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

Page 5

by Geronimo Stilton

“Really?” Thea asked, her ears perking

  up. “What are they saying?”

  “The robots and all the other electronics

  discarded by the Cleanix aliens have

  organized,” he explained. “They want to

  prove that they’re still

  useful

  , and

  that it isn’t right to

  just throw them in the

  TRASH

  !”

  It was just as I had

  thought! But there was

  one thing that I didn’t

  understand.

  “I thought I saw a

  robot made out of

  kitchen appliances

  ,”

  I told Robotix.

  “Who built it? Did the

  rebel robots put it together

  by themselves?”

  “Of course!” Robotix said. He sounded

  insulted. “The Cleanix aliens tossed out very

  sophisticated

  artisanal robots that

  were still in working order. And robots are

  very

  intelligent

  , you know!”

  “We have to do

  SOMETHING

  ,” Thea said.

  “There’s no time to lose!”

  “We need to get to the

  Galactic Garbage

  Shooter

  immediately,” I agreed. “If the

  Cleanix aliens and the rebel robots have any

  chance of working things out, we have to

  first

  save

  the emperor and his family!”

  The guard

  led us

  to the palace garage,

  where the

  s u p e r l u x u r i o u s

  (but

  supertiny!) imperial spaceship was parked.

  “We won’t all fit in there!” I squeaked.

  Trap

  pushed me

  inside unceremoniously.

  “Stop complaining!” he scolded me. “We

  just need to

  squeeze

  !”

  Ready to Launch!

  We

  flew

  over the city, which was much less

  bright

  and sparkly since the robot attack.

  “There it is!” Benjamin exclaimed when

  the

  Galactic

  Garbage

  Shooter

  appeared

  before us.

  Solar smoked Gouda!

  Thousands of

  robots were milling around!

  We landed on a small hill and slowly made

  our way through the

  robots

  . They didn’t

  seem to care about us at all. Instead, they

  were all looking at the Galactic Garbage

  Shooter.

  Unfortunately, the recycled robots were

  so

  TALL

  , I wouldn’t have been able to see

  a comet even if it had flown right over my

  head!

  “Trap, let me

  climb up on your

  shoulders,” I told

  my cousin. “That

  way I can

  see

  what’s going on!”

  “

  Great

  idea

  ,

  Cuz,” Trap replied.

  But even from the

  top of his shoulders,

  I couldn’t

  see

  worth

  a crumb of cheese!

  “Benjamin,

  CLIMB

  up on top of

  my

  shoulders!” I told

  my nephew.

  “Sure, Uncle!” he

  replied, scurrying to

  the top.

  “Can you see anything?” I asked.

  “Yup!” Benjamin squeaked. “The robots

  are loading the emperor and his daughter

  into the Galactic Garbage Shooter!”

  Slimy space Swiss!

  We had to act fast.

  “Run, Trap!” I called down to my cousin.

  “We need to

  stop

  those robots!”

  Trap dashed through the crowd as

  Benjamin and I

  WOBBLED

  back and forth.

  Just as we were about to

  lose our fur

  by

  tumbling off Trap’s shoulders, we reached

  the Galactic Garbage Shooter. The rebel

  robot leader was about to give the order to

  shoot!

  “Stop!”

  I squeaked.

  The robot leader turned to us in surprise.

  “It’s those

  funny aliens

  who arrived this

  morning!” he said. “Who are you and what

  are you doing here?”

  “We are

  spacemice

  , and we came here

  to track down the source of all that junk

  floating in space,” I replied.

  “You’re at the source,” the robot leader

  said. “The junk comes from this

  garbage

  shooter

  , which the emperor of Sparklina

  invented. The

  Cleanix

  aliens

  throw away things constantly

  —

  including

  robots!

  —

  to make room for newer models.

  And they do it by shooting

  the trash into

  space

  .

  I worked for the

  emperor for months,

  but he threw me

  away just like

  everything else. He

  replaced me with a

  newer model with an

  underwater

  feature!”

  “That’s terrible,” I said sympathetically.

  “No, it’s

  ridiculous

  !” the robot

  exclaimed. “There are no oceans, lakes,

  or rivers on Cleanix. So it’s a useless

  feature! And I still work! It’s been the same

  for all these robots, too.”

