Irina Diallo does not wake at dimming. 92 years, most of them given to 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.
Census check: 816 souls, 206 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Kehinde Ouyang has made a mural called “The Kept Hymn.” Asked what it means, she says it means about nine years of evenings.
Morale index reads 73. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Eos Fang chooses Life Systems — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 159, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Adaeze Peng, 86. It is little enough.
Census check: 817 souls, 207 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Jaya Sharma is delivered of a son on the night watch. The child is called Bhaskar.
Fathom Salazar retires on the first watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
The youngest aboard is now Fern Tväten, minutes old, asleep. 816 souls.
Sixty-eight years: Alejandro Zhao hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring A stands ready.
Morale index reads 74. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
All boards green. I count 815 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Two names braided on the manifest tonight: Nadia and Devendra. The commons sings late.
Percy Tväten chooses Fabrication — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Sixty-eight years: Umbra Kong hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring D stands ready.
Morale index reads 74. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Yamini Tväten is delivered of a daughter on the night watch. The child is called Pallas.
Everett Nwosu, 103, generation 3, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Ylva Thorvaldsen and Kestrel Barakat name their son Sergei. The nursery lamps stay warm.
NOR Compute Core restored after 3 weeks. Stanislav Northam signs the work order and goes to sleep for a full watch.
A daughter, Layla Thorvaldsen, born in the Ring D infirmary to Iris Thorvaldsen and Ignacio Pillai. Mother and child are well.
Jiayi Nwosu died in quarters in the middle watch, 85 years old. 813 souls aboard.
Sixty-eight years: Cygnet Petrov hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring C stands ready.
Last shift for Drift Sharma, who joined Ecology half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Trouble in NOR Compute Core. The board goes amber; the coffee goes on.
Gyre Tväten retires at brightening. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Sixty-eight years: Wenbo Valdivia hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring A stands ready.
Pallas Shen and Ivar Fang name their son Torsten. The nursery lamps stay warm.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Nora Merriweather, 75. It is little enough.
Cygnet Jaber stands down from Archive & Schools at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Born late in the second watch: Keel Petrov, generation 6. The ship holds 814 souls tonight.
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.
Node Shen stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Life Systems.
Departure Day, year 159. The founders' roll is read from the first name to the thousandth, and the young ones try to stay solemn.
A wedding on the night watch. Ylva Thorvaldsen, Life Systems; Kestrel Barakat, Fabrication. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
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 dim the corridor lights a shade for Yuri Petrov, 73. It is little enough.
A first shift for Ernest Ouyang, sixteen: midwife, Medical. The badge is printed fresh.
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.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Everett Petrov, 86. It is little enough.
Mira Jaber died in quarters on the first watch, 101 years old. 814 souls aboard.
A first shift for Anand Thorvaldsen, sixteen: quartermaster, Command. The badge is printed fresh.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 33,325 days to orbit.
A wedding on the first watch. Bassam Barakat, Archive & Schools; Eos Quaye, Hydroponics. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
Sixty-eight years: Helm Petrov hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring C stands ready.
Census check: 816 souls, 204 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Remembrance day. The memorial wall is polished by hand, though nothing aboard needs polishing less.
Last shift for Rell Jaber, who joined Command half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.