THE GALACTIC
GOAL
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.
THE GALACTIC
GOAL
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.
e-ISBN 978-0-545-74763-9
Copyright © 2013 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.
GERONIMO STILTON names, characters, and related indicia are copy-
right, 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 trade-
mark of the Stilton Cheese Makers’ Association. For more information,
go to www.stiltoncheese.com.
Text by Geronimo Stilton
Original title Sfida galattica all’ultimo gol
Cover by Flavio Ferron
Interior illustrations by Giuseppe Facciotto (design)
and Daniele Verzini (color)
Graphics by Chiara Cebraro
Special thanks to Shannon Penney
Translated by Julia Heim
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!
SPACE
NEWS
INCOMING VIDEO
MESSAGE!
It was a calm Monday morning, and I
had just started eating a cosmic cheese
Danish in my cabin. The onboard computer
opened my daily news summary. A
ship’s captain has to be informed
about what’s going on across the
universe, after all!
Oh, excuse me—
I haven’t introduced
myself! My name
is Stiltonix,
Geronimo
Stiltonix
. I am
the captain of the
SPACE
NEWS
SPACE
NEWS
SPACE
NEWS
MOUSESTAR 1, home
of the spacemice!
As I was saying, I
read the titles of the
articles in
SPACE
NEWS
: Firemaker
Volcano Erupts;
Asteroids Pass
Through Galaxies
88532 and 22398;
Spacecraft Crashes Near
Antarex Constellation;
Soccerix Championship
to Begin Next Week on
Planet Athletica.
Oh, sports!
I have to admit, I’m not
a very
sporty
mouse. Just the thought
SPACE
NEWS
of going for a
RUN
makes
my legs turn softer and
floppier than Martian
mozzarella!
No, I’m no athlete—
my dream is to become
a great WRITER. I have been
trying to finish writing my book, The
Amazing Adventures of the Spacemice, for
ages, but I never manage to do it because
some sort of galactic trouble always pops up!
That Monday, luckily, everything seemed
calm . . . until an alarm went off, making
me jump to my paws in fright.
Hologramix, the onboard computer,
suddenly MATERIALIZED in front of me.
"INCOMING VIDEO MESSAGE!
INCOMING VIDEO MESSAGE!
INCOMING VIDEO MESSAGE!"
I looked down sadly at my half-
full mozzarella smoothie and my
UNFINISHED cosmic cheese Danish.
I sighed. “Can’t I look at the message later?”
“Impossible!” Hologramix
cried. “It requires an immediate response!”
I protested. “But I still need to finish my
BREAKFAST . . .”
HOLOGRAMIX
MouseStar 1’s onboard
computer
Species: Ultra-advanced
artificial intelligence
Specialty: Controls all
functions of the spaceship,
including the autopilot function
Characteristics: Considers itself to be indispensable
Defining Features: Appears wherever and whenever
it’s needed
“Negativ
e, Captain. You must respond
immediately!” Hologramix replied
firmly.
Stellar Swiss slices, I couldn’t win this
argument. “All right, all right! Let’s hear
it.”
A captain’s work is never done!
an Unexpected
InVItatIon
HOLOGRAMIX began to explain,
“Captain, we received a video message from
planet Athletica of the SPORTIVIUM
constellation. Its location is distant from
ours, according to protonic velocity
and converting the distance in photonic
quantifiers . . .”
I didn’t understand a lunar cheese
crumb of what Hologramix was saying!
“Can I just watch the message?” I said. “You
can explain the details to me later.”
On the SCREEN in my cabin, the image
of an ALIEN holding a ball appeared,
and the video message began.
“Galactic greetings,
Captain Stiltonix.
My name is Diego
Goalor, and I am
the president of
the Intergalactic
Federation of
Soccerix. I’m sure
you know that our
planet holds an Intergalactic Soccerix
Championship every four cosmic years . . .”
Soccerix championship?
It sounded familiar . . . Oh, that’s right! I
had just read about it in the news!
The message continued, “Every time we
organize the tournament, we select eight
cosmic populations to compete against one
another for the Great Intergalactic Cup!
I am formally inviting the spacemice team
to participate in the twelfth soccerix
championship, which will take place
in two weeks. We ask you, honorable
spacemice, to please confirm your
participation.
SINCEREST
STELLAR
SALUTATIONS!
”
The video message closed with a beep,
and I stared at the blank screen, CONFUSED.
The spacemice soccerix team? I shook my
snout.
What did I know about
SOCCERIX
?
I would just have to tell Diego Goalor the
truth: We spacemice did not have a soccerix
team. We didn’t even know the RULES of
the game!
I tried to respond to the video message,
but I couldn’t find the right button.
Sally
de
Wrench
, the ship’s mechanic, had
updated all the MONITORS in the
cabins. The new command center was full of
markings that I couldn’t understand. Crusty
space cheese, how frustrating!
I finally found what I thought was the
right button. I pressed it, and ...
nothing happened.
So I tried another button, and ...
nothing!
I made one last try, but . . . nothing!
