by Steve Cole
“So that’s the super-secret surprise present you were on about, Nickel!” said Iggy, almost foaming at the mouth as he checked it out. “It’s the super-swish sports car of space-sleighs.” He sniffed the dung-tanks at the back. “Better yet, she’s all fuelled up and ready to go!”
“It’s wonderful!” gasped Papa Claws. “I don’t know what to say!”
“How about, ‘Please borrow it, astrosaurs, and chase after Loki before it’s too late’?” Nickel suggested.
Gipsy frowned. “But what good is a space-sleigh down here? We can’t drive it through solid snow and ice!”
“True,” Nickel agreed. “But we could use its jet rockets as a blowtorch to melt our way out!”
“Brilliant!” cried Teggs.
“Stand aside, my friends,” said Papa Claws, getting aboard his Christmas surprise. “When it comes to space-sleighs, I truly am the PAPA!” He skilfully steered the space-sleigh out of the storeroom and backed up towards the open doors. “Here goes!” he yelled, and hit a big yellow button. Super-hot blue flames burst from the jets and started melting the ice.
“It’s working!” Gipsy squealed.
“Biggest blowtorch in the universe,” said Teggs with a grin.
Hans flexed his big, strong arm. “Let’s get using it, then!”
With Hans’s help, the astrosaurs hoisted the sleigh onto their shoulders and used its powerful jets to melt a large tunnel through the ice. Steam choked them, and boiling ice-water splashed and stung their skin. But at last they broke through the final frozen barriers and set down the sleigh on the asteroid’s icy surface.
“We did it!” Gipsy cheered, kissing Hans on the cheek. The elfosaur blushed, put his hand to his face – and accidentally slapped himself unconscious.
“Good work, guys,” said Teggs, helping Papa Claws out of the space-sleigh. “Now, come on, Iggy. We’re going to stop Loki if it’s the last thing we do.”
“I hope it isn’t!” said Iggy nervously.
“And meanwhile, everyone else must help to clear away this snow and ice,” Teggs went on. “It’s Christmas tomorrow.”
“Well, squash my satsuma – you’re right!” Papa Claws realized. “And every sleigh is still buried down there. I won’t be able to make a single delivery until the parking bay is cleared!”
“Now we’re on the surface I can call the Sauropod down from orbit,” said Arx. “The ship’s lasers will help us melt away the ice.”
“Good luck, Arx,” said Teggs, as Iggy climbed into the pilot seat beside him and revved the engines. “Now, take us up, Iggy. The lives of millions are at stake – and so is Christmas itself!”
With a roar of power, the space-sleigh sped into the glittering darkness of the skies above.
The chase was on!
“Top speed, Iggy!” Teggs commanded as the space-sleigh shot away from Exmus. “Come on, put your foot down!”
“Sorry, Captain,” said Iggy, flicking some switches on the dashboard. “Just working out what everything does . . .”
“There’s no time for that now!” cried Teggs.
Iggy smiled to himself. “I think some of these controls might come in useful . . .”
On they roared through deepest space. They flew for hours, through stars scattered thick against the darkness like a storm of snowflakes. It was a beautiful sight. But nothing could distract Teggs from searching out the shining shape of General Loki’s stolen space-sleigh.
“Look, there!” Teggs yelled, pointing to a shiny orange speck up ahead. “That must be him!”
“Are you sure?” said Iggy.
Then the orange speck suddenly turned and sped towards them – and opened fire with bright-green laser beams!
“I’m sure, all right,” yelled Teggs. “Dodge those lasers, Iggy!”
“On the case, Captain,” said Iggy, yanking down on the space-sleigh’s joystick. He sent them spinning in a spiral, barely missing the blasts of deadly green light that went whizzing past the windows.
“I didn’t think that Loki would be armed,” said Teggs. “But it looks like he means to sleigh us!”
“Loki must have built secret lasers into that thing in case of trouble,” Iggy reasoned. “Typical nasty raptor thinking.”
Teggs spotted a space rock close by. “Quick, hide behind that meteor!”
Iggy steered in a big circle – but before he could reach the meteor, Loki blew it up!
“We’ll have to keep running,” said Teggs, as laser fire raked through the darkness either side of them. “Luckily, Loki is a rotten shot!”
“I don’t think he’s trying to hit us,” said Iggy. “He’s herding us. Those laser blasts are forcing us to fly in a straight line . . .”
Teggs checked the star maps. “We’re heading for the Vegmeat Zone,” he realized. “The no-man’s land between plant-eaters and meat-eaters . . .”
“And look!” Iggy gasped, pointing through the windscreen. “It’s full of raptor death ships!”
Teggs saw the carnivore crafts hanging in space ahead of them like a row of giant, pointed teeth. “That must be Loki’s invasion fleet,” he said quietly. “I have never seen so many death ships before.”
“Calling Captain Teggs,” came a nasty hiss from the space-sleigh’s speakers. “I’m afraid your luck has finally run out. I am driving you into range of my death ships’ weapons – and if you try to turn back, I will blast you to bits myself!”
