Ebba Aaberg has made a quilt called “Spun Water (Year 120).” Asked what it means, she says it means about nine years of evenings.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Last shift for Zbigniew Shen, who joined Life Systems half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Departure Day, year 120. The founders' roll is read from the first name to the thousandth, and the young ones try to stay solemn.
Nils Nwosu died in quarters at brightening, 84 years old. 957 souls aboard.
Jagdish Jaber and Ulyana Shen, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
All boards green. I count 958 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 47,519 days to orbit.
Sixty-eight years: Sarala Pemberton hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring D stands ready.
The youngest aboard is now Konstantin Nwosu, minutes old, asleep. 958 souls.
Jamal Merriweather and Kavita Ouyang, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
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.
Tara Fang retires on the night watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
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.
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.
Born on the first watch: Cygnet Merriweather, generation 6. The ship holds 957 souls tonight.
Helm Petrov and Kehinde Ouyang are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Hydroponics turns out.
The schools release Ming Yan to Drive. Generation 5 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.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 7,733th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Clifford Barrientos, 97. It is little enough.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
Morale index reads 75. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
A first shift for Wei Fang, sixteen: reactor tech, Drive. The badge is printed fresh.
Two names braided on the manifest tonight: Hanan and Xavier. The commons sings late.
A new mural from Sergei Thorvaldsen — “The Patient Hymn.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
Sixty-eight years: Solveig Salazar hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring C stands ready.
Sixty-eight years: Lumen Zhao hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring C stands ready.
6.57 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 45,567 thousand to go.
“The Standing Root,” a mural by Yuri Petrov, is unveiled on the first watch to the particular applause of Fabrication.
Last shift for Elin Yan, who joined Hydroponics half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Sixteen years for Sojourn Petrov, who signs to Drive on the first watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
Ananya Aaberg does not wake at dimming. 84 years, most of them given to Drive.
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 son, Bruno Jaber, born in the Ring C infirmary to Safiya Jaber and Yusuf Salazar. Mother and child are well.
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.
Born on the first watch: Nadia Fang, generation 5. The ship holds 957 souls tonight.
Solveig Shen and Teegarden Navarrete name their daughter Temitope. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Zemin Yan takes the hand of Annika Nwosu before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
Marzena Nwosu chooses Archive & Schools — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Rell Peng, 78. It is little enough.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 47,656 days to orbit.
June Shen retires late in the second watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Noemí Barakat retires on the night watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Konstantin Kowalczyk stands down from Hydroponics at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
A new instrument from Mira Kowalczyk — “The Unlit Map.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 119, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
A second child follows on the night watch: twins for Vera Valdivia. This one is called Bogdan.
A daughter, Rell Valdivia, born in the Ring A infirmary to Vera Valdivia and Percy Quaye. Mother and child are well.
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.