  He gestured toward the other rebel robots.

  “It’s true!” cried a robot made of

  spaceship

  parts. “I was thrown away

  because my owner didn’t

  like my

  color

  anymore!”

  “And I was thrown

  away and replaced by

  a model with

  six

  screens

  instead

  of five!” another

  robot shouted.

  “You’re right to

  be angry, but maybe

  there’s another

  solution

  to the problem,”

  I suggested gently. “Sending the emperor

  and his family into space won’t

  change

  the way the other Cleanix aliens behave.”

  “Maybe not, but it doesn’t matter now,”

  the robot leader replied. “From now on, the

  robots

  rule

  ! Begin the countdown!”

  “Ready for

  launch

  ,” another robot

  announced.

  “Ten . . . nine . . .

  eight . . . seven . . . six . . .”

  What a Surprise!

  I covered my eyes with my

  paws

  so I

  wouldn’t have to see what happened to the

  emperor and his family.

  “Wait!” someone cried. “

  F2-C7

  , is tha
t

  really you? I can’t believe it!”

  It was

  Robotix!

  “F1-C7! What a surprise!” replied the

  robot leader.

  Then he

  stopped

  the countdown.

  I uncovered my eyes and saw the two

  robots hugging each other,

  sparks

  flying

  everywhere.

  Great

  galaxies!

  They

  knew each other?!

  “You’re still

  intact

  ,” the robot leader

  said to Robotix in disbelief. “So you weren’t

  demolished

  after all?”

  “No, I still carry out all my functions

  perfectly on the spaceship

  MouseStar 1,”

  Robotix replied happily. “And, not to

  brag,

  but I’m much more advanced than their

  onboard computer.”

  “Lucky you!

  ” the robot leader said,

  still in awe.

  “And what are you doing these days?”

  Robotix asked.

  “Well, I was working for the emperor’s

  family, but after just six months of service,

  they substituted a

  new

  robot for me,” F2-

  C7 explained. “On this planet, they throw

  everything away

  CONSTANTLY

  . That’s why

  we robots have decided to

  rebel

  !”

  “I see,” Robotix said thoughtfully. “But

  maybe there’s another solution . . .”

  The two robots began to chatter in another

  language

  . Of course I didn’t understand

  a thing!

  “Um, excuse me, Robotix,” I said politely.

  “Can you tell me what’s going on?”

  “Oh, I apologize, Captain Stiltonix,” he

  replied. “I forgot to introduce you! The

  robot leader is my cousin

  F2-C7

  !”

  “Y-your cousin?” I asked, stunned.

  “Yes, my real name isn’t Robotix

  —

  it’s

  F1-C7

  ,” Robotix explained. “F2-C7 and

  I were

  built

  together in the same astroyear.

  But when I moved to the MouseStar 1, I lost

  track of him.”

  “And now here we are!” exclaimed the

  robot leader. “And my

  clever

  cousin has

  an interesting idea about how to

  SOLVE

  our problem.”

  “That’s superstellar!” I exclaimed. “What’s

  the plan?”

  “Robotix suggested that we use the

  MouseStar 1’s garbage-recycling machine.”

  “Of course!” I squeaked. “The

  Stellar

  Garbage Sortrix

  would be

  perfect

  for

  the job!”

  “We could bring the

  Sortrix

  here to Cleanix to

  RECYCLE

  the planet’s

  garbage,” Thea agreed. “That way all the

  trash will have a

  new life! And, of

  course, we’ll encourage the Cleanix to

  throw out less.”

  “Well done, Robotix,” I congratulated

  him. “That’s a

  genius

  idea!”

  “Could you let us down now?” the emperor

  called anxiously.

  “Yes,” I agreed. “We wouldn’t want

  someone to press the

  launch

  button by

  mistake!”

  A NEW ERA

  FOR CLEANIX

  The rebel robots released

  the emperor, his

  wife, and his daughter from the Galactic

  Garbage Shooter.

  “Thank you for your help,” Emperor

  Sparkle said. “Without the spacemice, who

  knows where we might have ended up.”

  “That’s easy,” Trap replied. “You’d be in

  space

  !”

  Shimmer threw her arms around my

  cousin’s neck.

  “

  My hero!

