by Steve Cole
“There’s an emergency exit that way,” said Nickel. “It leads onto the surface. Let’s go!”
“Iggy, come with me,” said Teggs, running after Nickel. “Arx, Gipsy, you stay here and check for clues!”
Arx and Gipsy saluted.
“And perhaps you elfosaurs could tidy up this mess,” said Papa Claws sadly.
“At once, Papa!” cried Hans, saluting with his big hand and almost knocking himself out.
“So many presents.” The Santasaurus sighed. “Such a lot to do!”
“How do you manage to deliver so many billions of presents in a single night?” Arx wondered. “I mean – how do you get them all to the right addresses? How do you fit them in your space-sleighs?”
“Aha!” Papa Claws chuckled. “Trade secret. I use intelligent, self-propelled wrapping paper and a special short-term shrinking ray!”
Gipsy blinked. “What?”
“They’re my own inventions,” explained Papa Claws. “First, my elfosaurs wrap the presents and program each one with an address. Then my special ray shrinks the presents down to the size of pinheads for easy loading and delivery.”
Arx gasped. “So all you have to do is drop the presents into orbit around the right planet, and the wrapping paper speeds them to their destinations!”
“Correct!” The Santasaurus beamed. “Once the gifts have delivered themselves down the chimneys, the shrinking ray wears off and they go back to normal size, ready for opening!”
“That’s utterly brilliant!” Arx declared. “Can you give us a demonstration?”
Papa Claws smiled. “Perhaps, when I’m less busy,” he said. “But right now I must be off to my workshop. Toodle-oo!” With a wave, he waltzed away round the corner.
“What a shame.” Arx sighed. “I’d love to see that shrinking ray in action!”
“Me too,” said Gipsy – then noticed a piece of paper on the floor. “Hey, look. Papa Claws dropped something.”
Arx speared it with his horn. “It’s a receipt! For twenty thousand presents bought from the Rose Star Spaceport . . .” He frowned. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“And I didn’t know spaceports sold that many toys and gifts.” Gipsy shrugged. “Oh, well. I’ll go after him and give it back.”
She clopped away down the candy-striped corridor after Papa Claws, but he had already vanished from sight. Gipsy quickened her step, following the corridor’s twists and turns.
Then, as she jogged round a sharp corner, she paused. There was a big silver door ahead of her, marked SHRINKING RAY CHAMBER. A complicated control panel sat just beside it.
“So this is where it all happens!” thought Gipsy. Overcome with curiosity, she opened the door and peeped inside.
Then she gasped – as something hard struck the back of her head! The world spun around, and Gipsy collapsed to the floor . . .
Chapter Four
SURPRISE ATTACK
Outside on the surface of Exmus, Teggs, Iggy and Nickel were searching through the snow for any trace of the intruders.
“My tail’s freezing off!” Iggy complained. “I hadn’t realized how c-c-c-cold it would be out here!”
Teggs was shivering too. “It’s a waste of time looking out here anyway,” he decided. “There’s not a single track to be seen.”
“I wish I knew what these intruders were after,” said Nickel. “With all the amazing goodies we make here, why bother with the only gifts bought from somewhere else?”
Iggy nodded. “And why steal those presents we found dumped in space in the first place?”
Suddenly, Nickel gasped. “I just thought – I hope my super-special-secret Christmas surprise for Papa Claws is still safe!” In a panic, he charged off towards the parking bay and unlocked the door to a storeroom just inside the grotto’s entrance. Teggs and Iggy tried to peek inside – but Nickel quickly shut the door and wiped his brow with relief. “Phew! The intruder hasn’t touched it.”
“What have you got Papa Claws, then?” Iggy asked.
Nickel went white with shock and almost fell over. “I can’t tell you that before Christmas!” he spluttered.
“No one’s allowed to look at their presents before Christmas, remember?” Teggs reminded Iggy. “If he told you, he would probably set off an alarm!”
Suddenly they heard a distant cry from further inside the grotto: “Help, someone! Quickly!”
“Sounds like the alarm’s gone off already,” said Iggy grimly.
“And that’s Arx’s voice!” Teggs realized, bounding off through the corridors. “Come on!”
