The schools release Carmen Zhao to Hydroponics. Generation 3 takes up its tools.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Year 99 of the voyage begins. The oldest bottle of orchard wine that can be spared is opened. It is always described as "improving."
Night watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Hakon Northam has made a song called “A iron orchard.” Asked what it means, he says it means about nine years of evenings.
Rashid Kellaway, 80, generation 1, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Born at brightening: Mariam Navarrete, generation 4. The ship holds 959 souls tonight.
Ulises Pemberton takes the hand of Helm Yan before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
Last shift for Hassan Pillai, who joined Hydroponics half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
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.
Pearl Petrov is delivered of a son in the middle watch. The child is called Femi.
Shanta Aaberg does not wake at dimming. 94 years, most of them given to Ecology.
Sixty-eight years: Leandro Nwosu hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring A stands ready.
A new poem from Emeka Barakat — “A hollow orchard.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
The question is put to the wider circle: Rationing. The ship asks; Earth answers, in its own long time.
All boards green. I count 958 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Born in the middle watch: Zhihao Aaberg, generation 4. The ship holds 958 souls tonight.
All boards green. I count 957 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Remembrance day. The memorial wall is polished by hand, though nothing aboard needs polishing less.
A birth in Ring B: Yasmin, girl, generation 4. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 64th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 54th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Theodore Sharma died in quarters at brightening, 96 years old. 956 souls aboard.
Salvador Fossum, sixteen, takes the counselor apprenticeship in Medical.
Galina Petrov died in quarters at brightening, 67 years old, once printer operator. 957 souls aboard.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 55,293 days to orbit.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 18th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
A child in Ring D asks the corridor speaker what Earth smelled like. I play the rainstorm recording. It is the best answer I have.
A first shift for Ruolan Shen, sixteen: reactor tech, Drive. The badge is printed fresh.
Divya Peng and Enlai Petrov name their daughter Signe. The nursery lamps stay warm.
7.83 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 52,952 thousand to go.
A first shift for Xingyu Jaber, sixteen: soil keeper, Ecology. The badge is printed fresh.
Pallas Valdivia stands down from Ecology at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
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.
Last shift for Winifred Quaye, who joined Life Systems half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 8,972th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Ishaan Quill and Rell Barakat are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Command turns out.
Last shift for Josefina Shen, who joined Hydroponics half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
The youngest aboard is now Zenith Diallo, minutes old, asleep. 957 souls.
Yolanda Quill and Gopal Singh name their daughter Hanan. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Raisa Valdivia and Torsten Zhao name their daughter Freya. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Lakshmi Merriweather and Dinesh Peng are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Drive turns out.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
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.
7.84 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 52,842 thousand to go.
Cedric Navarrete retires at brightening. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Gbenga Fossum retires in the middle watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Radhika Ouyang, sixteen, takes the sanitation engineer apprenticeship in Life Systems.
Mateo Sharma and Guiying Ouyang are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Hydroponics turns out.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 55,416 days to orbit.
First Light. The observation blister queues run all day: Teegarden's Star, held in the eyepiece, a little brighter than last year — 7.84 light-years to go.