In her senior year of high school, Natalie Hope reunites with her friends, Adam and Barbara, at the funeral of the fourth member of their once-close gang, Jake. They remember the made-up superhero game they played as kids called "the Astronites," wh...
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Natalie didn't have to hang around in the Elem Cloud for long. A search party led by the Independence rolled through the ice and dust and spotted Natalie in its headlights. A pair of paramedics brought her into the victorious fleetship, where jubilant UEF soldiers greeted her with a raucous applause, whistling, and handshakes. To avoid banging her head into the ceiling, Natalie shrank down to her normal height. She smiled at everyone and took piecemeal steps through the crowd.
"MAKE WAY! STAND AT ATTENTION!" barked an angry man as he parted the UEF soldiers. Natalie had full confidence that this grumpy-looking grandpa was General Pacbull.
"This way to the medical ward, Golden Giant," he ushered her.
She followed him into the heart of the Independence and to a hospital rotunda. Hundreds of soldiers reclined on beds, sat in chairs, leaned on crutches, and lied on the cold floor. Many were missing limbs. Some were green in the face. But when Natalie walked in, they instantly sat up and beamed with happiness. General Pacbull led her to a cordoned-off section of the hospital, where an empty bed awaited her. It was bordered by three others.
"Adam! Barbara! Jake!"
Natalie stumbled out of her paramedics' hands and into the loving embrace of her friends, each of whom was in the middle of a check-up with doctors and nurses. They rested their heads on one another, content as could be.
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"Ruff! Ruff!"
"Ador!" Natalie exclaimed as her favorite dog leaped into her arms and licked her face. The pennar was still secured to his battlesuit. Natalie took it off to avoid getting hit in the chin.
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