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.
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 birth in Ring C: Arne, boy, generation 3. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Lakshmi Mansour chooses Drive — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Sixteen years for Harini Aaberg, who signs to Ecology on the night watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Census check: 838 souls, 290 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
A birth in Ring D: Solveig, girl, generation 4. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Year 81 of the voyage begins. The oldest bottle of orchard wine that can be spared is opened. It is always described as "improving."
Arjun Shen chooses Archive & Schools — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Fermín Shen chooses Archive & Schools — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
First watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Jamal Tahan does not wake in the middle watch. 100 years, most of them given to Hydroponics.
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 joining in Ring C: Divya Aaberg and Howard Aaberg. The pressing of cider is authorized.
Census check: 838 souls, 291 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.
Tatiana Merriweather and Emeka Petrov name their son Magnus. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Morale index reads 83. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 80, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Remembrance day. The memorial wall is polished by hand, though nothing aboard needs polishing less.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Beatriz Escobar, 101. It is little enough.
Sixteen years for Yueqin Diallo, who signs to Medical at brightening and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Born at brightening: Wei Navarrete, generation 4. The ship holds 838 souls tonight.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 80, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Elsie Diallo has made a play called “Furrows of Ring D.” Asked what it means, she says it means about nine years of evenings.
Solveig Salazar and Gopal Ouyang name their son Jamal. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Simisola Valdivia is delivered of a daughter late in the second watch. The child is called Vera.
Ximena Thorvaldsen and Mahesh Nwosu name their daughter Nadia. The nursery lamps stay warm.
A new instrument from Funmilayo Thorvaldsen — “A kept wheel.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
Born on the night watch: Wenbo Peng, generation 3. The ship holds 834 souls tonight.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 2,421th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Enlai Aaberg works out a tougher print alloy from recycler feedstock. Fabrication adopts it the same week.
Jiayi Ning and Halvard Thorvaldsen name their daughter Oksana. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Sixteen years for Adrián Diallo, who signs to Life Systems on the first watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Halley Peng chooses Medical — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Franklin Gresham died in quarters at dimming, 99 years old. 832 souls aboard.
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.
Babatunde Kowalczyk chooses Ecology — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Sixteen years for Drift Valdivia, who signs to Hydroponics at dimming and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Funmilayo Thorvaldsen, sixteen, takes the librarian apprenticeship in Archive & Schools.
Verne Orellana, sixteen, takes the reactor tech apprenticeship in Drive.
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 new tale-cycle from Lars Thorvaldsen — “Nine Anchors Rising.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 80, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
First Light festival. The children are lifted to the eyepiece one by one to see where they are going.
Arc Jaber and Edmund Pillai name their daughter Ylva. The nursery lamps stay warm.
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.
Sixteen years for Simisola Valdivia, who signs to Archive & Schools on the night watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
The youngest aboard is now Fern Tväten, minutes old, asleep. 832 souls.
8.92 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 51,531 thousand to go.
Drive back in service. The old hands say it sounds better than before; the instruments say it sounds the same.