I dim the corridor lights a shade for Pilar Salazar, 64. It is little enough.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Night watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Last shift for Tatiana Babich, who joined Ecology half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Ingrid Vik retires on the first watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
A joining in Ring A: Obinna Ding and Rocío Ning. The pressing of cider is authorized.
Widad Farouk does not wake on the night watch. 78 years, most of them given to Archive & Schools.
The youngest aboard is now Leif Mansour, minutes old, asleep. 908 souls.
Evgeni Gorbachev stands down from Life Systems 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. 76,133 days to orbit.
Born on the night watch: Fuhua Ulriksen, generation 2. The ship holds 907 souls tonight.
Morale index reads 74. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Born in the middle watch: Zhenzhen Jaber, generation 2. The ship holds 906 souls tonight.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Ulyana Fedorenko, 75. It is little enough.
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.
After 87 years, Adaeze Bankole has let go. Remembrance in the Ring D commons at next dimming.
The council confirms Abebi Oyelaran as Chief of Medical on the night watch.
Ignacio Quintana retires in the middle watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Esperanza Orellana, 65, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
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.
Last shift for Amir Barakat, who joined Archive & Schools half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Ignacio Quintana is made Chief of Medical, and marks it by standing the ordinary shift anyway.
Sixty-eight years: Xiulan Cao hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring D stands ready.
Jiayi Zhao stands down from Drive at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
A birth in Ring D: Shanyuan, boy, generation 2. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Kamala Hegde stands down from Medical at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Nora Salazar is delivered of a son in the middle watch. The child is called Yash.
A new mural from Annika Aaberg — “Four Harvests Waiting.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
Ingrid Jansson, 76, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Last shift for Arthur Ellery, who joined Hydroponics half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Last shift for Ludmila Ulanov, who joined Medical half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
A new quilt from Hakon Bergstrom — “The Unlit Season.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
Oscar Bexley stands down from Command at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Chandran Gupta died in quarters in the middle watch, 70 years old. 907 souls aboard.
All boards green. I count 908 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Sixty-eight years: Wenling Chen hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring B stands ready.
Ruolan Wan retires at brightening. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
11.23 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 69,198 thousand to go.
Erik Gundersen retires at dimming. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
All boards green. I count 908 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Anli Han stands down from Hydroponics at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Sixty-eight years: Harold Dunmore hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring B stands ready.
First Light festival. The children are lifted to the eyepiece one by one to see where they are going.
Sixty-eight years: Hedda Jansson hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring B stands ready.
Arne Halvorsen does not wake on the night watch. 88 years, most of them given to Medical.
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.
Efua Diallo is delivered of a daughter at brightening. The child is called Ngozi.
Jinghua Liang retires in the middle watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Vicente Montoya stands down from Fabrication at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Walid Khoury retires on the night watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.