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
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information regarding permission, please contact Atlantyca S.p.A.,
Via Leopardi 8, 20123 Milan, Italy; e-mail foreignrights@atlantyca.it,
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?
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?!
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