Oluwadamilola Olawale, 82, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Abebi Oyelaran died in quarters at dimming, 83 years old. 706 souls aboard.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 61, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Noor Khoury, 87. It is little enough.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 4,523th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Kamala Raghunathan, 84. It is little enough.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 68,794 days to orbit.
Gbenga Merriweather, sixteen, takes the historian apprenticeship in Archive & Schools.
Ngozi Uche, 90, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Katarzyna Dragunov finishes a quilt: “Corridors of Year 61.” It shows in the commons through the week.
Green across the board: Drive holds after 2 weeks of work. Spares were spent; Fabrication is notified.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 4,493th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Viggo Diallo, sixteen, takes the printer operator apprenticeship in Fabrication.
A joining in Ring C: Lakshmi Ning and Halley Navarrete. The pressing of cider is authorized.
A failure in Drive. The duty crew is roused; tools move down the spinal corridor at a jog.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Catalina Montoya, 92. It is little enough.
The youngest aboard is now Qasim Pemberton, minutes old, asleep. 711 souls.
Tariq Toma does not wake late in the second watch. 88 years, most of them given to Archive & Schools.
Morale index reads 71. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
The youngest aboard is now Suyin Ouyang, minutes old, asleep. 711 souls.
10.03 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 48,886 thousand to go.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 61, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
The youngest aboard is now Joaquín Aaberg, minutes old, asleep. 710 souls.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 61, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 68,872 days to orbit.
Fermín Valdivia does not wake at brightening. 92 years, most of them given to Fabrication.
Wenling Chen does not wake on the first watch. 88 years, most of them given to Medical.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Ximena Salazar, 96. It is little enough.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Modupe Nwosu, 95. It is little enough.
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.
A birth in Ring D: Gyre, girl, generation 3. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Anjali Tendulkar died in quarters late in the second watch, 83 years old. 712 souls aboard.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
First Light festival. The children are lifted to the eyepiece one by one to see where they are going.
10.04 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 49,152 thousand to go.
First watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
After 87 years, Evgeni Gorbachev has let go. Remembrance in the Ring B commons at next dimming.
Morale index reads 70. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Joaquín Yan takes the hand of Huifen Ulriksen before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
Born in the middle watch: Kestrel Navarrete, generation 3. The ship holds 714 souls tonight.
Census check: 713 souls, 254 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
Dmitri Morozov does not wake at brightening. 103 years, most of them given to Medical.
Kamala Nair, 93, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
The manifest shortens by one: Jorgen Vik, 88 years. The line rests with the ship now.
A second child follows on the night watch: twins for Ruth Aaberg. This one is called Harini.
Ruth Aaberg is delivered of a daughter on the night watch. The child is called Yewande.
Hanan Rahman does not wake in the middle watch. 86 years, most of them given to Drive.
Census check: 715 souls, 252 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
A daughter, Safiya Shen, born in the Ring B infirmary to Jiayi Shen and Jaroslav Peng. Mother and child are well.