The youngest aboard is now Drift Barakat, minutes old, asleep. 965 souls.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
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 youngest aboard is now Nicolás Sharma, minutes old, asleep. 964 souls.
Samira Shen is delivered of a daughter on the first watch. The child is called Noor.
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 question is put to the wider circle: The broadcast hours. The ship asks; Earth answers, in its own long time.
Last shift for Renshu Thorvaldsen, who joined Life Systems half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
7.73 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 52,669 thousand to go.
Sylvia Ning does not wake late in the second watch. 99 years, most of them given to Drive.
7.73 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 52,727 thousand to go.
Born in the middle watch: Karim Petrov, generation 4. The ship holds 963 souls tonight.
Rosario Thorvaldsen has made a instrument called “The Last Orchard.” Asked what it means, she says it means about nine years of evenings.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Harriet Barakat, 71. It is little enough.
Raymond Shen, sixteen, takes the arborist apprenticeship in Ecology.
The schools release Fang Aaberg to Hydroponics. Generation 4 takes up its tools.
Morale index reads 77. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Maintenance sweep of Ring C complete. Somewhere aft a wrench is missing; it will surface in a decade, in a wall, with a story attached.
The youngest aboard is now Dmitri Tväten, minutes old, asleep. 963 souls.
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.
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 new play from Edmund Jaber — “Orchard for the Distant Orchard.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
Year 100 of the voyage begins. The oldest bottle of orchard wine that can be spared is opened. It is always described as "improving."
Sixty-eight years: Iveta Aaberg hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring B stands ready.
A wedding on the night watch. Tariq Fang, Drive; Bhavana Thorvaldsen, Drive. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
All boards green. I count 962 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 478th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Teodoro Mansour, sixteen, takes the historian apprenticeship in Archive & Schools.
Edmund Pemberton chooses Life Systems — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Cedric Navarrete stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Life Systems.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
The manifest shortens by one: Gyre Mazur, 85 years. 9 children carry the line on.
Fadi Yan, sixteen, takes the mycologist apprenticeship in Hydroponics.
A first shift for Wei Shen, sixteen: entomologist, Ecology. The badge is printed fresh.
A wedding at dimming. Harold Jaber, Fabrication; Gunhild Barakat, Archive & Schools. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
A joining in Ring B: Khalid Northam and Marzena Thorvaldsen. The pressing of cider is authorized.
The schools release Halvard Yan to Life Systems. Generation 4 takes up its tools.
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.
Arc Kowalczyk has made a instrument called “Early Root, Unlit Hymn.” Asked what it means, he says it means about nine years of evenings.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
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.
Femi Petrov and Xenia Ulriksen are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Hydroponics turns out.
The schools release Guiying Nwosu 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.
Meridian Jaber is delivered of a son on the first watch. The child is called Ulf.
Rosario Thorvaldsen and Pranav Orellana name their son Tunde. The nursery lamps stay warm.
A daughter, Kavita Ouyang, born in the Ring A infirmary to Guiying Ouyang and Mateo Sharma. Mother and child are well.
7.77 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 52,764 thousand to go.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 54,966 days to orbit.
Funmilayo Singh does not wake on the first watch. 88 years, most of them given to Archive & Schools.
A son, Xenia Orellana, born in the Ring D infirmary to Verne Orellana and Drift Valdivia. Mother and child are well.