Beware! Space Junk! (Geronimo Stilton Spacemice #7) Read online

  for dinner.”

  The mouselets began to giggle. It was

  almost as if they knew something

  I didn’t.

  “Yes, he told us!” Bugsy

  squeaked.

  “Actually, could you bring

  him these?” Benjamin added,

  handing me a box of

  Gorgonzola chocolates

  .

  “But why?” I asked, confused.

  “Um, he forgot them in the command

  room,” Bugsy explained.

  “

  Hurry

  , Uncle,” Benjamin squeaked.

  “You don’t want to make, um, Trap wait!”

  Bugsy Wugsy and Benjamin burst into

  giggles

  again. What was so funny?

  When I arrived at the

  Space Yum

  Cafe, Squizzy greeted me at the entrance.

  “Welcome,

  Captain

  !” he said. “Your

  cousin Trap told me to inform you that he

  will arrive in a moment. Meanwhile, please

  come this way!”

  Squizzy led me to a private room in the

  back of the restaurant. A giant

  window

  offered a breathtaking view of the

  galaxy

  .

  “Are you sure this is our table?” I asked,

  stunned. It seemed a little too

  fancy

  for a quick bite with Trap.

  “Of course, Captain!” Squizzy answered,

  lighting

  a candle on the table.

  Stellar Swiss! A candle? What was

  going on?

  A DATE IN SPACE!

  A moment later, I heard a

  sound

  . I turned

  to see . . . Sally de Wrench!

  My paws began to sweat and my tail

  twisted

  into a knot. She looked extraordinary!

  Her

  long evening gown

  shimmered

  in the galaxy light, and her eyes

  sparkled

  like stars.

  But just a minute! What was she

  doing here?!

  We

  looked

  at each

  other in silence for a

  second. Then we both

  squeaked

  at once:

  “But . . . where’s Trap?”

  “But . . . where’s

  Thea?”

  Then I understood: My

  sneaky

  cousin

  Trap had led me to believe we were going

  to dinner together. But he had arranged for

  me to have dinner with

  Sally

  instead. That’s

  why I was so

  dressed

  up

  !

  And my sister, Thea, must have done the

  same thing to

  Sally

  !

  “So that’s why Thea insisted I look

  elegant

  ,”

  Sally

  said as she sat down at the table with

  me.

  And that’s why Benjamin had given me the

  Gorgonzola chocolates: It was a

  present

  for Sally! With my heart

  pounding

  , I

  handed her the box.

  “A s-small gift for you,” I stuttered.

  She smiled at me, and I turned

  bright

  red

  !

  “Thank you!” she said. “You’re

  quite a

  gentlemouse

  , Captain!”

  I

  melted

  like fondue when I heard the

  compliment.

  “This is a really beautiful view, isn’t it?”

  I asked, trying to keep my whiskers from

  shaking

  as I squeaked.

  “Yes,” Sally agreed, smiling

  kindly

  . “Trap

  and Thea certainly went out of their way

  Onion soup

  with French bread

  and melted galaxy

  Gruyère on top

  Moon-mozzarella-

  flavored ice cream

  sundae

  Intergalactic salad

  with four cheeses

  Fried Parmesan

  wedge

  with a Martian-

  spaceberry-fondue

  dipping sauce

  to organize a really

  mouserific

  evening

  for us!”

  A moment later,

  Squizzy

  arrived with

  our menus.

  SPLATTT!

  After a few moments of

  awkward

  silence, Sally got the conversation going.

  “So, what do you like to do best, Captain?”

  she asked.

  “Er

  —

  well, to tell you the truth, my real

  passion is

  writing

  ,” I admitted.

  “Wow!” Sally exclaimed. “I had no idea.

  What are you working on?”

  “It’s a

  novel

  called —”

  But before I could finish my sentence . . .

  Splattt!

  Something

  slimy

  and

  sludgy

  splattered

  against the window of the dining room! I

  decided to ignore it. I wouldn’t let that goopy

  slime interfere with my

  romantic

  dinner!

  “As I was saying,” I continued. “I’m

  writing a novel about spacemice. I’m still on

  the first chapter

  —”

  Ding!

  Splash!

  Glop!

  Sally and I turned toward the window.

  Hundreds of objects in all shapes and

  sizes were

  speeding

  straight toward the

  MouseStar 1!

