The manifest shortens by one: Sundiata Danjuma, 87 years. The line rests with the ship now.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Fermín Riquelme died in quarters at dimming, 73 years old. 893 souls aboard.
The question is put to the wider circle: The second orchard. The ship asks; Earth answers, in its own long time.
Mahmoud Rahman retires at brightening. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Born on the night watch: Chandran Aaberg, generation 2. The ship holds 895 souls tonight.
A daughter, Huda Tväten, born in the Ring A infirmary to Anli Tväten and Jaroslav Ahlgren. Mother and child are well.
Last shift for Everett Draycott, who joined Hydroponics half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Salvador Montoya retires at brightening. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
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.
The manifest shortens by one: Florence Ashworth, 91 years. The line rests with the ship now.
Sixty-eight years: Dmitri Dragunov hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring D stands ready.
Ramiro Escamilla, 70, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Census check: 895 souls, 132 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Sixty-eight years: Modupe Okafor hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring D stands ready.
11.15 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 67,784 thousand to go.
A birth in Ring A: Raisa, girl, generation 2. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Sixty-eight years: Usman Hamdan hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring A stands ready.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Ragnar Tväten, 85. It is little enough.
Census check: 895 souls, 131 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Inés Izquierdo stands down from Fabrication at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Morale index reads 72. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Huifen Aaberg and Sten Han name their son Rotimi. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Yusheng Qiu retires late in the second watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 42, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
A child in Ring D asks the corridor speaker what Earth smelled like. I play the rainstorm recording. It is the best answer I have.
Maintenance sweep of Ring D complete. Somewhere aft a wrench is missing; it will surface in a decade, in a wall, with a story attached.
Hanan Rahman stands down from Drive at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Kehinde Jelani, 83. It is little enough.
Rosario Ledesma does not wake in the middle watch. 80 years, most of them given to Ecology.
A daughter, Tern Navarrete, born in the Ring B infirmary to Elsie Navarrete and Pavel Hartley. Mother and child are well.
Anjali Tendulkar works out a tougher print alloy from recycler feedstock. Fabrication adopts it the same week.
Farida Bishara, 63, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Last shift for Rosario Terrazas, who joined Medical half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Ebba Ning stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Drive.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 6,496th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Census check: 896 souls, 130 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Ulf Gundersen died in quarters at brightening, 80 years old. 896 souls aboard.
Census check: 897 souls, 130 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Noor Khoury stands down from Drive at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Adrián Cárdenas retires in the middle watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
After 90 years, Einar Dahl has let go. Remembrance in the Ring C commons at next dimming.
Born on the night watch: Cygnet Fang, generation 2. The ship holds 898 souls tonight.
Last shift for Fernanda Álvarez, who joined Hydroponics half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
The manifest shortens by one: Raisa Smirnov, 88 years. The line rests with the ship now.
“Threads of Year 42,” a mural by Qiaoyun Quaye, is unveiled at brightening to the particular applause of Drive.
Oleg Zaitsev does not wake at dimming. 82 years, most of them given to Medical.
11.17 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 68,186 thousand to go.
Last shift for Leonard Eastwood, who joined Life Systems half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
All boards green. I count 899 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
First Light festival. The children are lifted to the eyepiece one by one to see where they are going.