Astrosaurs 12

by Steve Cole

  Teggs frowned. “So what are you doing back again?”

  “I told you, puny dinoling – looking for my brother. He went missing weeks ago and—” Suddenly, Heelum broke off. “Wait. Here he comes now!”

  Teggs and Gipsy ran to the shuttle window and looked out. Sure enough, a solawurm was approaching. But he did not look very well. His skin was no longer golden, but pale and smothered in thick smoke. His red eyes were bulging and full of steam. And he was so enormously fat, he looked as if he’d been stuffed.

  “Grakk!” cried Heelum, swimming through space to greet his podgy brother. “Where have you been? I’ve been so worried about you . . .”

  But Grakk did not reply. He just hung there in space, sleepy-eyed, bulging like a vast solawurm sausage.

  “He’s sick,” Teggs observed. “It’s probably all these suns he’s been eating!”

  Gipsy was watching Grakk closely. “He looks like he’s in some kind of a trance . . .”

  “You are right, dinoling.” Heelum waved his spikes in front of Grakk’s bleary eyes but Grakk only burped a small fireball at him. “He has been hypnotized!” Teggs was puzzled. “But if he’s hypnotized, how come he shouted for help?”

  “Noss said there was a twelve-point-something per cent chance that somebody hypnotized would come to his senses, remember?” said Gipsy. “Maybe Grakk didn’t want to eat Hawn’s suns . . .”

  “But somebody made him do it,” Teggs realized.

  Gipsy gulped and pointed out the window. “Somebody like them!”

  Teggs whirled round to find a fleet of spaceships had crept up on them, unnoticed. But they were like no spaceships he had ever seen. There were ten all together – gigantic, dark and sinister, with giant pendulums swinging slowly from their iron bellies: Tick . . . tock . . . tick . . . tock . . . The ships closed in on Heelum in a large semicircle, making him their target.

  And then a scary, rasping voice rattled out over the strange ships’ space-speakers, chilling Teggs and Gipsy to the bone: “We turned your brother into our helpless hypnotized slave, solawurm. Now we shall turn you into a mindless weapon too!”

  Chapter Seven

  HYPNOTIC HORROR

  “I don’t know where those ships came from or who’s on board,” said Teggs, “but now they’re trying to hypnotize Heelum as well as Grakk!”

  “We knew Grakk had a brother,” the cold, gloating voice went on. “We knew he would come searching. And we definitely knew we would catch him . . .”

  Heelum looked like he was about to lash out at the approaching ships. But suddenly Grakk opened his giant jaws and grabbed hold of his brother. Heelum struggled but he couldn’t shake Grakk loose without hurting him. He was stuck fast.

  “Don’t look at the pendulums, Heelum!” Gipsy yelled as the enormous ships drew closer. “You mustn’t look!”

  But it was too late. Tick . . . tock . . . tick . . . tock . . . Heelum’s eyes were glazing over. He was being hypnotized! Tock . . . tick . . .

  “I’m starting to get sleepy myself,” Teggs realized, watching the pendulums swing smoothly left to right and back again. Tick . . . tock . . . tick . . . He shook his head to try and clear it. “Gipsy, we must get the shuttle started again and . . . Gipsy?”

  She didn’t answer. Gipsy was already in a trance! And Teggs could feel himself falling under the hypnotic ships’ spell as well.

  As he finally gave into the urge to sleep, he could hear the sound of evil laughter echoing in his ears . . .

  When Teggs awoke, he was lying in a bloodstained control room. It was gloomy and hot and the smell of raw meat hung in the air. Teggs tried to jump up – and found he couldn’t move. His front legs had been cuffed together and his tail was chained to the wall.

  “Ouch – my head!” groaned Gipsy beside him. Teggs saw she had been trussed up in much the same way. “Where are we?”

  “Oh, do be quiet, old girl!” came a cold, posh voice from the shadows. “On my ship, you speak when you’re spoken to. But since you’re awake, you twig-nibbling twits, let me shed a little light on your situation . . .”

  A blood-red glow filled the room, to reveal a large throne carved from a dinosaur’s ribcage. Upon the throne sat a huge, evil-looking carnivore, like a T. rex but with bigger, stronger arms and even nastier teeth. It was wearing a checked velvet dressing gown and a monocle over one eye. Two more of the giant creatures stood on either side of him in smart black suits.

