Born late in the second watch: Theodore Thorvaldsen, generation 3. The ship holds 704 souls tonight.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Esperanza Singh stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Hydroponics.
First Light. The observation blister queues run all day: Teegarden's Star, held in the eyepiece, a little brighter than last year — 9.75 light-years to go.
A first shift for Lucía Fang, sixteen: recycler, Fabrication. The badge is printed fresh.
The manifest shortens by one: Ifeoma Jelani, 100 years. The line rests with the ship now.
After 90 years, Natalya Fedorenko has let go. Remembrance in the Ring C commons at next dimming.
A wedding at dimming. Olaf Orellana, Medical; Johanna Pillai, Life Systems. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
After 86 years, Baozhen Fang has let go. Remembrance in the Ring B commons at next dimming.
Oscar Mortlake does not wake on the first watch. 86 years, most of them given to Archive & Schools.
The schools release Anton Shen to Archive & Schools. Generation 3 takes up its tools.
A birth in Ring B: Chukwuemeka, boy, generation 3. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 66, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
A joining in Ring A: Walid Salazar and Sanjay Orellana. The pressing of cider is authorized.
A child in Ring A asks the corridor speaker what Earth smelled like. I play the rainstorm recording. It is the best answer I have.
Born on the first watch: Yejide Valdivia, generation 3. The ship holds 706 souls tonight.
Adrián Salazar chooses Drive — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
9.76 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 47,381 thousand to go.
A daughter, Nneka Valdivia, born in the Ring B infirmary to Carmen Valdivia and Caelum Nwosu. Mother and child are well.
Walter Northam does not wake in the middle watch. 97 years, most of them given to Archive & Schools.
A wedding on the first watch. Leif Mansour, Hydroponics; Gyre Nwosu, Life Systems. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
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.
After 99 years, Katarzyna Dragunov has let go. Remembrance in the Ring C commons at next dimming.
Clara Fairburn does not wake late in the second watch. 94 years, most of them given to Drive.
Census check: 707 souls, 289 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Year 66 of the voyage begins. The oldest bottle of orchard wine that can be spared is opened. It is always described as "improving."
Lakshmi Ning has made a quilt called “Standing Furrow, Outward Lantern.” Asked what it means, she says it means about nine years of evenings.
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.
Ulyana Petrov and Rajesh Jaber name their daughter Widad. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Morale index reads 73. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
9.77 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 47,483 thousand to go.
Born late in the second watch: Thurayya Salazar, generation 3. The ship holds 706 souls tonight.
A birth in Ring B: Dominika, girl, generation 3. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 65, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
A son, Arthur Ning, born in the Ring C infirmary to Lakshmi Ning and Halley Navarrete. Mother and child are well.
Modupe Thorvaldsen and Devendra Pillai name their daughter Noor. The nursery lamps stay warm.
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.
A first shift for Renshu Kong, sixteen: sanitation engineer, Life Systems. The badge is printed fresh.
Morale index reads 73. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
A new mural from Ulises Gorbachev — “Map for the Borrowed Window.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
Remembrance day. The memorial wall is polished by hand, though nothing aboard needs polishing less.
9.78 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 47,238 thousand to go.
The youngest aboard is now Walid Singh, minutes old, asleep. 702 souls.
Born on the first watch: Ibrahim Pillai, generation 3. The ship holds 701 souls tonight.
Sixteen years for Fern Diallo, who signs to Archive & Schools in the middle watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
After 91 years, Leonard Eastwood has let go. Remembrance in the Ring D commons at next dimming.
Sixteen years for Xenia Peng, who signs to Fabrication late in the second watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
After 88 years, Jinghua Kong has let go. Remembrance in the Ring A commons at next dimming.
First watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
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.