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

clean

  .”

  “Of course,” I agreed. “But we already

  cleaned up the mess ourselves.”

  “That doesn’t matter!” Grandfather

  explained. “It is our

  duty

  to understand

  what’s happening there. Maybe they could

  use our

  help

  . Isn’t that right, Captain?”

  “Y-yes, of course,” I said quickly.

  Sally agreed as well.

  “It’s true,” she said. “That floating garbage

  could be really

  dangerous

  for other

  spaceships! We need

  to do something

  about it right away.”

  Our

  mission

  was

  clear.

  “Spacemice, tomorrow

  morning, we leave for

  Cleanix

  !”

  SPARKLY CLEAN

  SPARKLINA

  At seven the next morning, the whole

  MouseStar 1 crew was in the command

  center and ready to

  go

  .

  I cleared my throat.

  “Thea, are all systems ready?”

  “

  Yes, Captain!

  ” my sister replied.

  “Then let’s head toward Cleanix at

  supersonic speed

  !”

  I ordered.

  When we neared the planet, Thea slowed

  down the ship so that she could maneuver

  around large

  heaps

  of garbage that were

  floating in space.

  Suddenly, Benjamin pointed at something

  outside the spaceship.

  “Look, Uncle!” he squeaked. “You can see

  Cleanix. Doesn’t it look

  odd

  ?”

  I peeked out the enormouse command

  center window. Sure enough,

  the planet was straight

  ahead of us. Half of it

  was unusually

  bright

  and sparkly

  , while

  the other half was

  wrapped in a

  greenish

  fog

  .

  “How strange!” I agreed.

  “Hologramix, what do you know

  about this planet and its inhabitants?”

  The computer responded instantly: “Half

  the planet is populated by Cleanix aliens,

  while the other half is uninhabited.

  Cleanix aliens are known for their excellent

  manners and extreme cleanliness.”

  I breathed a

  sigh

  of relief. Maybe we

  would finally have a

  peaceful

  mission!

  “We have reached the

  safety

  distance from

  the planet,” Thea announced. “The landing

  ship is

  prepared

  , and I’ve alerted

  the Cleanix aliens to our arrival.”

  “Great work!” I exclaimed. “Trap and

  Thea, put on your spacesuits and get ready

  for our mission!”

  I felt a tug at my sleeve, and I looked down

  into the

  wide

  eyes of my sweet nephew.

  “Uncle, can we come, too?” he asked.

  “We learned all about the capital of Cleanix

  in school.

  Sparklina

  is a very high-tech

  city, and we would really

  love

  to see it!”

  I looked at Benjamin and Bugsy. They

  were so

  excited

  ! And it did seem like it

  would be a pretty safe

  excursion.

  “Okay,” I replied. “But you have to

  promise

  you’ll stay near us the entire

  time. Agreed?”

  “

  OF COURSE, UNCLE G!

  ” they replied in

  unison.

  “Then I guess we’re all ready to —”

  I was interrupted by a

  METALLIC voice:

  “Captain, you aren’t forgetting about me,

  are you?”

  I turned to see Robotix glaring at me as

  smoke

  billowed out of his air vents.

  Galactic Gorgonzola!

  He was furious.

  “I’m the one who told you where the

  trash was coming from,” he reminded me.

  “So I

  insist

  that I come on this mission!”

  “Um, yes, of course, Robotix,” I reassured

  him. “You’ll come, too!”

  So we all boarded the space pod, our

  small landing ship, and headed for

  Sparklina

  !

  HOW EMBARRASSING!

  Sparklina was a truly

  FANTASTIC

  city.

  There were tall, shiny towers; superclean

  streets; and large, colorful signs everywhere.

  Everything

  shimmered

  . Honestly, it was

  all a bit much for my taste. I wished I had

  remembered to wear my

  sunglasses

  !

  We flew over the city and then headed

  to the spaceport. A delegation of Cleanix

  aliens were waiting there to meet us. They

  had put out a velvet carpet

  for us, and there

  was a

  floating

  table filled with delectable

  space treats

  !

  As soon as we landed, a tall, elegantly

  dressed

  alien

  approached us. He smelled

  strongly of my

  favorite

  cologne: Cheesy

  Moon Craters No. 5.

