Astrosaurs 2 (13 page)

“What about us?
What about our home?” sighed Coo. “Where can we go with our eggs?”

Dippa smiled. “Cheer up, Coo. Like the star dragon – we'll find somewhere.”

Prince Shelly hopped over. “I am so sorry for all the trouble my family caused you. Will you let me try to make it up to you?”

“Good for you, Shelly,” said Teggs. “You're a very unusual oviraptor!”

“That's for sure,” Shelly smiled. “To tell you the truth . . . eggs bring me
out in a rash!”

Arx chuckled. “Hey! You're now King Albu's only son. That makes
you
the king!”

“You're right!” Shelly said thoughtfully. “You know, my family owns a holiday moon near Pluto Springs. I went there once, as a hatchling – it's sunny and grassy and very quiet.”

Dippa stared at him. “So?”

“So, I guess it's mine now.” He smiled at her and Coo. “And I'd love to give it to you two! You can live there for as long as you like.”

“Will we be safe from other oviraptors?” asked Coo.

“I promise,” said Shelly. “King Albu's mad menus are a thing of the past. From now on, we'll leave you in peace!”

Dippa grinned at Coo. “Looks like we've got a new home out of this trip after all!”

Suddenly, the
Sauropod
lurched forwards. The sound of mighty engines firing filled the flight deck.

“Captain!” cried Iggy, jogging up to Teggs. “The heat of that explosion has warmed up the engines. We're ready to go back home!”

“First stop, Pluto Springs!” grinned Teggs.

“Oh, I do like a happy ending,” cried Arx.

“Me too,” said Gipsy, as she gave Prince Shelly a hug.

“And the really great thing about one mission ending is that a new mission is never far behind,” said Teggs, beaming round at his fine crew.

“Whatever it is – I hope it's just as
egg-citing
as this one!”

END

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, the voice of a Dalek and an editor of fiction and nonfiction book titles for various publishers.

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 HATCHING HORROR
AN RHCB DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 448 17347 1

Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children's Publishers UK
A Random House Group Company

This ebook edition published 2013

Text copyright © Steve Cole, 2005
Cover illustration by Dynamo Design © Random House Children's Books, 2010
Interior illustrations copyright © Charlie Fowkes, 2005

First Published in Great Britain

Red Fox 2005

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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