At that very moment, a young Redwall mouse named Isaac was making an important discovery.

He was digging in the Abbey Garden when his spade hit something hard. Curious, he bent down and brushed the dirt aside with his paws to see what it was.

Soon, he had uncovered the edge of a metal object. At first, he thought it was an old tin can, but he soon realized it was much too big. He started removing more and more dirt, making his hole wider, until he was sitting in the bottom of a huge trench. The surface of the metal artifact, whatever it was, stretched out in all directions.

Before long, Arven, the squirrel who was the Abbey Warrior, came along and stood beside the hole. He stooped and peered into it. "Afternoon. What have you got there?"

"I don't know, Arven, sir," answered Isaac. "But whatever it is, it's enormous. There's something buried under here that looks like it might be as big as the entire garden!"

"Let me lend you a paw," said Arven, and he went inside and returned with two big shovels. "These'll serve better than that tiny spade," he said.

The two of them set to work, making the hole wider. Soon they had practically dug up the entire garden, but they still had no idea what the enormous thing was. All they could tell was that it was gray and had a curved surface.

A dormouse named Pellit, who worked in the kitchen, came by. When he saw the hole, he danced with rage. "You fools! Look what you've done! You're ruining the garden!"

"Never mind about the garden," said Arven. "We've found something buried beneath it."

"It could be a cache of hidden jewels 'n' gold," said Isaac. "A treasure!"

Pellit stamped his foot. "I'm telling the Abbess!" And he ran to find her.

Abbess Tansy was the first hedgehog ever to rule Redwall. She was sitting in her office with her friend Craklyn the squirrel when Pellit burst in. "Mother Abbess, Arven is making a great big mess outside! Him and some novice mouse is tearing up the Abbey gardens!"

Tansy raised her eyebrows. "I'm sure Arven wouldn't do a thing like that."

"He is, he is!" Pellit could barely contain his rage. "Come outside and see for yourself if you don't believe me!"

"I'd better come too," Craklyn said. "This incident might be worthy of inclusion in the Redwall annals." As Recorder, it was her job to write down everything that happened in the Abbey.

The three of them went out to the garden, where a large crowd of animals had gathered. Sister Viola, the vole Infirmary Keeper, waved at Tansy when she saw her. "Isn't this exciting?" she said. "Isaac and Arven have found something buried underneath the garden. I wonder what it could be."

The Skipper of Otters was standing nearby and he jumped up onto an overturned wheelbarrow and shouted, "Make way, everybeast! Let our Abbess through!"

The crowd parted, allowing Tansy and Craklyn to pass through to the edge of the pit. Tansy stared down at the thing. "Great seasons o' sun an' showers, what is it?"

"We don't know," Arven said. "Come and feel it for yourself."

Tansy lowered herself down into the hole and started walking around on the metal object. Her footsteps made a dull echoing sound. "It feels hollow," she said.

Isaac nodded. "I thought it might be some sort of casket or container, but what could anybeast possibly store in a thing so big?"

Foremole Diggum, leader of Redwall's moles, appeared on the scene, along with his sister Gurrbowl. "Hurr, this looks loike a job fur burrfessional diggers," he said in his high-pitched voice. "If you'll let me and moi moles take over, we'll uncover ee hobjeck in no toime."

Arven and Isaac were getting tired, so they were happy to let the moles help. Diggum and Gurrbowl gathered all the moles in the Abbey together, and they started digging. The other Redwallers stayed to watch. Nobeast wanted to step away from the excavation site for fear of missing out on the excitement. The molecrew worked all afternoon, and by evening, they'd managed to unearth the entire top of the object, but by then it was clear that it extended far below the earth's surface.

Foremole wiped his brow. "Boy okey, this is gonna take longer'n Oi thought. We'm gonna be at this fur days, maybe weeks."

"But what about the garden?" Pellit cried.

"Don't worry about it," Tansy said. "We can plant another garden in a different part of the grounds. This is much more important. I'm just dying to find out what this thing is!"

When Craklyn wasn't writing, she was usually reading books written by other beasts, and her favorite genre was science fiction. Now she nudged Tansy excitedly. "Know what it looks like to me?"

"No, what?" Tansy said.

Craklyn's eyes gleamed. "A flying saucer!"

Pellit snorted. "The only flying saucer I've ever seen was the one my wife flung at me right before she kicked me out of our house!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tammo, Joshy, and the Crystal Gems were walking through the woods.

"I'm terribly sorry," Tammo said to Amethyst. "I never should have insisted we go to that kindergarten. I thought it would be fun to learn more about how Gems are made, but it was a mistake. Can you forgive me?"

"That's all right," smiled Amethyst. "If we hadn't gone there, we'd never have seen the Flower Monsters, and then we wouldn't be able to warn the people at Redwall about 'em."

The friends kept walking until they came upon a group of hares sitting around a campfire. One, a hare with a mustache and a monocle, looked up and saw the Gems. He seemed to recognize them, for he jumped up and waved to them. "Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst! Fancy meeting you three here!"

"Captain Perigord!" Garnet responded, breaking into a broad smile.

The hare coughed. "Ahem, it's Major Perigord now. I've been promoted. Who are these chaps with you?"

"My name is William David Truman Joshua Stag Hare an' I'm a wizard!" Joshy said.

