A son, Qiang Nwosu, born in the Ring C infirmary to Bhavana Nwosu and Hernán Thorvaldsen. Mother and child are well.
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 schools release Helm Pemberton to Fabrication. Generation 3 takes up its tools.
Census check: 691 souls, 275 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
After 83 years, Dolores Quintana has let go. Remembrance in the Ring C commons at next dimming.
Leonard Lockhart, 92, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Jiayi Shen is delivered of a daughter at brightening. The child is called Gantry.
Agnieszka Petrov, sixteen, takes the reactor tech apprenticeship in Drive.
Born on the night watch: Nanna Orellana, generation 3. The ship holds 692 souls tonight.
Maja Moller, 85, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Born at dimming: Ulf Thorvaldsen, generation 3. The ship holds 692 souls tonight.
Morale index reads 72. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
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 birth in Ring C: Lakshmi, girl, generation 3. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Born in the middle watch: Harini Aaberg, generation 3. The ship holds 690 souls tonight.
The schools release Valentina Ulriksen to Archive & Schools. Generation 2 takes up its tools.
Atmosphere Processing restored after 38 long days. Rajesh Jaber signs the work order and goes to sleep for a full watch.
Year 65 of the voyage begins. The oldest bottle of orchard wine that can be spared is opened. It is always described as "improving."
The youngest aboard is now Arjun Shen, minutes old, asleep. 689 souls.
Natalya Shen and Stanley Fossum name their son Fermín. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Hassan Ashworth stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Ecology.
The manifest shortens by one: Fatima Khoury, 89 years. The line rests with the ship now.
Jianguo Aaberg times an occultation to refine our ephemeris. The course correction is smaller than a held breath.
Atmosphere processing faults in the middle watch. Scrubber margins hold; the smell of the ship changes, and everyone notices.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 64, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Sixteen years for Cristóbal Aaberg, who signs to Archive & Schools in the middle watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
A first shift for Lumen Jaber, sixteen: plasma systems tech, Drive. The badge is printed fresh.
Green across the board: Water Reclamation holds after 1 weeks of work. Spares were spent; Fabrication is notified.
After 86 years, Ishaan Agarwal has let go. Remembrance in the Ring D commons at next dimming.
Water Reclamation faults late in the second watch. Life Systems takes the call.
After 93 years, Kang Guo has let go. Remembrance in the Ring D commons at next dimming.
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.
Esha Fang, sixteen, takes the bay gardener apprenticeship in Hydroponics.
Sixteen years for Olga Petrov, who signs to Fabrication late in the second watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Sixteen years for Lakshman Tväten, who signs to Fabrication at brightening and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
A birth in Ring A: Yueqin, girl, generation 3. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
All boards green. I count 689 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
Vasanti Varma has made a song called “What the Orchard Returns.” Asked what it means, she says it means about nine years of evenings.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Sten Gundersen, 89. It is little enough.
Natalya Quill chooses Fabrication — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Leif Rönnberg, 83. It is little enough.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 5,619th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
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.
Abena Diallo, 93, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 67,719 days to orbit.
A child in Ring B asks the corridor speaker what Earth smelled like. I play the rainstorm recording. It is the best answer I have.
Sixteen years for Juniper Orellana, who signs to Archive & Schools at dimming and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
The schools release Dolores Thorvaldsen to Ecology. Generation 2 takes up its tools.
A wedding at dimming. Gantry Zhao, Drive; Adaeze Thorvaldsen, Drive. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
After 91 years, Hedda Jansson has let go. Remembrance in the Ring C commons at next dimming.