I dim the corridor lights a shade for Jaroslav Ostrowski, 91. 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.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Efua Kamau, 77. It is little enough.
Hilde Tväten does not wake late in the second watch. 74 years, most of them given to Life Systems.
Frederick Ingram died in quarters at brightening, 80 years old. 789 souls aboard.
Morale index reads 66. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Ibrahim Navarrete stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Archive & Schools.
The manifest shortens by one: Tara Hegde, 93 years. The line rests with the ship now.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 72,326 days to orbit.
The manifest shortens by one: Naresh Naidu, 92 years. The line rests with the ship now.
Born on the night watch: Zbigniew Shen, generation 3. The ship holds 792 souls tonight.
Year 52 of the voyage begins. The oldest bottle of orchard wine that can be spared is opened. It is always described as "improving."
Dmitri Morozov died in quarters on the night watch, 76 years old. 791 souls aboard.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Jamal Baz, 85. It is little enough.
Born at brightening: Sarala Pemberton, generation 3. The ship holds 793 souls tonight.
All boards green. I count 792 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Census check: 792 souls, 185 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
A daughter, Tara Fang, born in the Ring B infirmary to Maja Fang and Clifford Barrientos. Mother and child are well.
Atmosphere Processing hums again. Khalid Jaber is stood a round of orchard cider by the off-shift.
Atmosphere processing faults late in the second watch. Scrubber margins hold; the smell of the ship changes, and everyone notices.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 51, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Sixteen years for Harriet Singh, who signs to Archive & Schools at brightening and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Green across the board: Drive holds after 57 long days of work. Spares were spent; Fabrication is notified.
Tara Nair does not wake on the night watch. 96 years, most of them given to Medical.
First watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Sixteen years for Nils Nwosu, who signs to Life Systems late in the second watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
The manifest shortens by one: Ruolan Kong, 95 years. The line rests with the ship now.
Zofia Dubrovsky does not wake in the middle watch. 73 years, most of them given to Life Systems.
Remembrance day. The memorial wall is polished by hand, though nothing aboard needs polishing less.
Ximena Orellana does not wake in the middle watch. 91 years, most of them given to Drive.
Dagny Diallo stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Archive & Schools.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
Morale index reads 67. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Drive faults at brightening. Drive takes the call.
A daughter, Solveig Salazar, born in the Ring B infirmary to Nora Salazar and Radomir Quintana. Mother and child are well.
A son, Lumen Zhao, born in the Ring C infirmary to Ludmila Zhao and Leandro Pemberton. Mother and child are well.
Ananya Yan is delivered of a daughter on the first watch. The child is called Elin.
Morale index reads 69. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
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.
Sixteen years for Ananya Aaberg, who signs to Drive at dimming and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Kang Bai, 81. It is little enough.
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.
10.62 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 57,462 thousand to go.
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.
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.
Jiayi Shen and Jaroslav Peng name their daughter June. The nursery lamps stay warm.
A birth in Ring A: Noemí, girl, generation 3. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Morale index reads 69. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
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.
A son, Konstantin Kowalczyk, born in the Ring A infirmary to Catalina Kowalczyk and Frederick Chatterjee. Mother and child are well.
Babatunde Ndiaye died in quarters in the middle watch, 90 years old. 791 souls aboard.