up and back

We docked with Caban’s ship, the Oberon. I was nervous, to be truthful. Its been a while since I cared about joining a crew.
And the first thing I saw when I set foot on Oberon? A face I’d known. An old friend. Shatter.
Now called Ice Amrit. It is how she introduced herself, after the same momentary pause I felt. I smiled and shook her hand firmly, and I am sure the Captain did not notice anything strange about our meeting.
Oberon is a good ship. The navigational system, an NX-17 Router, is one of my favorites. Old enough to pull off a few tricks, new enough to perform well. Caban trusts me, and Ice has to trust me, though I don't know how far that will go.

I cannot get over that first shock of seeing Ice’s face. Never expected to see it again, the way she runs. She is the same as ever, seemingly unchanged since the last time I saw her. It has been more years than I care to count. What has she been doing? She’s done well recently, securing this ship and position of First Mate, but has she drifted? Has she suffered?

We worked together, long ago. My first crew after Havers, I was eighteen. She was called Shatter then. At first, she terrified me. She is cold, silent, well-suited to her new name. I have never met a better shot, nor any woman more willing to break holster and shoot her way out. For her it was almost gleeful, almost a passionate destruction of life. Her battle cry is horrifying, blood-curdling. She is not a student of ancient war-fare, but she has an instinct for it. I think of her as an avenging Fury, a shrieking Valkyrie, while I have always seen myself as more of a stoic, a Spartan or Amazon. It explains much of Caban’s recklessness, knowing he has flown alone with Shatter. Ice.
Despite this, we had always gotten along, always been friends. Even in the few minutes I have spoken to her today, I felt the camaraderie rekindling. Soon we will have to talk about it, about Wilson’s crew and Xyos and Ulysses. She was never one to wait for explanations.