Tammo bowed courteously. "Tammo Quartz Tussock, sah."

"Indeed!" gasped Perigord. "Any relation to Colonel Cornspurrey De Formelo Tussock?"

"I should say so!" said Tammo. "He was my pater."

"You don't say! Well, there's a thing. I served under your old pa when I was about your seasons. By m'life! Then you'll be Rose Quartz's young 'un!"

"I have that honor, sah."

Major Perigord got up and walked in a circle around Tammo, shaking his head and smiling. "Rose Quartz, eh, great seasons o' salt, the prettiest Gem ever t'slay vermin. All of us at Salamandastron were devastated when we heard the news of her death. We loved her a whole lot."

"So did we," said Pearl sadly.

"You simply must sit down an' share a bite of our food," Major Perigord said. "You're with the Long Patrol now, y'know, no expense spared!"

"This is the entire Long Patrol?" Joshy said. "I thought the Long Patrol had a lot more soldiers than this." There were only eleven hares sitting at the fire, including Perigord.

"Well, this is only a small scouting party," Perigord said. "Most of our hares are back at Salamandastron right now."

Tammo and his friends sat down by the fire. "Help yourselves to some scoff," the Major offered.

A pretty young haremaid handed Tammo a steaming bowl of soup. "Hello. My name's Pasque Valerian."

"Thank you," said Tammo. He took a bite of soup. "Mm, is this pea and celery?"

"It is," Pasque said. "I made it myself."

She passed out portions of soup to Joshy and Amethyst too, but the other Gems declined it. "No thanks," said Pearl.

"Eating's not really their thing," Amethyst said with her mouth full.

"Most curious!" said one of the other hares. "I never met an animal that didn't like to eat before!"

"That's because we're not animals," said Garnet. "We're Gems."

Major Perigord introduced the rest of his band. "This is our Galloper, Riffle, fleet of paw and faster'n the wind," he said of the hare who had just spoken. "Sergent Torgoch, a walkin' armory, collects weapons, 'specially blades. These two're Tare 'n' Turry the terrible twins. Can't tell 'em apart? Never mind, neither can I. Lieutenant Morio, our quartermaster, can steal a nut from a squirrel's mouth an' make him think he's jolly well eaten it. My sister, Captain Twayblade, charming singer but rather perilous with that long rapier she carries. Pasque, our healer, has already introduced herself… That chap there's Midge Manycoats. He's our spy, master o' disguise an' deadly with a noose. Then there's Rockjaw Grang, Giant o' the North, bet you've never seen a hare that size in a season's march." He indicated a really fat hare. "An' that's Corporal Rubbadub, the droll drummer."

Rubbadub smiled widely and made a noise with his mouth that sounded just like a drum. "Boomboom!"

The Major sat back down. "Complete march hare, ol' Rubbadub, took too many head wounds in battle, don't ya know. Now he can't speak anymore. Those drum sounds are the only noises he makes."

"That's sad," said Tammo.

"Tell us about what's happening at Salamandastron," said Garnet. "Who is Badger Lord now?"

Perigord poured himself a beaker of tea. "Actually, we have a Badger Lady at the moment. She's called Cregga Rose Eyes."

Pearl nodded in admiration. "Rose Eyes, that's a pretty name."

Perigord laughed mirthlessly. "There's nought pretty about it! Normally, badgers' eyes only turn red when they're in the throes of Bloodwrath. Cregga's called Rose Eyes because her eyes are red all the time!"

"Why has she sent you over here?" Amethyst asked.

"I'm afraid the murderous Rapscallion army is on the move again," said Major Perigord.

Tammo's ears perked up. "Who are the Rapscallions?"

Garnet balled her hands into fists. "The most ferocious horde that ever lived, other than the Diamonds and their army. They're led by an evil rat named Gormad Tunn."

"You're behind the times, my dear," Major Perigord said. "Gormad Tunn is dead. Now his son Damug Warfang rules the Rapscallions, and we think he's planning to attack Redwall Abbey. We've been tracking a gang of his vermin for the past few weeks, but they're only a blinkin' fraction of the main band. We're trailin' 'em in the hopes that they'll lead us to the rest of the army. The platoon we're following is headed by a fox and two ferrets."

Amethyst exchanged a look with Tammo. "I think we ran into them earlier today," she said. "They tried to kill us, but then they got killed themselves by some Gem Mutants."

The Major spit out a mouthful of tea. "Gem Mutants? This close to Redwall? Why didn't you mention them earlier?"

"That's why we're going to Redwall," said Pearl. "To warn everyone."

"Well, seeing as we're all proceeding to the same destination," Perigord said, "why don't we travel together?"

"Sounds fine to me," said Garnet.

Perigord yawned. "Good, that's settled then. Let's turn in for the night. Rockjaw, you take the first watch."

Rockjaw Grang saluted. "Aye, sir."

"You know what?" said Amethyst. "Us Gems don't need to sleep. We can handle the watch by ourselves. Me, Garnet, and Pearl will stay awake all night and keep our eyes peeled. The rest of you can take it easy."

The hares found this notion extremely agreeable, so that was the plan they adopted. "Heads down now chaps, we move out at dawn," said Major Perigord. "Compliments an' g'night, troop."