Meridian Peng and Ion Quaye are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Ecology turns out.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
The council confirms Bassam Fang as Chief of Drive on the night watch.
Sixty-eight years: Vasili Sharma hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring B stands ready.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 185, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Safiya Tväten is delivered of a daughter late in the second watch. The child is called Marzena.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 185, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
A son, Bhaskar Sharma, born in the Ring B infirmary to Hanan Sharma and Torsten Shen. Mother and child are well.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 185, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Year 185 of the voyage begins. The oldest bottle of orchard wine that can be spared is opened. It is always described as "improving."
Census check: 860 souls, 198 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
2.69 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 20,466 thousand to go.
Fathom Fang retires at brightening. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Wenling Ulriksen stands down from Hydroponics at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
A son, Arne Shen, born in the Ring B infirmary to Efua Shen and Verne Sharma. Mother and child are well.
2.69 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 20,453 thousand to go.
Cygnet Sharma chooses Drive — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
“What the Water Grows,” a quilt by Sojourn Ning, is unveiled on the first watch to the particular applause of Hydroponics.
Born on the first watch: Aster Quaye, generation 7. The ship holds 859 souls tonight.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 23,833 days to orbit.
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 first shift for Cedric Thorvaldsen, sixteen: hullwright, Fabrication. The badge is printed fresh.
A first shift for Jagdish Sharma, sixteen: pollinator keeper, Ecology. The badge is printed fresh.
Remembrance day. The memorial wall is polished by hand, though nothing aboard needs polishing less.
The manifest shortens by one: Fern Tväten, 104 years. 3 children carry the line on.
First watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Finn Barakat stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Medical.
Pearl Sharma does not wake on the first watch. 99 years, most of them given to Life Systems.
A new song from Eos Valdivia — “Green Anchor, Warm Ladder.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
The manifest shortens by one: Kamala Fang, 91 years. 2 children carry the line on.
The schools release Widad Thorvaldsen to Command. Generation 7 takes up its tools.
The schools release Xenia Navarrete to Hydroponics. Generation 6 takes up its tools.
Last shift for Chengdong Jaber, who joined Life Systems half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Born on the night watch: Sable Jaber, generation 8. The ship holds 861 souls tonight.
After 89 years, Divya Aaberg has let go. Remembrance in the Ring C commons at next dimming.
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.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 23,919 days to orbit.
The youngest aboard is now Meridian Shen, minutes old, asleep. 861 souls.
Hydroponics Bays hums again. Aster Valdivia is stood a round of orchard cider by the off-shift.
Keel Nwosu chooses Drive — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Hydroponics Bays quits late in the second watch, with a sound the old hands do not like.
Wallace Thorvaldsen and Ekaterina Ouyang, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
Census check: 860 souls, 201 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Zbigniew Aaberg has made a tale-cycle called “Engine for the Standing Field.” Asked what it means, he says it means about nine years of evenings.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 184, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 23,951 days to orbit.
Born at dimming: Kestrel Sharma, generation 7. The ship holds 860 souls tonight.
A child in Ring B 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 Boreal Navarrete, minutes old, asleep. 859 souls.
The Crossing. Every year it is observed, and every year someone stands to say the second half is the harder, and is booed warmly.
Helm Jaber stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Hydroponics.