Following the sound of the cries, Teggs, Iggy and Nickel soon arrived at the Shrinking Ray Chamber. They found Arx, Hans and the other elfosaurs all gathered around a very groggy Gipsy. Hans tried to give her a comforting pat on the back with his big hand, but nearly knocked her over.
Teggs gently curled his long tail around the stripy hadrosaur. “What happened, Gipsy?”
“I was looking for Papa Claws and passed the Shrinking Ray Chamber,” she explained. “I tried to take a tiny peep – and was whacked on the back of the head!”
“Maybe someone was hiding behind the door,” Iggy reasoned.
Teggs checked inside the large, metal room. “It’s empty now.”
Arx studied the control panel. “The shrinking ray has been used very recently – these controls are still warm.”
“But there are no presents due for shrinking.” Nickel frowned. “And that door is kept locked at all times!”
“The intruders must have opened it somehow,” said Teggs. “No wonder we couldn’t find their tracks outside – they’re still somewhere in this base!”
“But what are they up to?” Arx frowned. “It doesn’t make sense. First they steal some presents. Then they wreck the replacement presents but don’t steal any. Then they start fiddling around with the shrinking ray . . .”
All of a sudden another alarm went off!
Arx groaned. “I can’t keep up with them!”
“Jingle-jingle-STOP!” went the alarm. “Jingle-jingle-STOP!”
“That’s the auto-sorting packing area alarm,” cried Nickel, checking the gadget on his belt. “Yes, look – conveyor-belt six has been stopped.”
Hans was baffled. “But why would the intruders want to stop presents being wrapped?”
“We’ll ask them when we catch them!” shouted Teggs. “Quickly, Nickel, take us to conveyor-belt six – they won’t get away from us again!”
Once again, Teggs sprinted off through the stripy corridors. But this time he ordered Iggy, Gipsy and Arx to stand guard with some of the elfosaurs at key points along the way.
“I’ve got an astrosaur standing at every exit from the packaging block,” he explained to Nickel and Hans as they ran. “The intruders won’t be able to get past us this time!”
“Nice one!” said Hans. He slapped Teggs heartily on the back and almost flattened him.
As they turned the next corner, Nickel stopped running and turned off the alarm. He pointed to a large, orange door. “This is the place.”
“Any elfosaurs working in there?” asked Teggs.
“Only some wrapping robots,” Nickel told him. “Everything is automatic.”
“OK, I’ll go in first,” said Teggs. “Get ready to follow me.” He took a deep breath, reared up – and smashed down the door!
Swishing his spiky tail about, Teggs burst into the huge warehouse and quickly took in the scene. Everything was silent and still. The large conveyor belt in the middle of the room had been switched off. Big, blocky wrapping robots stood beside the belt like towering statues, holding sheets of sparkling paper in their metal mitts. Above them, mechanical scoops dangled lifelessly from the ceiling on super-tough tinsel.
“Spread out,” Teggs hissed.
The three dinosaurs went in different directions. Teggs sorted quickly through the pile of wrapped presents at the far end of the conveyor belt – but there was no one hiding there. Nickel looked b
ehind some crates and Hans checked that the hatch in the ceiling was secure.
Teggs scratched his head. “There’s no one here!”
Nickel pointed to a glowing red light above a big switch on one wall. “But someone has hit the emergency stop!”
Teggs spoke into his wrist communicator. “Arx, Gipsy, Iggy, has anyone tried to get past you?”
“No,” said all three of his friends at once.
Teggs looked grimly at Hans and Nickel. “Then whoever hit the emergency stop and set off the alarms must still be here!”
Suddenly, there was a loud mechanical hiss behind them – and one of the wrapping robots lurched into life! Its eyes glowed eerie yellow and a wisp of steam curled from its jagged mouth. It threw away its paper. Its fingers curled into fists . . .
And then the robot hurled itself at Captain Teggs!
Chapter Five
THE METAL MENACE
Teggs barely managed to duck out of the way as the wrapping robot lunged for his throat. “Is that normal behaviour for this thing?” he gasped.
“No!” cried Nickel, as the robot knocked him aside. “It’s gone haywire!”
Hans raised his big muscly arm and tried to tackle the robot – but in a blur of movement the robot whacked him on the head! With a groan, the elfosaur fell to the ground.