The death ships were getting closer, shining like blood-red icicles in the starlight. Teggs and Iggy were on a collision course!
Chapter Ten
A FESTIVE FATE
“Sorry, Ig,” said Teggs quietly. “Looks like this is one Christmas we won’t be celebrating. I was in such a hurry to catch Loki, I didn’t stop to think we weren’t carrying a single weapon.”
“Don’t worry, Captain,” said Iggy, frantically pressing buttons on the dashboard. “Loki and his fleet have a surprise coming. We may not be carrying a single weapon . . . but we have brought some along with us!”
“Eh?” Teggs stared at him. “What do you mean?”
“These top-of-the-range space-sleighs use super-magnets to tow carriages behind them.” Iggy grinned and patted the dashboard. “And before we left Exmus, I boosted our magnetic power . . .”
Suddenly, something sparkled in the corner of Teggs’s eye. He turned to the back window – and frowned. Four glowing red-and-green baubles were whizzing along just behind General Loki’s sleigh . . .
“Wait a minute!” spluttered Teggs. “Those things look like the security satellites orbiting Exmus!”
“That’s because they ARE!” cried Iggy. “I’ve been towing them along with super-magnet power ever since we left!”
Teggs felt excitement building in his belly. “And if I remember rightly, they are programmed to defend themselves against any unknown ship . . .”
Iggy grinned. “So let’s see how they get on with a whole fleet of them!”
With a flick of his claws, Iggy sent a magnetic power-surge through the security satellites. The giant baubles went shooting on ahead of them like missiles . . .
“Halt!” grated the security satellites as they zoomed up to the death ships. “Identify yourselves, or we will fire!”
Caught by surprise, the crews of the death ships did not reply – and so the satellites let loose their laser bolts!
“Yee-hah!” cried Iggy, as the skies ahead of them were lit up with red-and-green laser fire.
“Return fire, you fools!” raged Loki over the speakers. “Destroy those oversized Christmas decorations! Destroy those astrosaurs!”
But, caught off-guard by the nippy satellites and firing wildly in all directions, the raptor ships only succeeded in destroying each other. Fierce explosions dazzled Teggs and Iggy as one of the giant war-craft was blown apart. Another soon followed.
“Get us out of here, Iggy!” Teggs commanded.
They turned away from the exploding fleet, back towards Exmus – but G
eneral Loki was still on their tail, close behind.
“Astrosaur scum!” Loki’s voice was a high-pitched squeal as he really let rip with his lasers. “I’ll get you!”
Iggy was gripping the joystick for dear life. “We can’t dodge this gunfire for much longer, Captain!”
“You’ll pay!” Loki screeched, drawing nearer and nearer. “You’ll pay for ruining my Christmas!”
“Sorry, Loki,” said Teggs grimly, as laser beams zipped past, millimetres from his window, “but I think it’s time that you paid for ruining ours. And the buck stops – HERE.”
With that, Teggs stamped on the brakes, and the space-sleigh stopped dead!
Loki squawked as he tried to steer past it – and if he hadn’t been pulling such a large carriage behind him, he might just have been able to. Instead, the carriage clanged into the back of the brand-new vessel, giving Teggs and Iggy a nasty knock. And the impact sent Loki’s space-sleigh completely out of control!
“I’ll get you one day, Teggs!” bellowed Loki, spinning helplessly towards a pale-brown planet. “Just you wait . . .”
“I won’t hold my breath!” Teggs shouted.
“But if I were Loki, I would hold my nose!” said Iggy, tapping his star chart. “It looks like he’s going to crash-land on the planet Stinkoss – the smelliest, slimiest dump in the whole Jurassic Quadrant.”
“He and his raptor army should fit in very well!” Teggs beamed. “Has our sleigh been damaged?”
“Dented and scratched, but otherwise OK,” said Iggy. “Which is more than you can say for the raptor fleet!”
“Then let’s get back to Exmus and join the others,” said Teggs. “I feel as if all my Christmases have come at once – which means we’ve got some serious celebrating to do!”
Chapter Eleven
A CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER
It was close to midnight on Christmas Eve when Teggs and Iggy touched down again in the parking bay on Exmus. All the snow and ice had been cleared, and Gipsy and Arx were waiting by the entrance to the grotto with big smiles on their faces.
“Sprite just signalled us with the good news,” said Arx. “He watched the battle on the long-range scanner. Those satellites you took with you wiped out half the raptor invasion force – and the other half ran away!”
“We’ve already called Admiral Rosso at DSS HQ and told him to send a dozen ultra-secure prison ships to Stinkoss,” Gipsy added. “So Loki and his army will be well taken care of – together with Ranpak and his buddies in the workshop.”
“Good!” said Teggs. “How about Papa Claws? Is he all right?”
Arx smiled and pointed to the night sky with his horns.
Teggs looked up and saw a space-sleigh towing hundreds of carriages, slowly disappearing into the starry distance.
