A joining in Ring D: Oleg Dubrovsky and Ebba Lindqvist. The pressing of cider is authorized.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — year 0, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Born at dimming: Sylvia Ning, generation 1. The ship holds 1008 souls tonight.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Two names braided on the manifest tonight: Oscar and Catalina. The commons sings late.
Martin Mortlake takes the hand of Samira Darwish before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
A new quilt from Divya Venkatesan — “A inward season.” The Archive takes a copy; the original belongs to whoever stands nearest.
Mingyu Liang takes the hand of Hassan Darwish before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
Two names braided on the manifest tonight: Hakon and Rashid. The commons sings late.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 336th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
A joining in Ring C: Lev Dragunov and Ylva Solheim. The pressing of cider is authorized.
Hassan Mansour and Farida Baz, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
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.
Omolara Okonkwo takes the hand of Patricio Terrazas before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
A wedding on the first watch. Elsie Kingsley, Archive & Schools; Zaid Abadi, Life Systems. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
A wedding on the night watch. Ifedayo Ndiaye, Command; Mahmoud Rahman, Hydroponics. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.
Fatima Yamin and Hakim Ghanem, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
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.
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.
Two names braided on the manifest tonight: Hilde and Everett. The commons sings late.
All boards green. I count 1007 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
A joining in Ring B: Mahmoud Aswad and Vigdis Fjeld. The pressing of cider is authorized.
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 hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 0, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Two names braided on the manifest tonight: Tessa and Sten. The commons sings late.
Nils Bergstrom and Chitra Reddy are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Hydroponics turns out.
Dag Moller and Chidinma Olawale are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Fabrication turns out.
Night watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Hassan Mansour finishes a instrument: “Nine Orchards Sleeping.” It shows in the commons through the week.
The circle has answered. The crèche slows. The waiting lists lengthen quietly, and the margins breathe again.
A joining in Ring B: Mingyu Huang and Mahmoud Rahman. The pressing of cider is authorized.
Kiran Singh and Kehinde Jelani, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
A birth in Ring C: Ravindra, boy, generation 1. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Two names braided on the manifest tonight: Raymond and Esperanza. The commons sings late.
12.50 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 91,608 thousand to go.
Pavel Smirnov and Meera Sharma are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Ecology turns out.
Wanrong Qin takes the hand of Oleg Zaitsev before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
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.
“A spun harvest,” a song by Babatunde Ndiaye, is unveiled at dimming to the particular applause of Command.
A son, Ramiro Lockhart, born in the Ring C infirmary to Beatrice Lockhart and Uday Trivedi. Mother and child are well.
Hanan Haddad takes the hand of Finn Wangberg before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
Morale index reads 75. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
First watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Xiaohui Qin takes the hand of Ignacio Barrientos before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 0, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
The youngest aboard is now Noor Jaber, minutes old, asleep. 1005 souls.
A birth in Ring A: Zofia, girl, generation 1. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Annika Aaberg and Nabil Yacoub, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
Ingrid Rönnberg and Radomir Fedorenko are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Archive & Schools turns out.
Josefina Navarrete takes the hand of Gunnar Sandvik before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
A wedding late in the second watch. Ragnhild Ahlgren, Fabrication; Leandro Zambrano, Fabrication. The ship approves in its way: the lights held steady throughout.