A first shift for Qing Petrov, sixteen: hullwright, Fabrication. The badge is printed fresh.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Mingyu Valdivia and Arc Navarrete name their son Zenith. The nursery lamps stay warm.
2.59 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 20,134 thousand to go.
Aster Fang stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Archive & Schools.
Agnieszka Fang stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Command.
Born at brightening: César Pemberton, generation 7. The ship holds 869 souls tonight.
Morale index reads 80. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
A first shift for Boreal Navarrete, sixteen: pharmacist, Medical. The badge is printed fresh.
A new tale-cycle from Adewale Valdivia — “What the Map Carries.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 23,184 days to orbit.
Born in the middle watch: Gantry Quill, generation 7. The ship holds 868 souls tonight.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 23,191 days to orbit.
All boards green. I count 867 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 186, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Xingyu Petrov, sixteen, takes the broadcast keeper apprenticeship in Archive & Schools.
Tomasz Petrov, sixteen, takes the helm officer apprenticeship in Command.
The schools release Ximena Diallo to Life Systems. Generation 7 takes up its tools.
The circle has answered. The overhaul is deferred. The drive is nursed watch to watch, and the spares stay banked against a darker day.
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.
Yewande Nwosu stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Hydroponics.
All boards green. I count 867 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 23,231 days to orbit.
Eos Valdivia and Nils Jaber name their daughter Jamila. The nursery lamps stay warm.
The Crossing feast: more behind than ahead. The long tables come out; the good preserves come down.
Natalya Ouyang is delivered of a son on the night watch. The child is called Keel.
A second child follows on the night watch: twins for Pallas Tväten. This one is called Quill.
Pallas Tväten is delivered of a daughter on the night watch. The child is called Abena.
A first shift for Guowei Ouyang, sixteen: toolmaker, Fabrication. The badge is printed fresh.
Gyre Valdivia retires late in the second watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
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.
Safiya Aaberg stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Ecology.
Census check: 863 souls, 185 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 5,047th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Eos Shen finishes a mural: “Ladders of Year 186.” It shows in the commons through the week.
Born in the middle watch: Ion Aaberg, generation 8. The ship holds 863 souls tonight.
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.
Yueqin Petrov's crew brings Drive back after 31 long days.
First Light. The observation blister queues run all day: Teegarden's Star, held in the eyepiece, a little brighter than last year — 2.61 light-years to go.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 5,006th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Mira Aaberg chooses Ecology — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
All boards green. I count 862 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Ravindra Nwosu has made a quilt called “Nine Furrows Turning.” Asked what it means, he says it means about nine years of evenings.
Ember Nwosu chooses Command — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Arjun Sharma and Eos Aaberg are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Life Systems turns out.
Iris Thorvaldsen retires on the first watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
The question is put to the wider circle: The drive overhaul. The ship asks; Earth answers, in its own long time.
Trouble in Drive. The board goes amber; the coffee goes on.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 23,330 days to orbit.
Leif Diallo takes the hand of Sable Shen before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
Ludmila Thorvaldsen does not wake at dimming. 77 years, most of them given to Drive.