Maintenance sweep of Ring B 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.
Rocío Domínguez stands down from Fabrication at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Dmitri Dubrovsky has made a tale-cycle called “Late Harvest (Year 31).” Asked what it means, he says it means about nine years of evenings.
Dolores Kong takes the hand of Khalid Jaber before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
Last shift for Samira Dagher, who joined Archive & Schools half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Jamal Yamin stands down from Drive at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Noor Jaber is delivered of a son on the first watch. The child is called Uday.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 79,830 days to orbit.
Sixty-eight years: Fermín Herrera hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring A stands ready.
The food reserve crosses its caution line. Portions hold for now; the conversation in the mess does not.
Katarzyna Ostrowski retires in the middle 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. 79,838 days to orbit.
Qasim Fakhoury died in quarters on the night watch, 59 years old, once mycologist. 987 souls aboard.
A daughter, Dominika Thorvaldsen, born in the Ring D infirmary to Gunhild Thorvaldsen and Percy Escamilla. Mother and child are well.
Census check: 987 souls, 60 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Last shift for Ingrid Rönnberg, who joined Archive & Schools half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Widad Farouk stands down from Archive & Schools at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Jaroslav Varma and Ebba Ashworth, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 2,452th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
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.
Bernard Fairburn retires at dimming. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Padma Pillai retires at brightening. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
First Light. The observation blister queues run all day: Teegarden's Star, held in the eyepiece, a little brighter than last year — 11.77 light-years to go.
Ignacio Palacios stands down from Drive at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Water reserve dips below the line. Showers go to ration timers; nobody sings in them, briefly.
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.
Sixty-eight years: Olusegun Kalu hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring A stands ready.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 79,915 days to orbit.
Mingyu Huang retires at dimming. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
A first shift for Enlai Pemberton, sixteen: water systems tech, Life Systems. The badge is printed fresh.
The circle has answered. Reclamation runs hot past its rating. The techs sleep beside it, and the reserve climbs on borrowed time.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 2,385th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Erik Gundersen's crew brings Atmosphere Processing back after 2 weeks.
Last shift for Obinna Bankole, who joined Hydroponics half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Last shift for Deshi Zhu, who joined Life Systems half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
CO₂ trim goes ragged as a processor bank fails. Life Systems is on it before I finish the announcement.
Last shift for Anli Qiu, who joined Medical half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Devendra Yacoub, sixteen, takes the pharmacist apprenticeship in Medical.
Mariam Mansour retires late in the second watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Xiulan Cao has made a tale-cycle called “Anchors of Year 31.” Asked what it means, she says it means about nine years of evenings.
Sixty-eight years: Bhaskar Iyer hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring D stands ready.
Last shift for Deepika Patil, who joined Life Systems half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
The manifest shortens by one: Bogdan Orlov, 67 years. The line rests with the ship now.
A new poem from Mikhail Wisniewski — “Outward Hymn (Year 31).” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
Last shift for Johanna Fossum, who joined Drive half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
All boards green. I count 988 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Year 31 of the voyage begins. The oldest bottle of orchard wine that can be spared is opened. It is always described as "improving."
A new poem from Ivar Paulsen — “Harvest for the Patient Field.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
Morale index reads 53. The number is crude. The singing from the mess contradicts it.