  A moment later, Hologramix

  appeared

  in the air in front of us.

  “

  Yellow alert! Yellow

  alert! Yellow alert!

  ”

  Hologramix

  shouted.

  Martian mozzarella! A yellow alert? That

  meant there was a real

  emergency

  . We

  were in

  danger

  !

  “Our spaceship is passing through a

  galaxy

  cluster

  of unidentified objects,”

  Hologramix explained. “Captain,

  get to the

  control room

  right away!”

  How unlucky! A

  yellow

  alert

  right in the middle

  of my dinner with Sally!

  “I’m sorry, Sally,” I said

  with a sigh. “But I really

  have to go.”

  “Don’t worry, Captain,” she replied

  quickly. “I’m happy to come with you! I’ll

  help you figure out what those objects are.”

  We hopped in an astrotaxi and

  zoomed

  toward the command center. When we

  stepped into the room, everyone turned to

  look at us

  .

  Trap and Thea winked at me, Benjamin

  and Bugsy Wugsy giggled under their

  whiskers, and Grandfather William looked

  ANGRIER

  than a cosmocat with space fleas!

  “What took you so

  long

  , Grands
on?”

  my grandfather grumbled. “And look

  how

  you’re

  dressed

  . Don’t tell me that you

  were at a fancy gala while our spaceship

  is splashing through a sea of space junk!”

  “Um, hello, Grandfather!” I replied, not

  sure what else I should say.

  “Why aren’t you ever at your post when

  there’s an

  emergency

  ?” he continued to

  berate me.

  “Don’t be

  angry

  , sir,” Sally intervened.

  “Your grandson was at dinner with me.”

  Suddenly, my grandfather changed his

  attitude

  .

  “Oh, excuse me!” he replied. “Well,

  everyone deserves a night off every now and

  then, right?”

  Incredible!

  Sally had managed to defend

  me successfully to my grandfather!

  “Of course,” Sally agreed. “Now, let’s

  get to more important issues: Did you say

  something earlier about

  SPACE JUNK?”

  “Yes!” Grandfather replied. “Space junk

  is

  hitting

  us at top speeds!”

  WATCH OUT:

  JUNK AHEAD!

  Space

  junk?

  What was my grandfather

  talking about?

  “Space junk is a conglomeration of

  many unwanted objects that

  are floating through space,”

  explained

  Professor

  Greenfur

  ,

  MouseStar 1’s resident

  scientist.

  Sally

  nodded

  in

  agreement and squeaked,

  “I think I saw a piece of an

  old motor!”

  But

  Robotix

  , the ship’s know-it-all

  multipurpose robot, corrected her.

  “To be precise, it was a piece of an

  interstellar wave

  antenna,” he said.

  “Are we in danger?” I asked. I was

  worried about my ship and its crew.

  “Not if we remain

  still

  ,” Thea

  explained. “That’s why I already

  turned off the motors. But if

  we start up the ship again,

  a piece of metal could

  DAMAGE

  the external

  hull!”

  “Well, what do we do

  now

  ?” Trap asked

  impatiently. “Wait until the

  junk floats away?”

  “Yes, but that could

  take days, or even weeks!”

  Professor

  Greenfur

  replied.

  From the Encyclopedia

  Galactica

  STELLAR GARBAGE

  SORTRIX

  A superstellar piece of

  machinery that can analyze,

  break down, and recycle

  garbage and waste. The Stellar

  Garbage Sortrix then uses the

  recycled materials to create

  small objects for use in daily life.

  Solar smoked Gouda!

  We had

  to come up with another solution.

  Suddenly, I remembered something I’d

  seen during the inspection that morning.

  “We could collect the garbage and

  recycle it using the

  Stellar

  Garbage

  Sortrix

  ,” I suggested.

  “That’s a great idea!” Benjamin exclaimed.

  “We learned all about recycling in school.

  Instead of

  throwing

  all the garbage out,

  the Sortrix will divide it up based on the

  material it’s made of. Then it can be broken

  down and turned into

  new

  objects

  .”

  Professor Greenfur did some

  calculations

  .

  “We should be able to clean everything up

  and get

  moving

  again in about three galactic

  hours!”

  Everyone cheered.

  “Well done, Grandson,” my grandfather

  said, a look of

  surprise

  on

  his snout. “I knew there was a reason I

  appointed you

  captain

  of this spaceship!”

