Raisa Valdivia retires in the middle watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
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: Mikhail Valdivia hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring C stands ready.
Oddny Navarrete retires late in the second watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
The manifest shortens by one: Vigdis Ouyang, 62 years. 1 children carry the line on.
June Shen does not wake in the middle watch. 85 years, most of them given to Hydroponics.
Departure Day, year 137. The founders' roll is read from the first name to the thousandth, and the young ones try to stay solemn.
Oluwaseun Merriweather and Wenbo Quaye name their daughter Helm. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Wenbo Nwosu, 77, generation 3, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
A first shift for Ion Yan, sixteen: fuelwright, Drive. The badge is printed fresh.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 41,331 days to orbit.
A birth in Ring D: Jaroslav, boy, generation 6. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Ylva Thorvaldsen died in quarters in the middle watch, 79 years old. 926 souls aboard.
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.
A son, Gonzalo Sharma, born in the Ring B infirmary to Chunhua Sharma and Xenia Orellana. Mother and child are well.
Pallas Nwosu has made a tale-cycle called “Early Window (Year 136).” Asked what it means, he says it means about nine years of evenings.
After 71 years, Yash Tväten has let go. Remembrance in the Ring A commons at next dimming.
Sundiata Mansour retires on the night watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
The manifest shortens by one: Esha Yan, 89 years. 4 children carry the line on.
The manifest shortens by one: Uzoma Aaberg, 73 years. The line rests with the ship now.
Ebba Aaberg does not wake at dimming. 101 years, most of them given to Life Systems.
Remembrance day. The memorial wall is polished by hand, though nothing aboard needs polishing less.
Yaw Aaberg stands down from Hydroponics at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Lumen Jaber died in quarters on the first watch, 87 years old. 929 souls aboard.
Dolores Jaber died in quarters on the night watch, 82 years old. 930 souls aboard.
Maja Tväten is delivered of a daughter on the night watch. The child is called Yamini.
Gunhild Valdivia chooses Hydroponics — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Morale index reads 81. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
A first shift for Percy Fang, sixteen: aquarist, Ecology. The badge is printed fresh.
Wei Ulriksen, 55, generation 3, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
A first shift for Fadi Shen, sixteen: thermal engineer, Life Systems. The badge is printed fresh.
Born on the night watch: Mahesh Nwosu, generation 5. The ship holds 931 souls tonight.
Last shift for Zemin Yan, who joined Hydroponics half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Suyin Yan retires on the night watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
All boards green. I count 930 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Maintenance sweep of Ring C complete. Somewhere aft a wrench is missing; it will surface in a decade, in a wall, with a story attached.
“What the Hymn Holds,” a play by Salvador Thorvaldsen, is unveiled in the middle watch to the particular applause of Ecology.
Born on the night watch: Edith Ouyang, generation 5. The ship holds 930 souls tonight.
The manifest shortens by one: Aster Kowalczyk, 76 years. The line rests with the ship now.
A child in Ring C asks the corridor speaker what Earth smelled like. I play the rainstorm recording. It is the best answer I have.
The manifest shortens by one: Nils Quaye, 94 years. 8 children carry the line on.
Sixty-eight years: Mikhail Quaye hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring C stands ready.
A new poem from Suyin Yan — “Long Orchard, Iron Window.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
Last shift for Sable Ouyang, who joined Hydroponics half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 41,442 days to orbit.
The schools release Meridian Sharma to Archive & Schools. Generation 5 takes up its tools.
Sergei Thorvaldsen retires at dimming. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Obinna Shen, 72, generation 3, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Two names braided on the manifest tonight: Quill and Signe. The commons sings late.
Emeka Zhao does not wake at dimming. 81 years, most of them given to Medical.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 136, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.