A daughter, Noor Thorvaldsen, born in the Ring D infirmary to Boreal Thorvaldsen and Drift 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 Howard Aaberg to Drive. Generation 3 takes up its tools.
Morale index reads 78. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Samira Shen stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Fabrication.
Silvia Jaramillo died in quarters on the night watch, 95 years old. 776 souls aboard.
Sixty-eight years: Gunhild Thorvaldsen hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring C stands ready.
Percy Escamilla stands down from Ecology at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Jagdish Petrov chooses Drive — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 458th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Josefina Navarrete, 96. It is little enough.
A wedding at brightening. Kamala Salazar, Drive; Howard Quill, Life Systems. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
The youngest aboard is now Mira Diallo, minutes old, asleep. 778 souls.
Wenbo Nwosu stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Ecology.
Dag Valdivia stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Hydroponics.
Verne Petrov has made a instrument called “What the Bell Carries.” Asked what it means, she says it means about nine years of evenings.
A new instrument from Svetlana Shen — “Five Corridors Rising.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
The youngest aboard is now Ulises Pemberton, minutes old, asleep. 777 souls.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 75, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Lumen Petrov and Yaling Zhao name their son Femi. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Green across the board: Water Reclamation holds after 2 weeks of work. Spares were spent; Fabrication is notified.
Esha Yan and Stanley Valdivia name their daughter Daisy. The nursery lamps stay warm.
All boards green. I count 774 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Trouble in Water Reclamation. The board goes amber; the coffee goes on.
The schools release Ayodele Salazar to Fabrication. Generation 3 takes up its tools.
Modupe Thorvaldsen's crew brings Fabrication Shops back after 4 days.
A failure in Fabrication Shops. The duty crew is roused; tools move down the spinal corridor at a jog.
Departure Day, year 75. The founders' roll is read from the first name to the thousandth, and the young ones try to stay solemn.
Esha Shen takes the hand of Viggo Mazur before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
First watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Zemin Zhao does not wake on the night watch. 103 years, most of them given to Hydroponics.
Census check: 775 souls, 302 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Halvard Diallo, sixteen, takes the plasma systems tech apprenticeship in Drive.
Night watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Born on the first watch: Vigdis Ouyang, generation 3. The ship holds 775 souls tonight.
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.
Born on the first watch: Ragnhild Zhao, generation 3. The ship holds 774 souls tonight.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 74, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Arc Jaber is delivered of a son on the first watch. The child is called Howard.
Daisy Sharma and Liang Fang name their daughter Caelum. The nursery lamps stay warm.
A daughter, Halley Nwosu, born in the Ring D infirmary to Pearl Nwosu and Gbenga Navarrete. Mother and child are well.
First watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
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.
The youngest aboard is now Zemin Singh, minutes old, asleep. 770 souls.
The manifest shortens by one: Uma Varma, 95 years. 1 children carry the line on.
Last shift for Khalid Jaber, who joined Life Systems half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Meilin Valdivia chooses Life Systems — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Morale index reads 78. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Zemin Ma died in quarters late in the second watch, 99 years old. 770 souls aboard.
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.
Martin Quaye, sixteen, takes the bay gardener apprenticeship in Hydroponics.