Rescue Rebellion (Geronimo Stilton Spacemice #5) Read online

  RESCUE REBELLION

  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!

  Professor

  Paws

  von

  volt

  Geronimo Stilton

  Grandfather

  william

  stiltonix

  robotix

  benjamin

  stiltonix

  and

  buGsy

  wuGsy

  Geronimo

  stiltonix

  traP

  stiltonix

  thea

  stiltonix

  Scholastic Inc.

  RESCUE

  REBELLION

  Copyright © 2014 by Edizioni Piemme S.p.A., Palazzo Mondadori,

  Via Mondadori 1, 20090 Segrate, Italy.

  International Rights © Atlantyca S.p.A.

  English translation © 2015 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., 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, transmitted,

  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 hereafter

  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 978-0-545-83539-8

  Text by Geronimo Stilton

  Original title Il pianeta dei cosmosauri ribelli

  Cover by Flavio Ferron

  Illustrations by Giuseppe Facciotto (design) and Daniele Verzini (color)

  Graphics by Chiara Cebraro and Francesca Sirianni

  Special thanks to AnnMarie Anderson

  Translated by Lidia Morson Tramontozzi

  Interior design by Kevin Callahan / BNGO Books

  First printing 2015

  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!

  Darker than a

  Black hole!

  It all started on a Friday. But it wasn’t a

  regular Friday — it was a very

  special

  Friday. Every mouse in the galaxy had been

  squeaking

  about this Friday for

  days — no, weeks — no, months! That’s

  because it was the release date for the

  5-D

  mega mouserific movie,

  The Lord of the

  Asteroids

  . And you know what it means to

  see a

  5-D

  mega mouserific movie, right?

  It means strapping yourself into the movie

  theater’s floating seat to watch fabumouse

  holograms

  *

  and intergalactic visual

  * A hollgram is a three-dimensional image that is projected from a

  light source.

  effects while listening to the universe’s most

  superstellar surround-sound system!

  Oh, excuse me! I forgot to introduce

  myself. My name is Stiltonix,

  Geronimo

  Stiltonix

  . I’m the captain of the legendary

  MOUSESTAR 1

  , the most mousetropic

  spaceship in the universe! Now, what was

  I

  squeaking

  about? Oh, right! I had

  promised my nephew Benjamin and his

  friend Bugsy Wugsy that I would take them

  to see

  The Lord of the Asteroids

  that Friday.

  From the Encyclopedia Galactica

  5-D MEGA MOUSERIFIC MOVIE

  This five-dimensional movie takes place in a special

  circular screening room. Moviegoers strap themselves

  into special extra-comfy moving seats. Then holograms

  seem to emerge from the screen and float around the

  room while the superstellar surround-sound system kicks

  into high gear.

  WARNING:

  5-D mega mouserific movies are not

  recommended for anyone who is a jittery scaredy-mouse!

  “Uncle, we’re ready!” Benjamin’s and

  Bugsy Wugsy’s

  shrill

  voices shouted

  happily as they burst into the control room.

  “Super!” I answered with a big smile.

  “Let’s go!”

  Even though I appeared excited,

  deep

  down, I was a little worried. I don’t

  know about you, but those floating

  holograms

  make me nauseous!


  We got to the theater a little early,

  but it was already packed with mice

  munching on mouthwatering triple-

  cheese-flavored

  popcorn.

  As soon as the lights dimmed, the seats

  began to

  float

  and

  The Lord of the

  Asteroids

  began. The movie was full of

  speeding space shuttles,

  evil aliens

  , and

  mouse-crushing meteorites.

  Squeak!

  How

  terrifying!

  After a few minutes, the images suddenly

  started flickering and became

  blurry.

  Then the screen began to

  vibrate.

  “Uncle, is this a new

  special effect?”

  Benjamin asked.

  Before I could answer, the

  movie suddenly cut out

  completely and we

  were plunged into

  darkness

  . It

  was darker than the

  blackest

  black hole!

  a near Miss!

  Everyone became very quiet. I held

  Benjamin’s

  and

  Bugsy

  Wugsy’s

  paws

  tightly in an attempt to reassure them, even

  though my whiskers trembled with

  fear.

  Then a small dot of light appeared in front

  of me. A second later,

  HOLOGRAMIX,

  MouseStar 1’s onboard computer,

  was beaming at me. I was

  so

  surprised

  , I

  almost jumped out

  of my seat!

  “Red alert!

  Red alert!

  Red alert!”

  Hologramix shouted. “Captain Stiltonix,

  report to the

  control room

  immediately!”

  Red alert?! Since I had become captain,

  there had been only

  yellow alerts!

  A red alert means there is a supergalactic

  CRISIS

  ! What could have happened?!

  The theater’s

  lights

  finally came back

  on. Benjamin, Bugsy Wugsy, and I

  RUSHED

  toward the exit and hurried to the control

  room.

  Grandfather

  William

  Stiltonix

  greeted me with his

  booming,

  incredibly intimidating voice.