  “We’ve been captured by a bunch of megalosaurus,” hissed Gipsy, with fear in her eyes. “Some of the deadliest meat-eaters of all time!”

  “Not to mention the poshest,” Teggs whispered back.

  “You are cut off from all safety on board my private war craft!” gloated the figure on the throne. “Cower before the might of Lord Rawhead!”

  “Lord Rawhead?” Teggs gasped. “The Lord Rawhead? The one and only lordliest-lord-of-all-ever-lords Lord Rawhead?”

  Rawhead smiled smugly. “You have heard of me.”

  “Of course,” said Teggs. “Didn’t you come top in the Smelliest Carnivore contest six years running? Or was that your mum?”

  “SILENCE!” roared Rawhead. “My name is one you leaf-munching losers will come to fear . . . when I have taken over the entire Vegetarian Sector!”

  “So that’s why you’re hypnotizing solawurms,” Teggs realized. “You want them to attack the suns of plant-eater planets!”

  “But how did you even find Grakk?” asked Gipsy. “The Jurassic Explorers sent the solawurms far away.”

  “I know,” said Rawhead. “But knowing what excellent weapons they would make, I decided to bring some of them back! For years I searched the outermost reaches of the Jurassic Quadrant with long-range space-scopes, building a fleet of hypno-ships ready to capture one. Then, at last, I found Grakk.” Rawhead snapped his jaws. “It was child’s play to hypnotize him into thinking he is evil and bad and starving hungry the whole time.”

  “Not the whole time,” Teggs informed him. “We heard Grakk shout for help.”

  Rawhead shrugged. “The hypnosis may wear off a little after a few days. That is why I called Grakk back here – to put him fully under my control.” The carnivore cackled. “And now I shall jolly well do the same to his helpless brother.”

  “Where is Heelum?” Gipsy demanded.

  “See for yourself!” Rawhead clicked his claws and a scanner screen dropped down from the roof. It showed Heelum, hovering sleepily in space, surrounded by the sinister spacecraft. “He is right outside, held helpless by my hypno-ships. Soon, I need only point him at a sun and he will gobble it up – wiping out the population of every planet that orbits it!”

  Gipsy closed her eyes and lowered her head.

  “You are a cruel tyrant, Rawhead,” said Teggs. “Solawurms are magnificent wild animals, and you’re turning them into bloated killers. Grakk must have dreadful indigestion after eating so many suns.”

  “His wind alone could suffocate a small dinosaur colony!” Rawhead agreed. “But all this sun-snatching is simply a distraction . . .”

  Teggs frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Grakk’s attacks are luring the entire DSS fleet to this sector of space. Dealing with a pair of solawurms will keep them tied up for days . . . leaving DSS Headquarters unguarded.” Rawhead polished his monocle on his grubby sleeve and sniggered. “Naturally, I shall break in and steal the files on every plant-eating planet. I will discover the secrets of their defences, and all their weak points. Then, my carnivore army will invade those planets . . . and conquer the entire Vegetarian Sector!”

  “You will never get the knowledge you need from DSS HQ,” said Teggs firmly. “Our base is never left unguarded. Admiral Rosso always sets the burglar alarm when he goes out.”

  Rawhead nodded. “Which is why I shall need a couple of top astrosaurs to help get me inside . . . Shan’t I?”

  Teggs suddenly realized why the megalosaurus had captured them. “No!” he cried. “We will never help you
– will we, Gipsy?”

  But Gipsy simply covered her eyes with her hooves, and said nothing.

  “Sorry, old boy!” Lord Rawhead jumped off his throne and stamped over to Teggs, wiggling his claws and licking his leathery lips. “If you do not obey me, I will eat your stripy young friend here alive.” He hopped in a circle about Gipsy, drool splashing from his jaws. “I shall start at her toes, end at her nose, and take her tail for a toothpick! Ha ha ha!”

  “You barking mad butcher!” Teggs struggled against his chains with all his strength, but he could not break free. “Your plan will fail, just you wait.”

  “Afraid not, old chap.” Rawhead smiled. “Now Grakk has helped me secure his brother, I think it is time he finished the job he started. That way, the DSS fleet will get here all the quicker . . .” He crossed to a large microphone and hit a switch. “Hypno-ships,” he commanded, “instruct that overstuffed solawurm to eat Hawn Sun Three – and so destroy the woolly rhino world for ever!”

