We'll Bite Your Tail, Geronimo! (Geronimo Stilton Spacemice #11) 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!

  Professor

  Paws

  von

  volt

  Geronimo Stilton

  THE SPACEMICE

  Grandfather

  william

  stiltonix

  robotix

  benjamin

  stiltonix

  and

  buGsy

  wuGsy

  Geronimo

  stiltonix

  traP

  stiltonix

  thea

  stiltonix

  Geronimo Stilton

  SPACEMICE

  WE’LL BITE

  YOUR TAIL,

  GERONIMO!

  Scholastic Inc.

  Copyright © 2015 by Edizioni Piemme S.p.A., Palazzo Mondadori, Via

  Mondadori 1, 20090 Segrate, Italy. International Rights © Atlantyca

  S.p.A. English translation © 2017 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, 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 978-1-338-15920-2

  Text by Geronimo Stilton

  Original title E poi ti mordicchio la coda, Stiltonix!

  Cover by Flavio Ferron

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

  Valeria Cairoli and Paolo Vicenzi (color)

  Graphics by Marta Lorini

  Special thanks to AnnMarie Anderson

  Translated by Lidia Morson Tramontozzi

  Interior design by Kevin Callahan/BNGO Books

  First printing 2017

  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!

  a Quiet

  afternoon

  . . .

  or was it?

  It all started on a quiet Sunday afternoon.

  I had promised my nephew Benjamin I

  would take him to the premier of

  The Fleeing

  Spaceships

  , the last movie in the

  Lord of the

  Asteroids

  trilogy. This episode would finally

  end the epic

  search

  for the lost asteroid!

  Oops! I’m so sorry ... I forgot to introduce

  myself. My name is Stiltonix,

  Geronimo

  Stiltonix

  . I am the captain of the legendary

  MouseStar 1, the most mousestastic

  spaceship in the whole universe, though

  honestly, my real dream is to become a

  writer

  . But that’s another story!

  Now, what was I squeaking about? Oh,

  right! My nephew and I were so excited

  to see the new 5-D

  Lord of the Asteroids

  movie, we got to the theater early.

  “Look, Uncle G!” Benjamin exclaimed.

  “There’s Trap,

  Bugsy

  Wugsy

  , Thea,

  Grandfather William, and

  Sally

  . Let’s sit

  with them!”

  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!

  AAAAAAAHHH!!!

  Mousey

  meteorites!

  Sally de Wrench was

  the most fabumouse rodent in the

  Cheddar

  Galaxy

  , and there was an empty seat right

  next to her! I quickly headed for that

  seat, but as I got closer, my paws became

  mushier

  than

  melted

  cheese

  , my mouth


  dried up, and I heard a strange

  buzzing

  in

  my ears. I was galactically nervous! Luckily,

  by the time I got to the seat, the lights had

  dimmed and the first

  hologram

  had come

  shooting out of the screen. I was about to

  relax when

  .

  .

  .

  We heard a fur-raising scream that made

  the room

  tremble

  .

  “W-what was that?” I stammered.

  “It sounded like it came from Professor

  Greenfur’s cabin next door!” Sally exclaimed.

  We rushed out of the movie and went to

  check on the professor. When he opened his

  door, we were

  stunned

  .

  “Professor Greenfur, w-what happened?”

  I asked.

  “I don’t know,” he replied

  sadly

  . “When

  I looked in the mirror, this is what I saw!”

  “You’re orange!” squeaked Benjamin.

  Shooting stars!

  In case

  you don’t know, true

  to his name, the

  professor’s fur

  is usually

  green

  !

  But now he was

  more

  ORANGE

  than an apricot

  from Uranus.

  “Did you eat an

  alien

  dish

  What’s

  happening

  to

  me?

  at the Space Yum Café?” Trap asked.

  “Sometimes Cook Squizzy puts in too many

  space spices

  .

  .

  .”

  “Are you

  working too hard

  ?”

  bellowed Grandfather William. “Lack of

  sleep can make you sick!”

  “Maybe you used a new soap or cream?”

  Thea suggested. “One time, my fur got the

  craziest

  pink

  spots

  . . .”

  Professor Greenfur shook his head.

  “Nope,” he replied, dejected. “I haven’t

  done anything out of the ordinary.”

  Holey craters!

  We had to figure out

  what was causing his STRANGE condition!

  i have the answer!

  Benjamin and Bugsy Wugsy scurried to the

  control room

  . They used the ship’s

  onboard computer, Hologramix, to search

  for any available information on the planet

  Photosyntheson

  , which is

  where Professor Greenfur was born.

  The rest of us stayed with the scientist,

  hoping to distract him a bit.

  “How are you

  feeling

  ?” asked Trap.

  “Are you hungry

  ?”

  “Actually, yes,” the professor replied.

  “Now that you mention it, I’m cosmically

  hungry. I could really go for some

  soup

  !”

