Pirate Spacecat Attack (Geronimo Stilton Spacemice #10)

Home > Childrens > Pirate Spacecat Attack (Geronimo Stilton Spacemice #10) > Page 4
Pirate Spacecat Attack (Geronimo Stilton Spacemice #10) Page 4

by Geronimo Stilton


  “Trap, please —” I tried to say, but before

  I could even finish the sentence, a big alien

  in a

  black cape

  bumped into me, almost

  knocking me

  down

  .

  “How rude!” I squeaked, but he had

  already disappeared into the crowd. The air

  around him smelled of

  moldy

  sardines

  !

  Ugh!

  “Quiet, Trap!” Sally exclaimed. “The

  professor asked us to keep a

  secret

  , and

  there may be

  nosy

  aliens around us.”

  Trap finally stopped talking, and we made

  our way back to Thea and our spacecraft.

  After we said good-bye to

  Fidox

  , we flew

  back to the MouseStar 1 for the night.

  Clumsy, Rude

  Aliens!

  The following day, we headed straight back

  to the secret lab. Once again, Thea waited

  for us at the

  spaceship

  port

  , while

  Trap, Sally, Benjamin, and I went to meet

  Professor Twisterix.

  As before, the streets of Inventor’s Alley

  were crowded with all kinds of

  aliens

  busily buying, selling, and fixing the

  weirdest

  objects.

  “

  I can’t wait to see Hologramix again!

  ”

  I squeaked. I would be so relieved once

  Hologramix was healthy and back on board

  the

  MouseStar 1.

  “Me too, because

  .

  .

  .

  ouch

  !” Trap said.

  A huge alien in a big black cape had just

  How rude!

  CRASHED

  into him.

  Martian mozzarella!

  It was the alien

  who had bumped

  into me the previous

  day! I recognized the

  same

  stinky

  stench

  of moldy

  sardines!

  I was about to say something when two

  smaller aliens

  BUMPED

  into me, knocking

  me down. Ouch!

  “

  What clumsy, rude aliens!

  ”

  Trap mumbled.

  “Everything okay,

  Captain

  ?” Sally asked

  as she helped me up.

  “Yes, but I know I’ve seen those two aliens

  somewhere

  before,” I said. I just couldn’t

  recall where.

  KNOCK

  KNOCK

  KNOCK

  KNOCK

  KNOCK

  KNOCK

  KNOCK

  KNOCK

  KNOCK

  We finally arrived at Twisterix’s workshop.

  Sally knocked on the door.

  There was no answer.

  We waited a minute and then tried again.

  Again, there was no answer.

  “Professor!” Trap shouted loudly as we

  knocked a third time.

  Once again, there was no answer.

  “That’s strange,” Sally said quietly.

  “Professor Twisterix may be secretive, but

  Hmmm. . .

  What do you see?

  he’s always

  very meticulous

  and

  punctual

  !”

  “Maybe he went out for a bit,”

  I suggested.

  “I hope he’s okay,” Sally

  went on, a

  worried

  look

  on her snout.

  “We’ll just have to

  find out!” Trap said as

  he approached the

  outside wall of the

  building and stood

  on the

  tips

  of his

  paws, peeking in

  a window.

  This mission

  had suddenly

  taken a

  strange turn!

  “Can you see anything?” Benjamin asked.

  Trap took another look.

  “There’s no sign of the professor, but

  there’s a

  box

  with a note on it sitting on the

  table,” Trap told us.

  “

  Can you read the note?

  ” I asked eagerly.

  “Yes,” he replied. “It says:

  For the

  spacemice

  !”

  Mousey meteorites! Why was there a box

  for us in the lab but no sign of Professor

  Twisterix?

  There’s Something

  Fishy Going On

  It was very suspicious that Twisterix wasn’t

  home at the

  time

  we had agreed on. And

  it was even more suspicious that there was a

  box for us in his lab instead of him!

  We decided to go

  inside

  to see if we

  could find any

  clues

  to explain what was going

  on. Sally got out her special

  multipurpose

  tool

  and

  used it to unlock the door.

  It has a sensor that can open

  and close all kinds of locks!

  Sally put the tool in the

  lock

  , and the

  door to the lab opened.

  “What a great

  invention

  !” I squeaked.

  “Thank you, Captain!” Sally replied. “I

  was able to design it because I studied with

  Professor Twisterix.”

