The youngest aboard is now Ulyana Fang, minutes old, asleep. 879 souls.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Qiang Merriweather retires at brightening. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
All boards green. I count 878 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Salvador Thorvaldsen died in quarters on the first watch, 91 years old. 878 souls aboard.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 7,633th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
After 67 years, Radhika Pillai has let go. Remembrance in the Ring C commons at next dimming.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 38,683 days to orbit.
Folasade Pemberton stands down from Drive at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Kayode Diallo stands down from Archive & Schools at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Chief of Ecology falls to Josefina Tväten, who accepts with a nod and a full docket.
Last shift for Zofia Thorvaldsen, who joined Ecology half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Florence Kong does not wake late in the second watch. 99 years, most of them given to Life Systems.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
Stanley Nwosu chooses Hydroponics — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 144, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Sixty-eight years: Zikora Petrov hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring C stands ready.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Agnieszka Barakat, 72. It is little enough.
A birth in Ring A: Ulises, boy, generation 7. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
The manifest shortens by one: Domingo Ashworth, 80 years. The line rests with the ship now.
After 83 years, Marzena Thorvaldsen has let go. Remembrance in the Ring B commons at next dimming.
A new song from Guowei Tväten — “Ladders of Year 144.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
A birth in Ring D: Huda, girl, generation 6. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Year 144 of the voyage begins. The oldest bottle of orchard wine that can be spared is opened. It is always described as "improving."
Repair complete on Thermal Control after 6 days. I run the test cycle twice, out of respect for history.
Sixteen years for Unn Quill, who signs to Hydroponics at dimming and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Nicolás Zhao, 81, generation 3, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Trouble in Thermal Control. The board goes amber; the coffee goes on.
A first shift for Lyra Nwosu, sixteen: instrument maker, Archive & Schools. The badge is printed fresh.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Qasim Ning, 94. It is little enough.
Born late in the second watch: Keel Pemberton, generation 6. The ship holds 884 souls tonight.
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.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Birgitta Nwosu, 84. It is little enough.
The manifest shortens by one: Torsten Shen, 77 years. The line rests with the ship now.
The manifest shortens by one: Arne Ouyang, 101 years. 1 children carry the line on.
First watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Vega Yan stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Fabrication.
Yash Diallo does not wake at brightening. 73 years, most of them given to Command.
Ximena Thorvaldsen, 88, generation 3, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Abebi Nwosu is delivered of a son in the middle watch. The child is called Viggo.
Remembrance. All names read since the last one — held in silence in every ring at the same hour. I keep the lights low until it is done.
Ingrid Jaber is delivered of a daughter on the first watch. The child is called Widad.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 38,821 days to orbit.
Quill Jaber retires at brightening. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Adrián Diallo has made a quilt called “A last root.” Asked what it means, he says it means about nine years of evenings.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Rocío Petrov, 88. It is little enough.
A wedding in the middle watch. Xenia Ulriksen, Drive; Leticia Shen, Life Systems. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
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 manifest shortens by one: Fernanda Ulriksen, 65 years. The line rests with the ship now.
Anton Shen died in quarters late in the second watch, 93 years old. 887 souls aboard.
Peng Shen retires at dimming. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.