I took a deep breath. Surely someone in
the control room could help me!
YoU don’t Know
How to plaY
soccerIx?!
As I entered the control room, my dear
nephew BENJAMIN ran enthusiastically
toward me.
“Hooray, Uncle Geronimo!” he cried. “The
spacemice are going to play in the
soccerix
championship
! What mouserific news!”
Black holey cheese! “B-b-but how do you
know that?” I stammered in surprise.
He grinned. “Because of the message you
sent to everyone!”
OH NO! When I was trying to respond
to the video message and thought nothing
was happening, had I accidentally forwarded
it to
ALL
the spacemice? what a
mess!
Benjamin tugged on my paw. “Uncle, my
uniform is all ready to go! I can be part of
the
TEAM
, right?”
I was about to point out that we didn’t
have a team when Bugsy Wugsy, Benjamin’s
friend, caught up with us.
“I want to play, too! Benjamin and I are a
stellar PAIR!” she exclaimed.
Looking into their excited EYES, I felt
myself melt like a big bowl of
solar smoked Gouda ice cream.
I’m such a softy !
So I sighed and said,
“Of course you can be
on our team.”
Benjamin and Bugsy
hugged me gleefully.
“Uncle Geronimo, you’re the best uncle in
the whole galaxy!” Benjamin cried.
“You’ll be the team captain, right?”
I smiled. “Oh, Benjamin, I’ll come with
you, but I won’t be playing on the tea —”
SUDDENLY
, the door to the control
room opened again, and a deep voice
thundered, “Of course you will be part of
the team, Grandson!”
Mousey meteorites, Grandfather
William Stiltonix had arrived!
“
H-h-hi, Grandfather!
”
I stammered. “So you got the . . . umm, the
invite, too?”
“Of course I got it!” he hollered. “And I
bothered COMING all the way here to
find out how the team is shaping up! You
don’t think you’re going to get out of playing,
right? The Intergalactic Soccerix
Championship is extremely important!”
He waved his paws for emphasis. “And
the captain
—
which is, unfortunately,
you — must play. The REPUTATION of
all the spacemice is at stake!”
I stammered, “Y-yes, it is an h-honor,
b-but I —”
Grandfather shook his head. “Don’t tell
me that YOU DON’T KNOW
HOW TO PLAY soccerix!”
I hesitated, but then admitted, “Um,
yes . . . that’s right . . .”
Grandfather snorted. “I knew it,
you
cosmic cheesebrain
! Well, never mind
that. You have two weeks to LEARN!”
Grandfather held his snout in the air and
said proudly, “When I was your age, I was
a soccerix champion! And that’s why I will
be . . . the team coach!”
Grandfather William, our coach? I was
squeakless. That was possibly the worst
news I had ever heard — almost as bad as
that time the MOUSESTAR 1 had run out
of cheese!
*
“Study the soccerix rules, Captain
Cheddarbreath!” Grandfather said
firmly. “I’ve already loaded them onto your
computer.”
*
Read all about that in my book
You’re Mine, Captain!
Glowing
lines to
mark the
borders of
the field
Laser goals
FROM THE ENCYCLOPEDIA GALACTICA
SOCCERIX
Soccerix is a game in which players try to kick a ball
into the opposing team’s goal. The sport is played
in teams of seven:
one goalie, two defenders, two
midfielders, and two forwards (though the players’
roles can change around, depending on
what’s happening in the game).
Here’s what the playing
field looks like:
Laser cameras
to capture fouls
and illegal plays
Super-Turbo Spot:
If the ball is kicked
on the red dot, it
activates a special
super-turbo button — the
ball can’t be stopped, and
the player scores a surefire
galactic goal!
Robot-Ref:
This referee
has 360-degree
laser vision, which
allows it to monitor
the entire playing
field.
plaYers
wanted!
The next morning, a strange voice
woke me in the middle of my favorite
dream — the one where I am in the largest
bookstore in the galaxy, autographing
copies of my new novel. Leaping light-years,
I really wanted to be a writer!
Half-asleep, I opened the door of my
cabin to see who was there. But instead of
one mouse, I was greeted by a looooong
line of rodents who lived on MouseStar 1!
I shook my snout to clear my head. Had
they ACTUALLY come for signed
copies of my book? I hadn’t even finished
the first chapter yet!
Confused, I quietly asked my personal
assistant robot, “Assistatrix, what are
all those mice doing out there?”
In his METALLIC voice, Assistatrix
responded, “They are all here for the
soccerix team tryouts, Captain.”
Meteoric mozzarella!
“Tryouts?!” I yelped. “What tryouts?”
Just then, I noticed that the hallway
outside my cabin was lit up with enormouse
TRYOUTS
FOR THE
SOCCERIX
TEAM!
PLAYERS
WANTED!
PLAYERS
WANTED!
ARROWS and signs about the team
selection. My mouth fell open. Who could
have put them there?
Suddenly, a snout that I knew well poked
out of the crowd. It was my cousin Trap
Stiltonix!
“
The Galactic Goal (Geronimo Stilton Spacemice #4) Page 1
