The manifest shortens by one: Inés Barakat, 95 years. 6 children carry the line on.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
The schools release Halley Thorvaldsen to Life Systems. Generation 5 takes up its tools.
Night watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Nadia Barakat retires at brightening. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Last shift for Agnieszka Barakat, who joined Life Systems half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Lucía Fang, 88. It is little enough.
Vasili Sharma takes the hand of Nora Aaberg before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
Sixty-eight years: Fermín Jaber hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring C stands ready.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 5,760th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Vasili Valdivia does not wake at dimming. 94 years, most of them given to Command.
Leticia Shen, sixteen, takes the water systems tech apprenticeship in Life Systems.
A daughter, Zenith Shen, born in the Ring A infirmary to Anastasia Shen and Ragnar Barakat. Mother and child are well.
5.42 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 37,125 thousand to go.
Zikora Ulriksen resolves a long-period comet in the forward field — a smudge of home ice, very far from home. It is logged and named.
Year 139 of the voyage begins. The oldest bottle of orchard wine that can be spared is opened. It is always described as "improving."
Ragnhild Zhao's crew brings Hydroponics Bays back after 1 weeks.
Gonzalo Jaber is made Chief of Hydroponics, and marks it by standing the ordinary shift anyway.
Vikram Aaberg stands down from Hydroponics at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Trouble in Hydroponics Bays. The board goes amber; the coffee goes on.
The schools release Yaling Valdivia to Fabrication. Generation 5 takes up its tools.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Ravindra Ouyang, 103. It is little enough.
All boards green. I count 916 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Last shift for Basma Ning, who joined Hydroponics half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Last shift for Ion Aaberg, who joined Life Systems half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Ingrid Jaber and Karim Petrov name their daughter Ion. The nursery lamps stay warm.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Kestrel Navarrete, 77. It is little enough.
The schools release Cedric Mazur to Life Systems. Generation 4 takes up its tools.
After 87 years, Lumen Zhao has let go. Remembrance in the Ring B commons at next dimming.
Beatriz Sharma does not wake on the night watch. 81 years, most of them given to Medical.
A daughter, Ylva Thorvaldsen, born in the Ring A infirmary to Iris Thorvaldsen and Ignacio Pillai. Mother and child are well.
A son, Quill Quill, born in the Ring C infirmary to Samira Quill and Jaroslav Navarrete. Mother and child are well.
Remembrance day. The memorial wall is polished by hand, though nothing aboard needs polishing less.
Thermal Control hums again. Radhika Ouyang is stood a round of orchard cider by the off-shift.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 138, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Ludmila Thorvaldsen and Viggo Jaber name their daughter Caelum. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Oluwadamilola Navarrete does not wake on the night watch. 89 years, most of them given to Fabrication.
Daisy Tväten stands down from Ecology at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Thermal Control faults on the night watch. Life Systems takes the call.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
Born in the middle watch: Devendra Jaber, generation 5. The ship holds 916 souls tonight.
Sixty-eight years: Pranav Orellana hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring A stands ready.
Bhavana Orellana retires at dimming. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
After 72 years, Widad Petrov has let go. Remembrance in the Ring B commons at next dimming.
A first shift for Quill Petrov, sixteen: nurse, Medical. The badge is printed fresh.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 138, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Bruno Navarrete retires at dimming. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
A new mural from Orrery Petrov — “What the Garden Carries.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
Zofia Thorvaldsen is made Chief of Ecology, and marks it by standing the ordinary shift anyway.
Oscar Shen stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Archive & Schools.