"The ships!" Miss Kanton shouted, screaming above the roar of the Digger.
"There goes our ship!" Kay screamed.
"Too late!" Beta gasped. "It has one!"
There was a crashing clank and the cry of twisted steel as the machine grabbed the small rocket ship up and crushed it in its jaws. The ship vanished into the bulging bin that followed the mouth on swiftly spinning wheels. The digger growled over the other horizon, leaving in its wake a shallow, wide furrow.
"I'll get the other ship to safety!" Alpha cried and ran towards it.
"What are the Diggers doing on the surface?" Miss Kanton asked Beta. "They're supposed to be underground."
"Something is all wrong," Beta said. "The Controls are obviously scrambled. Radio guides the diggers, keeps them underground until they're full, then lets them come up to empty."