First watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth 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.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Hedda Wangberg, 75. It is little enough.
Last shift for Sten Iversen, who joined Life Systems half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
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.
“Borrowed Field (Year 27),” a tale-cycle by Katarzyna Dragunov, is unveiled at dimming to the particular applause of Archive & Schools.
11.93 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 81,433 thousand to go.
Nora Thorvaldsen and Tarun Fossum name their son Hernán. The nursery lamps stay warm.
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.
Last shift for Zaid Ismail, who joined Archive & Schools half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Darya Sokolov stands down from Drive at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 81,219 days to orbit.
After 71 years, Yakubu Chukwu has let go. Remembrance in the Ring B commons at next dimming.
Born late in the second watch: Bhavana Nwosu, generation 2. The ship holds 1003 souls tonight.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
A first shift for Jaroslav Ahlgren, sixteen: entomologist, Ecology. The badge is printed fresh.
Dagny Thorvaldsen, 68, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Femi Kalu does not wake at dimming. 72 years, most of them given to Life Systems.
Morale index reads 53. The number is crude. The singing from the mess contradicts it.
Last shift for Xavier Ocampo, who joined Fabrication half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Kehinde Jelani retires in the middle watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Sixty-eight years: Fermín Herrera hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring B stands ready.
The schools release Yaling Ulriksen to Archive & Schools. Generation 1 takes up its tools.
A first shift for Viggo Fang, sixteen: seedkeeper, Hydroponics. The badge is printed fresh.
Meera Varma finishes a mural: “Twelve Bells Waiting.” It shows in the commons through the week.
Chinedu Sowande stands down from Life Systems at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
After 71 years, Ernest Iverson has let go. Remembrance in the Ring C commons at next dimming.
“What the Furrow Holds,” a song by Naresh Patil, is unveiled on the first watch to the particular applause of Life Systems.
Naresh Chandrasekaran retires on the first watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 81,317 days to orbit.
Fermín Orellana died in quarters late in the second watch, 55 years old, once drive engineer. 1005 souls aboard.
Repair complete on Atmosphere Processing after 3 days. I run the test cycle twice, out of respect for history.
Uday Trivedi retires at dimming. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
CO₂ trim goes ragged as a processor bank fails. Life Systems is on it before I finish the announcement.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 27, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
First Light. The observation blister queues run all day: Teegarden's Star, held in the eyepiece, a little brighter than last year — 11.95 light-years to go.
Aisha Aswad died in quarters late in the second watch, 66 years old, once counselor. 1006 souls aboard.
Jamal Raghunathan and Qiaoyun Quaye, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
Theodore Eastwood stands down from Command at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 947th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Eleanor Northam, 70, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Census check: 1008 souls, 52 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Sixty-eight years: Dagny Thorvaldsen hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring B stands ready.
Freya Lund died in quarters in the middle watch, 73 years old. 1008 souls aboard.
A first shift for Efua Diallo, sixteen: teacher, Archive & Schools. The badge is printed fresh.
Naresh Naidu stands down from Medical at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 27, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
All boards green. I count 1009 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Pavel Kowalczyk stands down from Hydroponics at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
The circle has answered. The orchard's water is halved. The trees will forgive us, the gardeners say, but not soon.