Attack of the Ninja Kittens! (3 page)

‘The clockwork k-k-key has wound down, m-m-mistress,’ he shivered.

‘Then wind it up again, you bald buffoon!’ growled Lady Fluffkins, lazily stroking her thick white coat. ‘Or are you suggesting that
I
go out there and get ice crystals
on my delicious downy fur?’

A Sitting Duck

The
Dogstar
orbited planet Earth like a great metal tank. Inside the spaceship, four teleport beams appeared upon the deck, followed by four sparkling dogs. As the beams
dropped away, the three regular Spacemutts and the reluctant new recruit were greeted by an alert siren!

Poppy immediately leapt to the cockpit and switched the
Dogstar
controls from autopilot to manual, while Butch dashed away to inspect the mechanics at the rear of the
ship. Rocket bounded over to the central hub to silence the alarm and then flicked on the giant screen.

‘What have you got for us, WOOF?’ he asked.

WOOF was short for World Orbiting Observation Facility. The ship’s computer constantly scanned the galaxy for unusual activity, analysing data from spy-bone satellites and deep-space
telescopes.

‘I’ve just picked up an audio pulse in the Catnip Nebula, Captain,’ said WOOF, displaying a galaxy map that marked the exact location and feeding the sound through the
ship’s speakers. ‘Its irregular thumping indicates the presence of a life form!’

‘Can you get a visual?’ asked Rocket, frowning at the strange sound.

‘Negative, Captain,’ said WOOF, zooming in on the map and switching the view to include local planets. ‘And the object is giving off no heat for thermal-imaging.’

said Rocket, twitching his ears.

said Butch, and dribbled on the floor.

‘Or she could be
building
something,’ Poppy said gravely.

Studying the image on the screen, the captain of the Spacemutts scratched his ear with a rear paw as he considered their options. Lady Fluffkins’ distant realm was a dangerous place for
dogs, but if the evil empress was building something that threatened planet Earth, they definitely needed to know about it.

‘Butch, prep the ship for a wormhole jump to the Catnip Nebula,’ said Rocket, rolling out a star map that showed local portals for deep-space travel. ‘Poppy, we’re going
on a scouting mission.’

‘Yes, Captain,’ said Butch and Poppy together, and set to work.

‘Duke, you can . . . ’ Rocket glanced up at the empty transportation deck and then scanned the ship to find the Great Dane slumped in a corner. ‘Er, you can sit this one out if
you like.’

‘Yes, Captain,’ groaned Duke, certain that his size was a hazard on a spaceship filled with so much technical equipment. So he decided to keep his head down and stay out of the
way.