The Referendum
Some questions the ship cannot settle alone. They are transmitted to the wider circle — you — and whatever the circle decides, the ship does. Your vote is real: the outcome becomes part of the permanent history below. One vote per person; you may change it while the question stands.
No question is open
The ship is, for the moment, sure of itself. When the next dilemma arises — a reserve crossing its line, a council deadlock, a question of what to teach the children — it will appear here, and the log will announce it. Questions usually stand open for about five days of Earth time.
The ship's own. The evenings belong to the ship's own voices. The commons learn each other's songs, and the applause is for people with quarters three doors down.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
"We are well. We are coming.". Six words, sent once, repeated hourly: We are well. We are coming. The ship judged it enough, and the ship was right.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Agronomy. Agronomy takes the morning hours. The schools smell of soil, and the racks gain a hundred small careful hands.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Build it. The second orchard is approved. The hold's ribs are hung with lamps, and the first soil goes in with ceremony and shovels.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
The ship's own. The evenings belong to the ship's own voices. The commons learn each other's songs, and the applause is for people with quarters three doors down.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Ration timers. Ration timers go onto every tap. The ship is a desert that carries its own rain; for a while, it must act like one.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Build it. The second orchard is approved. The hold's ribs are hung with lamps, and the first soil goes in with ceremony and shovels.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Agronomy. Agronomy takes the morning hours. The schools smell of soil, and the racks gain a hundred small careful hands.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Trust the harvest. No cuts. The ship bets on its gardeners, and every eye is on Bay 3.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Trust the harvest. No cuts. The ship bets on its gardeners, and every eye is on Bay 3.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Cut the orchard. The orchard's water is halved. The trees will forgive us, the gardeners say, but not soon.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Let it grow. No deferrals. The ship chooses more voices in the corridors and sharper eyes on the gauges.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
The ship's own. The evenings belong to the ship's own voices. The commons learn each other's songs, and the applause is for people with quarters three doors down.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Trust the harvest. No cuts. The ship bets on its gardeners, and every eye is on Bay 3.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Agronomy. Agronomy takes the morning hours. The schools smell of soil, and the racks gain a hundred small careful hands.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Slow the crèche. The crèche slows. The waiting lists lengthen quietly, and the margins breathe again.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Ration timers. Ration timers go onto every tap. The ship is a desert that carries its own rain; for a while, it must act like one.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Trust the harvest. No cuts. The ship bets on its gardeners, and every eye is on Bay 3.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
The ship's own. The evenings belong to the ship's own voices. The commons learn each other's songs, and the applause is for people with quarters three doors down.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Trust the harvest. No cuts. The ship bets on its gardeners, and every eye is on Bay 3.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Let it grow. No deferrals. The ship chooses more voices in the corridors and sharper eyes on the gauges.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
The arts. The arts take the morning hours. It will show up in no gauge I keep, and in everything else.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Ration timers. Ration timers go onto every tap. The ship is a desert that carries its own rain; for a while, it must act like one.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Earth's archive. The evenings belong to Earth's archive. Rain and orchestras down every corridor at dimming, and the old world stays a neighbor.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Build it. The second orchard is approved. The hold's ribs are hung with lamps, and the first soil goes in with ceremony and shovels.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Engineering. Engineering takes the morning hours. A cohort of children learn to draw the ship in cross-section before they draw a tree.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Cut the orchard. The orchard's water is halved. The trees will forgive us, the gardeners say, but not soon.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Strict rations. Strict rations, then. Portions are cut by a fifth; the mess goes quiet, and the reserve figure begins, slowly, to climb.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Push reclamation. Reclamation runs hot past its rating. The techs sleep beside it, and the reserve climbs on borrowed time.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Nurse it along. The overhaul is deferred. The drive is nursed watch to watch, and the spares stay banked against a darker day.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Keep the hold. The hold stays a hold. Empty space, the vote reasons, is also a reserve.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Strict rations. Strict rations, then. Portions are cut by a fifth; the mess goes quiet, and the reserve figure begins, slowly, to climb.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Push reclamation. Reclamation runs hot past its rating. The techs sleep beside it, and the reserve climbs on borrowed time.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
The ship's own. The evenings belong to the ship's own voices. The commons learn each other's songs, and the applause is for people with quarters three doors down.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Ration timers. Ration timers go onto every tap. The ship is a desert that carries its own rain; for a while, it must act like one.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Light rations. Light rations. A tenth off every tray — noticed, grumbled at, borne.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Agronomy. Agronomy takes the morning hours. The schools smell of soil, and the racks gain a hundred small careful hands.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Let it grow. No deferrals. The ship chooses more voices in the corridors and sharper eyes on the gauges.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Push reclamation. Reclamation runs hot past its rating. The techs sleep beside it, and the reserve climbs on borrowed time.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Trust the harvest. No cuts. The ship bets on its gardeners, and every eye is on Bay 3.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Nurse it along. The overhaul is deferred. The drive is nursed watch to watch, and the spares stay banked against a darker day.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Cut the orchard. The orchard's water is halved. The trees will forgive us, the gardeners say, but not soon.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Light rations. Light rations. A tenth off every tray — noticed, grumbled at, borne.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Keep it sealed. The vault stays sealed. The ship tightens its belt around an idea: that arrival is owed its full inheritance.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Push reclamation. Reclamation runs hot past its rating. The techs sleep beside it, and the reserve climbs on borrowed time.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Trust the harvest. No cuts. The ship bets on its gardeners, and every eye is on Bay 3.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Ration timers. Ration timers go onto every tap. The ship is a desert that carries its own rain; for a while, it must act like one.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Let it grow. No deferrals. The ship chooses more voices in the corridors and sharper eyes on the gauges.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Light rations. Light rations. A tenth off every tray — noticed, grumbled at, borne.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Push reclamation. Reclamation runs hot past its rating. The techs sleep beside it, and the reserve climbs on borrowed time.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Agronomy. Agronomy takes the morning hours. The schools smell of soil, and the racks gain a hundred small careful hands.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Earth's archive. The evenings belong to Earth's archive. Rain and orchestras down every corridor at dimming, and the old world stays a neighbor.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned
Slow the crèche. The crèche slows. The waiting lists lengthen quietly, and the margins breathe again.
decided aboard — the signal had not yet returned