Knut Aaberg chooses Life Systems — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
A new mural from Anton Sharma — “Unlit Map, Kept Map.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
8.92 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 51,540 thousand to go.
Last shift for Dagny Merriweather, who joined Hydroponics half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Hanan Mansour and Aster Kowalczyk are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Life Systems turns out.
Devendra Kong, sixteen, takes the teacher apprenticeship in Archive & Schools.
Sixteen years for Ikenna Ning, who signs to Life Systems at dimming and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
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.
Census check: 831 souls, 293 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 80, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
All boards green. I count 831 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Drive quits at dimming, with a sound the old hands do not like.
A wedding in the middle watch. Iveta Pillai, Medical; Oscar Yan, Fabrication. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 62,067 days to orbit.
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.
A son, Qasim Quill, born in the Ring A infirmary to Suyin Quill and Fermín Fossum. Mother and child are well.
Night watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
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.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 62,086 days to orbit.
A second child follows on the night watch: twins for Halley Northam. This one is called Anli.
Halley Northam is delivered of a son on the night watch. The child is called Vasili.
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.
Bogdan Navarrete and Jagdish Petrov, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
Year 80 of the voyage begins. The oldest bottle of orchard wine that can be spared is opened. It is always described as "improving."
The manifest shortens by one: Vasanti Varma, 102 years. The line rests with the ship now.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 2,184th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Ingrid Fang is delivered of a son at dimming. The child is called Enlai.
The schools release Juniper Singh to Archive & Schools. Generation 3 takes up its tools.
Samira Shen takes the hand of Ikenna Jaber before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
Olaf Ouyang, sixteen, takes the bay gardener apprenticeship in Hydroponics.
A daughter, Bhavana Thorvaldsen, born in the Ring C infirmary to Dagny Thorvaldsen and Enlai Aaberg. Mother and child are well.
Gopal Ouyang finishes a poem: “Sky for the Borrowed Anchor.” It shows in the commons through the week.
Sixteen years for Abebi Ouyang, who signs to Ecology in the middle watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Sixteen years for Irina Zhao, who signs to Medical at dimming and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
The schools release Chandran Navarrete to Medical. Generation 3 takes up its tools.
A son, Orrery Barakat, born in the Ring D infirmary to Suyin Barakat and Lumen Zhao. Mother and child are well.
A daughter, Anastasia Fang, born in the Ring B infirmary to Thurayya Fang and Deshi Peng. Mother and child are well.
8.94 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 51,294 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.
Indira Petrov, sixteen, takes the irrigation tech apprenticeship in Hydroponics.
Sixteen years for Rotimi Diallo, who signs to Fabrication on the night watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Morale index reads 78. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 62,192 days to orbit.
Ngozi Ouyang, sixteen, takes the water systems tech apprenticeship in Life Systems.
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 wedding at brightening. Unn Navarrete, Fabrication; Ravindra Navarrete, Archive & Schools. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
Sixteen years for Pallas Nwosu, who signs to Drive on the night watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
June Barakat stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Hydroponics.