Pavel Kowalczyk, sixteen, takes the historian apprenticeship in Archive & Schools.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Meridian Aaberg, 97. It is little enough.
The manifest shortens by one: Edmund Jaber, 87 years. The line rests with the ship now.
Dinesh Petrov, 79, generation 3, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
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 child in Ring C asks the corridor speaker what Earth smelled like. I play the rainstorm recording. It is the best answer I have.
A daughter, Margaret Valdivia, born in the Ring A infirmary to Gyre Valdivia and Olaf Diallo. Mother and child are well.
A birth in Ring A: June, girl, generation 5. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
The schools release Anli Diallo to Archive & Schools. Generation 6 takes up its tools.
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.
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.
Gunhild Valdivia has died at 33, far too early. Hydroponics stands down a shift in grief.
A joining in Ring A: Ylva Valdivia and Stanley Navarrete. The pressing of cider is authorized.
Emeka Barakat, 92, generation 3, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
A joining in Ring D: Tessa Tväten and Xingyu Navarrete. The pressing of cider is authorized.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 154, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
The manifest shortens by one: Zhenzhen Jaber, 63 years. 1 children carry the line on.
A first shift for Kestrel Barakat, sixteen: machinist, Fabrication. The badge is printed fresh.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
4.53 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 29,400 thousand to go.
Census check: 838 souls, 184 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
A joining in Ring C: Galina Tväten and Vega Yan. The pressing of cider is authorized.
All boards green. I count 838 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Year 154 of the voyage begins. The oldest bottle of orchard wine that can be spared is opened. It is always described as "improving."
Helm Thorvaldsen is delivered of a son on the night watch. The child is called Rotimi.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 2,199th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Rell Quill and Cedric Peng name their son Sergei. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Mira Kowalczyk, 95, generation 2, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Funmilayo Valdivia is delivered of a son late in the second watch. The child is called Sojourn.
4.53 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 29,360 thousand to go.
Born on the night watch: Mahesh Quill, generation 6. The ship holds 836 souls tonight.
Xavier Thorvaldsen retires in the middle watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Nnamdi Thorvaldsen documents a new strain among the pollinator moths, wings the color of hull metal.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Zikora Shen, 97. It is little enough.
Sojourn Fang stands down from Hydroponics at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Tarun Navarrete chooses Fabrication — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Remembrance day. The memorial wall is polished by hand, though nothing aboard needs polishing less.
A wedding at brightening. Ivar Fang, Fabrication; Pallas Shen, Hydroponics. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
Last shift for Leonard Barakat, who joined Ecology half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
A son, Arne Mansour, born in the Ring A infirmary to Drift Mansour and Deneb Navarrete. Mother and child are well.
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 Sten Yan, minutes old, asleep. 835 souls.
The schools release Bassam Barakat to Archive & Schools. Generation 6 takes up its tools.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Safiya Ouyang, 86, generation 3, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
A new quilt from Maja Thorvaldsen — “Late Anchor (Year 153).” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
First watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Pearl Aaberg, 77, generation 3, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Feng Northam does not wake at dimming. 75 years, most of them given to Archive & Schools.
All boards green. I count 837 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.