The schools release Dawud Zhao to Life Systems. Generation 3 takes up its tools.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — year 76, 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.
The schools release Gyre Barakat to Hydroponics. Generation 3 takes up its tools.
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.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 76, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
A first shift for Walid Quaye, sixteen: shield tech, Drive. The badge is printed fresh.
Zhenzhen Jaber is delivered of a son at brightening. The child is called Gonzalo.
A new tale-cycle from Fernanda Mazur — “Long Sky (Year 76).” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
A birth in Ring D: Chitra, girl, generation 3. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
A wedding on the first watch. Zenith Sharma, Medical; Ishaan Jaber, Hydroponics. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
Census check: 787 souls, 301 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Huifen Ulriksen and Joaquín Yan name their daughter Tessa. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Uma Thorvaldsen chooses Fabrication — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
A joining in Ring D: Yejide Merriweather and Kofi Navarrete. The pressing of cider is authorized.
Fern Diallo has made a poem called “Harvests of Ring B.” Asked what it means, she says it means about nine years of evenings.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 76, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Maksim Fang finds an unrecorded microbe thriving in the water walls. Harmless, industrious, ours.
First Light. The observation blister queues run all day: Teegarden's Star, held in the eyepiece, a little brighter than last year — 9.15 light-years to go.
9.15 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 49,876 thousand to go.
A birth in Ring C: Qiang, boy, generation 3. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
A wedding in the middle watch. Lev Peng, Drive; Zenith Ashworth, Archive & Schools. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
Yuri Aaberg stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Medical.
Lumen Zhao takes the hand of Suyin Barakat before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
Census check: 785 souls, 301 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
The manifest shortens by one: Fermín Valdivia, 97 years. The line rests with the ship now.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
A first shift for Cygnet Pemberton, sixteen: shield tech, Drive. The badge is printed fresh.
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.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 63,501 days to orbit.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 806th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Born at dimming: Folasade Pemberton, generation 4. The ship holds 786 souls tonight.
A birth in Ring A: Kayode, boy, generation 4. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
A birth in Ring B: Zofia, girl, generation 3. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
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.
Morale index reads 82. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Fern Diallo and Tern Aaberg are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Archive & Schools turns out.
Sixteen years for Hanan Mansour, who signs to Life Systems late in the second watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Huda Fossum chooses Archive & Schools — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
9.16 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 49,753 thousand to go.
Gunnar Jaber chooses Medical — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Lubna Petrov is delivered of a son on the first watch. The child is called Zikora.
Annika Thorvaldsen does not wake at dimming. 96 years, most of them given to Life Systems.
A first shift for Gunhild Mazur, sixteen: grafter, Hydroponics. The badge is printed fresh.
Mariam Diallo takes the hand of Dolores Jaber before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
Divya Aaberg stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Drive.
Esha Yan finishes a instrument: “Seven Doors Turning.” It shows in the commons through the week.
Aster Kowalczyk chooses Hydroponics — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
After 102 years, Zemin Qin has let go. Remembrance in the Ring C commons at next dimming.