RIDDLE OF THE RAPTORS
AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 448 17346 4
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-space-after © Steve Cole, 2005
Cover illustration by Dynamo Design © Random House Children’s Books, 2010
Interior illustrations copyright-space-after © 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-space-after, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This ebook is copyright-space-after 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-space-after 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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For Tobey
The dinosaurs …
Big, stupid, lumbering reptiles. Right?
All they did was eat, sleep and roar a bit. Right?
Died out millions of years ago when a big meteor struck the Earth. Right?
Wrong!
The dinosaurs weren’t stupid. They may have had small brains, but they used them well. They had big thoughts and big dreams.
By the time the meteor hit, the last dinosaurs had already left Earth for ever. Some breeds had discovered how to travel through space as early as the Triassic period, and were already enjoying a new life among the stars. No one has found evidence of dinosaur technology yet. But the first fossil bones were only unearthed in 1822, and new finds are being made all the time.
The proof is out there, buried in the ground.
And the dinosaurs live on, way out in space, even now. They’ve settled down in a place they call the Jurassic Quadrant and over the last sixty-five million years they’ve gone on evolving.
The dinosaurs we’ll be meeting are part of a special group called the Dinosaur Space Service. Their job is to explore space, to go on exciting missions and to fight evil and protect the innocent!
These heroic herbivores are not just dinosaurs.
They are astrosaurs!
NOTE: The following story has been translated from secret Dinosaur Space Service records. Earthling dinosaur names are used throughout, although some changes have been made for easy reading. There’s even a guide to help you pronounce the dinosaur names on the next page.
STEGOSAURUS – STEG-oh-SORE-us
PTEROSAUR – TEH-roh-sore
BAROSAURUS – bar-oh-SORE-us
HADROSAUR – HAD-roh-sore
TRICERATOPS – try-SERRA-tops
IGUANODON – ig-WA-noh-don
ORNITHOMIMOSAUR – OR-ni-thoh-MEE-moh-sore
DIMORPHODON – die-MORF-oh-don
VELOCIRAPTOR – vel-ossi-RAP-tor
ANKYLOSAURUS – an-KI-loh-SORE-us
SALTASAURUS – sal-te-SORE-us
MAIASAURA – MY-ah-SORE-ah
STEGOCERAS – ste-GOS-er-as
EDMONTOSAURUS – ed-MON-toh-SORE-us
DIPLODOCUS – di-PLOH-do-kus
TYRANNOSAURUS – tie-RAN-oh-SORE-us
CARNOTAURUS – kar-noh-TOR-us
BRACHIOSAURUS – brak-ee-oh-SORE-us
PTERODACTYL – teh-roh-DACT-il
Cover
About the Book
Title Page
Dedication
WARNING! Think you know about dinosaurs?
Talking Dinosaur!
The Crew of the DSS Sauropod
Jurassic Quadrant Map
Chapter One: The Adventure Begins
Chapter Two: Bottle Stations!
Chapter Three: Kidnap!
Chapter Four: A Deadly Message
Chapter Five: Showdown on Planet Sixty
Chapter Six: Dangerous Flight
Chapter Seven: Mystery
Chapter Eight: Rumbling the Raptors
Chapter Nine: Countdown to Carnage
Chapter Ten: Dropping In
Chapter Eleven: The Final Challenge
About the Author
Copyright
ALSO BY STEVE COLE:
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