Morale index reads 68. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
The manifest shortens by one: Ravindra Sethi, 84 years. The line rests with the ship now.
Lucía Aaberg is delivered of a son at dimming. The child is called Tao.
After 105 years, Adnan Haddad has let go. Remembrance in the Ring B commons at next dimming.
The schools release Oluwaseun Ulriksen to Ecology. Generation 2 takes up its tools.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
Peng Zhu died in quarters at dimming, 84 years old. 696 souls aboard.
A son, Ignacio Fossum, born in the Ring A infirmary to Bohdana Fossum and Hassan Pillai. Mother and child are well.
Morale index reads 69. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Amir Baz died in quarters at brightening, 96 years old. 696 souls aboard.
Sixteen years for Harini Barakat, who signs to Life Systems on the night watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Yejide Ogunleye, 91, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Florence Rutherford, 92. It is little enough.
The manifest shortens by one: Ernest Quill, 85 years. The line rests with the ship now.
Anton Sharma, sixteen, takes the fuelwright apprenticeship in Drive.
Octavio Pillai chooses Life Systems — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
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 wedding on the night watch. Boreal Tväten, Fabrication; Ravindra Ouyang, Ecology. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Suyin Wu, 94. It is little enough.
A daughter, Cygnet Nwosu, born in the Ring B infirmary to Dagny Nwosu and Kayode Pillai. Mother and child are well.
The youngest aboard is now Nicolás Zhao, minutes old, asleep. 700 souls.
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.
Gonzalo Valdivia does not wake on the night watch. 86 years, most of them given to Medical.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
Inés Izquierdo died in quarters in the middle watch, 87 years old. 700 souls aboard.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 68,675 days to orbit.
Jianguo Aaberg, sixteen, takes the pollinator keeper apprenticeship in Ecology.
Departure Day, year 62. The founders' roll is read from the first name to the thousandth, and the young ones try to stay solemn.
The manifest shortens by one: Winifred Merriweather, 92 years. The line rests with the ship now.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 61, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
The manifest shortens by one: Karim Yamin, 94 years. 1 children carry the line on.
Katarzyna Ostrowski does not wake late in the second watch. 98 years, most of them given to Archive & Schools.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Tunde Yeboah, 81. It is little enough.
Caelum Diallo is delivered of a daughter at brightening. The child is called Ingrid.
Census check: 704 souls, 257 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
A birth in Ring D: Beatrice, girl, generation 3. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Wenbo Fang stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Ecology.
Cedric Thackeray, 80, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
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.
Green across the board: Water Reclamation holds after 2 weeks of work. Spares were spent; Fabrication is notified.
Remembrance day. The memorial wall is polished by hand, though nothing aboard needs polishing less.
A daughter, Tessa Diallo, born in the Ring A infirmary to Dagny Diallo and Xavier Thorvaldsen. Mother and child are well.
The schools release Vasanti Nwosu to Hydroponics. Generation 2 takes up its tools.
Water Reclamation faults late in the second watch. Life Systems takes the call.
The manifest shortens by one: Oluwadamilola Kamau, 82 years. 1 children carry the line on.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 68,761 days to orbit.
Liv Lindqvist, 84, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Census check: 705 souls, 257 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Abena Nwosu finishes a tale-cycle: “What the Harvest Returns.” It shows in the commons through the week.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.