Cygnet Nwosu chooses Ecology — or it chooses her; 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.
First watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
A wedding on the first watch. Anton Shen, Archive & Schools; Noor Ouyang, Life Systems. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
Two names braided on the manifest tonight: Altair and Mikhail. The commons sings late.
First watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
A daughter, Xenia Shen, born in the Ring D infirmary to Boreal Shen and Walid Quaye. Mother and child are well.
The youngest aboard is now Ion Ouyang, minutes old, asleep. 905 souls.
A first shift for Noor Kowalczyk, sixteen: instrument maker, Archive & Schools. The badge is printed fresh.
Usman Salazar has died at 14, far too early. the ship stands down a shift in grief.
Arthur Ning and Pearl Tväten, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
Yakubu Patil stands down from Hydroponics at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Hassan Mansour, sixteen, takes the grafter apprenticeship in Hydroponics.
First watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
A joining in Ring A: Yaw Aaberg and Ebba Aaberg. The pressing of cider is authorized.
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.
Cygnet Pemberton is delivered of a daughter on the first watch. The child is called Yasmin.
8.33 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 52,803 thousand to go.
Clifford Barrientos retires at brightening. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 90, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
The youngest aboard is now Altair Sharma, minutes old, asleep. 904 souls.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 58,425 days to orbit.
César Fang charts the dust gradient ahead — the star's outer environs, thinning to meet us.
Born in the middle watch: Sarala Thorvaldsen, generation 4. The ship holds 903 souls tonight.
Census check: 902 souls, 195 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Oluwadamilola Jaber and Nanna Navarrete, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
Jiayi Nwosu stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Medical.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 90, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Drive back in service. The old hands say it sounds better than before; the instruments say it sounds the same.
Arc Nwosu and Ghada Aaberg, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
Drive faults at dimming. Drive takes the call.
Departure Day, year 90. The founders' roll is read from the first name to the thousandth, and the young ones try to stay solemn.
Sixty-eight years: Ulises Gorbachev hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring D stands ready.
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.
All boards green. I count 902 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Two names braided on the manifest tonight: Ignacio and Iris. The commons sings late.
Ishaan Ulriksen, sixteen, takes the librarian apprenticeship in Archive & Schools.
Emilio Quintana finishes a play: “The Spun Watch.” It shows in the commons through the week.
Sixteen years for Yusuf Valdivia, who signs to Hydroponics at brightening and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Maintenance sweep of Ring B complete. Somewhere aft a wrench is missing; it will surface in a decade, in a wall, with a story attached.
A new quilt from Bruno Navarrete — “Threads of Ring B.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
Sixteen years for Amparo Quaye, who signs to Hydroponics on the night watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Xiulan Orellana chooses Medical — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Morale index reads 76. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Census check: 902 souls, 200 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Two names braided on the manifest tonight: Gopal and Yolanda. The commons sings late.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
Census check: 902 souls, 200 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Remembrance day. The memorial wall is polished by hand, though nothing aboard needs polishing less.
A wedding on the night watch. Leticia Tväten, Fabrication; Bjorn Barakat, Fabrication. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
Valentina Ulriksen is delivered of a daughter at dimming. The child is called Gunhild.