Ebba Aaberg died in quarters at dimming, 87 years old. 820 souls aboard.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Remembrance day. The memorial wall is polished by hand, though nothing aboard needs polishing less.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 33,712 days to orbit.
Gunhild Ulriksen stands down from Drive at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
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.
Guowei Valdivia does not wake on the first watch. 92 years, most of them given to Command.
Orrery Pillai, sixteen, takes the grafter apprenticeship in Hydroponics.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
4.31 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 27,735 thousand to go.
After 72 years, Mikhail Kowalczyk has let go. Remembrance in the Ring C commons at next dimming.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Lumen Zhao stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Life Systems.
A wedding on the night watch. Qiaoyun Navarrete, Ecology; Sami Yan, Fabrication. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
A daughter, Ruolan Tväten, born in the Ring B infirmary to Milena Tväten and Karim Shen. Mother and child are well.
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.
Meera Shen's crew brings Comms Array back after 2 days.
Comms Array quits at brightening, with a sound the old hands do not like.
Born at brightening: Fern Shen, generation 7. The ship holds 822 souls tonight.
Aster Valdivia, sixteen, takes the mycologist apprenticeship in Hydroponics.
Rocío Aaberg is delivered of a daughter on the night watch. The child is called Leticia.
Sixty-eight years: Orrery Petrov hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring C stands ready.
NOR Compute Core restored within the day. Opal Thorvaldsen signs the work order and goes to sleep for a full watch.
NOR Compute Core faults in the middle watch. Archive & Schools takes the call.
The circle has answered. The evenings belong to the ship's own voices. The commons learn each other's songs, and the applause is for people with quarters three doors down.
First watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Morale index reads 74. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Efua Nwosu chooses Command — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
The Crossing feast: more behind than ahead. The long tables come out; the good preserves come down.
Census check: 820 souls, 200 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
A first shift for Zenith Ouyang, sixteen: physician, Medical. The badge is printed fresh.
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.
Morale index reads 72. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Dalia Quaye and Bruno Jaber name their son Ion. The nursery lamps stay warm.
A son, Vasili Barakat, born in the Ring A infirmary to Node Barakat and Zenith Ouyang. Mother and child are well.
Last shift for Rosario Fang, who joined Ecology half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Nneka Jaber chooses Archive & Schools — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Xiulan Petrov does not wake late in the second watch. 63 years, most of them given to Drive.
Yewande Jaber and Gyre Ouyang name their daughter Xiulan. The nursery lamps stay warm.
First Light festival. The children are lifted to the eyepiece one by one to see where they are going.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 157, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Sixty-eight years: Peizhi Valdivia hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring A stands ready.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
A son, Fern Petrov, born in the Ring A infirmary to Yueqin Petrov and Tern Quill. Mother and child are well.
Mahesh Nwosu takes the hand of Harini Navarrete before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
The manifest shortens by one: Mira Yan, 89 years. The line rests with the ship now.
The question is put to the wider circle: The broadcast hours. The ship asks; Earth answers, in its own long time.
Census check: 818 souls, 198 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Howard Jaber died in quarters at brightening, 82 years old. 818 souls aboard.
A daughter, Valentina Shen, born in the Ring C infirmary to Temitope Shen and Juniper Jaber. Mother and child are well.