Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 6,340th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
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 Light festival. The children are lifted to the eyepiece one by one to see where they are going.
A new song from Yewande Aaberg — “Borrowed Map, Late Lantern.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
A child in Ring B asks the corridor speaker what Earth smelled like. I play the rainstorm recording. It is the best answer I have.
Census check: 922 souls, 199 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
A first shift for Noor Thorvaldsen, sixteen: drive engineer, Drive. The badge is printed fresh.
Census check: 922 souls, 200 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Thurayya Salazar and Knut Aaberg name their daughter Fathom. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Tao Thorvaldsen times an occultation to refine our ephemeris. The course correction is smaller than a held breath.
A new quilt from Ravindra Ouyang — “Bells of Year 91.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
Born on the night watch: Alejandro Zhao, generation 4. The ship holds 921 souls tonight.
Bruno Navarrete takes the hand of Beatrice Nwosu before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
Mira Diallo chooses Drive — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Born late in the second watch: Umbra Kong, generation 4. The ship holds 920 souls tonight.
After 89 years, Ganesh Chandrasekaran has let go. Remembrance in the Ring A commons at next dimming.
A joining in Ring D: Sergei Thorvaldsen and Gunhild Thorvaldsen. The pressing of cider is authorized.
Lakshmi Ning has made a tale-cycle called “Warm Hymn, Sunless Harvest.” Asked what it means, she says it means about nine years of evenings.
Census check: 920 souls, 198 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Born on the first watch: Cygnet Petrov, generation 4. The ship holds 920 souls tonight.
Ulises Pemberton stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Hydroponics.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
A daughter, Drift Sharma, born in the Ring B infirmary to Daisy Sharma and Liang Fang. Mother and child are well.
Femi Petrov, sixteen, takes the seedkeeper apprenticeship in Hydroponics.
Freya Tväten and Chukwuemeka Fossum are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Ecology turns out.
Daisy Yan stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Medical.
Born at brightening: Gyre Tväten, generation 4. The ship holds 918 souls tonight.
Census check: 917 souls, 198 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
A wedding at dimming. Nneka Valdivia, Hydroponics; Chukwuemeka Ouyang, Drive. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
Meilin Valdivia and Aster Fossum name their son Wenbo. 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.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 6,238th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
A birth in Ring B: Cygnet, boy, generation 4. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 6,234th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Year 91 of the voyage begins. The oldest bottle of orchard wine that can be spared is opened. It is always described as "improving."
Dolores Sharma stands down from Medical at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 6,199th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Last shift for Emilio Quintana, who joined Drive half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Vigdis Ouyang chooses Ecology — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
Ayodele Bishara retires late in the second watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
A first shift for Ragnhild Zhao, sixteen: mycologist, Hydroponics. The badge is printed fresh.
A first shift for Howard Jaber, sixteen: arborist, Ecology. The badge is printed fresh.
Caelum Sharma, sixteen, takes the historian apprenticeship in Archive & Schools.
Halley Nwosu stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Archive & Schools.
Catalina Kowalczyk retires on the night watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
A birth in Ring D: Helm, boy, generation 4. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Iveta Pillai has made a song called “Unlit Engine, Slow Thread.” Asked what it means, she says it means about nine years of evenings.
Bhavana Orellana and Magnus Thorvaldsen, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
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.
A second child follows on the night watch: twins for Yaw Jaber. This one is called Zhenzhen.