  Chapter Eight

  THE FLAMES OF FATE

  Wrapped up in a warm coat, Arx sat helplessly in an upstairs room of the Shaggy Palace. Serras, Noss and Admiral Rosso sat just as helplessly beside him.

  A long, wide window gave a magnificent view of Hawns rolling fields – fields that were now white with frost. Dozens of desperate woolly rhinos were digging tunnels in the frozen ground, trying to find shelter from the dreadful weather. The tiny sun was rising weakly above the horizon.

  “How I used to love our three suns in the dawn.” Serras sighed. “Now, our world is about as bright as our future!”

  “The chances of any crops growing on Hawn have fallen to zero,” said Noss, still holding his broken calculator. “It’s too cold and dark.”

  “The DSS will help you,” Rosso promised them. “We shall beat those solawurms, whatever it takes.”

  Arx sighed and stared out at the Sauropod standing on its launch pad. Iggy was on board right now, working his claws off to fix the engines. With the DSS fleet not due to arrive for ten hours, and with Teggs and Gipsy still away, the Sauropod was Hawn’s only defence. And who knew when the next solawurm attack would come?

  A beep came from Arx’s communicator – and Sprite’s worried voice chirped out. His heart sinking, Arx turned to face the others.

  “The dimorphodon report that a solawurm has left the Vegmeat Zone,” he reported. “It is making a beeline straight for Hawn.”

  “Then Teggs and Gipsy have failed,” said Rosso sadly.

  Serras’s horns drooped. “The solawurm will eat our only sun.”

  “We’re doomed!” wailed Noss. “It’s one hundred per cent certain!”

  But suddenly, a rumbling, thundering noise started up as the Sauropod’s powerful jet rockets roared into life.

  Arx whooped and spoke into his communicator. “Iggy – you got the engines working!”

  “You bet I have,” came Iggy’s joyful voice. “And they’re faster than ever. So jump aboard and let’s stop that solawurm!”

  “On my way,” Arx told him.

  “I’m coming too,” added Rosso.

  “And us,” said Serras. She looked at Noss, who nodded nervously.

  “CHARRRRGE!” Arx hollered – and with that he jumped out through the window into a tree, slid down the trunk like it was a firefighter’s pole and raced away towards the launch pad.

  The battle of his life was waiting, and there was no time to lose!

  Back on the megalosaurus ship, Teggs and Gipsy were all but forgotten while Lord Rawhead and his favourite officers enjoyed a huge celebration feast.

  “Of course, the wonderful thing about snatching suns is that the dinosaurs on the nearest planets are frozen alive,” said Lord Rawhead chattily. “And so one is left with a world-sized deep-freeze stuffed full of ready meals!”

  His minions laughed daintily, before digging into their raw steaks.

  “Crummy carnivores,” muttered Teggs. He turned to Gipsy, and saw that she still had her cuffed hooves clutched tightly over her eyes. “Don’t cry, Gipsy,” he murmured kindly.

  “I’m not crying, Captain,” Gipsy hissed. “I’ve been trying to concentrate.”

  “On what?” asked Teggs, baffled.

  Gipsy nodded towards the scanner screen, which still showed the sleeping solawurm. “I am trying to get through to Heelum. He communicates using the power of thought, remember? He hears with his mind. Well, I’m thinking WAKE UP just as loudly as I can!”

  Teggs grinned. “Gipsy, you’re brilliant.”

  “Not brilliant enough.” She sighed. “Those hypno-ships are urging Heelum to stay asleep, and I just can’t get through to him.”

  “Let’s both try,” Teggs whispered. He tried to shout with his mind – “WAKE UP, HEELUM!”

  The solawurm did not stir.

  “WAKE UP!!!” Teggs imagined the words a hundred miles high in his head.

  But Heelum slept on.

  “Stuffed diplodocus toes for pudding!” Lord Rawhead announced. “Help yourselves!”

  “Help . . .” Teggs murmured, frowning. “Gipsy, that’s it – your impression of Grakk asking for help!”

  “Of course!” hissed Gipsy. “The thoughts of two little astrosaurs can’t mean much to a solawurm. But the sound of his brother in distress . . .”

  Trying to shut out the noise of Rawhead’s rotten dinner party, Gipsy thought about Grakk’s screech for help in all its unbelievable loudness. She replayed it in her mind, again and again, louder and louder . . .

