed Teggs. “I was hoping for a little more action—”

  A split-second later – Ka-Boom! The whole ship shook with an enormous explosion. Teggs spat out his beakful of plants and jumped up from the control pit. “What was that?” he bellowed.

  “Warning! Warning!” The shriek of the alarm pterosaur echoed out from every speaker on the ship. “Unknown invaders coming aboard!”

  Arx swung his great head round to his instruments. “Someone’s blown a hole in our ship!”

  “On our first ever flight?” cried Gipsy. “That’s not fair!”

  “I wanted action,” Teggs muttered. “And I guess I’ve got it!”

  “Red alert!” The alarm pterosaur squawked even louder. “Raptors on board! Repeat – raptors on board!”

  “Battle stations!” Teggs roared. “Gipsy, where are these raptors?”

  “The hole’s on level seven, Captain,” Gipsy reported. “It’s close to the relaxation room.” Then the crest of her scaly face flushed bright blue with worry. “Uh-oh. That’s where the athletes are!”

  “We have to drive these raptors off the ship – fast,” said Teggs. “Arx, get Iggy on to it!”

  Arx jabbed the communicator with his nose horn. “Iggy!” he snapped. “Raptor invaders on level seven. Our athletes are in danger. Prepare for battle!”

  “Switch on the scanners, Gipsy,” Teggs ordered.

  At first they could only see the rocky moons of Minnos. Then a sinister craft came into view, hanging in space like a giant ivory tooth.

  “A raptor death-ship!” cried Gipsy. “We’ve flown into an ambush!”

  Suddenly another big explosion sent the Sauropod spinning. Teggs’s seven-ton body was rolled over and over until he smashed into the thick plant-life that covered the nearest wall. His team of tiny flying reptiles – fifty daring dimorphodon – flapped wildly about the flight deck, trying to sort out the damage. They bashed the controls with their beaks and yanked on levers with tough, bony claws.

  Arx rose from the grassy floor and checked his instruments. “There are five death-ships out there! They were hiding behind the moons. Now we’re surrounded!”

  “Put up the shields!” Teggs yelled. “And fetch me my armour!”

  The dimorphodon crew rushed to obey. In moments, three of the flapping reptiles were fitting Teggs into his head and tail armour. “I’ll join the fight with Iggy down below,” he said. “Arx, Gipsy, try to get us out of here.”

  “Understood, Captain,” barked Arx. The dimorphodon team leaders flapped down to perch on his head, ready to take his commands.

  Gipsy looked at Teggs. “Be careful, sir,” she said.

  *

  As the moss-lined lift heaved down to the crew decks, Teggs heard the sound of fighting grow louder. As the lift reached the seventh floor, he gritted his teeth. The spines that ran along his arched back turned a deep, warning red.

  “I’ll get those raptors,” he muttered fiercely. “They’ll be sorry they stepped onto my ship!”

  As the doors opened Teggs sprang out, flexed the great, spiked club of his armoured tail, then charged along the corridor.

  He found the battle raging ahead of him. The air was thick with shrieks and roars. Nimble velociraptors in full battle armour skipped around the heavier ankylosaurs blocking their way. A dozen iguanodon reared up on their hind legs, roaring. Their claws ended in metal tips that fired stun rays into the raptor ranks. The beams of light bounced off the raptors’ chestplates and helmets. Teggs’s ears rang with thwacks and thuds as his crew’s heavy tails swiped through the air at their attackers.

  Iggy Tooth was in the thick of the fighting. He caught sight of Teggs and swiftly saluted. “Set your stun claws to maximum, boys!” he cried, a blur of green scales as he dodged his way through the fighting, keeping perfect balance with his short, stiff tail. “The captain’s come to join us! We can’t lose now!”

  But even as he spoke, two raptors finally managed to tear their way straight past the massive ankylosaur that barred their way. They bared their blood-red teeth at Teggs.

  “Sssurrender your ship, Captain,” hissed the largest of the two raptors as they advanced with razor-sharp claws. “Or you shall die!”

  Chapter Three

  KIDNAP!

  Teggs shook his head and sneered at the approaching raptors. “I’m not ready to become a stego-burger just yet,” he growled. “And it’ll take more than a couple of corny carnivores like you to take my ship!”

  With that, Teggs lashed out with his armoured tail and sent the first raptor flying. The second brought its jaws down hard on the spiky, bone-like club at the tail’s end. It was a bad move. A second later, every tooth in its ugly head was broken and tinkling down to the mossy floor.

  The furious carnivore gnashed its gums and turned to its fallen mate. “Ssstop him!”

  The first raptor leaped forward once
more to bite Teggs on the neck. Teggs quickly ducked down and turned with surprising speed, so that his attacker smacked into his back. The raptor toppled backwards and landed on top of its friend.

  Teggs prepared to fight his way through to Iggy. But then a strange wailing noise started up. At once, the raptors broke off from the battle and backed off.

  “You hear that, boys?” cried Iggy triumphantly. “That’s the raptor retreat signal! They’re giving up! Come on, let’s see them off the ship!”

  As Iggy’s battle squad charged off after the retreating raptors, Teggs pressed his head up against the communicator. “Captain to flight deck. Well done, crew. We’ve scared them off! The raptors are running away!”

  But Arx sounded worried. “I don’t think we did scare them off, Captain,” he said. “We only fired off two laser bolts, and the raptor ships didn’t even fire back.”

  Teggs thought hard. “You know, you might be right,” he said slowly. “Those soldiers gave up pretty easily too. One minute they wanted me to surrender the Sauropod – the next they were retreating back to their ship as fast as their claws would carry them.”

  Gipsy’s voice sounded over the speaker. “Perhaps they only retreated because they’d got what they came for …”

  “Of course!” Teggs grunted and charged off down the corridor after Iggy. The raptors didn’t really want to take the ship at all. They started the fight just to keep Teggs and his crew busy – while they went after the athletes …

  “They must be planning to ruin the Great Dinosaur Games!” he cried. “But surely they wouldn’t dare eat our greatest athletes!”

  Teggs charged into the Sauropod’s enormous relaxation room. It was like a miniature forest, with a crystal clear bathing pool in its centre. Ordinarily the dinosaur athletes would’ve been chewing and resting or splashing about. But right now they were all cowering behind a large saltasaurus wrestler in the corner.

  “Are they gone?” whimpered a maiasaura shot-putter, its belly pressed low against the grass so that it could barely be seen.

  “Yes, they’ve gone back to their ship,” said Teggs. “I was worried they’d taken all of you with them!”

  “No way,” said the saltasaurus, the bumps on its hide bristling. “Two raptors looked in here, but I scared them off.”

  “I see,” said Teggs doubtfully. He knew that raptors didn’t scare easily. “Is anyone missing?”