“Crew!” Teggs snapped into his communicator. “I need your help – FAST!”
The robot grabbed Nickel and raised him up above its head. But Teggs socked the tin terror with his tail – CLANG! It staggered back, and Nickel was able to wriggle free.
“Get Hans out of the way!” Teggs shouted. “I’ll distract this ridiculous robo-wrapper . . .”
Nickel hurried to obey, as the robot rushed towards Teggs. It grabbed hold of his tail and twisted hard, its hands moving with power and precision.
“Ow!” Teggs yelled. “It’s trying to fold me up!”
Suddenly, Iggy, Arx and Gipsy came running into the room. Arx lowered his head and charged the robot, bashing it away from Teggs. Gipsy gave it a hoof-jab and a tail-swipe, knocking it to its knees. Then Iggy zapped it with his stun claws. The wrapping robot steamed and hissed, then fell over backwards and lay still.
“Thanks, guys,” said Teggs, beaming round at his crew. “That seems to be one metal menace all wrapped up!”
Suddenly, Papa Claws appeared in the doorway blinking in surprise. “I heard the alarm. What’s going on?” He frowned. “And what’s Hans doing, lying down on the job? It’s almost Christmas Eve!”
“He’s not lying down,” said Nickel grimly. “He was pushed down – by that robot!”
“Bless my tinsel!” Papa Claws exclaimed.
“Is Hans OK?” asked Gipsy.
Nickel nodded as Hans groaned noisily. “He’ll be fine. He’s just got a nasty bump on his head.”
“We should start a club!” Gipsy joked.
“Well, at least we’ve finally found the ‘intruder’ round here,” said Teggs. “A wrapping robot that’s gone wrong!”
Nickel sighed. “In all my years here on Exmus, I’ve never known one go crazy like that before.”
“Perhaps it was trying to re-wrap those presents in storehouse one,” Iggy suggested.
“Of course!” Papa Claws declared. “And I remember now – a wrapping robot passed me in the corridor just before I met you there. I thought nothing of it at the time . . .”
“I suppose it must have whapped me on the head when I came looking for you, Papa Claws,” said Gipsy. “That reminds me . . .” She pulled a bit of paper from her pocket. “You dropped this receipt for those gifts you bought at the Rose Star Spaceport . . .”
“Did I?” Papa Claws peered at the paper and chuckled. “Ah, yes, I have dealt with these people many times. They have an excellent gift shop there . . .” He passed it to Nickel. “Here you are – for those files of yours.”
“Thank you, sir,” said Nickel happily. “As you know, I like to keep track of everyone you deal with, for security reasons.”
“Where is the Rose Star Spaceport, sir?” Arx asked him.
“Never mind that!” cried Teggs, prodding the fallen wrapping robot with his tail. “What I want to know is how our robot friend sent twenty thousand presents into deep space in the first place – and what else it might have been up to!”
“Good question!” said Papa Claws.
“Iggy’s good with robots,” Gipsy pointed out. “Can you fix it up and make it talk, Ig?”
“Maybe,” said Iggy. “I’ll fetch my toolkit from the shuttle and give it a go.”
He jogged from the room. Suddenly, a clock on the wall chimed. Teggs looked up and found it was midnight.
“It’s Christmas Eve!” Papa Claws declared. “Goodness me, and there’s still so much to do! I must get busy in my private workshop. But first . . .” He hurried over to the emergency stop switch and flicked it back on. The big conveyor belt clanked into life, the ceiling scoops dropped presents onto it, and the remaining robot started wrapping.
“Oh dear,” said Nickel. “With only one robot left, it’ll take twice as long to wrap the presents. And that means Papa will be late with his Christmas deliveries!”
“We could help with the wrapping,” Teggs offered. Arx and Gipsy nodded keenly.
Papa Claws looked hopeful. “Really?”
“And I’ll help too,” said Nickel firmly. “Now we have caught our so-called ‘intruder’, there’s nothing else for me to do tonight!”
“Thank you, all of you!” cried Papa Claws. “But first, Nickel, you must take Hans back to his room for a rest. Then prepare our guest rooms for Captain Teggs and his crew so they can get some sleep later.”
Nickel smiled. “I’ll get straight onto it.”