  As soon as we got inside, we took a look

  at the box on the table. It

  looked

  like the

  box Hologramix had been packed in.

  “Perhaps the professor had an emergency

  and left

  Hologramix

  all fixed up for

  us,” Trap thought out loud.

  “Hmm . . . that’s not like him,” Sally

  squeaked. “And he would have left a note

  on the

  door

  , not in the lab.”

  “There’s only one way we can

  find

  out

  if Hologramix is here:

  We have to turn

  the box on!”

  So Sally pushed a

  button

  . A bright

  beam of light

  shined out of the box.

  But instead of Hologramix’s snout, it was

  the hologram of a

  baby bird

  !

  Can a cat

  play

  patty-cake?

  “And

  who

  are you?” Sally asked, taken

  aback.

  The hologram replied

  mechanically

  : “Can

  a cat play patty-cake? Paw-sibly! Ha, ha,

  ha!”

  Martian

  mozzarella!

  Was it telling

  jokes?

  We were all quiet

  while the

  baby

  bird

  hologram went on: “What

  did the zero say to the

  eight? Nice belt! Ha,

  ha, ha!”

  We

  looked

  at one

  another, dumbfounded
.

  Then we all burst out

  laughing.

  “Do you like my

  jokes

  ?”

  the baby bird asked. “Here’s another one:

  Why do mice need oiling? Because they

  squeak!”

  Black holey galaxies!

  Why had Professor

  Twisterix left a weird, robotic

  baby

  bird

  hologram for us?

  “Let me check something out,” Sally said.

  Then she pushed some

  buttons

  to turn off

  the box and unlocked a little compartment

  MMMHHH ...

  MMMHHH!

  MMMHHH ...

  on the bottom with her

  multipurpose tool

  .

  “It’s just as I thought. This isn’t Hologramix,

  but a toy for the alien mouselets of

  planet

  Gigglyx

  !” Sally declared.

  “B-but what kind of a

  JOKE

  is this?” I

  asked.

  Sally looked puzzled as well. “There’s

  definitely something

  fishy

  going on

  here,” she said.

  Suddenly, Trap shushed us.

  “Quiet!” he whispered. “

  Can you hear

  that?

  ”

  We pricked up our ears and heard a very

  soft

  Professor!

  “It sounds like it’s coming from the closet

  over there,” Benjamin squeaked. “

  Let’s

  go see!

  ”

  We opened the doors of the closet and

  found

  Professor

  Twisterix

  inside! He had

  been

  bound

  and

  gagged

  !

  To Catch a Thief!

  We quickly untied the professor, and he

  filled us in on what had happened.

  “About two

  galactic

  hours ago, three

  aliens suddenly burst into the lab,” he

  explained. “Two of them

  bound

  and

  gagged

  me and locked me in the closet. In the

  meantime, I heard the other one remove

  Hologramix, which I had just

  fixed

  .

  Meanwhile, the other two chattered about

  leaving a ‘little gift’ for you spacemice.”

  “Did you get a good

  look

  at the aliens?”

  I asked him.

  Twisterix

  shook

  his head.

  “Stellar Swiss, not really!” he said.

  “Everything happened so

  quickly

  , and then

  they locked me in the closet.”

  “I’m so sorry, Professor!” Sally said sadly.

  “I feel responsible. I didn’t mean to get you

  into

  trouble

  !”

  “It’s not your fault,” Professor Twisterix

  reassured her. “Those three came with the

  intention of stealing HOLOGRAMIX

  , not

  hurting me! But how did they know it was

  here? Did you talk to anybody?”

  “

  Absolutely

  not!

  ” I squeaked.

  But then I remembered how loudly Trap had

  been talking in the street the previous day.

  Martian mozzarella!

  Someone had

  overheard him!

  Trap seemed to have the same thought.

  “I’m so sorry,” he admitted, hanging his

  snout. “I made a

  mistake

  yesterday. I

  was so

  happy

  we had accomplished our

  mission that I spoke a little too

  loudly

  while we were walking down the street.”

  “There are open eyes and ears everywhere

  on this planet,”

  Twisterix

  replied,

  shaking his head. “I warned you to be

  careful.”

  I sighed, leaning my paw on the table.

  A sharp, protruding nail stuck my fur.

