A first shift for Clara Barakat, sixteen: irrigation tech, Hydroponics. The badge is printed fresh.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Sixty-eight years: Huifen Aaberg hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring D stands ready.
Enlai Petrov and Divya Peng are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Fabrication turns out.
Teodoro Thorvaldsen, sixteen, takes the broadcast keeper apprenticeship in Archive & Schools.
All boards green. I count 847 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 2,741th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Pearl Nwosu is delivered of a son late in the second watch. The child is called Konstantin.
The schools release Tarun Kong to Life Systems. Generation 4 takes up its tools.
The schools release Guowei Valdivia to Command. Generation 3 takes up its tools.
Juniper Nwosu, sixteen, takes the shield tech apprenticeship in Drive.
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.
Zhihao Nwosu stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Archive & Schools.
A son, Keel Ulriksen, born in the Ring A infirmary to Hedda Ulriksen and Emeka Yan. Mother and child are well.
Huda Fossum takes the hand of Karim Peng before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
A son, Vega Petrov, born in the Ring C infirmary to Lumen Petrov and Yaling Zhao. Mother and child are well.
Aster Tväten stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Medical.
The youngest aboard is now Ruolan Nwosu, minutes old, asleep. 844 souls.
First Light. The observation blister queues run all day: Teegarden's Star, held in the eyepiece, a little brighter than last year — 8.85 light-years to go.
Marzena Kong takes the hand of Einar Fossum before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
A first shift for Emeka Petrov, sixteen: bay gardener, Hydroponics. The badge is printed fresh.
Sixteen years for Sundiata Ouyang, who signs to Hydroponics late in the second watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Maja Aaberg chooses Drive — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Morale index reads 81. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Vega Quaye, sixteen, takes the historian apprenticeship in Archive & Schools.
Ramiro Lockhart does not wake late in the second watch. 80 years, most of them given to Medical.
A son, Aster Fang, born in the Ring A infirmary to Meilin Fang and Deneb Pemberton. Mother and child are well.
Census check: 843 souls, 288 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 2,655th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Qing Petrov and Safiya Shen, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
Meridian Jaber stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Hydroponics.
Born late in the second watch: Gantry Valdivia, generation 3. The ship holds 843 souls tonight.
First watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
A birth in Ring C: Gilbert, boy, 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.
The youngest aboard is now Lucía Aaberg, minutes old, asleep. 841 souls.
Ruth Tväten and Dag Valdivia, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
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.
Sixteen years for Rotimi Nwosu, who signs to Drive at dimming and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Qiang Nwosu, sixteen, takes the teacher apprenticeship in Archive & Schools.
Mahesh Nwosu isolates a repeating radio source in the wake. Natural, almost certainly. The word "almost" keeps the commons busy a month.
Gantry Shen, sixteen, takes the bay gardener apprenticeship in Hydroponics.
The schools release Nanna Orellana to Archive & Schools. Generation 3 takes up its tools.
Chunhua Pemberton's crew brings Hydroponics Bays back after 5 days.
Huifen Ulriksen and Joaquín Yan name their son Wei. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Ulf Thorvaldsen chooses Medical — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Hydroponics Bays goes down. I reroute what can be rerouted and wake who must be woken.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 81, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Karin Orellana has died at 43, far too early. Medical stands down a shift in grief.
Morale index reads 83. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Agnieszka Petrov is delivered of a son on the first watch. The child is called Harish.