The youngest aboard is now Anders Petrov, minutes old, asleep. 806 souls.
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 star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
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.
Gilbert Fairburn stands down from Hydroponics at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Tatiana Merriweather is delivered of a daughter on the night watch. The child is called Lakshmi.
Departure Day, year 78. The founders' roll is read from the first name to the thousandth, and the young ones try to stay solemn.
Radhika Nwosu and Layla Shen are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Ecology turns out.
Ingrid Diallo, sixteen, takes the pharmacist apprenticeship in Medical.
Sixteen years for Beatrice Quaye, who signs to Hydroponics on the first watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Morale index reads 77. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
9.06 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 50,577 thousand to go.
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 schools release Tessa Diallo to Hydroponics. Generation 3 takes up its tools.
Halley Northam and Anders Thorvaldsen name their son Feng. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Maintenance sweep of Ring B complete. Somewhere aft a wrench is missing; it will surface in a decade, in a wall, with a story attached.
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.
Water Reclamation back in service. The old hands say it sounds better than before; the instruments say it sounds the same.
Census check: 803 souls, 296 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
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.
Fault isolated in Water Reclamation. Repair estimate: unwise to say aloud.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
Born on the first watch: Liang Valdivia, generation 3. The ship holds 803 souls tonight.
“Fields of Year 77,” a poem by Ayodele Bishara, is unveiled on the first watch to the particular applause of Drive.
The youngest aboard is now Harold Jaber, minutes old, asleep. 802 souls.
First watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Two names braided on the manifest tonight: Cedric and Darya. The commons sings late.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 1,344th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 62,996 days to orbit.
Born late in the second watch: Pavel Ning, generation 4. The ship holds 801 souls tonight.
A joining in Ring B: Yejide Thorvaldsen and Umbra Aaberg. The pressing of cider is authorized.
Qasim Pemberton, sixteen, takes the seedkeeper apprenticeship in Hydroponics.
All boards green. I count 800 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
A daughter, Guiying Ouyang, born in the Ring D infirmary to Anastasia Ouyang and Frederick Valdivia. Mother and child are well.
All boards green. I count 799 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Thermal Control restored after 2 days. Viggo Mazur signs the work order and goes to sleep for a full watch.
Census check: 799 souls, 293 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Census check: 799 souls, 293 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Sixteen years for Suyin Ouyang, who signs to Hydroponics at brightening and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Thermal Control faults in the middle watch. Life Systems takes the call.
“Windows of Bay 3,” a instrument by Guiying Petrov, is unveiled at dimming to the particular applause of Life Systems.
Radomir Aaberg and Beatriz Sharma are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Fabrication turns out.
A wedding at dimming. Tomasz Ning, Life Systems; Jinghua Fang, Life Systems. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
The schools release Joaquín Aaberg to Archive & Schools. Generation 3 takes up its tools.
Daisy Sharma is delivered of a son in the middle watch. The child is called Emeka.
Night watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
9.08 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 50,302 thousand to go.
A joining in Ring B: Xiulan Petrov and Emeka Zhao. The pressing of cider is authorized.
A birth in Ring B: Farida, girl, generation 3. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Suyin Quill and Fermín Fossum are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Fabrication turns out.