Astrosaurs 3 (9 page)

Arx was still checking over the chewed-up wreckage. He was patiently comparing sections of sub, fragments of floating factory and bits of the diving bell.

Iggy had talked some cryptoclidus sailors into helping him fix one of the broken subs. They were busy in the room next door, hammering out dents in the sub's metal body and fixing all the instruments. Iggy himself had taken tiny pieces from all the subs and was using them to build a brand new engine. Now it was ready for testing, so he switched it on.

With a gentle hum, the engine started up first time.

“I've done it!” cried Iggy. “This new engine is ten times better and fifty times quieter than the old ones!”

Then the door to the storeroom flew open as Cripes splashed inside. Arx and Iggy spoke together. “Well?”

“The search party can't find a thing down there,” said Cripes. “But every radio in the place is picking up some kind of weird SOS call! It seems to be coming from somewhere
beneath
the sea bed!”

“It
might
be Teggs and Gipsy,” cried Arx.

“If they are down there, I'll find them!” vowed Iggy. “My new super-sub is almost ready to go. And it's fitted with all kinds of extra gadgets!”

“But we know that the liopleurodon has a taste for subs,” Cripes reminded him. “It chomped all the old ones to pieces!”

Arx cleared his throat. “Actually, that's not true.”

Cripes and Iggy stared at him.

“It was not a liopleurodon who chomped up the subs,” he went on. “And it was not a liopleurodon who wrecked those floating factories.”

“Come on!” Cripes scoffed. “You'll be telling us next that a liopleurodon didn't chew up that diving bell.”

“Oh, no,” said Arx. “A liopleurodon
definitely
did that.” He nodded. “That's how I know it didn't do anything else!”

“How?” asked Cripes.

“Tooth marks!” cried Arx. “Look at that diving bell. It was ripped apart by long, sharp teeth. You can see the marks from here.”

“So?” said Iggy.

“So, I haven't found tooth marks like that anywhere else,” Arx said.

“Not on
any
of this wreckage.”

“What
did
you find?” asked Cripes.

“
Tiny
marks,” Arx told him. “Hundreds of thousands of tiny little marks – made by tiny little teeth!”

“But that's impossible,” protested Iggy. “You and Captain Teggs both saw a huge shadow in the sea. That has to be the liopleurodon, right?”

“Maybe not,” said Arx. “Maybe the liopleurodon is working with something else. Something just as big . . . or maybe even bigger!”

Cripes took off his hat and scratched his head with a flipper. “Strange for something so big to have such teeny-weeny teeth.”

“Never mind all that,” said Iggy. “Let's get going!” He patted his shiny new engine. “We'll find Captain Teggs and Gipsy. And we'll find whatever else is hiding down there in the deeps, too-whatever it takes!”

Back beneath the sea bed, Teggs and Gipsy were still exploring the liopleurodon ship. It was cold, dark and scary. And both of them knew that their precious air supply was running out with every breath they took. As they walked along one dark corridor, the dirty water grew chillier. Slowly it was becoming a thick, icy slush.

“Shall we turn back?” asked Gipsy nervously. “We don't want to wind up as dinosaur ice-pops!”

“Just a little further,” said Teggs.

The chilly passage ended in what seemed to be a giant freezer. Lying in
the middle of the room were four big caskets made of solid ice. Teggs could see the huge dark shape of a liopleurodon lying inside three of them. But the fourth was damaged. Part of the ceiling had collapsed on top of it, and the casket had cracked right open.

“This must be Mira's crew,” Gipsy gasped. “Are they dead?”

“Just sleeping, I think,” breathed Teggs. “A deep, frozen sleep to keep them fresh while they wait to be rescued. But Mira's woken up ahead of time!”

Gipsy pointed to some blue scraps in the water beside the broken casket. “What are they?”

“Bits of Mira's uniform I think. There's writing on them.” Teggs took a closer look. “A and D on this bit An L on the other. What does that mean?”

“Admiral!” cried Gipsy.

Teggs frowned. “I'm only a captain at the moment!”

“No, I'm talking about Mira!” Gipsy's crest flushed red with excitement, and made her helmet steam up. “He thought his name was Mira because it's written on that scrap of uniform he wears. But that's only
part
of the word. Really it spells AD—MIRA—L!”

“Of course!” breathed Teggs. “Then this really
is
his ship. But the ceiling fell in on his head before he could get into the deep freeze. That must be how he lost his memory!”

“Poor Mira,” sighed Gipsy. “He must've slipped out into the sea in a daze, and forgotten how to get back!”

“Yes – and something else may have slipped out with him,” said Teggs quietly. “Let's keep looking.”

“I wonder how much longer our air will last,” said Gipsy quietly. “We can't have much left by now.”