A salvage history tracing Orison Ark from its intended voyage to Asterhome, through the Cradle Drift, and down to its wreck on Gogi-One.
Orison Ark sailed for Asterhome carrying passengers, nursery systems, colony supplies, and caretaker automata. It reached the Cantor's system but became trapped with the other generation ships in the graveyard orbit now called the Cradle Drift. Most of that convoy remains there.
The Drift appears as a long row of hulls from the established salvage approaches. Crews used the gaps between ships to confirm their position before entering. Orison once occupied one of those places. When it broke orbit, it left a visible gap that salvagers still count.
No complete record explains how Orison escaped. The descent occurred long after the ark entered the Drift, and the surviving navigation records do not contain the full sequence. Nim-Three was aboard the ship and came down with it. Nim did not direct the descent.
Orison did not reach Asterhome. It came down on Gogi-One, an unplanned world elsewhere in the system. The hull broke open during or after landfall and now lies half-swallowed by soil and ark growth. Its nursery sections remain lit, and parts of its cargo and service systems still operate.
The ark's lullaby transmitter continues broadcasting. Caretaker machines from other landfalls answer the signal because their maintenance rules classify an unanswered transmission as a fault. They do not share Orison's authority and show no sign that they understand the message as a lullaby.
The missing hull changed both places. The Drift lost one ship but kept its empty position. Gogi-One received Orison's passengers, machines, animals, plants, and unfinished duties. Asterhome received nothing and continues maintaining a colony for the ark that never arrived.
Salvage crews count the gap because it remains a useful navigation check. They also count it because systems throughout the Drift continue reporting occupied berths, remaining supplies, and incomplete arrivals. The ships still maintain records for a convoy that no longer matches the row outside their viewports.
