A daughter, Maja Sharma, born in the Ring D infirmary to Ekaterina Sharma and Ragnar Shen. Mother and child are well.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Deneb Pillai and Rocío Kowalczyk, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
Sixty-eight years: Raymond Aaberg hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring A stands ready.
A daughter, Padma Petrov, born in the Ring C infirmary to Juniper Petrov and Quill Fang. Mother and child are well.
Tessa Ulriksen does not wake late in the second watch. 97 years, most of them given to Archive & Schools.
A birth in Ring D: Yash, boy, generation 7. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Hydroponics Bays hums again. Qing Shen is stood a round of orchard cider by the off-shift.
All boards green. I count 840 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
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.
Ruolan Nwosu died in quarters in the middle watch, 92 years old. 840 souls aboard.
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.
Verne Sharma takes the hand of Efua Shen before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
Hydroponics Bays quits on the night watch, with a sound the old hands do not like.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 428th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Ignacio Nwosu and Rania Diallo are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Archive & Schools turns out.
Oksana Ning died in quarters late in the second watch, 93 years old. 841 souls aboard.
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.
A second child follows on the night watch: twins for Adaeze Barakat. This one is called Ion.
A birth in Ring C: Sojourn, boy, generation 7. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 27,912 days to orbit.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Dolores Aaberg, 96. It is little enough.
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.
Halvard Yan does not wake on the first watch. 89 years, most of them given to Life Systems.
The youngest aboard is now Fern Ouyang, minutes old, asleep. 842 souls.
Morale index reads 79. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Fern Shen stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Fabrication.
Node Aaberg takes the hand of Lumen Zhao before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
The manifest shortens by one: Chunhua Sharma, 70 years. 3 children carry the line on.
The schools release Leticia Aaberg to Life Systems. Generation 6 takes up its tools.
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.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
The youngest aboard is now Fadi Jaber, minutes old, asleep. 842 souls.
Morale index reads 79. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
The youngest aboard is now Guadalupe Jaber, minutes old, asleep. 841 souls.
The youngest aboard is now Gantry Valdivia, minutes old, asleep. 840 souls.
After 91 years, Quill Shen has let go. Remembrance in the Ring C commons at next dimming.
A birth in Ring D: Umbra, boy, generation 6. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Adrián Diallo does not wake on the first watch. 91 years, most of them given to Archive & Schools.
Adrián Merriweather does not wake at dimming. 69 years, most of them given to Life Systems.
The Crossing feast: more behind than ahead. The long tables come out; the good preserves come down.
Morale index reads 78. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
A first shift for Ion Quaye, sixteen: nurse, Medical. The badge is printed fresh.
The schools release Vasili Barakat to Fabrication. Generation 6 takes up its tools.
June Tväten has died at 19, far too early. Archive & Schools stands down a shift in grief.
Maintenance sweep of Ring D complete. Somewhere aft a wrench is missing; it will surface in a decade, in a wall, with a story attached.
Nora Fang and Ulyana Fang name their daughter Halley. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Sixty-eight years: Mira Thorvaldsen hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring A stands ready.
Xiulan Jaber chooses Fabrication — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Dinesh Peng died in quarters late in the second watch, 96 years old. 841 souls aboard.
Sixty-eight years: Kirill Ning hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring A stands ready.