“Thanks, Papa Claws,” said Teggs, crossing to the conveyor belt. “And, er . . . any chance of a midnight feast?” He grinned as his stomach made some very rude noises. “Fighting robots always leaves me hungry!”
Within twenty minutes Iggy had fetched his toolkit, Nickel had tucked up Hans in bed, and Teggs had eaten three small Christmas trees. Now he helped Nickel, Arx and Gipsy wrap presents while Iggy took the back off the robot’s head and started poking around.
As the hours passed, Iggy ran test after test. But he couldn’t find anything wrong with the robot’s brain.
Gipsy yawned. Her hoofs were aching from so much wrapping. “How many more presents to go, Nickel?”
Nickel taped down a flap of paper. “This was the last one for this batch,” he said. “Well done, everyone. Now we can take a break.”
“Good!” Arx stretched. “It’s been a long day.”
“Let’s grab some sleep,” Teggs suggested.
Nickel showed them to their rooms, which were side by side in one of the stripy corridors. Iggy had brought the wrapping robot’s head and his toolkit with him.
“Most people prefer a teddy bear,” said Teggs cheekily.
“I’m determined to find out what went wrong with this thing,” Iggy replied. “I won’t be able to sleep until I do!”
The astrosaurs said goodnight to each other and went to their rooms.
Iggy found a present waiting for him on his bed. He read the label: Happy Christmas! Thanks a lot, from Papa Claws. “Well, it’s nearly Christmas,” said Iggy. “I’m sure I won’t set off any alarms if I open it now.”
He quickly tore open the paper. “Oh! A green tie.” Iggy was a bit disappointed. He didn’t wear ties. “Still, it’s the thought that counts . . .”
Putting the tie to one side, he started rummaging once more through the robot’s wires and circuits.
But then he heard a scraping sound behind him.
Iggy turned – and gasped. With its fangs gleaming and claws outstretched, a ravenous raptor was standing right behind him!
Chapter Six
A FRIGHT IN THE NIGHT
Before Iggy could even open his mouth to yell, the raptor attacked. Desperately, he grabbed the savage carnivore’s scaly
orange wrists, struggling to keep its claws out of his face.
“Ssstupid asssstrosaur,” the raptor hissed angrily. “You should have kept your nose out of our business. Now I musssst bite it off!”
“You can try, ugly!” growled Iggy. He suddenly did a backward roll and flipped the raptor over his head. It crashed into the wall. “Where did you spring from?”
But the raptor’s only reply was to jump up, ready to attack again.
As it charged towards him, Iggy grabbed his new tie and cracked it out like a whip. The green fabric whipped around the raptor’s ankle, and Iggy yanked on it hard. With a squeak of surprise, the raptor was jerked off his feet and crashed against the head of the wrapping robot. It collapsed, knocked senseless.
Suddenly, Iggy’s door was thrown open and Teggs burst inside. Arx and Gipsy were just behind him. “Are you all right, Ig?” Teggs cried. “We heard—Good grief!”
“A velociraptor!” gasped Gipsy.
Teggs noticed the torn wrapping paper. “Don’t tell me Papa Claws gave you a raptor for Christmas?”
“It came out of nowhere,” said Iggy. “Papa Claws gave me a tie – and without it, I would have ended up as sliced iguanodon!”
“Hey, look here,” said Arx, frowning. The raptor had knocked open a cover inside the robot’s head, revealing a bundle of wires sliced in two. “Someone has cut through its brain-cords. This robot was made to go wrong.”
“You’re right!” Iggy groaned. “I spent all that time checking the robot’s programming, but I didn’t think to check for sabotage.”
Teggs took a look. “Hey, what’s that thing stuck in the robot’s braincase?”
Gipsy pulled out a small, sharp, ivory curl. “It looks like . . . part of a claw!”
“Then the raptor definitely did this,” said Teggs slowly. “It tricked us into blaming a robot for these weird goings-on – putting us off the scent to buy itself time!”
“This raptor didn’t do it,” said Gipsy. “All its claws are intact.” Iggy shuddered. “They were almost in me!”
“Obviously, there is more than one raptor on Exmus,” Arx observed. “And whatever they’re up to, we’ve got to stop them,” said Teggs. “Arx, Iggy, go and fetch Nickel. We must start a full-scale search of the whole grotto.”
