Census check: 846 souls, 233 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Birgitta Ulriksen stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Medical.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Yash Pillai, 72. It is little enough.
The youngest aboard is now Arc Diallo, minutes old, asleep. 847 souls.
Hilde Petrov does not wake late in the second watch. 96 years, most of them given to Ecology.
The Crossing. Every year it is observed, and every year someone stands to say the second half is the harder, and is booed warmly.
“Skys of Ring C,” a quilt by Ibrahim Valdivia, is unveiled late in the second watch to the particular applause of Command.
Sixteen years for Hanan Sharma, who signs to Fabrication in the middle watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Eos Shen stands down from Life Systems at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Teodoro Mansour died in quarters in the middle watch, 91 years old. 847 souls aboard.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 1,046th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Orrery Petrov, 85, generation 4, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
3.26 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 23,160 thousand to go.
A daughter, Mabel Fang, born in the Ring D infirmary to Cygnet Fang and Adewale Valdivia. Mother and child are well.
Valentina Fang and Teresa Kowalczyk name their daughter Deneb. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Sable Tväten stands down from Archive & Schools at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
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.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
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.
First Light festival. The children are lifted to the eyepiece one by one to see where they are going.
The schools release Lumen Petrov to Medical. Generation 6 takes up its tools.
3.26 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 23,140 thousand to go.
A first shift for Meridian Jaber, sixteen: seedkeeper, Hydroponics. The badge is printed fresh.
Born in the middle watch: Yolanda Jaber, generation 7. The ship holds 847 souls tonight.
The manifest shortens by one: Adrián Quill, 65 years. 4 children carry the line on.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 175, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Bhaskar Sharma stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Archive & Schools.
Born on the first watch: Vigdis Quill, generation 7. The ship holds 847 souls tonight.
Farida Ning stands down from Fabrication at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Maksim Ning retires in the middle watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Fern Tväten, sixteen, takes the mycologist apprenticeship in Hydroponics.
Kiran Kowalczyk retires at brightening. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
Jaya Sharma has died at 50, far too early. Ecology stands down a shift in grief.
Sixteen years for Pallas Tväten, who signs to Fabrication at dimming and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 930th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
The schools release Sergei Thorvaldsen to Fabrication. Generation 7 takes up its tools.
The schools release Layla Thorvaldsen to Life Systems. Generation 6 takes up its tools.
Omolara Thorvaldsen and Jaroslav Fang name their son Hassan. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Kofi Orellana takes the hand of Deneb Thorvaldsen before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
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.
Water Reclamation back in service. The old hands say it sounds better than before; the instruments say it sounds the same.
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.
The schools release Torsten Shen to Medical. Generation 7 takes up its tools.
Water Reclamation goes down. I reroute what can be rerouted and wake who must be woken.
A first shift for Keel Petrov, sixteen: thermal engineer, Life Systems. 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.
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.
The youngest aboard is now Dmitri Zhao, minutes old, asleep. 846 souls.