Maintenance sweep of Ring A complete. Somewhere aft a wrench is missing; it will surface in a decade, in a wall, with a story attached.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Octavio Figueroa does not wake at dimming. 73 years, most of them given to Ecology.
Jorgen Danjuma chooses Command — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
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.
Born on the night watch: Hassan Pillai, generation 2. The ship holds 989 souls tonight.
Sixteen years for Gyre Mazur, who signs to Hydroponics on the night watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Evgeni Orlov retires at brightening. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
The question is put to the wider circle: Water discipline. The ship asks; Earth answers, in its own long time.
Mohan Gupta, 67, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Bjorn Gustavsson has made a tale-cycle called “Outward Lantern (Year 30).” Asked what it means, he says it means about nine years of evenings.
Mabel Nwosu and Ulises Abiodun name their son Leandro. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Last shift for Lärä Ekwueme, who joined Drive half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Drive back in service. The old hands say it sounds better than before; the instruments say it sounds the same.
“Bell for the Whole Garden,” a quilt by Frederick Aldous, is unveiled at brightening to the particular applause of Command.
Morale index reads 51. The number is crude. The singing from the mess contradicts it.
Fault isolated in Drive. Repair estimate: unwise to say aloud.
Hassan Darwish's crew brings Reactor back after 2 days.
Reserve power falls below the line. Non-essential decks go dark by my hand; I do not enjoy it.
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.
Scram on the reactor in the middle watch. Emergency batteries carry the ring lights while Drive works the restart list.
Remembrance day. The memorial wall is polished by hand, though nothing aboard needs polishing less.
Sixty-eight years: Divya Venkatesan hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring A stands ready.
A child in Ring C asks the corridor speaker what Earth smelled like. I play the rainstorm recording. It is the best answer I have.
A birth in Ring D: Galina, girl, generation 2. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Divya Yadav finds an unrecorded microbe thriving in the water walls. Harmless, industrious, ours.
The youngest aboard is now Astrid Nwosu, minutes old, asleep. 987 souls.
Lubna Yamin retires on the night watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Census check: 986 souls, 60 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Too soon, at 53: Kehinde Quaye. The commons fills on the first watch with those who knew her.
The youngest aboard is now Mateo Mansour, minutes old, asleep. 987 souls.
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.
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.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 30, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Yueqin Xie stands down from Ecology at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Harish Agarwal, 62, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
The youngest aboard is now Pallas Valdivia, minutes old, asleep. 987 souls.
Yelena Petrov stands down from Drive at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Shanta Aaberg and Cedric Fang name their daughter Lucía. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Qiaoyun Quaye is delivered of a daughter on the night watch. The child is called Winifred.
All boards green. I count 984 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
After 75 years, Florence Vance has let go. Remembrance in the Ring A commons at next dimming.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 30, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Born at dimming: Josefina Shen, generation 2. The ship holds 985 souls tonight.
NOR Compute Core restored after 2 days. Samira Dagher signs the work order and goes to sleep for a full watch.
Trouble in NOR Compute Core. The board goes amber; the coffee goes on.
Jamila Ouyang and Obinna Montoya name their daughter Lanying. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Last shift for Gonzalo Riquelme, who joined Fabrication half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Last shift for Zofia Ulanov, who joined Archive & Schools half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Hull & Shielding hums again. Deshi Luo is stood a round of orchard cider by the off-shift.
Chitra Joshi does not wake on the first watch. 67 years, most of them given to Archive & Schools.