Stanley Navarrete chooses Fabrication — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Maintenance sweep of Ring D complete. Somewhere aft a wrench is missing; it will surface in a decade, in a wall, with a story attached.
Maja Nwosu is delivered of a daughter at brightening. The child is called Beatrice.
Hakon Bergstrom died in quarters in the middle watch, 91 years old. 737 souls aboard.
Halvard Thorvaldsen stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Archive & Schools.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Karin Bergstrom, 91. It is little enough.
Lev Babich does not wake at brightening. 90 years, most of them given to Life Systems.
A birth in Ring C: Tatiana, girl, generation 3. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
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.
A daughter, Freya Tväten, born in the Ring D infirmary to Mariam Tväten and Fuhua Ulriksen. Mother and child are well.
Mahmoud Pemberton has made a instrument called “Ladders of Year 70.” Asked what it means, he says it means about nine years of evenings.
9.50 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 48,421 thousand to go.
A first shift for Adnan Shen, sixteen: thermal engineer, Life Systems. The badge is printed fresh.
Sixty-eight years: Theodore Sharma hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring A stands ready.
Helm Pemberton and César Fang, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
The manifest shortens by one: Ludmila Dragunov, 88 years. The line rests with the ship now.
9.51 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 48,505 thousand to go.
First Light festival. The children are lifted to the eyepiece one by one to see where they are going.
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.
Kehinde Ilesanmi died in quarters on the night watch, 91 years old. 739 souls aboard.
Nandini Pillai and Vernon Aaberg name their son Peng. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Sixteen years for Dagny Thorvaldsen, who signs to Medical at brightening and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Ylva Aaberg and Ayodele Nwosu name their son Helm. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Uzoma Ning stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Archive & Schools.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 70, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Adaeze Quill, sixteen, takes the water systems tech apprenticeship in Life Systems.
Last shift for Omar Titov, who joined Archive & Schools half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
A second child follows on the night watch: twins for Caelum Diallo. This one is called Gilbert.
Caelum Diallo is delivered of a son at brightening. The child is called Yash.
A first shift for Deneb Pemberton, sixteen: aquarist, Ecology. The badge is printed fresh.
A first shift for Jinghua Fang, sixteen: air systems tech, Life Systems. The badge is printed fresh.
The schools release Gilbert Sharma to Command. Generation 2 takes up its tools.
Jiayi Shen is delivered of a daughter on the night watch. The child is called Altair.
Yejide Merriweather chooses Archive & Schools — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 65,718 days to orbit.
A wedding late in the second watch. Wenbo Fang, Ecology; Oluwaseun Ulriksen, Ecology. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
A birth in Ring C: Catalina, girl, generation 4. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Departure Day, year 70. The founders' roll is read from the first name to the thousandth, and the young ones try to stay solemn.
Noor Ouyang stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Life Systems.
Gopal Ouyang chooses Medical — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
A birth in Ring B: Pearl, girl, generation 3. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
A first shift for Vasanti Kowalczyk, sixteen: entomologist, Ecology. The badge is printed fresh.
Walid Quaye takes the hand of Xenia Peng before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
Rell Peng and Shanyuan Fang name their daughter Irina. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Sixteen years for Esha Shen, who signs to Command on the night watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 7,505th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Last shift for Theodore Lal, who joined Hydroponics half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
Dinesh Jaber stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Medical.