The youngest aboard is now Huda Thorvaldsen, minutes old, asleep. 817 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 youngest aboard is now Teodoro Merriweather, minutes old, asleep. 816 souls.
A birth in Ring B: Node, girl, generation 3. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Two names braided on the manifest tonight: Zikora and Gayatri. The commons sings late.
The council confirms Boreal Thorvaldsen as Chief of Archive & Schools at brightening.
Efua Diallo stands down from Archive & Schools at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Yueqin Fang and Kestrel Ouyang, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
A joining in Ring A: Tomasz Northam and Svetlana Shen. The pressing of cider is authorized.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 1,872th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Domingo Ashworth chooses Drive — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
A first shift for Arthur Barakat, sixteen: nurse, Medical. The badge is printed fresh.
Jiayi Thorvaldsen and Vasili Valdivia name their son Wenbo. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Lumen Jaber and Uzoma Ning are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Drive turns out.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Omar Titov, 76. It is little enough.
Sixteen years for Bjorn Nwosu, who signs to Drive in the middle watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
A daughter, Hilde Petrov, born in the Ring D infirmary to Xiulan Petrov and Emeka Zhao. Mother and child are well.
Peizhi Jaber stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Archive & Schools.
A joining in Ring C: Meridian Aaberg and Martin Quaye. The pressing of cider is authorized.
Departure Day, year 79. The founders' roll is read from the first name to the thousandth, and the young ones try to stay solemn.
Census check: 813 souls, 294 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Sixteen years for Umbra Orellana, who signs to Life Systems in the middle watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Stanley Cavanagh died in quarters late in the second watch, 102 years old. 813 souls aboard.
9.00 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 50,877 thousand to go.
The youngest aboard is now Ember Jaber, minutes old, asleep. 814 souls.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 1,808th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
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.
Two names braided on the manifest tonight: Sojourn and Zahra. The commons sings late.
The council confirms Olaf Orellana as Chief of Medical on the night watch.
Ragnar Han retires on the night watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Octavio Singh takes the hand of Rocío Petrov before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
All boards green. I count 813 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Uzoma Aaberg, sixteen, takes the broadcast keeper apprenticeship in Archive & Schools.
Repair complete on Fabrication Shops after 6 days. I run the test cycle twice, out of respect for history.
Dominika Thorvaldsen resolves a long-period comet in the forward field — a smudge of home ice, very far from home. It is logged and named.
A wedding at brightening. Xenia Fang, Fabrication; Dalia Merriweather, Fabrication. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
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.
Fabrication Shops faults at dimming. Fabrication takes the call.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 62,550 days to orbit.
A wedding late in the second watch. Simisola Valdivia, Life Systems; Ming Thorvaldsen, Hydroponics. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
Ebba Ashworth retires late in the second watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Florence Thorvaldsen stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Drive.
Hakon Northam chooses Drive — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
The schools release Oluwadamilola Diallo to Command. Generation 3 takes up its tools.
Sixty-eight years: Dolores Kong hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring A stands ready.
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 78. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
A daughter, Fernanda Ulriksen, born in the Ring C infirmary to Huifen Ulriksen and Joaquín Yan. Mother and child are well.
Keel Nwosu and Jianguo Aaberg, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
Sable Valdivia, sixteen, takes the seedkeeper apprenticeship in Hydroponics.