flicker in the kennels and four bright beams shot down from the ceiling. Spotting the extra teleport, Poppy and Butch smiled at Rocket – while Duke
paused mid-stretch and gazed up with a gulp.
‘WHOOOOHH . . .’ he protested, and the four dogs sparkled in the light as they vanished within the transport beams, leaving all of the kennels empty.
At the edge of the galaxy in the Catnip Nebula, Lady Fluffkins sat on the bridge of her clockwork
Mouseship
and hissed at planet Earth through her intergalactic
telescope.
The white Persian was devising a new fiendish plot to invade the blue planet and thereby complete her empire, but a rattling-chattering sound had disturbed her wicked thoughts, making her glance
around irritably.
she demanded, green eyes glaring at her hairless servant, Baldy. He was cowering next to Lady Fluffkins’ throne and shaking more than usual.
‘Y-y-yes, m-m-mistress,’ he stammered, bones rattling and teeth chattering.
‘Really?’ sniffed the empress. ‘I hadn’t noticed.’
‘That’s because you are wrapped in the most b-b-beautiful fluffy fur,’ snivelled the servant, aware that Lady Fluffkins’ vanity ranked much higher than his own
well-being. ‘While I am . . .’
‘A hairless freak?’ purred the Persian. ‘Yes, you are. And your jangling carcass is disturbing my thoughts. I suggest you either learn how to grow fur or fix the heating,
before I toss you out of the airlock!’
Baldy quickly scuttled away, rubbing his stringy tail to warm it as he checked the control panels of the clockwork
Mouseship
. Power levels were critically low across all systems, so he
peered through the side portal to find that the giant key had stopped turning.
‘The clockwork k-k-key has wound down, m-m-mistress,’ he shivered.
‘Then wind it up again, you bald buffoon!’ growled Lady Fluffkins, lazily stroking her thick white coat. ‘Or are you suggesting that
I
go out there and get ice crystals
on my delicious downy fur?’
A Sitting Duck
The
Dogstar
orbited planet Earth like a great metal tank. Inside the spaceship, four teleport beams appeared upon the deck, followed by four sparkling dogs. As the beams
dropped away, the three regular Spacemutts and the reluctant new recruit were greeted by an alert siren!
Poppy immediately leapt to the cockpit and switched the
Dogstar
controls from autopilot to manual, while Butch dashed away to inspect the mechanics at the rear of the
ship. Rocket bounded over to the central hub to silence the alarm and then flicked on the giant screen.
‘What have you got for us, WOOF?’ he asked.
WOOF was short for World Orbiting Observation Facility. The ship’s computer constantly scanned the galaxy for unusual activity, analysing data from spy-bone satellites and deep-space
telescopes.
‘I’ve just picked up an audio pulse in the Catnip Nebula, Captain,’ said WOOF, displaying a galaxy map that marked the exact location and feeding the sound through the
ship’s speakers. ‘Its irregular thumping indicates the presence of a life form!’
‘Can you get a visual?’ asked Rocket, frowning at the strange sound.
‘Negative, Captain,’ said WOOF, zooming in on the map and switching the view to include local planets. ‘And the object is giving off no heat for thermal-imaging.’
said Rocket, twitching his ears.
said Butch, and dribbled on the floor.
‘Or she could be
building
something,’ Poppy said gravely.
Studying the image on the screen, the captain of the Spacemutts scratched his ear with a rear paw as he considered their options. Lady Fluffkins’ distant realm was a dangerous place for
dogs, but if the evil empress was building something that threatened planet Earth, they definitely needed to know about it.
‘Butch, prep the ship for a wormhole jump to the Catnip Nebula,’ said Rocket, rolling out a star map that showed local portals for deep-space travel. ‘Poppy, we’re going
on a scouting mission.’
‘Yes,
paused mid-stretch and gazed up with a gulp.
‘WHOOOOHH . . .’ he protested, and the four dogs sparkled in the light as they vanished within the transport beams, leaving all of the kennels empty.
At the edge of the galaxy in the Catnip Nebula, Lady Fluffkins sat on the bridge of her clockwork
Mouseship
and hissed at planet Earth through her intergalactic
telescope.
The white Persian was devising a new fiendish plot to invade the blue planet and thereby complete her empire, but a rattling-chattering sound had disturbed her wicked thoughts, making her glance
around irritably.
she demanded, green eyes glaring at her hairless servant, Baldy. He was cowering next to Lady Fluffkins’ throne and shaking more than usual.
‘Y-y-yes, m-m-mistress,’ he stammered, bones rattling and teeth chattering.
‘Really?’ sniffed the empress. ‘I hadn’t noticed.’
‘That’s because you are wrapped in the most b-b-beautiful fluffy fur,’ snivelled the servant, aware that Lady Fluffkins’ vanity ranked much higher than his own
well-being. ‘While I am . . .’
‘A hairless freak?’ purred the Persian. ‘Yes, you are. And your jangling carcass is disturbing my thoughts. I suggest you either learn how to grow fur or fix the heating,
before I toss you out of the airlock!’
Baldy quickly scuttled away, rubbing his stringy tail to warm it as he checked the control panels of the clockwork
Mouseship
. Power levels were critically low across all systems, so he
peered through the side portal to find that the giant key had stopped turning.
‘The clockwork k-k-key has wound down, m-m-mistress,’ he shivered.
‘Then wind it up again, you bald buffoon!’ growled Lady Fluffkins, lazily stroking her thick white coat. ‘Or are you suggesting that
I
go out there and get ice crystals
on my delicious downy fur?’
A Sitting Duck
The
Dogstar
orbited planet Earth like a great metal tank. Inside the spaceship, four teleport beams appeared upon the deck, followed by four sparkling dogs. As the beams
dropped away, the three regular Spacemutts and the reluctant new recruit were greeted by an alert siren!
Poppy immediately leapt to the cockpit and switched the
Dogstar
controls from autopilot to manual, while Butch dashed away to inspect the mechanics at the rear of the
ship. Rocket bounded over to the central hub to silence the alarm and then flicked on the giant screen.
‘What have you got for us, WOOF?’ he asked.
WOOF was short for World Orbiting Observation Facility. The ship’s computer constantly scanned the galaxy for unusual activity, analysing data from spy-bone satellites and deep-space
telescopes.
‘I’ve just picked up an audio pulse in the Catnip Nebula, Captain,’ said WOOF, displaying a galaxy map that marked the exact location and feeding the sound through the
ship’s speakers. ‘Its irregular thumping indicates the presence of a life form!’
‘Can you get a visual?’ asked Rocket, frowning at the strange sound.
‘Negative, Captain,’ said WOOF, zooming in on the map and switching the view to include local planets. ‘And the object is giving off no heat for thermal-imaging.’
said Rocket, twitching his ears.
said Butch, and dribbled on the floor.
‘Or she could be
building
something,’ Poppy said gravely.
Studying the image on the screen, the captain of the Spacemutts scratched his ear with a rear paw as he considered their options. Lady Fluffkins’ distant realm was a dangerous place for
dogs, but if the evil empress was building something that threatened planet Earth, they definitely needed to know about it.
‘Butch, prep the ship for a wormhole jump to the Catnip Nebula,’ said Rocket, rolling out a star map that showed local portals for deep-space travel. ‘Poppy, we’re going
on a scouting mission.’
‘Yes,
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