I dim the corridor lights a shade for Beatriz Ibarra, 69. It is little enough.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — year 46, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Morale index reads 71. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
A birth in Ring C: Oluwaseun, girl, generation 2. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Morale index reads 71. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms 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.
Chiamaka Sowande retires at brightening. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
“What the Window Returns,” a tale-cycle by Xiulan Cao, is unveiled on the night watch to the particular applause of Medical.
Wanrong Qin died in quarters late in the second watch, 81 years old. 874 souls aboard.
Last shift for Zofia Dubrovsky, who joined Life Systems half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Last shift for Zaid Abadi, who joined Life Systems half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Two names braided on the manifest tonight: Frederick and Catalina. The commons sings late.
Umbra Barakat is delivered of a daughter at brightening. The child is called Harini.
Sixty-eight years: Lev Yakovlev hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring A stands ready.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 46, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Peng Zhu retires at dimming. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
A joining in Ring A: Natalya Pemberton and Rotimi Thorvaldsen. The pressing of cider is authorized.
By council vote, Jorgen Danjuma takes the center chair as Captain. The watch changes hands without a tremor.
Last shift for Meera Sharma, who joined Command half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
A birth in Ring C: Anton, boy, generation 2. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
The youngest aboard is now Octavio Pillai, minutes old, asleep. 873 souls.
Last shift for Peizhi Ding, who joined Hydroponics half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
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.
By council vote, Meera Sharma takes the center chair as Captain. The watch changes hands without a tremor.
Last shift for Ximena Aguirre, who joined Command half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
The manifest shortens by one: Per Solheim, 88 years. The line rests with the ship now.
“Watch for the Standing Harvest,” a mural by Arthur Ellery, is unveiled late in the second watch to the particular applause of Hydroponics.
Last shift for Nils Eriksen, who joined Ecology half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
A son, Jianguo Aaberg, born in the Ring A infirmary to Shanta Aaberg and Cedric Fang. Mother and child are well.
Year 46 of the voyage begins. The oldest bottle of orchard wine that can be spared is opened. It is always described as "improving."
The schools release Shanta Jaber to Hydroponics. Generation 2 takes up its tools.
Yamini Kapoor does not wake late in the second watch. 93 years, most of them given to Medical.