Born on the first watch: Nils Peng, generation 2. The ship holds 838 souls tonight.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — year 46, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Harini Joshi stands down from Ecology at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Tara Thorvaldsen has died at 37, far too early. Fabrication stands down a shift in grief.
Kavita Verma died in quarters late in the second watch, 91 years old. 838 souls aboard.
Gunhild Aaberg died in quarters at brightening, 75 years old. 839 souls aboard.
Morale index reads 51. The number is crude. The singing from the mess contradicts it.
Water Reclamation hums again. Nora Thorvaldsen is stood a round of orchard cider by the off-shift.
Fault isolated in Water Reclamation. Repair estimate: unwise to say aloud.
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 Assembly reaches its accord: schedules loosened, stores opened a measure, and a promise recorded in the permanent log. The ship exhales.
Karima Jaber retires on the first watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
After 83 years, Stanley Pemberton has let go. Remembrance in the Ring A commons at next dimming.
The Ship's Assembly convenes in the largest commons. Everyone who wishes to speaks. I keep time and hold the record, nothing more.
A first shift for Hassan Pillai, sixteen: grafter, Hydroponics. The badge is printed fresh.
A work slowdown moves through the departments, orderly and cold. The ship runs; the ship also waits.
César Escamilla does not wake at brightening. 92 years, most of them given to Ecology.
Patricio Álvarez does not wake on the night watch. 86 years, most of them given to Hydroponics.
Huda Barakat retires late in the second watch. The department logs a quiet debt it cannot repay in parts or hours.
Too soon, at 1: Fuhua Salazar. The commons fills late in the second watch with those who knew him.
Kofi Umeh does not wake on the night watch. 64 years, most of them given to Ecology.
The manifest shortens by one: Kayode Diallo, 78 years. 3 children carry the line on.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Peizhi Zhou, 86. It is little enough.
The schools release Leandro Nwosu to Hydroponics. Generation 2 takes up its tools.
The manifest shortens by one: Maksim Kaminski, 84 years. The line rests with the ship now.
Arjun Hegde died in quarters at brightening, 89 years old. 848 souls aboard.
After 66 years, Catalina Zambrano has let go. Remembrance in the Ring A commons at next dimming.
“The Outward Engine,” a song by Olga Sokolov, is unveiled on the night watch to the particular applause of Archive & Schools.
Pavel Hartley has died at 43, far too early. Fabrication stands down a shift in grief.
Night watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
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.
Evgeni Orlov does not wake in the middle watch. 83 years, most of them given to Drive.
Huifen Ouyang does not wake at brightening. 73 years, most of them given to Command.
Galina Petrov chooses Fabrication — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 74,246 days to orbit.
Ganesh Deshpande, 86, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Walid Maalouf has died at 24, far too early. Ecology stands down a shift in grief.
Gunhild Thorvaldsen and Percy Escamilla name their son Cristóbal. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Last shift for Vernon Eastwood, who joined Fabrication half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Iman Baz stands down from Drive at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
The manifest shortens by one: Kamala Raghunathan, 92 years. The line rests with the ship now.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Wanrong Ning, 66. It is little enough.
Mateo Mansour chooses Drive — or it chooses him; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Magnus Lund, 77, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Census check: 857 souls, 150 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Frederick Kingsley, 74, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Sten Iversen, 86. It is little enough.
Clara Fairburn, 88, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Milena Morozov does not wake in the middle watch. 91 years, most of them given to Hydroponics.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Birgitta Aaberg, 93. It is little enough.