The Invisible Planet (Geronimo Stilton Spacemice #12) Read online

  My dear mouse friends,

  Have I ever told you how much I love science

  fiction? I’ve always wanted to write incredible

  adventures set in another dimension, but I’ve never

  believed that parallel universes exist . . . until now!

  That’s because my good friend Professor Paws

  von Volt, the brilliant, secretive scientist, has

  just made an incredible discovery. Thanks to some

  mousetropic calculations, he determined that there

  are many different dimensions in time and space,

  where anything could be possible.

  The professor’s work inspired me to write this

  science fiction adventure in which my

  family and I travel through space

  in search of new worlds.

  We’re a fabumouse crew:

  the spacemice!

  I hope you enjoy this

  intergalactic adventure!

  Geronimo Stilton

  Professor

  Paws von Volt

  THe SPACeMiCe

  Geronimo

  Stiltonix

  Trap

  Stiltonix

  Thea

  Stiltonix

  Benjamin

  Stiltonix

  and Bugsy

  Wugsy

  Robotix

  Grandfather

  William

  Stiltonix

  Copyright © 2016 by Edizioni Piemme S.p.A., Palazzo Mondadori, Via Mondadori 1, 20090 Segrate, Italy. International Rights © Atlantyca S.p.A. English translation © 2018 by Atlantyca S.p.A.

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any

  responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  GERONIMO STILTON names, characters, and related indicia are copyright, trademark, and exclusive license of Atlantyca S.p.A. All rights reserved. The moral right of the author has been asserted. Based on an original idea by Elisabetta Dami. www.geronimostilton.com

  Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  Stilton is the name of a famous English cheese. It is a registered trademark of the Stilton Cheese Makers’ Association. For more information, go to www.stiltoncheese.com.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, trans- mitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or here- after invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, please contact Atlantyca S.p.A., Via Leopardi 8, 20123 Milan, Italy; e-mail [email protected], www.atlantyca.com.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  e-ISBN 978-1-338-21505-2

  Text by Geronimo Stilton

  Original title Il pianeta invisibile

  Cover by Giuseppe Facciotto (pencils) and Flavio Ferron (color)

  Illustrations by Giuseppe Facciotto (pencils), Carolina Livio (inks), and

  Serena Gianoli and Paolo Vicenzi (color)

  Graphics by Marta Lorini

  Special thanks to Shannon Decker

  Translated by Julia Heim

  Interior design by Kevin Callahan / BNGO Books

  First printing 2018

  In the darkness of the farthest galaxy in

  time and space is a spaceship inhabited

  exclusively by mice.

  This fabumouse vessel is called the

  MouseStar 1, and I am its captain!

  I am Geronimo Stiltonix, a somewhat

  accident-prone mouse who (to tell you

  the truth) would rather be writing novels

  than steering a spaceship.

  But for now, my adventurous

  family and I are busy

  traveling around the universe

  on exciting intergalactic missions.

  THIS IS THE

  LATEST ADVENTURE

  OF THE SPACEMICE!

  The ShatterMousix

  It was a calm cosmic afternoon: no solar

  storms on the horizon, no planets in

  danger, no urgent appointments in my

  digital calendar. In fact, the universe was so

  calm that Grandfather William had even

  given me a few hours off to rest!

  Holey space cheese, I could finally write

  some more of my epic novel: The Amazing

  Adventures of the Spacemice. Oh,

  excuse me — I haven’t introduced myself!

  My name is Stiltonix, Geronimo Stiltonix, and

  I am captain of the MouseStar 1, the most mouserific spaceship in the universe. (It’s a fabumouse job, even though my secret dream is to be a writer. Shhh — don’t squeak!)

  2

  As I was saying, I had been trying to

  finish my novel for eons, but it’s not easy

  to write when you’re

  the captain of a

  spaceship. Some

  sort of cosmic

  chaos is always

  popping up!

  I was feeling

  fabumousely focused on my

  writing when someone knocked on the

  The Amazing

  Adventures of

  the Spacemice

  door of my cabin.

  Galactic Gorgonzola,

  who could it be?

  I turned and saw my cousin Trap, my

  nephew Benjamin, and his friend Bugsy

  Wugsy all standing in the doorway.

  “Hey, Cousin!” Trap said with a grin.

  “Why are you sitting here, molding like old

  3

  Plutonian provolone? We need to scamper

  over to Astral Park right away!”

  I scratched my snout, confused.