  ” she exclaimed. “You and

  your friends saved us.”

  “I’m very sorry for having doubted you,”

  the emperor said to me. “When you went

  to the

  DARK

  side of

  the planet, I thought that

  you were our

  enemy

  . . .”

  “I told you that

  the spacemice were

  our

  friends

  , dad!”

  Shimmer interjected.

  “You’re right,” the

  emperor told his

  daughter. “I should

  have

  listened

  to you.”

  Then he turned to me.

  “And I should have trusted you, Captain,”

  he said. “Now what can I do to

  make

  up

  for it?”

  “Solving your garbage problem would be

  a great start!” I replied.

  “But that’s why we invented the

  Galactic

  Garbage Shooter

  ,” he said.

  “I’m afraid

  polluting

  space with

  your junk isn’t the answer,” Thea said sternly.

  “You should try using things until they no

  longer work, instead of just throwing good

  things away. Then you can

  recycle

  any

  garbage that you accumulate.”

  “Recycle the garbage?” the emperor asked,

  a puzzled expression on his face. “Okay, but

  how?”

  “The Stellar Garbage Sortrix, a machine

  we developed, can recycle

  ninety-nine

  point nine percent

  of all our garbage,”

  Thea explained. “That way we don’t throw

  anything away — not even

  cheese rinds

  !”

  “We’ve already

  promised

  the robots we will

  lend you the Sortrix,” I added. “That way

  you can clean up your planet from

  TOP

  to

  bottom

  . And you’ll give new

  life

  to

  things that used to be

  garbage

  .”

  The emperor gave me a serious

  look. Black

  holey galaxies, I couldn’t tell what he was

  thinking

  ! But then he broke into a

  grin.

  “Captain Stiltonix, I must admit that this

  is an

  excellent

  idea!” he exclaimed.

  Then he turned to

  F2-C7.

  “I’m sorry I tossed you out without

  thinking,” he said contritely. “Since you

  know garbage so well, I would like to

  make you Cleanix’s official

  Recycling

  Manager

  . What do you think?”

  “I

  accept

  the position, Your Highness,”

  F2-C7 replied enthusiastically. “Let’s start

  recycling right away.”

  What a relief! We had c
ome up with a

  solution for an incredibly

  messy

  problem.

  I activated my

  wrist

  communicator

  and

  called the MouseStar 1 to tell everyone on

  board the GOOD NEWS

  . Unfortunately

  for me, Sally answered!

  “What’s the word,

  Captain

  ?” she asked

  eagerly.

  “Umm . . .er . . .

  I — I . . .” I stuttered.

  cosmic

  Cheddar!

  My nerves always took

  over whenever I had a chance to talk to that

  fabumouse rodent!

  “Captain Stiltonix?” Sally asked. “You’re

  not coming in

  clearly!”

  Luckily

  , Trap came to my rescue.

  “The captain’s wrist communicator

  isn’t working well,” Trap explained. “He

  wanted to ask you to prepare the

  Stellar

  Garbage Sortrix

  for transport to

  Cleanix. We’re loaning it to the emperor so

  he and his people can

  clean up their

  planet.”

  “Copy that!” Sally replied.

  From that day on, the Cleanix aliens

  began an era of

  respect

  for their

  environment

  —

  and for their objects. Before

  we returned to MouseStar 1, the emperor

  threw a party in honor of the spacemice.

  It was

  superstellar!

  Finally, it was time for

  good-byes: Robotix and

  his cousin

  F2-

  C7

  promised they

  would meet again

  within two galactic

  years, and

  Shimmer

  convinced Trap to

  return to Cleanix as

  soon as his new

  spacesuit got

  crumpled.

  The Cleanix aliens insisted on giving us

  thank-you

  GIFTS. Mine was the highest

  honor

  in the city: A statue made from

  recycled

  metal was installed on

  Sparklina’s main street, right next to the one

  of former emperor Reginald Shiny!

  Mousy meteorites

  , what an honor!

  Our mission complete, we returned to

  MouseStar

  1

  . Now space would be clean

  again, and I could get to work writing about

  our encounter with the

  Cleanix aliens.

  And, of course, I had to reschedule my

  dinner

  date

  with Sally! Though, first I’d

  have to find the

  courage

 

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