Free Astrosaurs 2 by Steve Cole

Chapter One

THE EDGE OF EGG-STI NOTION!
    In a very big hall full of very big dinosaurs, a very big announcement was about to be made.

    The Hall of Learning on the planet Odo Minor had never been more packed. Doctors, professors, scientists, TV cameras – they were all squashed up together. The sound of excited dinosaur chatter filled the hall. What was the big news? What had the great Professor Sog discovered now?
    But two people in the hall already knew. And one of them didn’t seem to care very much.
    â€œI don’t see why we had to come all this way!” grumbled Captain Teggs Stegosaur. “I haven’t been in a learning hall since I passed my astrosaur exams!”

    â€œBe patient, Captain,” his companion Gipsy hissed. “As soon as the talk’s over, our mission can begin!”

    â€œAbout time too,” Teggs declared. He was a captain in the Dinosaur Space Service, and he lived for adventure. With his brave crew of astrosaurs, he travelled through space in the DSS
Sauropod
, the finest ship in the Jurassic Quadrant.

    Gipsy, a stripy hadrosaur, was his communications officer. She and Teggs had come here to escort Professor Sog back to the
Sauropod –
along with some very special guests . . .
    She knew her crewmates would be busy up in orbit. Arx Orano, Teggs’s brainy triceratops first officer, would be checking over the
Sauropod’s
systems. And Iggy Tooth, the tough iguanodon engineer, would be stoking the ship’s mighty engines.
    Their latest voyage into outer space would be their longest yet . . .
    â€œAt last,” cheered Teggs, making Gipsy jump. “Here comes Professor Sog now!”
    Sog was a small, twittery old creature who belonged to a breed called compsognathus. The audience hooted and stamped their feet politely as the funny little figure walked onto the stage. He stopped beside a mysterious, lumpy bundle hidden beneath a black blanket.

    A great hush fell on the hall. The dinosaurs waited breathlessly for the professor's words.
    Sog struggled to put on a small pair of spectacles. He had trouble reachinghis head since his arms were so short. But finally he managed it, and he peered round at the curious crowd.
    â€œWelcome, my friends,” he cried. “You are about to hear of a most exciting discovery!”
    A bright light started glowing above his head. Seconds later, a hologram of a large, long-necked dinosaur appeared. It looked a bit like a stegosaurus but with a longer neck and tail, and no spiky plates running down its back.

    â€œThis is a plateosaurus,” said Sog. “Sweet, peaceful – and almost totally extinct.”
    â€œExtinct?” asked a puzzled journalist in the crowd.
    Sog nodded sadly. “Their race has almost completely died out.”
    â€œDined out?” asked Teggs, perking up. He was famous for his large appetite – some said it was the largest in the whole Dinosaur Space Service. “Dined out where? Can we come too?”
    â€œNot dined out,
died
out!” groaned Gipsy.
    Professor Sog continued his talk. “As you all know, we dinosaurs left the Earth long ago. We escaped in spaceships before the meteor struck, never to return. In those days there were many plateosaurus. Nowadays there are hardly any left.”
    â€œWhy?” someone called.
    â€œHomesickness,” said Sog simply. “Atfirst, they settled on a fine planet called Platus. But they didn’t like it as much as Earth, so they tried to return.” He shook his head sadly. “Their space fleet flew into a cosmic storm. Many of their ships were destroyed. The few survivors limped back to Platus . . . to find that T. rexes had taken over.”

    The audience murmured their disapproval.
    â€œI remember reading about that,” whispered Teggs. “The T. rexes wouldn’t budge. There was a big battle.”
    Gipsy nodded sadly. “And the plateosaurus lost.”
    â€œOther vegetarian