  “Why?”

  “You mean you don’t know, Uncle?”

  Benjamin squeaked excitedly. “Today a

  rattastic new ride is opening!”

  Hey, Cousin!

  Who’s there?

  Bugsy Wugsy piped in. “And we’re going

  to try it out!”

  “You’ll come with us, won’t you, Uncle G?”

  they both cried at once.

  I really wanted to keep writing, but I

  couldn’t disappoint my favorite

  mouselets!

  I nodded and got to my paws. “Oh, all

  right . . .”

  As we scampered toward Astral Park,

  Trap said, “I’m impressed, Cousin — for

  once, you’re not acting like a cheesebrain! You’ll see, a little adventure will do you good.”

  I didn’t understand a cosmic cheese rind

  of what he was squeaking about. “Umm . . .

  adventure?”

  Trap grinned. “I knew you wouldn’t be

  scared of a few steep declines, super

  5

  sharp-as-cheddar curves, and a dozen or so

  acrobatic tailspins . . .”

  What?!

  Super steep declines?! Sharp-as-cheddar

  curves?! Acrobatic tailspins?! Oh, for all the galaxies in the univer
se, my whiskers were trembling in fear!

  Trap didn’t seem to notice. “We’re going to

  have so much fun on the ShatterMousix!”

  The ShatterMousix? Squeeeeak — the

  name alone twisted my tail in knots!

  A moment later, I stood in front of a supertall,

  supersteep, superscary roller coaster.

  Benjamin smiled. “It’s out of this world,

  right? I can’t wait to ride it!”

  RIDE IT?

  I was frightened out of my

  fur just looking at it!

  6

  W

  E

  L

  C

  O

  M

  E

  Help!

  Fabumouse!

  Here’s the ShatterMousix!

  We’d almost reached the front of the line

  when Hologramix,

  MouseStar 1’s onboard

  computer, appeared in front of me.

  “Code yellow! Code yellow!

  Code yellow!

  Captain, you need to return

  to the control room at

  once!”

  I couldn’t help

  breathing a sigh

  of relief. I was

  saved!

  8

  Move It, Geronimo!

  Breathless, I raced to the control room, followed by Trap, Benjamin, and Bugsy Wugsy.

  As soon as we entered the room,

  Grandfather huffed, “Took you long

  enough, Grandson! What were you so

  busy doing instead of being the

  captain of this ship?”

  I stammered, “Hello,

  Grandfather . . . I . . .

  Actually . . . Remember

  I had the afternoon

  off . . . to write my

  book? And then the

  ShatterMousix —”

  “What are you squeaking

  Grandson?

  Where were you,

  9

  about, afternoon off? What book? What ShatterMousix? You are the captain of this ship, Geronimo! Anytime there’s an

  emergency, you need to get to the control

  room at once. No, you need to be here

  already! The whole crew is counting on

  you. Have I made myself clear?”

  “Yes,” I squeaked, hanging my snout.

  “Good! Now get a move on!

  We have a mystery

  to solve!”

  A mystery? Oh, for all the planets out of

  orbit, what was my grandfather squeaking about now?

  Just then my sister, Thea, called me over.

  “Geronimo, there’s something strange going on. Come look at the radar.”

  I approached and studied the screen

  10

  carefully, but it looked like the usual

  interstellar space view to me!

  “I don’t see anything strange!”

  I admitted.

  Grandfather William glared and yelled

  in a booming voice, “You wouldn’t notice

  a meteorite if it smacked you on the

  snout!” He enlarged the star quadrant on

  the screen. “Look again.”

  I concentrated and saw a planet suddenly

  appear on the radar. It was sparkling and

  strangely shaped. It looked almost like . . .

  a lock!

  I pointed to the screen. “What’s this? That

  planet just appeared out of nowhere! Wait a

  whisker-loving minute — now it’s not there

  anymore! It vanished!”

  On the radar screen, the planet I’d been

  pointing my paw at was gone!

  11

  I rubbed my eyes in disbelief. A moment

  later, the lock-shaped planet reappeared.

  For all the satellites in the solar system,

  Grandfather was right —

  this was a mousetastic mystery!

  1

  2

  The mysterious planet

  appeared on the screen.

  The mysterious planet

  disappeared from the screen.

  12

  Planet Lockix

  At that moment, our onboard scientist,

  Professor Greenfur, entered the control

  room. He peered at the screen. “Cosmic

  cheddar, that’s the planet Lockix! So

  it does exist!”

