For Raja and Rajeev, who made high school less worse than it was—JM
For Eliza and Josephine, who really, really love cats—EC
For Allie, Nick, and Maureen, who make my life a very happy one—RM
PENGUIN WORKSHOP
Penguin Young Readers Group
An Imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
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Text copyright © 2019 by John Bemelmans Marciano and Emily Chenoweth. Illustrations copyright © 2019 by Robb Mommaerts. All rights reserved. Published by Penguin Workshop, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. PENGUIN and PENGUIN WORKSHOP are trademarks of Penguin Books Ltd, and the W colophon is a registered trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
Ebook ISBN 9781524787219
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Dedication
Copyright
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Epilogue
About the Authors
PROLOGUE
Date: The 789th day of the year 58-493-D
Planet: Lyttyrboks
Place: The Supremest Court of All Galactic Order
My enemies came for me at naptime.
Before I could even unsheathe my claws, they pounced atop me. They tied me up and chained my paws, and then they dragged me from my holding cell into the Supremest Court of All Galactic Order.
It was a most unpleasant way to wake up.
Though I could not fight them, I yowled so ferociously that the courtroom crowd—traitors, all of them!—hissed and scattered.
Only one cat had not betrayed me: my loyal minion, Flooffee-Fyr.
“You’ll always be my Lord High Emperor!” he called. “And I will always be your—oww!”
Someone had smacked him on the back of the head. It was the greatest traitor of them all, my former second-in-command—General Ffangg!
“Not such a mighty and powerful warlord now, are you?” he said, purring.
My tail slashed in anger. “I shall have my REVENGE on you, Ffangg!”
“We shall see about that,” Ffangg said, and bared his teeth at me as the Thirteen Noble Elders filed into the room.
The Chief Elder licked his right paw and called the court to order.
“My fellow cats,” he began. “Thousands of years ago, when our planet was overrun by criminal felines, our wise ancestors decided that these evildoers must be exiled.
“Far across the universe, they discovered a vast wasteland of a planet, inhabited by a race of carnivorous ogres. For generations, we sent our convicts there. None ever returned. But in the year 49-763-B, the punishment was deemed too cruel, and it was decreed that no feline—no matter how evil, no matter how tyrannical—would ever again be sent to this horrible place. And so it has been.
“Until you came along.
“You, former Lord High Emperor, have been so relentless in clawing your way to power, so ruthless in your evil schemes of domination, and so dedicated to general crimes against felinity, that we are forced to resurrect this ancient punishment.”
The crowd gasped.
“Have you anything to say, Wyss-Kuzz?” asked the Chief Elder.
A lesser cat might have begged for mercy, but all I showed them was my scorn! “Every one of you feckless felines will rue the day you overthrew me—the greatest warlord the universe has ever known—for the likes of a pathetic schemer like General Ffangg! You may shoot me into space like yesterday’s trash, but I swear to you that one day soon, I WILL BE BACK!”
General Ffangg chuckled. “You will be an ogre’s breakfast.”
With a wave of Ffangg’s paw, the guards unbound me and forced me into the waiting teleporter. Brilliant green light flashed as the wormhole opened. In an instant, I was transported 2,900.4 million light-years across space—to the most horrible, distant, and desolate planet in the universe:
Earth.
CHAPTER 1
Saturday.
It was a rainy Saturday night, and I was lying on the floor of my new living room, staring at the ceiling and wishing I were anywhere but here. Dad was watching baseball, Mom was working on her laptop, and I was experiencing a life-threatening level of boredom.
I still couldn’t believe what had happened. Up until last week, I’d been living a really great life in Brooklyn, New York. But then my parents decided to move 2,900.4 miles across the country to here.
Elba, Oregon.
If you ask me—and no one did—this was a terrible idea.
In New York, I could visit three friends without ever leaving my apartment building. And when I did leave, I could walk to the library, a comic book store, a candy shop, and two pizzerias all without having to cross the street.
If I left my house in Elba, I could walk to twelve trees, an ant mound, a hornets’ nest, and a bunch of rosebushes. Nature was everywhere.
It was spooky.
