Astrosaurs 2 (3 page)

“No!” yelled Teggs. “Get out of my way! They mustn't take the eggs!” He started pushing his way through the dinosaur audience. “You, near the front – stop them!”

But no one took any notice. They were rooted to the ground with shock at what they had just seen.

“Captain, wait!” called Gipsy.

“Catch me up, Gipsy!” Teggs had made it through the crowd, and now he was tearing down the gangway after the egg-snatchers. With a crash, he burst out of the learning hall and into the beautiful, snowy gardens. He shivered. Winter on Odo Minor was long and cold, and Teggs wished
he'd worn his battle armour over his uniform to keep out the chill.

The learning hall was built on a high hilltop with a terrific view. One glance at the churned-up snow at his feet told Teggs where the speedy oviraptors had gone – straight down the hillside.

He charged off after them. Then a small oviraptor popped out from behind a tree – with a laser gun!

Zzzapp!
A white-hot laser beam shot over Teggs's head.

“Thanks for warming me up!” Teggs called as he dived for the cover of a nearby bush.

“Just stay where you are, please!” said the oviraptor. He didn't sound as fierce as his brother on the stage. “I hate guns, and I'm a lousy shot.”

Teggs frowned. “So why don't you just put down the gun and let me come out?”

“I'd love to,” sighed the oviraptor. “But I can't. Goopo would throw a fit. He told me to stop anyone following us while he fetches the ship.”

Teggs chewed some frozen leaves for extra strength. “Do you always do what your brother tells” you?” he asked, creeping quietly closer.

“Goopo's the eldest. He'll be king someday. The little figure sighed. “I'm Prince Shelly, the youngest – so I never get any say in what goes on. Now, stay back! I don't want to hurt you!”

“That makes two of us!” called Teggs. Slowly, his big bony tail snaked out from the undergrowth and curled itself around Prince Shelly . . .

“Got you!” Teggs cried.

The oviraptor gasped as Teggs's tail tightened round him – he was trapped!

Teggs dragged his prisoner over to the top of the steep hillside. Goopo and his brothers were nearing the bottom of the slope. Soon they would vanish into the woods, and Teggs would never find them.

He dangled Shelly over the edge of the hillside. “You know, I think it's time you caught up with your brothers,” he grinned. “There's
snow
time to lose!”

With that, Teggs flung Shelly down the hillside after his brothers. The raptor hit the snow with a yelp. Unable to stop himself, he rolled over and over. And as he rolled, he gathered snow – faster and faster. Soon, he looked like a giant squawking snowball. As he tumbled towards the fleeing oviraptors he got bigger and rounder and heavier . . .

Until finally –
Splat!
The snowball rolled right over Goopo and his brothers, squashing them into the snow.

“Direct hit!” cheered Teggs. Then he sledged down the hill on his tummy to round up the oviraptors and recover the eggs. Luckily, the soft snow had stopped them from breaking – and the oviraptors were unharmed too.

Up close, they were not pretty creatures. Their jaws were wide and toothless – instead, they used two bony prongs inside their mouths to crack open their food. Each of the creatures had a high, narrow crest rising up from its head.

Teggs smiled at the dazed reptiles. “That should cool you off till the space police arrive!”

“Curse you, Captain!” snarled Prince Goopo, half-buried by snow. “I command you to release us in the name of our king!”

“No way,” said Teggs. “Anyway, I'm sure your king would be very cross if he knew you were stealing such important eggs!”

“Pah!” cried Goopo. “It was his idea! King Albu will kill us if we don't bring him those eggs!” ‘He'll fry us with butter!” twittered another oviraptor.

“He'll boil us in salty water for three minutes!” moaned a third.

“And then he'll crack our heads with a big spoon!” quaked one more.

“It's quite exhausting,” sighed Prince Shelly, still stuck in his giant snowball. “Me and my brothers are sent out round the universe in search of tasty new treats for the royal menu. Goopo's right. If we fail . . .
the king will have us served with toast soldiers!”

Just then, Gipsy came scampering down the hill. “There you are, Captain!” she beamed as she reached the bottom. “I see you've caught the thieves!”

Teggs winked at her. “Better still, the eggs are safe and sound!”

Gipsy frowned. “But, Captain–”

Whatever Gipsy said, Teggs didn't hear it. For with a mighty roar of engines, a strange spaceship rose up into the sky above the forest. It was a long, narrow rocket with two spinning engines at one end, like an enormous egg-whisk.

Goopo laughed. “Using Shelly to squash us was a good trick, Captain,” he said. “But Prince Hibbit was too quick for you! He got away to the woods and fetched the ship!”

Teggs and Gipsy backed away as the spaceship came in to land. Prince Hibbit was leaning out of the window, pulling rude faces. The heat from the ship's whisking engines soon melted the nearby snow, and his brothers shook themselves free.

Hibbit fired a laser bolt at Teggs. It missed by millimetres. He and Gipsy were forced back.

“Get on board, brothers!” Goopo cried. “We won't be cracked, scrambled, and mixed with mayonnaise
this
day!”

In the wink of an eye, the soggy oviraptors had bundled back on board with the stolen eggs. Shelly was the last inside. With a sad little wave at Teggs and Gipsy, he vanished into the ship. It
took off at once.

Teggs spoke into the communicator strapped to his arm. “Teggs to
Sauropod
! Arx, can you hear me? An oviraptor ship is getting away! Stop them!” He looked helplessly at Gipsy. “I don't believe it! I've let them take the eggs – I've failed!”