  “I am the emperor,

  Samuel Sparkle

  ,”

  he introduced himself. “Welcome to Cleanix,

  dear friends!”

  I was a bit embarrassed by all the

  splendor, but I tried to assume a tone that

  was appropriate for the occasion.

  “We spacemice are pleased to meet you,” I

  replied. “Thank you for the warm welcome!

  I am

  Geronimo

  Stiltonix

  , the captain of

  the

  MouseStar 1.”

  “Psst, Geronimo!” Trap whispered in my

  ear. “While you’re handling the pleasantries,

  we’re going to go

  nibble

  on some snacks,

  okay?”

  I didn’t have a chance to respond because

  my cousin was already

  dashing

  toward

  the table and snatching up whatever his

  paws could reach.

  I was so embarrassed, I turned as

  red

  as

  the planet Mars!

  “Umm . . . y-you must, er, excuse them,” I

  explained sheepishly. “It’s been a

  long

  trip.”

  The emperor smiled. “No problem!” he

  replied. “But tell me,

  what

  brings you here?”

  Thea stepped forward. “During our

  galactic travels, we drove right into a stream

  of GARBAGE

  that almost damaged

  our spaceship,” she explained. “The garbage

  seemed to be coming from your planet. Do

  you know anything about this?”

&
nbsp; The emperor lost his

  sparkling

  smile

  immediately.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,”

  he replied

  dryly

  . “

  Sparklina

  is the

  cleanest and most orderly city in the entire

  galaxy!”

  Black

  holey

  galaxies!

  We had

  irritated him. I tried to be a bit more

  diplomatic than Thea had been.

  “Please excuse us,” I explained. “We didn’t

  mean to question your

  cleanliness

  !

  We’re just trying to understand where the

  garbage is coming from.”

  The emperor’s

  sour

  expression didn’t

  change.

  “Um, when we arrived, we also noticed

  that half your planet is surrounded by a

  greenish

  fog,” I pointed out,

  trying again. “Is everything

  okay

  on Cleanix?”

  “That half is uninhabitable!”

  Emperor Sparkle

  replied

  quickly. “Don’t worry about

  it! Now, my daughter,

  Shimmer

  ,

  will show you

  around our city.”

  At that moment, a very elegant alien

  stepped forward. Even Trap stopped

  snacking

  for a moment to say hello.

  “It would be an

  honor

  to show you

  around our fair city,” Shimmer said

  smoothly. “Please

  follow

  me and we

  can start the tour right away!”

  “We’re coming,”

  my cousin Trap replied

  quickly, his snout stuffed with food.

  How rude!

  But Shimmer wasn’t insulted. Instead, she

  looked

  amused

  !

  “Farewell, spacemice,” the emperor said.

  “I will be happy to meet with you again after

  your tour.

  But

  one

  bit

  of

  advice:

  Don’t waste

  your time thinking about garbage. Why

  don’t you concentrate on shopping for some

  new

  spacesuits

  ? You could use them!”

  I looked at my spacesuit,

  confused

  . Sure,

  it was a little bit worn, but it was still totally

  functional. Plus I really liked it!

  Meanwhile, at the emperor’s signal, a

  ROBOT

  had immediately started vacuuming

  up the dirt on the carpet

  —

  and all the

  leftover food on the table!

  “Uncle, they threw

  everything

  away!”

  Benjamin exclaimed in

  surprise.

  What a waste!

  SUPERSHINY,

  SUPERSPARKLY,

  SUPERCLEAN!

  The tour of

  Sparklina

  began on a long

  street that crossed the whole city. It was

  decorated with all kinds of

  monuments

  .

  “Farther down this street you can admire

  the statue of my grandfather, Reginald

  Shiny,” Shimmer told us.

  As I studied the sparkly statue

  —

  which

  was decorated with

  diamonds

  and

  other precious stones

  —

  I thought I saw a

  small, very

  DIRTY

  , and very

  rusty

  robot

  dart around a corner.

  Galactic

  GorGonzola!

  How was that

  possible? Everything on

  Cleanix

  seemed to be brand-new.

  I was about to follow the robot when Trap

  distracted me.

  “G, I can’t take it anymore!” he whined.

  “These statues are so

  boring

  . They’re all

  the same!”