  As I massaged my hurt paw, I noticed a

  scrap of

  black

  cloth

  had caught on the

  nail.

  Where had

  I seen that

  fabric before?

  Holey craters, of course!

  It looked just like the

  black

  cape

  the alien who had

  bumped

  into me and Trap in the street had

  been wearing! He must be the thief!

  OUCH!

  Woof! Woof!

  I explained my

  theory

  to the others.

  “At least we know who to look for now,” I

  said. “Spacemice, let’s go!”

  “Please, let me help!” Professor Twisterix

  said. Then he whistled for the cute

  robot

  dog

  we had met the previous day.

  “If the thieves are still on planet Factorix,

  they won’t be able to

  get

  away

  from this

  guy!” he explained. “Fidox has the most

  amazing

  mechanical sense of smell

  in the entire universe. He can recognize

  and analyze

  seven billion

  different

  scents!”

  “Wow!” Benjamin squeaked in awe.

  The professor grabbed

  the piece of black cloth

  and placed it under the

  dog’s nose. Fidox began

  barking

  immediately.

  Then he headed for the door.

  “Follow him!” Twisterix urged us. “He’s

  equipped with a high-tech

  intergalactic

  tracking device

  . I’ll monitor your

  movements from here. If you should need

  help, I’ll know

  EXACTLY

  where you are!”

  Huff, huff

  Puff, puff

  Pirate Spacecat

  Alert!

  We

  RACED

  through the streets

  of Factorix on Fidox’s heels. Martian

  mozzarella, that robot dog moved

  fast

  !

  He’s leading

  us to

  the

  spaceship port!

  Come on!

  “That dog is . . .

  huff

  . . . quick!”

  I squeaked between breaths.

  “Why aren’t there astrotaxis on this

  planet?” Trap moaned in reply.

  “I think Fidox is heading toward the

  spaceship port

  ,” Sally said.

  “

  COME ON!

  ” Benjamin urged us.

  “We’re almost there!”

  “I . . .

  puff

  . . . hope so!” I replied. “I don’t

  think I can make it much

  farther

  !”

  Thankfully, my sweet nephew was right:

  The

  robot

  dog

  stopped running as soon

  as we reached the spaceship port. He barked

  once and then carefully led us through the
/>
  parked ships. He stopped in front of one

  with a black flag

  with a fish bone on it.

  Mousey

  meteors!

  That flag was the symbol

  of the

  pirate

  spacecats

  *

  ! They

  are feared across the galaxy. They love to

  invade planets and steal whatever precious

  treasures they find. Just thinking about their

  ruthless captain,

  Black

  Star

  , made my

  fur stand on end! Were the pirate spacecats

  the thieves?

  “Quick, hide!” Sally

  whispered

  , pointing

  to the spaceship. “Someone’s coming!”

  *

  We spacemice met the pirate spacecats in The Underwater Planet.

  Quick, hide!

  Someone’s

  coming!

  Shh! Quiet,

  fishbrains!

  We quickly slipped around a corner. From

  there we

  peered

  out and saw three pirate

  spacecats exit the spaceship.

  “Thanks to this

  onboard

  computer

  and this tool that provides endless power,

  we’ll be the most

  feared

  creatures in the

  entire galaxy!” one of them exclaimed.

  “Argh!” another one cackled. “But aren’t

  we the most feared

  already

  ?”

  “Well, yes,” the first spacecat replied.

  “But now we’ll be even

  scarier

  ! We came

  to this planet for a small engine

  repair

  and look what we got instead?

  Bwa,

  ha,

  ha,

  ha,

  ha!

  ”

  Suddenly,

  Black

  Star

  emerged from

  the space ship and joined the other three.

  His

  twirly

  black whiskers looked as evil

  as ever. And I noticed that his black cape had

  a

  tear

  in the back! There was no doubt

  about it: He had stolen

  Hologramix

  !

  “Quiet, fishbrains!” he barked, hushing

  his crew. “Galaxia, have you

  checked out

  the

  new onboard computer as I ordered?”

  “Sure, Captain!” one of the spacecats

  replied.

  “It works

  perfectly

  !”

  “Excellent!” Black Star growled. “Now go

  Moldy sardines

  yummy!

  get me something to eat!

  Moldy sardines

  would be ideal.”

  “Right on, Captain!” came the reply.

 

‹ Prev