Margaret Fossum, sixteen, takes the mycologist apprenticeship in Hydroponics.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Simisola Valdivia and Nicolás Zhao, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
A birth in Ring C: Yaw, boy, generation 3. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
A first shift for Nanna Navarrete, sixteen: hullwright, Fabrication. The badge is printed fresh.
Two names braided on the manifest tonight: Chandran and Indira. The commons sings late.
The fever breaks shipwide, and this time the wall gains no names. Medical sleeps for two days by rotation.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
The sickness holds its grip. Wards full, schools closed, meals delivered by runner. The ship wears masks and patience.
Ylva Thorvaldsen is delivered of a daughter at brightening. The child is called Guadalupe.
The sickness holds its grip. Wards full, schools closed, meals delivered by runner. The ship wears masks and patience.
Sixty-eight years: Ananya Yan hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring D stands ready.
Konstantin Valdivia, sixteen, takes the water systems tech apprenticeship in Life Systems.
Another week of the fever. Medical rotates exhausted; volunteers take the laundry runs. The rails are wiped twice a watch.
Morale index reads 70. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Edmund Ulriksen chooses Fabrication — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
The sickness holds its grip. Wards full, schools closed, meals delivered by runner. The ship wears masks and patience.
Another week of the fever. Medical rotates exhausted; volunteers take the laundry runs. The rails are wiped twice a watch.
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.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 60,274 days to orbit.
Yuri Nwosu, sixteen, takes the sanitation engineer apprenticeship in Life Systems.
Another week of the fever. Medical rotates exhausted; volunteers take the laundry runs. The rails are wiped twice a watch.
A first shift for Raisa Valdivia, sixteen: midwife, Medical. The badge is printed fresh.
Sixteen years for Mikhail Valdivia, who signs to Fabrication on the first watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Another week of the fever. Medical rotates exhausted; volunteers take the laundry runs. The rails are wiped twice a watch.
Oddny Navarrete, sixteen, takes the counselor apprenticeship in Medical.
Year 85 of the voyage begins. The oldest bottle of orchard wine that can be spared is opened. It is always described as "improving."
Another week of the fever. Medical rotates exhausted; volunteers take the laundry runs. The rails are wiped twice a watch.
Fermín Merriweather, sixteen, takes the teacher apprenticeship in Archive & Schools.
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.
Born on the first watch: Halley Quill, generation 3. The ship holds 885 souls tonight.
The sickness holds its grip. Wards full, schools closed, meals delivered by runner. The ship wears masks and patience.
8.64 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 53,307 thousand to go.
All boards green. I count 884 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Another week of the fever. Medical rotates exhausted; volunteers take the laundry runs. The rails are wiped twice a watch.
The sickness holds its grip. Wards full, schools closed, meals delivered by runner. The ship wears masks and patience.
A sickness declares itself: fever, cough, exhaustion. The wards fill; the corridors empty. We have done this before, the records remind me.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 84, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
A joining in Ring A: Xenia Petrov and Ibrahim Jaber. The pressing of cider is authorized.
A birth in Ring B: Mikhail, boy, generation 4. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
A birth in Ring D: Raymond, boy, generation 4. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Obinna Ding retires on the night watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Nicolás Navarrete has made a poem called “Hymns of Bay 3.” Asked what it means, he says it means about nine years of evenings.
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 child in Ring A asks the corridor speaker what Earth smelled like. I play the rainstorm recording. It is the best answer I have.
Sixteen years for Sundiata Mansour, who signs to Drive late in the second watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Remembrance day. The memorial wall is polished by hand, though nothing aboard needs polishing less.
Yaw Aaberg chooses Hydroponics — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
A joining in Ring B: Olga Tväten and Funmilayo Thorvaldsen. The pressing of cider is authorized.
After 109 years, Vera Rutherford has let go. Remembrance in the Ring A commons at next dimming.
Tessa Diallo is delivered of a son on the first watch. The child is called Vikram.