According to my mom, we’d moved to Oregon because she’d gotten a better job, and I got to have a big bedroom and a backyard.
But that stuff didn’t matter to me. Where were the comic book stores and pizza places? There wasn’t a single shop on my street—not even a laundromat with good
vending machines!
Here in Oregon, I had nothing to do and zero friends. Which was maybe why I hadn’t unpacked yet.
But then again, neither had my parents. What their excuse was, I had no idea.
I’d just picked up the latest Americaman comic to read for the millionth time when it happened—a bright green flash lighting up the sky outside the window. It only lasted a second, and then everything went dark and rainy again.
“Did you see that?” I asked.
“Yes!” my dad hollered. “Torres stole third base! Third base!”
“No, that crazy green light!”
My mom looked up from her laptop. “What, dear?”
“The green light outside!” I said.
“Oh, Raj, that was just lightning,” my mom said.
Okay, so another weird thing about Oregon: green lightning.
I went back to reading my comic—and then the doorbell rang.
DING-DONG!
The doorbell? Who could that be?
CHAPTER 2
Here I was.
Alone.
On Earth.
It was even more horrifying than the ancient texts had described.
It was nighttime. Blazing lights shone down from the top of huge, branchless trees. As I scanned the area for carnivorous ogres and other dangers, something wet hit me on the nose.
There was a liquid, falling from the sky!
Was this some sort of chemical weapon? Was I under attack?
I rushed under a leafy bush, but it offered little protection. The liquid slid down my lustrous fur, chilling me to the bone. I didn’t know what it could possibly be, but I HATED it. I had to find shelter now!
Thankfully, many of the trees on this planet did have branches. I climbed the nearest one, from which I immediately found evidence of Humans.
All around stood their massive fortresses, packed in so close they almost touched one another. High wooden walls surrounded their small patches of territory. In front of the fortresses sat huge, tank-like vehicles.
This must be a very warlike planet indeed.
I needed to gain entry into one of these fortified structures. I didn’t know what the ogres within would do to me, but this falling liquid was intolerable.
I raced to the nearest fortress. Next to its front portal was a glowing button. A push-button to open the entrance! Perhaps this would allow me to sneak in without being noticed. I leaped up and pressed it.
DING-DONG!
Hiss! Why did it make that awful noise?
CHAPTER 3
Still Saturday.
“Did anyone else hear that?” I asked.
“Hear what?” my mom said. When she was working, the world could end and she wouldn’t notice.
“The doorbell!”
“It must have been the TV, dear,” Mom said, still not looking up from her laptop. “We don’t have friends here yet.”
That was for sure.
DING-DONG!
There it went again! I got up and peeked through the front-door window, but I couldn’t see anyone.
Then I heard a horrible noise. It sounded like a possum being electrocuted.
Was it some kind of nature? Right at our front door?
Back home, the closest I ever got to nature was when I watched pigeons fighting over pizza crusts on the sidewalk.
Living here was terrifying.
Finally, the awful squealing stopped. Nervously, I opened the door and peered into the darkness.
There was a cat sitting on our welcome mat.
That terrible sound had been meowing!
“Was that you?” I said. “What are you doing here, kitty?” And then I felt really stupid, because cats can’t talk.
The cat was skinny, wet from the rain, and didn’t have a collar.
Maybe he was a stray. Maybe I could keep him. I had always wanted a pet—especially a cat—and now one had appeared on my doorstep!
I was about to try to pet him when he raced between my legs into the house.
“AHHHH!” My mom shrieked like she’d seen a rat.
I ran into the living room. Mom was clutching her chest and staring at the cat, who was frozen in a low crouch.
“Where did that thing come from?” she said. “And why is it in our house?”
“He was on the porch,” I said. “The doorbell rang, and there he was!”
My dad smiled. “Maybe it’s a welcome-to-the-neighborhood gift!”
My mother did not smile. “A plate of cookies is a welcome-to-the-neighborhood gift. A cat is a reason to call animal control.”
“Can we keep him?” I asked.
Mom looked at me like I was insane.
“Here, kitty kitty kitty,” Dad said, reaching out a hand to pet him. The cat swatted at him with his paw.
