I dim the corridor lights a shade for Jorgen Lindqvist, 86. 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.
Ibrahim Navarrete takes the hand of Zahra Orellana before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
The youngest aboard is now Meilin Fang, minutes old, asleep. 737 souls.
Anastasia Ouyang and Frederick Valdivia name their son Kestrel. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Dagny Diallo and Xavier Thorvaldsen, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
The schools release Kehinde Yan to Fabrication. Generation 2 takes up its tools.
A joining in Ring C: Karin Orellana and Damilare Quaye. The pressing of cider is authorized.
“Four Maps Turning,” a mural by Arthur Ellery, is unveiled at dimming to the particular applause of Hydroponics.
10.26 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 51,637 thousand to go.
After 91 years, Olga Sokolov has let go. Remembrance in the Ring B commons at next dimming.
Two names braided on the manifest tonight: Gbenga and Ananya. The commons sings late.
Zaid Wahba died in quarters on the night watch, 87 years old. 736 souls aboard.
After 76 years, Edmund Vance has let go. Remembrance in the Ring D commons at next dimming.
Harriet Barakat and Yakubu Patil name their daughter Josefina. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Leif Mansour, sixteen, takes the bay gardener apprenticeship in Hydroponics.
Morale index reads 69. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Hydroponics Bays back in service. The old hands say it sounds better than before; the instruments say it sounds the same.
Wenling Valdivia and Zemin Ulriksen, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
Fuhua Ulriksen stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Life Systems.
Harriet Singh and Cedric Navarrete name their son Octavio. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Zhenzhen Jaber, sixteen, takes the mycologist apprenticeship in Hydroponics.
Hydroponics Bays faults in the middle watch. Hydroponics takes the call.
After 83 years, Sarala Yadav has let go. Remembrance in the Ring A commons at next dimming.
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.
Ulyana Petrov is delivered of a daughter on the night watch. The child is called Ghada.
The manifest shortens by one: Solveig Thorvaldsen, 90 years. The line rests with the ship now.
All boards green. I count 737 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 70,326 days to orbit.
A daughter, Ylva Thorvaldsen, born in the Ring D infirmary to Modupe Thorvaldsen and Devendra Pillai. Mother and child are well.
A first shift for Shanyuan Fang, sixteen: pharmacist, Medical. The badge is printed fresh.
Igor Chekhov finishes a poem: “Hymn for the Inward Engine.” It shows in the commons through the week.
The youngest aboard is now Elsie Mazur, minutes old, asleep. 736 souls.
The manifest shortens by one: Liang Luo, 83 years. The line rests with the ship now.
Yash Salazar, sixteen, takes the irrigation tech apprenticeship in Hydroponics.
A birth in Ring B: Ikenna, boy, generation 3. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
The manifest shortens by one: Chinedu Lawal, 95 years. The line rests with the ship now.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Ruolan Wan, 84. It is little enough.
Census check: 737 souls, 228 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 2,939th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Ignacio Quintana does not wake on the night watch. 83 years, most of them given to Medical.
First Light. The observation blister queues run all day: Teegarden's Star, held in the eyepiece, a little brighter than last year — 10.28 light-years to go.
A first shift for Ngozi Diallo, sixteen: watch officer, Command. The badge is printed fresh.
Mahmoud El-Amin, 88, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
The manifest shortens by one: Lanying Wan, 76 years. The line rests with the ship now.
The youngest aboard is now Tomasz Ning, minutes old, asleep. 740 souls.
After 91 years, Dinesh Gokhale has let go. Remembrance in the Ring B commons at next dimming.
A daughter, Chitra Shen, born in the Ring D infirmary to Jiayi Shen and Jaroslav Peng. Mother and child are well.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Lev Yakovlev, 79. It is little enough.
Harriet Singh takes the hand of Cedric Navarrete before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
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.