clean
.”
“Of course,” I agreed. “But we already
cleaned up the mess ourselves.”
“That doesn’t matter!” Grandfather
explained. “It is our
duty
to understand
what’s happening there. Maybe they could
use our
help
. Isn’t that right, Captain?”
“Y-yes, of course,” I said quickly.
Sally agreed as well.
“It’s true,” she said. “That floating garbage
could be really
dangerous
for other
spaceships! We need
to do something
about it right away.”
Our
mission
was
clear.
“Spacemice, tomorrow
morning, we leave for
Cleanix
!”
SPARKLY CLEAN
SPARKLINA
At seven the next morning, the whole
MouseStar 1 crew was in the command
center and ready to
go
.
I cleared my throat.
“Thea, are all systems ready?”
“
Yes, Captain!
” my sister replied.
“Then let’s head toward Cleanix at
supersonic speed
!”
I ordered.
When we neared the planet, Thea slowed
down the ship so that she could maneuver
around large
heaps
of garbage that were
floating in space.
Suddenly, Benjamin pointed at something
outside the spaceship.
“Look, Uncle!” he squeaked. “You can see
Cleanix. Doesn’t it look
odd
?”
I peeked out the enormouse command
center window. Sure enough,
the planet was straight
ahead of us. Half of it
was unusually
bright
and sparkly
, while
the other half was
wrapped in a
greenish
fog
.
“How strange!” I agreed.
“Hologramix, what do you know
about this planet and its inhabitants?”
The computer responded instantly: “Half
the planet is populated by Cleanix aliens,
while the other half is uninhabited.
Cleanix aliens are known for their excellent
manners and extreme cleanliness.”
I breathed a
sigh
of relief. Maybe we
would finally have a
peaceful
mission!
“We have reached the
safety
distance from
the planet,” Thea announced. “The landing
ship is
prepared
, and I’ve alerted
the Cleanix aliens to our arrival.”
“Great work!” I exclaimed. “Trap and
Thea, put on your spacesuits and get ready
for our mission!”
I felt a tug at my sleeve, and I looked down
into the
wide
eyes of my sweet nephew.
“Uncle, can we come, too?” he asked.
“We learned all about the capital of Cleanix
in school.
Sparklina
is a very high-tech
city, and we would really
love
to see it!”
I looked at Benjamin and Bugsy. They
were so
excited
! And it did seem like it
would be a pretty safe
excursion.
“Okay,” I replied. “But you have to
promise
you’ll stay near us the entire
time. Agreed?”
“
OF COURSE, UNCLE G!
” they replied in
unison.
“Then I guess we’re all ready to —”
I was interrupted by a
METALLIC voice:
“Captain, you aren’t forgetting about me,
are you?”
I turned to see Robotix glaring at me as
smoke
billowed out of his air vents.
Galactic Gorgonzola!
He was furious.
“I’m the one who told you where the
trash was coming from,” he reminded me.
“So I
insist
that I come on this mission!”
“Um, yes, of course, Robotix,” I reassured
him. “You’ll come, too!”
So we all boarded the space pod, our
small landing ship, and headed for
Sparklina
!
HOW EMBARRASSING!
Sparklina was a truly
FANTASTIC
city.
There were tall, shiny towers; superclean
streets; and large, colorful signs everywhere.
Everything
shimmered
. Honestly, it was
all a bit much for my taste. I wished I had
remembered to wear my
sunglasses
!
We flew over the city and then headed
to the spaceport. A delegation of Cleanix
aliens were waiting there to meet us. They
had put out a velvet carpet
for us, and there
was a
floating
table filled with delectable
space treats
!
As soon as we landed, a tall, elegantly
dressed
alien
approached us. He smelled
strongly of my
favorite
cologne: Cheesy
Moon Craters No. 5.
“I am the emperor,
Samuel Sparkle
,”
he introduced himself. “Welcome to Cleanix,
dear friends!”
I was a bit embarrassed by all the
splendor, but I tried to assume a tone that
was appropriate for the occasion.
“We spacemice are pleased to meet you,” I
replied. “Thank you for the warm welcome!
I am
Geronimo
Stiltonix
, the captain of
the
MouseStar 1.”
“Psst, Geronimo!” Trap whispered in my
ear. “While you’re handling the pleasantries,
we’re going to go
nibble
on some snacks,
okay?”
I didn’t have a chance to respond because
my cousin was already
dashing
toward
the table and snatching up whatever his
paws could reach.
I was so embarrassed, I turned as
red
as
the planet Mars!
“Umm . . . y-you must, er, excuse them,” I
explained sheepishly. “It’s been a
long
trip.”
The emperor smiled. “No problem!” he
replied. “But tell me,
what
brings you here?”
Thea stepped forward. “During our
galactic travels, we drove right into a stream
of GARBAGE
that almost damaged
our spaceship,” she explained. “The garbage
seemed to be coming from your planet. Do
you know anything about this?”
&
nbsp; The emperor lost his
sparkling
smile
immediately.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,”
he replied
dryly
. “
Sparklina
is the
cleanest and most orderly city in the entire
galaxy!”
Black
holey
galaxies!
We had
irritated him. I tried to be a bit more
diplomatic than Thea had been.
“Please excuse us,” I explained. “We didn’t
mean to question your
cleanliness
!
We’re just trying to understand where the
garbage is coming from.”
The emperor’s
sour
expression didn’t
change.
“Um, when we arrived, we also noticed
that half your planet is surrounded by a
greenish
fog,” I pointed out,
trying again. “Is everything
okay
on Cleanix?”
“That half is uninhabitable!”
