Junction-23 — Lifeboat Log

DAY 00  2200·J-23 EVAC
  Resolute gone at the junction. Got the boats away.
  This boat: 22 souls aboard. Capt. Cole aboard.
  Those we lost at the junction — 7. Logged in the loss report.
  Not here. Power 100%. O2 100%. Water full. Cole says
  we ride it home. We ride it home.
                                        — H.W.

DAY 01  FIRST FULL WATCH
  Headcount 22. All accounted. Set rationing.
  Calories to 60% of standard. O2 scrub on duty cycle.
  Array gives us a bearing on the nearest relay. Dead
  reckoning only — no fix. Distance: long.
  O2 99% · WATER 98% · CELLS 97%

DAY 04  ·
  Headcount 22. Cold settling in. Cut cabin heat to
  conserve. Two layers, shared. Nobody complains where
  the others can hear. Cole takes a watch like anyone.
  O2 96% · WATER 92% · CELLS 89%

DAY 09  RELAY BEARING HELD
  Headcount 22. Array bearing holding within tolerance.
  Re-checked the dead reckoning three times. It checks.
  Rationing to 50%. Hands shake on the cold watches.
  O2 91% · WATER 84% · CELLS 80%

DAY 15  ·
  Headcount 22. Petar gave his sweet ration to the kid
  on the aft bench. Did not announce it. I am not
  putting his name to it. I am putting it here.
  O2 85% · WATER 73% · CELLS 70%

DAY 22  SILENCE WATCH
  Headcount 22. Comms silent on the relay band. Tried
  the hail at every watch change. Nothing back. Kept the
  bearing. Kept the count. That is the work now.
  O2 78% · WATER 61% · CELLS 58%

DAY 30  ·
  Headcount 22. Down to one hot meal per watch-day,
  shared. Cole told a story about his first command on
  the night watch. Bad story. Everyone laughed anyway.
  First time in days I heard the boat make a human sound.
  O2 69% · WATER 48% · CELLS 47%

DAY 38  CONSUMABLES REVIEW
  Headcount 22. Did the arithmetic again. Water is the
  wall. At this draw we make the relay with the margin
  thin. Cut water ration again. Told them straight.
  Nobody argued. They knew before I said it.
  O2 61% · WATER 34% · CELLS 38%

DAY 44  ·
  Headcount 22. The kid on the aft bench is keeping a
  list of what we'll eat when we're home. Reads it out
  at the watch change. We make her read it every time.
  O2 55% · WATER 27% · CELLS 31%

DAY 51  BEARING REFINED
  Headcount 22. Array picked up a structured carrier on
  the relay band. Faint. Re-fixed the dead reckoning to
  it. We are closer than the worst case. Held the count.
  O2 48% · WATER 19% · CELLS 26%

DAY 57  HAIL ANSWERED
  RELAY CONTACT. They answered the hail.
  Headcount 22 — said it twice on the band so it was on
  the record. Twenty-two souls. They are coming out to us.
  Cole signed the entry. His hand was steady. Mine was not.
  O2 41% · WATER 12% · CELLS 22%
                                        — H.W.

DAY 59  RECOVERED
  Headcount 22. Aboard the relay tender. Warm.
  Brought everyone else home.
  Closed the log. Kept the count to the end.
                                        — H. WHITFIELD, XO