All boards green. I count 957 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
A daughter, Yewande Jaber, born in the Ring D infirmary to Guadalupe Jaber and Emilio Ulriksen. Mother and child are well.
Halley Quill and Arc Kowalczyk name their son Chengdong. The nursery lamps stay warm.
A child in Ring D asks the corridor speaker what Earth smelled like. I play the rainstorm recording. It is the best answer I have.
All boards green. I count 955 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Hydroponics Bays back in service. The old hands say it sounds better than before; the instruments say it sounds the same.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 46,105 days to orbit.
Marzena Nwosu is delivered of a son on the night watch. The child is called Vicente.
Hydroponics Bays quits late in the second watch, with a sound the old hands do not like.
I compare today's star field against day one's. The constellations have begun, very slightly, to come apart. Nobody else will look; that is what I am for.
Xavier Thorvaldsen died in quarters at brightening, 86 years old. 954 souls aboard.
Remembrance day. The memorial wall is polished by hand, though nothing aboard needs polishing less.
Last shift for Clara Fang, who joined Fabrication half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
The youngest aboard is now Tern Quill, minutes old, asleep. 955 souls.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 123, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Born in the middle watch: Sundiata Diallo, generation 5. The ship holds 954 souls tonight.
Knut Aaberg and Marzena Nwosu, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
Last shift for Rocío Petrov, who joined Drive half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Sixty-eight years: Xiulan Petrov hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring C stands ready.
Suyin Barakat stands down from Fabrication at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Usman Peng died in quarters at dimming, 85 years old. 953 souls aboard.
Tern Quill, sixteen, takes the seedkeeper apprenticeship in Hydroponics.
A joining in Ring D: Alejandro Zhao and Widad Fang. The pressing of cider is authorized.
A daughter, Drift Mansour, born in the Ring D infirmary to Kavita Mansour and Tao Navarrete. Mother and child are well.
“Turning Water, Distant Door,” a play by Polina Pemberton, is unveiled on the night watch to the particular applause of Life Systems.
Night watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Night watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Census check: 953 souls, 98 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
First watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Last shift for Tao Jaber, who joined Drive half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
Sixty-eight years: Karim Peng hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring A stands ready.
Census check: 953 souls, 98 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Last shift for Everett Nwosu, who joined Hydroponics half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Sixty-eight years: Zenith Sharma hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring B stands ready.
Eos Shen, sixteen, takes the water systems tech apprenticeship in Life Systems.
Chunhua Sharma takes the hand of Xenia Orellana before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
Ishaan Jaber retires on the first watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Last shift for Enlai Aaberg, who joined Hydroponics half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Chief of Drive falls to Tarun Quaye, who accepts with a nod and a full docket.
Last shift for Omar Northam, who joined Drive half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Sixteen years for Sable Tväten, who signs to Archive & Schools on the night watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Amparo Shen retires on the night watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Viggo Singh does not wake at brightening. 81 years, most of them given to Ecology.
Maja Nwosu died in quarters at dimming, 89 years old. 954 souls aboard.
Kestrel Quill has made a song called “What the Field Remembers.” Asked what it means, he says it means about nine years of evenings.
Chief of Command falls to Dinesh Petrov, who accepts with a nod and a full docket.
Sixty-eight years: Ximena Thorvaldsen hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring D stands ready.
Yakubu Patil, 101, generation 1, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.