Zemin Yan, sixteen, takes the plasma systems tech apprenticeship in Drive.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
The youngest aboard is now Ember Jaber, minutes old, asleep. 960 souls.
Helm Yan is delivered of a son on the night watch. The child is called Pranav.
Maintenance sweep of Ring A complete. Somewhere aft a wrench is missing; it will surface in a decade, in a wall, with a story attached.
Adrián Diallo has made a tale-cycle called “Watch for the Small Door.” Asked what it means, he says it means about nine years of evenings.
Howard Quill's crew brings Water Reclamation back after 2 days.
Trouble in Water Reclamation. The board goes amber; the coffee goes on.
Atmosphere Processing back in service. The old hands say it sounds better than before; the instruments say it sounds the same.
Anli Tväten died in quarters at brightening, 82 years old. 958 souls aboard.
The compartment is sealed and the name is read: Sable Aaberg, 36. The ship holds 959.
CO₂ trim goes ragged as a processor bank fails. Life Systems is on it before I finish the announcement.
Sixty-eight years: Uday Jaber hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring B stands ready.
A wedding on the first watch. Jaya Pillai, Medical; Fatima Aaberg, Life Systems. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
Tomasz Zhao and Node Mansour are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Life Systems turns out.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 55,013 days to orbit.
Sixty-eight years: Dominika Thorvaldsen hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring C stands ready.
Gonzalo Sharma stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Fabrication.
A first shift for Nora Merriweather, sixteen: hullwright, Fabrication. The badge is printed fresh.
A first shift for Layla Ouyang, sixteen: midwife, Medical. The badge is printed fresh.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 99, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 99, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 99, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Census check: 960 souls, 143 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Edith Petrov stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Drive.
A birth in Ring A: Emilio, boy, generation 4. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
First Light festival. The children are lifted to the eyepiece one by one to see where they are going.
Dominika Thorvaldsen isolates a repeating radio source in the wake. Natural, almost certainly. The word "almost" keeps the commons busy a month.
Iris Jaber and Ignacio Fossum name their son Jagdish. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Medical Bay hums again. Aster Ulriksen is stood a round of orchard cider by the off-shift.
A first shift for Shanta Fang, sixteen: signals officer, Command. The badge is printed fresh.
Fault isolated in Medical Bay. Repair estimate: unwise to say aloud.
Repair complete on Water Reclamation after 3 days. I run the test cycle twice, out of respect for history.
Trouble in Water Reclamation. The board goes amber; the coffee goes on.
Two names braided on the manifest tonight: Gilbert and Arc. The commons sings late.
Census check: 958 souls, 143 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
The circle has answered. No cuts. The ship bets on its gardeners, and every eye is on Bay 3.
The schools release Gunhild Nwosu to Drive. Generation 3 takes up its tools.
A child in Ring C asks the corridor speaker what Earth smelled like. I play the rainstorm recording. It is the best answer I have.
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.
A first shift for Zaid Barakat, sixteen: counselor, Medical. The badge is printed fresh.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 179th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
The schools release Tarun Quill to Drive. Generation 3 takes up its tools.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 99, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Silvia Yan stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Hydroponics.
Suyin Yan and Rell Thorvaldsen name their son Xavier. The nursery lamps stay warm.
A wedding in the middle watch. Gonzalo Jaber, Hydroponics; Ember Jaber, Fabrication. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
After 76 years, Ayodele Bishara has let go. Remembrance in the Ring B commons at next dimming.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 55,163 days to orbit.
A first shift for Mikhail Thorvaldsen, sixteen: fuelwright, Drive. The badge is printed fresh.