  “Grandson!” he barked. “Took you long

  enough

  ! How can you be the captain of

  this spaceship if you’re never around during

  an

  emergency

  ?”

  “Er . . . I

  —

  I was at the

  movies

  . . .”

  I stammered.

  My grandfather became even more

  infuriated.

  “The

  movies?!”

  he squeaked. “Do you

  realize our ship was

  almost

  hit

  by a

  comet? Thanks to your

  sister’s quick thinking,

  we still have the

  fur

  on our backs!”

  “A c-comet?” I squeaked. “How is that

  possible?”

  “Let me explain, Captain,” said our

  onboard scientist,

  Professor

  Greenfur

  .

  “Our spaceship crossed the wake of comet

  AlphA

  2093

  , which appeared suddenly

  in our galaxy’s quadrant.”

  “I had to

  veer

  at the last moment,” my

  sister, Thea, explained. “But I still don’t

  understand

  why the comet didn’t

  Comets are made up of

  ice,

  rocks

  , and

  dust

  . When a comet

  comes near the sun, it heats up and becomes a glowing ball.

  The ice and dust change into a gas that forms a long, tail-like

  trail

  behind the glowing ball. Comets gradually disintegrate

  over time. The word

  comet

  comes from an ancient Greek

  word that means “a head with long hair.”

  COMETS

  Luckily, Benjamin explained everything to

  me. He had taken a course in astronomy.

  show up on our alert system.”

  “The comet produced a

  swarm

  of small

  particles that interfered with our

  instruments,” Professor Greenfur explained.

  “Basically, the comet caused a temporary

  malfunction

  in our equipment!”

  Small particles?

  Swarm?

  Interference?

  “So will the

  comet

  be disintegrating

  soon?” I asked, proud of my newfound

  knowledge.

  “I’m afraid not,” answered Professor

  Greenfur. “According to my calculations,

  Alpha 2093 will

  disintegrate

  in

  exactly 374 cosmic years!”

  Trap clapped a paw on Thea’s back.

  “Nice work!” he said. “Now, anyone want

  to

  celebrate

  our near miss with a

  little snack? I don’t know about the rest of

  you, but I’m cosmically

  hungry!”

  , but

  I sighed. The only thing my

  cousin Trap ever seems to

  think about is

  eating

  !

  “No, we can’t leave our

  posts just yet,” Professor

  Greenfur replied grimly. “We

  averted the

  danger

  another spaceship or planet

  could be in real

  trouble!”

  Warning:

  incoMing COMET!

  Professor Greenfur pressed a series of

  keys

  . An image of the comet appeared on

  the screen.

  “Comets follow regular paths around the

  sun, just like planets,” Professor Greenfur

  explained. “See this

  ring

  ? That’s the

  comet’s

  orbit

  . I made some quick

  calculations, and

  look

  : There’s going to be

  a

  catastrophe!”

  I stared at the screen, but I didn’t know

  what he meant.

  “Er . . . excuse me, Professor,” I said,

  feeling a little

  embarrassed

  . “But I

  don’t see anything dangerous here.”

  Grandfather William pointed to a

  planet on the map.

  “

  Grandson

  , can’t you see that the

  comet’s orbit will place it in the direct path

  of this

  planet

  ?”

  “Yes, but that planet is at least

  five

  times

  bigger than the comet,” Trap

  pointed out. “How can that

  little old

  comet

  reddish

  damage such a big planet?”

  “Given the speed of the com
et and

  its mass, it can do a

  lot

  of damage!”

  Professor Greenfur squeaked in

  dismay.

  “If you consider the friction of the

  atmosphere and the size,

  density,

  velocity

  , and

  angle of the comet,

  you’ll see that the

  planet will

  explode

  on impact!”

  A

  shiver

  of fear

  ran from the tips of my

  ears down to the end of

  my tail.

  “How long until

  impact

  ?” I asked.

  “One day, seven hours, forty-six minutes,

  and twenty-seven astral seconds,” the

  professor replied.

  Black-holey

  galaxies!

  That

  From the Encyclopedia

  Galactica

  Planet:

  Jurassix

  Location:

  Galaxy quadrant

  24/765

  Description:

  Has a dry, rocky

  surface

  Inhabitants:

  Cosmosaurs

  Language spoken: Saurese

  wasn’t much time at all!

  “Is the planet

  inhabited

  ?” I squeaked.

  This time, Hologramix answered.

  “Yes, it is,” the computer said. “It’s the

  planet

  Jurassix

  , and it’s inhabited by the

  cosmosaurs.”

  An image of a

  cute

  little alien appeared

  on the screen. It had a sweet, friendly face,

  LARGE

  eyes, and a tail

  shaped like a

  comma

  .

  a rescue

  Mission

  “The cosmosaurs seem so nice!” Benjamin

  squeaked softly. “Uncle G, we

  totally

  have to save them!”

  Bugsy Wugsy nodded her head in

  agreement