  “Excellent choice!” Trap replied. “I’ll call

  Squizzy on my wristwatch phone and I’ll ask

  him to prepare some whisker-licking good

  Martian ginger

  soup for you. You’ll

  love it!”

  Then we hopped in an astrotaxi and

  headed to the

  Space

  Yum

  Café

  .

  When we got there, Cook Squizzy came out

  to meet us. He was carrying a gigantic pot of

  orange

  soup.

  “Martian ginger soup is the best remedy

  for

  itching

  caused by Venus allergies,

  nausea from hyperspace jumping, and space

  fevers!” he squeaked.

  Then he filled a huge bowl and motioned

  to Professor Greenfur to drink it up. We

  stared open-mouthed as the scientist drank

  the entire

  bowl

  in one gulp.

  “Ahhhh!” Professor Greenfur sighed.

  “That was truly

  mouserific

  . Thank you!”

  But unfortunately, nothing happened. The

  professor was still

  orange

  !

  “I should have put in more

  molded

  space

  cheese

  ,” Cook Squizzy said sadly.

  “Of course not,

  Squizzy

  ,” Thea said,

  smiling. “Even if your soup didn’t cure him,

  I’m sure it made Professor Greenfur feel a

  little

  better

  . Right?”

  “I’m not sure,” he answered slowly.

  “Maybe I should move around a little to

  Slurp!

  help my digestion. I’m feeling

  bloated

  .”

  “Don’t worry,” my sister said. “I have the

  answer!”

  Then she had dragged us all to the

  multipurpose technogym

  .

  “You can do all the moving around you

  want right here!” she squeaked happily.

  “Grandson, you should

  join

  him!” my

  grandfather suggested immediately. “You

  should really be exercising more often. I

  want you to be in tip-top shape, just like a

  real

  captain

  !”

  “I

  am

  a real captain,” I protested. “And I

  exercise plenty. Plus, I feel

  great

  !”

  But putting up a fight was

  useless

  .

  An astrosecond later, I found myself

  running alongside Professor Greenfur

  on the galactic

  treadmill

  . After that, we

  did

  abdominal

  crunches

  . Finally,

  Grandfather William had

  us each do one hundred

  push-ups

  .

  Galactic Gorgonzola!

  It was

  hard work

  !

  After all that exercising,

  Professor Greenfur was

  still as

  orange

  as ever!

  “How do you feel now?”

  my sister asked hopefully.

  “Any different?”

  “Yes,” he replied,

  gasping for air. “I feel

  sore

  all

  over

  !

  What I need now is a

  massage

  !”

  “I have the perfect

  solution,” Sally explained.

  “The

  massagemousix

  .

  50,

  51,

  52

  .

  .

  .

  Faster!

  Puff

  .

  .

  .

  Pant

  .

  .

  .

  It’s a device that gives the most

  mousetastic massages in the

  solar system

  !

  After spending a day fixing motors, a

  massagemousix treatment always makes me

  feel

  AMAZING

 
.”

  “

  Excellent!

  ” squeaked an exhausted-

  looking Professor Greenfur.

  Sally led the professor into a small room

  just off the technogym and had him lie down

  on a high-tech table.

  When the Professor activated the

  massagemousix,

  four

  long

  mechanical

  arms

  popped out and began to vigorously

  massage

  his sore body.

  There was an empty spot right next to

  the professor. I was about to ask Sally if I

  could try the massagemousix myself when

  my cousin dove for the table.

  “I could really use a good massage!” he

  squeaked

  . “Geronimo, watching you and

  the professor work out was

  exhausting

  !

  In fact, I could really go for an

  energizing

  four-cheese shake from

  Uranus. Geronimo, could you grab one for

  me from the Space Yum Café?”

  Shooting

  stars!

  My cousin was

  TOO

  MUCH

  !

  Er

  .

  .

  .

  How

  relaxing!

  I was about to tell him I absolutely would

  not fetch him a cheese shake when I heard

  my nephew Benjamin’s sweet voice.

  “Uncle G!” he squeaked excitedly.

  “Bugsy and I found a ton of USEFUL

  INFORMATION! And we know why

  Professor Greenfur turned orange!”

  don’t just

  stand there!

  “Bugsy Wugsy and I did some research

  in the

  Encyclopedia Galactica

  ,” Benjamin

  explained.

  “We discovered that

  plant

  mouseoids

  from Photosyntheson turn orange when

  From the Encyclopedia Galactica

  PHOTOSYNTHESONS

  Photosynthesons are plant

  mouseoids born on the planet

  Photosyntheson

  . These

  green creatures have a special

  bond with their home planet

  for their entire life. No matter

  how far away they are, if

  danger threatens their native

  land, they turn

  orange

  .

  something’s wrong on their home planet,”

  Bugsy Wugsy added.

  “A problem on

  Photosyntheson

  ?”

  Professor Greenfur whispered, alarmed. “I

  left the planet with my parents when I was

  very little, but I have to go back to help!”