All boards green. I count 868 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
After 69 years, Bhaskar Trivedi has let go. Remembrance in the Ring C commons at next dimming.
Josefina Shen stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Hydroponics.
Last shift for Zofia Dragunov, who joined Hydroponics half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Morale index reads 69. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
A first shift for Lanying Ouyang, sixteen: recycler, Fabrication. The badge is printed fresh.
Last shift for Esperanza Orellana, who joined Medical half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Zahra Aswad retires at dimming. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Georgia Quill stands down from Fabrication at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Fermín Valdivia stands down from Life Systems at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Jaroslav Petrov died in quarters in the middle watch, 68 years old. 869 souls aboard.
First watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
10.93 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 64,691 thousand to go.
Ishaan Agarwal retires late in the second watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
The manifest shortens by one: Usman Fakhoury, 88 years. The line rests with the ship now.
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.
Last shift for Jianguo Huang, who joined Drive half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Last shift for Tarun Hegde, who joined Fabrication half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Cedric Navarrete stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Fabrication.
Kiran Hegde stands down from Hydroponics at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
The schools release Gbenga Fossum to Hydroponics. Generation 2 takes up its tools.
After 92 years, Natalya Lebedev has let go. Remembrance in the Ring B commons at next dimming.
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.
Harvest arithmetic turns unkind: reserves under twenty days. Hydroponics doubles shifts among the racks.
Fermín Herrera, 86, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Arne Paulsen stands down from Life Systems at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
First Light. The observation blister queues run all day: Teegarden's Star, held in the eyepiece, a little brighter than last year — 10.93 light-years to go.
Sixty-eight years: Josefina Navarrete hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring C stands ready.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 46, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Sixty-eight years: Nikolai Petrov hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring D stands ready.
The manifest shortens by one: Olaf Iversen, 82 years. The line rests with the ship now.
The question is put to the wider circle: Rationing. The ship asks; Earth answers, in its own long time.
Ingrid Ulriksen finishes a quilt: “Warm Bell (Year 46).” It shows in the commons through the week.
Mahesh Iyer stands down from Command at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Beatriz Ibarra, 69. It is little enough.
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.