Raisa Valdivia takes the hand of Torsten Zhao before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Fault isolated in Thermal Control. Repair estimate: unwise to say aloud.
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.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 58,805 days to orbit.
Mira Thorvaldsen takes the hand of Clara Barakat before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
Winifred Tväten chooses Ecology — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Year 89 of the voyage begins. The oldest bottle of orchard wine that can be spared is opened. It is always described as "improving."
Ming Tväten and Deepika Pillai, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
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 hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 88, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
All boards green. I count 902 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
The youngest aboard is now Orrery Petrov, minutes old, asleep. 902 souls.
Rosario Thorvaldsen chooses Medical — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
The circle has answered. The arts take the morning hours. It will show up in no gauge I keep, and in everything else.
A wedding in the middle watch. Rell Thorvaldsen, Command; Suyin Yan, Drive. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 88, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Walid Diallo stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Hydroponics.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 88, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
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.
Thurayya Salazar takes the hand of Knut Aaberg before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
All boards green. I count 901 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
A birth in Ring C: Ion, boy, generation 4. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Mabel Mazur retires at dimming. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Ragnhild Peng chooses Archive & Schools — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
“The Bright Bell,” a mural by Gonzalo Thorvaldsen, is unveiled on the night watch to the particular applause of Life Systems.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 5,392th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
A first shift for Edith Merriweather, sixteen: historian, Archive & Schools. The badge is printed fresh.
Kang Valdivia and Tern Jaber, 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.
Meilin Singh stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Fabrication.
Padma Merriweather is delivered of a son in the middle watch. The child is called Jamal.
Tatiana Navarrete is delivered of a son on the first watch. The child is called Douglas.
Two names braided on the manifest tonight: Zenith and Safiya. The commons sings late.
A first shift for Safiya Peng, sixteen: physician, Medical. The badge is printed fresh.
Arc Jaber and Edmund Pillai name their daughter Safiya. The nursery lamps stay warm.
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.
Gayatri Ulriksen, sixteen, takes the entomologist apprenticeship in Ecology.
A first shift for Ibrahim Yan, sixteen: sanitation engineer, Life Systems. The badge is printed fresh.
The schools release Aster Ulriksen to Medical. Generation 3 takes up its tools.
Adaeze Peng stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Drive.
Haoran Peng chooses Medical — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
The question is put to the wider circle: The curriculum question. The ship asks; Earth answers, in its own long time.
A wedding in the middle watch. Lanying Nwosu, Medical; Maja Aaberg, Drive. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
Qiaoyun Quaye does not wake in the middle watch. 81 years, most of them given to Drive.
Too soon, at 34: Dinesh Jaber. The commons fills at dimming with those who knew him.
Census check: 899 souls, 214 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Census check: 899 souls, 214 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Mabel Mazur's crew brings Water Reclamation back after 5 days.
A joining in Ring D: Torsten Shen and Yejide Valdivia. The pressing of cider is authorized.
Fault isolated in Water Reclamation. Repair estimate: unwise to say aloud.