Comms Array goes down. I reroute what can be rerouted and wake who must be woken.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Ylva Aaberg takes the hand of Ayodele Nwosu before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
The manifest shortens by one: Chukwuemeka Lawal, 87 years. The line rests with the ship now.
NOR Compute Core restored after 2 weeks. Uzoma Pillai signs the work order and goes to sleep for a full watch.
Departure Day, year 60. The founders' roll is read from the first name to the thousandth, and the young ones try to stay solemn.
Modupe Thorvaldsen is delivered of a son on the night watch. The child is called Ion.
A wedding at dimming. Nanna Ouyang, Ecology; Vernon Kong, Life Systems. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
NOR Compute Core faults in the middle watch. Archive & Schools takes the call.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 69,421 days to orbit.
Jianguo Huang does not wake at brightening. 81 years, most of them given to Drive.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 69,426 days to orbit.
Born on the first watch: Aleksandr Aaberg, generation 3. The ship holds 714 souls tonight.
Leonard Hartley does not wake at brightening. 89 years, most of them given to Hydroponics.
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.
Gunhild Rönnberg does not wake in the middle watch. 96 years, most of them given to Life Systems.
A wedding at dimming. Howard Thorvaldsen, Life Systems; Dolores Zhao, Drive. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
Paloma Quill stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Life Systems.
The youngest aboard is now Tatiana Navarrete, minutes old, asleep. 715 souls.
Maja Fang and Clifford Barrientos name their daughter Lubna. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Emeka Yan chooses Archive & Schools — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
The manifest shortens by one: Iris Northam, 78 years. 1 children carry the line on.
Yuri Ulanov finishes a quilt: “The Whole Season.” It shows in the commons through the week.
Lakshmi Ning has made a mural called “What the Map Leaves.” Asked what it means, she says it means about nine years of evenings.
Remembrance. All names read since the last one — held in silence in every ring at the same hour. I keep the lights low until it is done.
Sixteen years for Walid Salazar, who signs to Hydroponics on the night watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
After 101 years, Jaya Chandrasekaran has let go. Remembrance in the Ring A commons at next dimming.
Anli Han does not wake at dimming. 86 years, most of them given to Hydroponics.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Ludmila Petrov, 80. It is little enough.
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 Hernán Pillai, who signs to Medical late in the second watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Emilio Barakat finishes a play: “Seven Ladders Turning.” It shows in the commons through the week.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 69,533 days to orbit.
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.
Rell Peng times an occultation to refine our ephemeris. The course correction is smaller than a held breath.
The youngest aboard is now Shanta Sharma, minutes old, asleep. 717 souls.
The manifest shortens by one: Walter Ingram, 80 years. 1 children carry the line on.
Born on the night watch: Birgitta Nwosu, generation 3. The ship holds 717 souls tonight.
After 91 years, Signe Thorvaldsen has let go. Remembrance in the Ring A commons at next dimming.
10.15 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 49,880 thousand to go.
The manifest shortens by one: Ludmila Mazur, 94 years. The line rests with the ship now.
After 99 years, Zaid Khoury has let go. Remembrance in the Ring D commons at next dimming.
Night watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Daisy Kellaway, 83, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
The youngest aboard is now Anders Shen, minutes old, asleep. 720 souls.
10.15 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 50,033 thousand to go.
Jinghua Feng has made a tale-cycle called “Seasons of Ring B.” Asked what it means, she says it means about nine years of evenings.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 69,593 days to orbit.
The manifest shortens by one: Bassam Abadi, 82 years. The line rests with the ship now.
Pranav Yadav died in quarters on the first watch, 89 years old. 720 souls aboard.