Maintenance sweep of Ring B complete. Somewhere aft a wrench is missing; it will surface in a decade, in a wall, with a story attached.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Sixty-eight years: Rotimi Diallo hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring B stands ready.
Cygnet Nwosu finds an unrecorded microbe thriving in the water walls. Harmless, industrious, ours.
The manifest shortens by one: Halley Navarrete, 91 years. 3 children carry the line on.
A new play from Chinedu Thorvaldsen — “A turning furrow.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
Ngozi Ouyang stands down from Life Systems at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
After 90 years, Chidinma Pillai has let go. Remembrance in the Ring D commons at next dimming.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 3,081th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Aster Fossum, 75. It is little enough.
Pallas Nwosu stands down from Drive at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
June Barakat retires on the night watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
5.86 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 41,298 thousand to go.
Mariam Navarrete and Jianguo Diallo name their son Keel. The nursery lamps stay warm.
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.
The youngest aboard is now Eos Quill, minutes old, asleep. 954 souls.
Obinna Shen retires on the first watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Last shift for Fuhua Shen, who joined Drive half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
A first shift for Fathom Nwosu, sixteen: bay gardener, Hydroponics. The badge is printed fresh.
Born in the middle watch: Raymond Navarrete, generation 5. The ship holds 953 souls tonight.
A birth in Ring D: Per, boy, generation 5. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Born at dimming: Rocío Aaberg, generation 5. The ship holds 951 souls tonight.
Uma Sharma retires on the night watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Sixty-eight years: Ibrahim Jaber hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring D stands ready.
The Crossing. Every year it is observed, and every year someone stands to say the second half is the harder, and is booed warmly.
After 80 years, Hedda Ulriksen has let go. Remembrance in the Ring D commons at next dimming.
Clara Fang, 75, generation 2, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
The circle has answered. The orchard's water is halved. The trees will forgive us, the gardeners say, but not soon.
Born in the middle watch: Josefina Aaberg, generation 5. The ship holds 952 souls tonight.
A birth in Ring C: Valentina, girl, generation 5. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Nicolás Navarrete stands down from Medical at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
Winifred Petrov has made a tale-cycle called “Slow Anchor, Unlit Wheel.” Asked what it means, she says it means about nine years of evenings.
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.
Census check: 950 souls, 127 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Mira Diallo, 56. It is little enough.
The manifest shortens by one: Ibrahim Navarrete, 95 years. 5 children carry the line on.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 43,366 days to orbit.
Gilbert Ning stands down from Life Systems at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Two names braided on the manifest tonight: Igor and Eleanor. The commons sings late.
Hernán Fang stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Life Systems.
The manifest shortens by one: Nneka Aaberg, 73 years. The line rests with the ship now.
Census check: 953 souls, 128 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
First Light festival. The children are lifted to the eyepiece one by one to see where they are going.
Pranav Yan and Iris Kong are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Drive turns out.
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.
The manifest shortens by one: Zbigniew Shen, 79 years. 3 children carry the line on.
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.
Everett Zhao stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Life Systems.