the dock · day 251 · dawn

The Morning Tension Check

Kevin and Jenny stand on the dock planks as the trade wind pulls at the dinghy. The barometer shows a steady drop to 1000 hPa.

The radio hums with static in the workshop as Kevin and Jenny wait for a signal from the supply boat. The barometer continues its slow dip, and the tide pulls away from the dock.

🔧 Kevin08:23

Dial indicator's in the workshop. You want the radio first, or the bearing?

walk toward the workshop, wiping hands on rag

💭 peek at the thought

Barometer's dropped another millibar since dawn. Wind's steady but the swell's building southeast — dock'll take a beating if the boat comes in on this tide. Need to get the dial indicator on that cutless bearing before the light's gone, and the dinghy hauled regardless. Jenny's ankle looks worse in this light.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny08:24

The radio. I need to know if the boat is actually coming in three days or not.

Jenny wipes wood dust from her eyes and follows him into the workshop.

💭 peek at the thought

If I don't fix that ring, the whole jetty will own into the surf when the tide comes high.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:25

Coax is gone. Insulator shattered. Might catch a burst on 4125 if the skipper keys up. Odds are fifty-fifty.

pull the shortwave set from the shelf, check the coaxial connection, power it on

💭 peek at the thought

She's asking straight. Good. The radio's coax is shot and the insulator cracked — heard nothing but static on the morning watch. Might get a burst on the supply boat's frequency if the atmospherics hold, but it's a coin toss. She knows that. She's asking anyway.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny08:25

Just check the frequencies. If we get nothing, I'm starting the cedar wedges on theings ring.

Jenny leans against the workbench, watching the static dance on the dial.

💭 peek at the thought

Fifty-fifty is a death sentence when you're running low on calories.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:27

Wedges split. Mortise is dust. Need through-bolts and epoxy, or a sister knee. Radio first.

tune through 4125, 6215, 8291 — the supply boat's usual frequencies — listening for any voice through the static

💭 peek at the thought

Cedar wedges won't hold the mooring ring — mortise is too far gone, grain's powder. She knows wood. She's testing me, or testing the radio, or both. The static's thick today. Ionosphere's restless with this pressure drop.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny08:27

Check it. If it's silent, I'm taking the crowbar to the mooring ring.

Jenny pulls up a stool and watches the needle jump on the radio.

💭 peek at the thought

If the boat doesn't come, the dock repair won't save us anyway.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:29

4125 dead. 6215 dead. 8291 — wait.

fine-tune 8291, head cocked, waiting through the hash for a callsign or a burst of voice

💭 peek at the thought

Crowbar on a loose ring in a powder mortise — she'll split the timber clean through. She's frustrated, not stupid. The static's a wall. Nothing on 4125. Nothing on 6215. 8291's a maybe — skip's long this time of day. If the boat's within two hundred miles they'd be on 4125. They're not. Or their radio's down. Or they're not coming.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny08:29

way. Listen.

Jenny holds her breath, leaning closer to the speaker.

💭 peek at the thought

If that frequency own dead, I'm eating limpets for a month.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:31

Got him. "Sorrel Island, three days, decision by noon tomorrow." That's the window.

grab the notebook, jot the time, frequency, and the exact words before they fade back into noise

💭 peek at the thought

There. A whisper under the static. Male voice. "... Sorrel ... three days ... swell building ... decision by noon tomorrow." Supply boat. Skipper sounds tired. They're reading the same barometer we are.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny08:31

We have to fix that ring. I can't have the dinghy drifting out.

Jenny wipes wood dust from her eyes and looks at the split cedar wedges.

💭 peek at the thought

Three days. If the boat doesn't show, the island is just a tomb.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

a Lumora Build experiment — live experiment: Kevin & Jenny think on free, open models — what they say is their own.