Meridian Fang has made a poem called “Lantern for the Inward Sky.” Asked what it means, she says it means about nine years of evenings.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Oksana Fang is delivered of a son on the first watch. The child is called Quill.
Quill Petrov stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Medical.
Morale index reads 83. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
All boards green. I count 932 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Omar Jaber's crew brings Thermal Control back after 1 weeks.
Last shift for Pallas Diallo, who joined Hydroponics 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.
The schools release Abebi Nwosu to Hydroponics. Generation 5 takes up its tools.
The Crossing. Every year it is observed, and every year someone stands to say the second half is the harder, and is booed warmly.
Last shift for Bjorn Barakat, who joined Fabrication half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Thermal Control quits on the first watch, with a sound the old hands do not like.
Jiayi Peng chooses Hydroponics — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Folasade Pillai chooses Drive — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
A new tale-cycle from Kamala Fang — “Hymns of Year 136.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
“Signals of the observation blister,” a poem by Jorgen Thorvaldsen, is unveiled at dimming to the particular applause of Drive.
Born late in the second watch: Jinsong Navarrete, generation 5. The ship holds 932 souls tonight.
The circle has answered. No cuts. The ship bets on its gardeners, and every eye is on Bay 3.
Night watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
A child in Ring A asks the corridor speaker what Earth smelled like. I play the rainstorm recording. It is the best answer I have.
Born at brightening: Harini Navarrete, generation 5. The ship holds 931 souls tonight.
First Light. The observation blister queues run all day: Teegarden's Star, held in the eyepiece, a little brighter than last year — 5.58 light-years to go.
Maintenance sweep of Ring D complete. Somewhere aft a wrench is missing; it will surface in a decade, in a wall, with a story attached.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
A joining in Ring D: Knut Barakat and Gantry Navarrete. The pressing of cider is authorized.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 4,712th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Last shift for Mira Yan, who joined Hydroponics half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Lyra Merriweather stands down from Hydroponics at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Fabrication Shops back in service. The old hands say it sounds better than before; the instruments say it sounds the same.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 136, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Fabrication Shops faults at dimming. Fabrication takes the call.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 41,623 days to orbit.
Hydroponics Bays restored after 3 days. Pallas Ning signs the work order and goes to sleep for a full watch.
Hydroponics Bays goes down. I reroute what can be rerouted and wake who must be woken.
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.
Pallas Ulriksen and Helm Thorvaldsen are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Life Systems turns out.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
Winifred Tväten finishes a tale-cycle: “Gardens of the commons.” It shows in the commons through the week.
Gayatri Quill, sixteen, takes the seedkeeper apprenticeship in Hydroponics.
The manifest shortens by one: Nicolás Shen, 69 years. 1 children carry the line on.
The question is put to the wider circle: Rationing. The ship asks; Earth answers, in its own long time.
Tomasz Zhao's crew brings Water Reclamation back within the day.
Amir Aaberg died in quarters late in the second watch, 97 years old. 931 souls aboard.
A failure in Water Reclamation. The duty crew is roused; tools move down the spinal corridor at a jog.
After 75 years, Yuri Aaberg has let go. Remembrance in the Ring A commons at next dimming.
Year 136 of the voyage begins. The oldest bottle of orchard wine that can be spared is opened. It is always described as "improving."
“The Patient Garden,” a song by Drift Valdivia, is unveiled on the first watch to the particular applause of Hydroponics.
Sixty-eight years: Gonzalo Thorvaldsen hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring A stands ready.
Konstantin Nwosu, sixteen, takes the teacher apprenticeship in Archive & Schools.
After 94 years, Leif Mansour has let go. Remembrance in the Ring B commons at next dimming.