The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 72, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Lars Yan, sixteen, takes the teacher apprenticeship in Archive & Schools.
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 Ruth Tväten, sixteen: aquarist, Ecology. The badge is printed fresh.
9.38 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 48,577 thousand to go.
9.38 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 48,585 thousand to go.
Meilin Nwosu and Zbigniew Shen are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Hydroponics turns out.
A first shift for Chinedu Thorvaldsen, sixteen: reactor tech, Drive. The badge is printed fresh.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 72, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Dominika Thorvaldsen finishes a instrument: “The Last Hymn.” It shows in the commons through the week.
The schools release Gayatri Quaye to Fabrication. Generation 3 takes up its tools.
A birth in Ring A: Guadalupe, girl, generation 3. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Too soon, at 40: Zahra Orellana. The commons fills at brightening with those who knew her.
Sarala Pemberton takes the hand of Anton Sharma before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
Born at dimming: Ruth Orellana, generation 3. The ship holds 749 souls tonight.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 8,411th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
The youngest aboard is now Zemin Navarrete, minutes old, asleep. 748 souls.
Ananya Aaberg is delivered of a son late in the second watch. The child is called Yuri.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 64,905 days to orbit.
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.
Adrián Salazar and Sarala Peng, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
First Light. The observation blister queues run all day: Teegarden's Star, held in the eyepiece, a little brighter than last year — 9.39 light-years to go.
Josefina Shen and Pallas Valdivia name their daughter Yelena. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Two names braided on the manifest tonight: Nanna and Sergei. The commons sings late.
A first shift for Meridian Aaberg, sixteen: quartermaster, Command. The badge is printed fresh.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
Mahmoud Pemberton retires at dimming. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Kofi Navarrete chooses Drive — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Nora Thorvaldsen, 72, generation 1, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 64,950 days to orbit.
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.
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.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
Sixteen years for Aster Fossum, who signs to Medical in the middle watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
A joining in Ring C: Emeka Yan and Hedda Ulriksen. The pressing of cider is authorized.
A birth in Ring D: Noor, girl, generation 3. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 8,330th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Drift Quaye, sixteen, takes the historian apprenticeship in Archive & Schools.
Gunhild Petrov and Bernard Ashworth name their son Everett. The nursery lamps stay warm.
A first shift for Sojourn Navarrete, sixteen: hullwright, Fabrication. The badge is printed fresh.
Ulises Gorbachev has made a mural called “Door for the Borrowed Season.” Asked what it means, he says it means about nine years of evenings.
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.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 8,298th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
The manifest shortens by one: Josefina Gallardo, 91 years. 1 children carry the line on.
Marzena Quill and Dmitri Merriweather name their daughter Qiaoyun. The nursery lamps stay warm.
A birth in Ring B: Farida, girl, generation 3. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Vasanti Nwosu and Rotimi Aaberg name their daughter Fernanda. The nursery lamps stay warm.