Sixty-eight years: Hanan Zayed hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring A stands ready.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Year 30 of the voyage begins. The oldest bottle of orchard wine that can be spared is opened. It is always described as "improving."
Noor Jaber and Theodore Lal name their daughter Shanta. The nursery lamps stay warm.
“Late Season, Distant Harvest,” a tale-cycle by Ulises Cárdenas, is unveiled late in the second watch to the particular applause of Drive.
Last shift for Chinedu Lawal, who joined Archive & Schools half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Zhihao Zhu died in quarters in the middle watch, 77 years old. 988 souls aboard.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Oddny Fjeld, 68. It is little enough.
11.83 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 79,570 thousand to go.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Morale index reads 50. The number is crude. The singing from the mess contradicts it.
Ifedayo Ndiaye has made a play called “Small Thread (Year 29).” Asked what it means, she says it means about nine years of evenings.
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.
Omar Ismail does not wake on the night watch. 65 years, most of them given to Archive & Schools.
After 71 years, Elsie Hartley has let go. Remembrance in the Ring D commons at next dimming.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 1,905th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Simisola Mba has died at 52, far too early. Life Systems stands down a shift in grief.
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.
Last shift for June Eastwood, who joined Ecology half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Too soon, at 3: Hakim Shen. The commons fills in the middle watch with those who knew him.
“A last harvest,” a tale-cycle by Everett Draycott, is unveiled at brightening to the particular applause of Hydroponics.
After 57 years, Viggo Paulsen has let go. Remembrance in the Ring D commons at next dimming.
Chief of Life Systems falls to Lanying Wan, who accepts with a nod and a full docket.
Dolores Hidalgo stands down from Life Systems at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Catalina Figueroa stands down from Life Systems at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Mariam Darwish does not wake late in the second watch. 64 years, most of them given to Life Systems.
Last shift for Yelena Fedorenko, who joined Hydroponics half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
11.84 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 80,138 thousand to go.
Last shift for Nnamdi Kamau, who joined Archive & Schools half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Oddny Fjeld stands down from Life Systems at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Leandro Wu and Ganesh Chandrasekaran, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
Sixty-eight years: Emilio Izquierdo hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring C stands ready.
Noor Shadid, 60, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
A new quilt from Ludmila Ostrowski — “The Small Ladder.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
Adewale Ogunleye does not wake on the first watch. 73 years, most of them given to Medical.
Oluwadamilola Eze, 62, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
11.85 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 80,405 thousand to go.
Stanislav Orlov's crew brings Fabrication Shops back after 5 days.
Irina Chekhov, 76, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
The youngest aboard is now Lars Thorvaldsen, minutes old, asleep. 1000 souls.
Last shift for Oksana Yakovlev, who joined Fabrication half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Fabrication Shops quits late in the second watch, with a sound the old hands do not like.
Clifford Standish does not wake at brightening. 77 years, most of them given to Drive.
Opal Kingsley does not wake in the middle watch. 71 years, most of them given to Ecology.
Last shift for Zhenzhen Pan, who joined Ecology half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Sixty-eight years: Nnamdi Iwu hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring C stands ready.
Vigdis Fjeld retires in the middle watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Last shift for Lakshman Verma, who joined Medical half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
The schools release Huifen Aaberg to Archive & Schools. Generation 1 takes up its tools.
Sixty-eight years: Ulf Gundersen hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring D stands ready.