  “

  Sshhh!

  ” I whispered under my

  whiskers. “Have a little more

  patience

  . . .”

  Unfortunately, Shimmer had heard him,

  but strangely, she didn’t get mad. She

  actually started to

  laugh

  !

  “Trap is right. That’s enough of these

  boring statues!” she said. “I just had an

  idea: I’ll take you to a place that’s much

  more

  fun

  !”

  “Sounds great!” Trap cheered.

  A few minutes later, we found ourselves

  in front of a

  supertall

  ,

  supershiny

  ,

  supersparkly

  , and obviously

  superclean

  building!

  Shimmer led us to the entrance.

  “Welcome to the Cosmic Mega Mall,” she

  said proudly. “It’s the

  largest

  shopping

  mall in the universe. You can find products

  from every corner of the galaxy.”

  Martian mozzarella!

  That place

  wasn’t just big

  —

  it was

  immense

  !

  There were luxury stores everywhere.

  Extremely

  elegant

  Cleanix aliens were

  coming and going, their bags filled with

  clothes, food, and objects of all kinds.

  “But what are they going to do with all

  this

  stuff

  ?” Trap asked, stunned.

  “The Cleanix people like constantly

  changing our clothes, furniture, computers,

  and spaceships,” she explained. “We love

  everything

  new

  !”

  “But what do you do with the

  old

  objects?”

  “We throw them away,” Shimmer replied

  simply. “We aren’t

  interested

  in

  things once they are used.”

  As Shimmer spoke, I watched an alien

  leaving

  one store with tons of bags. She

  stopped to take off her jacket

  —

  and she

  threw

  it into a floating trash can, and then

  put on a new jacket she had just bought!

  Only then did I

  notice

  that the shopping

  mall was full of floating trash cans and

  garbage

  robots

  that were gathering

  everything the Cleanix aliens were throwing

  away.

  I was pretty sure I had an idea where all

  that

  trash

  ended up.

  But when I turned to

  ask Shimmer, she was dragging Trap toward

  a custom-made clothing boutique.

  “You’ll look so great in something

  COLORFUL

  and

  new

  !” Shimmer told

  my cousin.

  Meanwhile, Benjamin and Bugsy Wugsy

&nb
sp; had spotted a

  video

  Game

  store.

  “See you later, Uncle G!” they called with

  a wave as they raced toward it.

  I looked around for

  Thea

  and saw her

  entering a gigantic vehicle shop to look at

  the latest spaceship models.

  It seemed as if everyone had abandoned

  me. Even Robotix was in a robot accessories

  store! I could see him

  arguing

  with

  a shop clerk about something.

  I was on my own. What should I do? I

  thought. I looked at the hologram

  map

  of

  the mall. My eyes lit up when I saw that

  there was a bookstore on the seventh floor.

  Mousy meteorites!

  I had to

  get there right away!

  Something

  Stinks . . .

  I went

  up

  a series of escalators floor

  by floor (luckily there was no liftrix on

  Cleanix!). I was almost at the seventh floor

  when, through a

  shopwindow

  , I noticed

  something flying around outside.

  As I wondered what it was . . .

  Bang!

  I found myself lying on the floor in pain.

  While I had been busy looking out the

  window,

  the escalator had come to an

  end!

  As I got back to my paws, I spotted a

  small,

  dirty,

  rusty

  robot dart

  behind a trash can. It was the same one I

  had seen earlier on the city’s main street!

  The robot tried to zoom away, but I quickly

  grabbed

  him.

  “Who are you?” I asked. “You’re

  different

  from the other robots

  around here.”

  The robot looked around suspiciously.

  “I’m a spy!” he said. “I’m

  following

  you

  to figure out if you’re a friend or an

  enemy!”

  “Enemy?” I asked NERVOUSLY

  . “Whose

  enemy?”

  “You might be an enemy of the

  rebel robots

  who have been thrown away like garbage!”

  the creature said proudly. “We’re preparing

  for an invasion. We want the Cleanix aliens

  to understand that they can’t just

  toss us

  aside.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, very

  curious.

  “First they sent all the robots they didn’t

  want anymore to the other half of the

  planet,” he explained. “Now they’ve started

  launching us into space with their

  Galactic