Departure Day, year 22. The founders' roll is read from the first name to the thousandth, and the young ones try to stay solemn.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
A son, Ulises Gorbachev, born in the Ring A infirmary to Raisa Gorbachev and Nicolás Figueroa. Mother and child are well.
Iveta Zaitsev, 69, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Polina Orlov stands down from Ecology at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Census check: 1045 souls, 59 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Nneka Chukwu stands down from Archive & Schools at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Sixty-eight years: Ikenna Falade hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring C stands ready.
Sixty-eight years: Raisa Smirnov hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring A stands ready.
Morale index reads 82. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Last shift for Ifeoma Jelani, who joined Medical half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Ming Peng stands down from Ecology at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Born late in the second watch: Ruth Ning, generation 1. The ship holds 1045 souls tonight.
Morale index reads 83. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Sixty-eight years: Ingrid Jansson hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring A stands ready.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 83,342 days to orbit.
Last shift for Adaeze Bankole, who joined Fabrication half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
The question is put to the wider circle: Rationing. The ship asks; Earth answers, in its own long time.
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.
Morale index reads 81. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
First watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Ernest Ingram finishes a quilt: “Patient Root (Year 21).” It shows in the commons through the week.
Sixty-eight years: Natalya Lebedev hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring C stands ready.
First watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Fang Jin stands down from Drive at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Tunde Chekhov takes the hand of Lärä Fossum before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
Last shift for Fermín Herrera, who joined Drive half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Last shift for Hassan Mansour, who joined Drive half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Jamal Raghunathan, sixteen, takes the pollinator keeper apprenticeship in Ecology.
Zofia Shen and Octavio Domínguez are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Ecology turns out.
Ayodele Chike retires on the first watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Baozhen Fang and Fadi El-Amin name their daughter Maja. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
A new mural from Chitra Verma — “Orchards of Ring D.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
Dalia El-Amin has made a instrument called “What the Ladder Remembers.” Asked what it means, she says it means about nine years of evenings.
Ekene Ekwueme retires at dimming. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 7,846th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Maintenance sweep of Ring C complete. Somewhere aft a wrench is missing; it will surface in a decade, in a wall, with a story attached.
Sixty-eight years: Grigori Chekhov hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring D stands ready.
Last shift for Nandini Joshi, who joined Command half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
All boards green. I count 1043 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 21, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
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.
Xiulan Bai retires at dimming. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Inés Ocampo stands down from Command at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Irina Chekhov retires on the first watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 21, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Last shift for Suyin Yan, who joined Hydroponics half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
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.
Last shift for Adnan Wahba, who joined Command half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Last shift for Mikhail Czarnecki, who joined Fabrication half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.