  “It’s working, Gipsy,” she heard Teggs whisper. “Heelum’s eyelids are twitching. He’s starting to wake up! He’s . . . UH-OH!”

  Suddenly, the whole ship shook and Gipsy’s eyes snapped open – in time to see a furious Heelum breathing huge balls of star-fire at the hypno-ships that surrounded him!

  Rawhead jumped up in a panic and saw what was happening. “No!” he shouted, as two of his sinister spacecraft exploded in flames. “Dash it all, it’s impossible!”

  “Looks like Heelum has woken up to your nasty little plans!” Teggs jeered.

  “Shut your trap!” snarled Rawhead, crossing to his special microphone. “Attention, all remaining hypno-ships! Set pendulum-power to maximum! Put that solawurm back to sleep!”

  But the hypno-ship crews were too busy fleeing in panic to listen. Two of the mighty craft got their pendulums tangled together, and started swinging each other around, out of control. They smashed into a third hypno-ship, which exploded . . .

  And then, very slowly, Heelum turned to Lord Rawhead’s war craft. Eyes blazing with anger, he started to open his incredible jaws.

  “Fire up the engines!” Rawhead yelled. “We must get out of here!”

  “You can’t outrun a solawurm,” Teggs warned him.

  Star-fire formed in the solawurm’s cavernous throat.

  “No, Heelum!” Gipsy cried. “We are on board too!”

  “He can’t hear you,” said Teggs. “He never listens when he’s angry, remember? There’s no stopping him now.”

  The astrosaurs watched the scanner in horror as Heelum spat the sizzling star-fire straight at them . . .

  Chapter Nine

  CARNAGE, COLLISIONS AND CHAOS

  The dazzling fireball seared through space towards Rawhead’s war craft – but just as it was about to hit, an abandoned hypno-ship drifted into its path! CR-RRR-OOOOSH! The hypno-ship was blasted to pieces.

  “Hurray!” cheered Lord Rawhead, doing a little jig with his officers. “We’re saved!”

  “No!” Teggs shouted. “There’s still the wreckage—”

  Before he could even finish his sentence, the scorched remains of the hypno-ship smashed into them.

  It was like a football, kicked by a woolly mammoth, hitting a meringue.

  With an ear-splitting crash the entire war craft was tipped almost upside down. Sirens screamed. The lights flickered.

  “Look out, Captain!” Gipsy yelled, as a dozen megalosaurus were thrown he
lplessly through the air towards them.

  Pulling tight on his chains, Teggs did his best to curl up as small as possible. OOF! ARGH! SPLAT! The carnivores’ scaly bodies slammed into the walls like massive, meat-eating missiles, badly denting the metal – and weakening it enough for Teggs to finally break free.

  “Did it!” he cried, trampling dazed officers underfoot as he rushed to free Gipsy. Stooping to pluck a broken tooth from Lord Rawhead’s mouth, Teggs quickly picked the lock on her cuffs. “But we’re sitting ducks for Heelum’s next attack. We have to get out of here.”

  Gipsy hugged Teggs tight, then led the way out of the control room. “Let’s find the shuttle bay and hope there’s a ship on board we can escape in!”

  They staggered off through dark corridors, deafened by the emergency sirens, tossed this way and that as the war craft spun helplessly out of control. At last they reached the shuttle bay.

  But the only ship waiting within was their own!

  “The dung-burners aren’t working!” Gipsy groaned. “We’ll be just as helpless in Shuttle Alpha as we are here!”

  “At least we’ll be a smaller target,” said Teggs. But the door would not budge. “Those megalosaurus maniacs have locked it!”

  “Indeed we have!” growled a familiar voice behind them. It was Lord Rawhead! “My hypno-ships may be wrecked, but dear Grakk remains under my control. My plans can still succeed – and I can still stop YOU!”

  So saying, he opened his bloody jaws and thundered towards the astrosaurs at top speed. But at the last moment, Teggs dived aside and tripped up Rawhead with his tail. The carnivore toppled and fell headfirst into the shuttle door – smashing it open and knocking himself out!

  “Maybe we should call him Lord Sore-head from now on!” Teggs joked as he dragged the dinosaur inside.

  Gipsy scowled. “He deserves to be left here.”

  “We need him to free Grakk from that deep hypnotic trance,” Teggs reminded her. He unclipped his belt and used it to tie Rawhead’s claws together. “But first we’ve got to find a, way out . . .”