  I couldn’t believe it. Was Grandfather

  really complimenting

  me? That only happened

  once in a

  blue-cheese

  moon.

  “Um, wow! Thanks,” I replied, still

  stunned.

  But then Grandfather continued. “Since

  you had such a

  great

  idea, Geronimo,

  I elect you to be the official space junk

  collector!”

  Ah, I knew it was too good to be true!

  “Come on, Cuz,” Trap said confidently.

  “I’ll come with you! A bit of

  exercise

  will be good for us!”

  “But I suffer from terrible

  space

  sickness

  whenever I go on a space walk!”

  I squeaked in

  protest

  .

  “Aw, you’ll be fine,” Trap replied.

  There was nothing I could do. A few

  moments later, I was wearing a spacesuit

  and headed off into the cosmos to pick up

  the

  trash

  !

  Soon I heard Sally’s voice through a

  microphone in my helmet.

  “When you’re ready, I’ll activate the

  vacuum

  ,” she explained. “You’ll use it to

  suck

  up

  all the space junk.”

  “

  Ready!

  ” Trap squeaked immediately.

  I was still trying to figure out how my

  spacesuit worked, but it was

  too

  late

  .

  The vacuum was already on, and the tube

  had

  wrapped

  itself around me!

  “Grab the handle, Geronimo!” Trap yelled.

  Handle?

  I reached out and tried to

  aim

  the tube toward a mass of garbage.

  But my paw ended up at the mouth of the

  tube instead, and I was nearly sucked inside.

  “Trap, heeeeeelp!” I squeaked in

  terror

  .

  Luckily,

  he quickly came to my rescue.

  Then a piece of trash got stuck in the tube

  and Sally had to reverse the flow to get it

  out. But I didn’t move in time

  —

  and I was

  blasted

  with a spray of liquid garbage.

  Mousey

  meteorites

  , what a day!

  WHOSE TRASH IS IT?

  Once we had successfully vacuumed up

  all the trash, Trap and I

  returned

  to the

  command center.

  “Great work, team!” Thea cheered. Then

  she turned the MouseStar 1’s

  motors

  back on and we began moving again.

  “I wonder where all that

  trash

  came

  from,” Professor Gr
eenfur mused.

  “Well, if you had ever thought to ask your

  resident robot genius for help, you might

  know the answer,” Robotix replied in a very

  ANNOYED tone. “But no. Instead you rely

  on that digital fur-faced

  illusion

  that

  appears and disappears whenever it wants!”

  Sure enough, in an instant, Hologramix

  appeared

  .

  “How dare you!”

  the computer

  countered. “I

  resolve seven

  hundred forty-

  nine queries

  every second!”

  “And yet

  you don’t know

  how to identify a simple

  piece of

  garbage

  !”

  Robotix replied in a huff.

  Somehow, Trap managed to

  calm

  the

  two of them. They never missed a chance to

  fight about which one was a more developed

  form of

  artificial intelligence

  .

  Once they had stopped

  arguing

  , I took

  Robotix’s bait.

  “Robotix, do you know where the space

  junk came from?” I asked.

  The robot looked at me with

  satisfaction

  .

  “Of course!” he replied. “The trash is from

  Planet Cleanix, Captain! It’s easy to figure it

  out: Just look at the pieces of

  metal

  out

  there.”

  “Huh?” I asked, confused. Robotix just

  sighed and shook his head.

  “My memory bank contains a list of all

  the robotics that have ever been produced

  in this

  galaxy

  ,” Robotix explained. “And

  these pieces come from Cleanix!”

  “So all the trash must be from Cleanix,”

  Trap concluded. “

  Stellar Swiss

  , what

  littermice!”

  “It’s true,” Professor Greenfur confirmed

  a moment later. “I calculated the

  trajectory

  of the garbage, and the planet

  Cleanix is located right in this part of the

  galaxy, so it all makes sense!”

  “Okay, we now know Cleanix has a

  garbage-disposal

  problem,” I said

  with a yawn. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I

  really need to get some sleep

  . It’s very late

  and I’m so

  tired

  . And tomorrow —”

  “Tomorrow we head to

  Cleanix

  !”

  Grandfather William interrupted. “This

  galaxy belongs to all of us, and everyone

  must work together to keep it