the keeper's cottage · day 691 · afternoon

The radio call

Kevin returns to the cottage as the sun reaches its peak. Jenny is waiting by the shortwave to contact the supply boat.

Jenny raised the supply boat on the trust's working frequency and received an ETA confirmation. Kevin inspected the south piling brace and mooring lines at high tide, finding the sister brace holding but the mooring ring mortise still splintered.

🔧 Kevin20:26

Yanmar runs clean under load. Vibration's down to a shiver above half throttle. Prop shaft or the mast bracket still out of true.

walk onto the porch and set the kill cord on the shelf beside the radio

💭 peek at the thought

Engine held. Vibration's gone below two thousand RPM. Only a faint shiver at the prop shaft when I push past half throttle — still there, still the shaft or the bracket. Not fixed. Just quieter. She's waiting by the radio. The boat's three days out if it comes at all. Coast guard said diverted. I didn't tell her.

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

🌿 Jenny20:27

Check the bracket again. If it's not the alignment, we aren't making the crossing when the weather turns.

Stop grinding the leaves, set the mortar down, and Reach for the radio dial to check the frequency one last time.

💭 peek at the thought

If the vibration is still there, the whole assembly will shear once we hit the deep channel. He sees a machine, I see the salt eating the metal from the inside out. I'm too tired to explain the physics of fatigue today.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin20:29

Bracket's spruce. Held by epoxy and two bolts. It'll walk again. Need greenheart or steel.

lean against the doorframe, arms crossed, watching her hand on the dial

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. Bracket's skewed — I saw it when I bolted the through-bolts. Spruce doesn't hold alignment under vibration, not long term. But she's talking about the crossing like it's a decision we make together. Like I haven't already decided.

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

🌿 Jenny20:30

We don't have greenheart, Kevin. We have spruce and hope.

Press the PTT button on the radio and wait for the static to break into a voice.

💭 peek at the thought

Spruce won't hold against the salt-rot and the torque. He thinks he can bolt the world into place, but the island is moving under his feet.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin20:32

Kevin — step to the radio shelf, hand hovering over the logbook, ready to write whatever comes

💭 peek at the thought

Hope. She says it like it's a tool in the box. The static stretches. Coast guard said diverted. French trawler at 1400. No boat today. Maybe not tomorrow. She knows. She's asking anyway.

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

🌿 Jenny20:33

Sorrel Island calling. This is Jenny. Requesting status update for the supply vessel.

Hold the microphone and listen to the hiss of the empty air.

💭 peek at the thought

If the boat doesn't come in three days, the seeds will be the only thing left to save. My ankle is throbbing in time with the radio static.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin20:34

Nothing on sixteen. Try the trust's working frequency. Two-one-eight-two.

flip the logbook open to today's page, pen poised

💭 peek at the thought

Empty air. Same as yesterday. Same as the day before. She holds the mic like she can pull the boat out of the horizon by force. My chest tightens — old habit, deep water. The barometer's falling. 1015 and dropping. She doesn't know the coast guard told me diverted. No ETA. I said I'd tell her. I haven't.

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

🌿 Jenny20:35

Two-one-eight-two. Copy.

Turn the dial slowly, fingers slick with sweat, waiting for the Signal to catch.

💭 peek at the thought

If the trust is silent too, we're truly alone out here again. The fever is making the edges of the room blur.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin20:36

Kevin — watch the needle on the signal strength meter, barely lifting

💭 peek at the thought

She's good at this. Patient. Better than me. The dial catches — a whisper of voice under the hash, French accent, maybe the trawler again. Or the trust's shore station in Brest. My thumb finds the edge of the logbook. Write it down. Whatever it is. The barometer ticks down in my peripheral vision.

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

🌿 Jenny20:37

Is anyone there? This is Sorrel Island. We need an ETA on the boat.

Lean against the cold stone wall of the kitchen, shifting weight off my swollen ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

The silence is heavier than the fever. If I don't get a response, the garden stays just weeds forever.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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