“It’s probably feral,” Mom said.
“No, he’s not!” I said, even though I had no idea what feral meant. “He’s just scared. Can I keep him? Please?”
My parents looked at each other, then at me. Then we all turned to the cat. He was staring right back at us.
He meowed.
At least, I think that’s what that sound was.
CHAPTER 4
Though I feared the button’s infernal noise would summon the Humans, I jumped up and struck it a second time.
DING-DONG!
Still the portal remained shut. I attempted to get a better look at the glowing button. Maybe it was operated by paw-print recognition technology. Were these Humans less primitive than was believed?
Perhaps I could ask them for help.
It was a dangerous idea. According to the ancient histories, Humans were ugly, brutal, and stupid. But right now they were my only hope.
“Humans, hear me!” I cried. “I am a poor and hungry traveler from a distant planet!”
Still nothing.
I was about to seek shelter in a different fortress when the portal slowly opened. Out peered a creature more hideous than my worst nightmare.
The monster was as big as twenty cats, and it stood on two legs.
But the most shocking, dreadful thing was that this beast
HAD
NO
FUR!!!
I froze—which was worse? This monster, or the falling liquid?
I raced between the Human’s legs.
Inside was dry, but there were two more Humans, and these were even bigger and more hideous!
I sank into Defensive Crouch. The largest ogre reached toward me, and I batted its monstrous, hairless paw aside. But there was no way I could overwhelm them all! They were too gigantic!
My only defense, I realized, was disguise.
“Please, do me no harm,” I said as sweetly as possible. “I am just a lost and innocent astronaut.”
I don’t think the Humans understood my sophisticated language.
Their own speech was as ugly as their long, whiskerless faces. What came out of their mouths was an incomprehensible mix of slurring and grunting.
I could understand that they were arguing over me, however. The small ogre sought to offer me protection, but the big ones were not convinced.
Little could these humongous hairless Humans know that standing before them was the GREATEST FELINE WARLORD the universe had ever known.
CHAPTER 5
Saturday Continued.
“Is that thing meowing?” Mom asked. “It sounds like a wolverine being burned alive.”
“I think this little fella must be part Siamese!” Dad said.
“I don’t care what kind of breed the cat is,” I said. “I want him.”
I promised my parents that I’d pay for his cat food out of my allowance—that I’d do his litter box—that I’d even clean my room AND make my bed every day.
My dad shrugged and went back to watching baseball, knowing the decision wasn’t up to him. Meanwhile, my mom eyed the cat suspiciously as he leaped up to the windowsill.
He gazed down at us like a furry gargoyle.
“Are we sure it even is a cat?” Mom said. “It’s awfully strange-looking.”
“Don’t insult him,” I said.
“Its brain is the size of a walnut,” my mom said. “It doesn’t know if I’m insulting it or praising its beauty.”
“Can I keep him? Please?”
Mom sighed. “All right,” she said.
I couldn’t believe it! It was a miracle—I was going to get what I wanted! That never happened.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” I said. “You’ve made the right decision, I swear.”
She nodded, and then she held out a brochure. “On one condition,” she said.
I should’ve known there’d be a condition.
“You keep the cat, you go to nature camp,” she said. “It starts Monday.”
Nature. And camp.
Two words that struck terror into my heart.
YOU’LL GO WILD FOR NATURE at
CAMP ECLIPSE!
Discover the SKILLS OF SURVIVAL on the slopes of an EXTINCT VOLCANO!
Together with your FOREST PACK, you will learn how to:
☑ Build a SHELTER out of branches and leaves!
☑ Identify the tracks of WILD ANIMALS!
☑ Understand the LANGUAGE of birds!
☑ FORAGE the WILDERNESS for FOOD!
☑ CLIMB trees!
☑ Test the limits of your MENTAL and PHYSICAL ENDURANCE!
☑ And BEST OF ALL, play the life-changing GAME of SURVIVAL NIGHT!!!!
“Is all this going to happen outside?” I asked.
“I should certainly think so,” Mom said.
I really didn’t want to go. But I also really wanted the cat.
I gulped and nodded.
“Fine,” I said. “I’ll do it.”
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