Emperor Sparkle
replied
quickly. “Don’t worry about
it! Now, my daughter,
Shimmer
,
will show you
around our city.”
At that moment, a very elegant alien
stepped forward. Even Trap stopped
snacking
for a moment to say hello.
“It would be an
honor
around our fair city,” Shimmer said
smoothly. “Please
follow
me and we
can start the tour right away!”
“We’re coming,”
my cousin Trap replied
quickly, his snout stuffed with food.
How rude!
But Shimmer wasn’t insulted. Instead, she
looked
amused
!
“Farewell, spacemice,” the emperor said.
“I will be happy to meet with you again after
your tour.
But
one
bit
of
advice:
Don’t waste
your time thinking about garbage. Why
don’t you concentrate on shopping for some
new
spacesuits
? You could use them!”
I looked at my spacesuit,
confused
. Sure,
it was a little bit worn, but it was still totally
functional. Plus I really liked it!
Meanwhile, at the emperor’s signal, a
ROBOT
had immediately started vacuuming
up the dirt on the carpet
—
and all the
leftover food on the table!
“Uncle, they threw
everything
away!”
Benjamin exclaimed in
surprise.
What a waste!
SUPERSHINY,
SUPERSPARKLY,
SUPERCLEAN!
The tour of
Sparklina
began on a long
street that crossed the whole city. It was
decorated with all kinds of
monuments
.
“Farther down this street you can admire
the statue of my grandfather, Reginald
Shiny,” Shimmer told us.
As I studied the sparkly statue
—
which
was decorated with
diamonds
and
other precious stones
—
I thought I saw a
small, very
DIRTY
, and very
rusty
robot
dart around a corner.
Galactic
GorGonzola!
How was that
possible? Everything on
Cleanix
seemed to be brand-new.
I was about to follow the robot when Trap
distracted me.
“G, I can’t take it anymore!” he whined.
“These statues are so
boring
. They’re all
the same!”
“
Sshhh!
” I whispered under my
whiskers. “Have a little more
patience
. . .”
Unfortunately, Shimmer had heard him,
but strangely, she didn’t get mad. She
actually started to
laugh
!
“Trap is right. That’s enough of these
boring statues!” she said. “I just had an
idea: I’ll take you to a place that’s much
more
fun
!”
“Sounds great!” Trap cheered.
A few minutes later, we found ourselves
in front of a
supertall
,
supershiny
,
supersparkly
, and obviously
superclean
building!
Shimmer led us to the entrance.
“Welcome to the Cosmic Mega Mall,” she
said proudly. “It’s the
largest
shopping
mall in the universe. You can find products
from every corner of the galaxy.”
Martian mozzarella!
That place
wasn’t just big
—
it was
immense
!
There were luxury stores everywhere.
Extremely
elegant
Cleanix aliens were
coming and going, their bags filled with
clothes, food, and objects of all kinds.
this
stuff
?” Trap asked, stunned.
“The Cleanix people like constantly
changing our clothes, furniture, computers,
and spaceships,” she explained. “We love
everything
new
!”
“But what do you do with the
old
objects?”
“We throw them away,” Shimmer replied
simply. “We aren’t
interested
in
things once they are used.”
As Shimmer spoke, I watched an alien
leaving
one store with tons of bags. She
stopped to take off her jacket
—
and she
threw
it into a floating trash can, and then
put on a new jacket she had just bought!
Only then did I
notice
that the shopping
mall was full of floating trash cans and
garbage
robots
that were gathering
everything the Cleanix aliens were throwing
away.
I was pretty sure I had an idea where all
that
trash
ended up.
But when I turned to
ask Shimmer, she was dragging Trap toward
a custom-made clothing boutique.
“You’ll look so great in something
COLORFUL
and
new
!” Shimmer told
my cousin.
Meanwhile, Benjamin and Bugsy Wugsy
&nb
sp; had spotted a
video
Game
store.
“See you later, Uncle G!” they called with
a wave as they raced toward it.
I looked around for
Thea
and saw her
entering a gigantic vehicle shop to look at
the latest spaceship models.
It seemed as if everyone had abandoned
me. Even Robotix was in a robot accessories
store! I could see him
arguing
with
a shop clerk about something.
I was on my own. What should I do? I
thought. I looked at the hologram
map
of
the mall. My eyes lit up when I saw that
there was a bookstore on the seventh floor.
Mousy meteorites!
I had to
get there right away!
Something
Stinks . . .
I went
up
a series of escalators floor
by floor (luckily there was no liftrix on
Cleanix!). I was almost at the seventh floor
when, through a
shopwindow
, I noticed
something flying around outside.
As I wondered what it was . . .
Bang!
I found myself lying on the floor in pain.
While I had been busy looking out the
window,
the escalator had come to an
end!
As I got back to my paws, I spotted a
small,
dirty,
rusty
robot dart
behind a trash can. It was the same one I
had seen earlier on the city’s main street!
The robot tried to zoom away, but I quickly
grabbed
him.
“Who are you?” I asked. “You’re
different
from the other robots
around here.”
The robot looked around suspiciously.
“I’m a spy!” he said. “I’m
following
you
to figure out if you’re a friend or an
enemy!”
“Enemy?” I asked NERVOUSLY
. “Whose
enemy?”
“You might be an enemy of the
rebel robots
who have been thrown away like garbage!”
the creature said proudly. “We’re preparing
for an invasion. We want the Cleanix aliens
to understand that they can’t just
toss us
aside.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, very
curious.
“First they sent all the robots they didn’t
want anymore to the other half of the
planet,” he explained. “Now they’ve started
launching us into space with their
Galactic