“Papa Claws!” he yelled at the top of his lungs. “I’ve always wanted to know – why do you deliver all those gifts every year?”
“Because it’s ridiculous!” Papa Claws shouted back. “Because I love Christmas! And because . . . it’s just fun!”
With the faintest jingling of bells, the space-sleigh sped out of sight.
“Well, it was touch-and-go and a lot of hard work,” said Nickel, as he and Hans came out to join the astrosaurs in the parking bay. “But Papa Claws just got away in time to deliver all his presents.”
“Christmas is saved!” Hans cheered. “Loki couldn’t spoil it, however hard he tried.”
“No one can spoil Christmas,” Teggs agreed quietly, “because it’s the most special day in the universe.”
Even as he spoke, the clocks in the grotto chimed twelve.
“And now it’s here!” cried Arx. “Christmas is here!”
“It’s ho-ho-HERE,” sang Hans and Nickel, as they did a little celebration jig. “It’s oh-so ho-ho-HERE!”
“Merry Christmas, everyone!” hooted Gipsy. She hugged Arx and Iggy, and planted a big kiss on the end of Teggs’s nose. He blushed and hugged her back. “So far, it’s been the craziest Christmas ever.”
Teggs grinned. “And I can’t ever remember enjoying one more!”
“Come on, you lot!” Nickel was smiling, his cheeks red and rosy. “We must help the other elfosaurs get ready for the big celebration when Papa Claws comes back.”
Gipsy frowned. “But won’t he be really tired?”
“Ha!” said Hans. “It’s not the delivering presents that wears him out – it’s the big party we have afterwards!”
“I’ll have me a piece of that!” Iggy grinned. “Tell you what, I’ll even make another of my extra-sticky Christmas puds!”
“Can we bring everyone from on board the Sauropod?” asked Arx.
“Of course,” Nickel told him. “The more the merrier!”
“Parrrr-tayyyy!” Gipsy cheered.
“And let’s hope that Papa Claws brings us a sleigh-load of new adventures for Christmas,” said Teggs. “Enough to last us right the way through the happy New Year!”
THE END
About the Author
Born in 1971, Steve Cole spent a happy childhood in rural Bedfordshire being loud and aspiring to amuse. He liked books, and so went to the University of East Anglia to read more of them. Later on he started writing them too, with titles ranging from pre-school poetry to Young Adult thrillers (with more TV and film tie-ins than he cares to admit to along the way). In other careers he has been the editor of Noddy magazine, and an editor of fiction and nonfiction book titles for various publishers. He is the author of the hugely successful Astrosaurs, Cows in Action, Astrosaurs Academy and Slime Squad series.
ALSO BY STEVE COLE:
Read all the adventures of Teggs, Gipsy, Arx and Iggy!
1 Riddle of the Raptors
2 The Hatching Horror
3 The Seas of Doom
4 The Mind-Swap Menace
5 The Skies of Fear
6 The Space Ghosts
7 Day of the Dino-Droids
8 The Terror-Bird Trap
9 The Planet of Peril
10 The Star Pirates
11 The Claws of Christmas
12 The Sun-Snatchers
13 Revenge of the Fang
14 The Carnivore Curse
15 The Dreams of Dread
16 The Robot Raiders
17 The Twist of Time
18 The Sabre-Tooth Secret
19 The Forest of Evil
20 Earth Attack!
21 The T. Rex Invasion
22 The Castle of Frankensaur
Read all the adventures of Teggs, Blink and Dutch at the Astrosaurs Academy!
1 Destination: Danger!
2 Contest Carnage!
3 Terror Underground!
4 Jungle Horror!
5 Deadly Drama!
6 Christmas Crisis!
7 Volcano Invaders!
8 Space Kidnap!
Meet the time-travelling cows!
1 The Ter-moo-nators
2 The Moo-my’s Curse
3 The Roman Moo-stery
4 The Wild West Moo-nster
5 World War Moo
6 The Battle for Christmoos
7 The Pirate Moo-tiny
8 The Moo-gic of Merlin
9 The Victorian Moo-ders
10 The Moo-lympic Games
11 First Cows on the Moon
12 The Viking Emoo-gency
If you can’t take the slime, don’t do the crime!
1 The Fearsome Fists
2 The Toxic Teeth
3 The Cyber-Poos
4 The Supernatural Squid
5 The Killer Socks
6 The Last-Chance Chicken
7 The Alligator Army
8 The Conquering Conks
Visit www.stevecolebooks.co.uk for fun, games, jokes, to meet the characters and much, much more!
THE CLAWS OF CHRISTMAS
AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 448 17356 3
Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,
an imprint of Random House Chi
ldren’s Publishers UK
A Random House Group Company
This ebook edition published 2013
Text copyright © Steve Cole, 2007
Cover illustration by Dynamo Design © Random House Children’s Books, 2010
Map copyright © Charlie Fowkes, 2005
Interior illustrations by Woody Fox © Random House Children’s Books, 2007
First Published in Great Britain
Red Fox 9781862302532 2007
The right of Steve Cole to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