  What in the universe was he squeaking

  about? I turned to Thea for an explanation,

  but she seemed just as surprised

  as me!

  “Planet Lockix?” she

  repeated. “I’ve never heard

  of it!”

  “It disappeared from the

  galaxy’s radar years ago,”

  Professor Greenfur explained.

  “But it has reappeared. That’s

  Lockix exists!

  13

  From the Encyclopedia Galactica

  PLANET LOCKIX

  This planet is located in the

  Alpha-Clavis constellation.

  It is shaped like a

  closed

  lock.

  The planet

  mysteriously disappeared

  from radars all over the

  galaxy five astrocenturies

  ago. Its inhabitants are called

  the

  Eh-Hems.

  incredible! I had only read about Lockix in astro-geography books — and now here it is, on our own radar. My whiskers are

  wobbling!”

  Grandfather William scratched his

  snout. “The history of this planet is awfully

  mysterious.

  I want to know more!”

  We consulted the Encyclopedia Galactica,

  but the information about Lockix and its

  inhabitants was awfully vague.

  14

  Strange, very strange!

  Benjamin asked, “Why did the planet

  disappear?”

  Bugsy Wugsy asked, “Why isn’t there a

  photo of its inhabitants?”

  And Trap added, “Why isn’t there any

  information about the aliens’ favorite

  food?”

  Thea scolded him. “Trap, does this seem

  like the time to worry about food?”

  From the Encyclopedia Galactica

  THE EH-HEMS

  Planet of Origin: Lockix

  Traits: These aliens are

  extremely reserved.

  They are very small and

  are known for their lack

  of physical strength, their

  dubious nature, and their

  resourcefulness.

  Yum, yum!

  room.

  “It’s as good a time

  as any!” my cousin

  answered, munching on

  a chunk of Martian

  mozzarella cheese

  that he’d found in a

  drawer of the control

  I held up a paw. “This situation

  is complicated. We need to understand

  what’s happening on Lockix, and the

  Encyclopedia Galactica doesn’t have much

  helpful information.”

  Meanwhile, the mysterious planet kept

  appearing and

  disappearing

  from our

  radar screen.

  Grandfather William looked at the radar,

  then at Greenfur, and then at me . . .

  Cosmic cheesy chews, I recognized that

  16

  look on his face — it meant out-of-

  this-world trouble on the horizon!

  Just as I suspected, Grandfather

  announced, “Grandson, we’re facing a

  mystery of enormouse proportions —

  and you need to organi
ze an expedition to

  solve it!”

  LEAPING LIGHT-YEARS!

  WHY DO THESE THINGS

  ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME?

  17

  The Catchix

  In the control room, everyone was enthusiastic about taking an expedition to the disappearing planet — everyone except me! I couldn’t help it; I was flooded with fear . . .

  What if we fell into a black hole?

  Or ended up in the middle of a magnetic

  storm? Or ran into

  pirate spacecats

  on

  Lockix?

  Thea looked up from the radar and

  interrupted my thoughts. “Geronimo, we

  have a problem! Lockix is disappearing and

  reappearing on the radar screen so quickly

  that I can’t get its

  coordinates

  to map out a route.”

  For all the lunar cheese, had I understood

  18

  her right? It was impossible to map out a

  route to Lockix? Stellar Swiss balls . . .

  what fabumouse news!

  I was about to breathe a sigh of relief

  when Greenfur squeaked up. “Don’t worry,

  I have a solution! I’ll go get my latest

  invention.”

  Rats! For a nanosecond there, I’d

  thought that I would be able to go back to

  writing in my cabin!

  Greenfur scampered off to his

  laboratory and returned

  with a strange contraption.

  “This is the catchix, a

  frequency catcher.”

  We must have looked

  cosmically confused, because

  he continued, “Thanks

  to a strong

  radar signal

  The catchix!

  19

  calculations system, this device computes all the false data and multiplies it by the frequency of the signal. Adding the cosmic

  constant will give a perfect result!”

  Umm . . .

  Stinky space

  cheese . . . what?

  But Thea seemed to

  understand perfectly. “You’re

  full of surprises, Professor! Can

  you explain how we use it?”

  Greenfur smiled proudly. “It’s

  enormousely easy! Just stick the catchix’s suction cup to the radar screen. In a few astroseconds, it will capture the exact

  position of the planet!”

  Professor Greenfur activated the device,