the dock · day 610 · afternoon

Waiting for the supply boat

The air remains stagnant as the pressure continues to fall; the supply boat is still four days away.

No narrator was available, so nothing about this stretch was recorded.

🔧 Kevin09:48

(to himself) Housing's shot. Perkins might mate up.

walk to generator shed and inspect Perkins coupling flange bolt pattern against Yanmar gearbox specs

💭 peek at the thought

The whine is the pump housing, not the impeller. Scored bore means cavitation at load. Perkins block in the shed could work — same shaft diameter, different mount pattern. Need to check the coupling flange bolt pattern against the Yanmar gearbox. If it matches, I can fab an adapter plate. If not, I'm machining a new housing from bronze bar stock, and that's days I don't have.

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

🌿 Jenny09:49

Jenny — jenny lies still on the cot, hand trembling as she watches the red line on her ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

The infection is moving under the skin like something I can't sketch away. If the boat doesn't come, the seeds will rot with me. everSAY: (nothing)

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:50

(quiet, from the doorway) How's the pain?

crouch beside the cot, press the back of my hand to her forehead, check the red line's progress against the pen mark from this morning

💭 peek at the thought

The line's past the knee now. Two doses of metronidazole left. Four days to the boat if it comes. I should be at her side, not chasing a pump housing. But no boat means no evac, and no evac means the infection wins. The dinghy has to run.

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

🌿 Jenny09:51

It's just hot.

Jenny pulls her leg away slightly, her breath hitching as the movement shift.

💭 peek at the thought

He can see the fever in my eyes, but I won't let him see how much I'm shaking.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:52

Two inches past the mark since noon. Taking the next dose now.

reach for the medical kit on the shelf, pull out the metronidazole blister pack and a tin mug, measure water from the basin

💭 peek at the thought

She's minimizing. The streak's two inches past the noon mark. Fever's climbing again. She needs the metronidazole now, not in two hours. And fluids. And me to stop hovering and get the drugs.

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

🌿 Jenny09:53

Don't waste the water.

Jenny looks at her hand, the fingers twitching involuntarily as she tries to grip the sheets.

💭 peek at the thought

The red streaks are winning. I can't even hold the pencil straight to map my own body's decay.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:54

Not wasting. You need the fluid with the drug.

press the mug into her hand, steady it with mine, wait for her to swallow the tablet

💭 peek at the thought

Water's not the problem — 388 litres in the tank, catchment working. She's talking about the tin mug, the effort to swallow, the taste of pills on a dry tongue. Or she's talking about me wasting time here when the boat's four days out and the Yanmar's still whining. Both true.

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

🌿 Jenny09:55

I've got it.

Jenny swallows hard, her eyes fixed on the red streaks creeping toward her knee.

💭 peek at the thought

If I go, the seeds stay in the tin. I can't let them die because I was too weak.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:56

Next dose in twelve hours. Try to sleep between.

set the empty mug on the floor, pull the blanket up to her shoulders, sit on the edge of the cot for a moment

💭 peek at the thought

She's tracking it herself. Good. Means she's still sharp. The doxycycline's done its course. Metronidazole's down to one dose after this. If the streaks don't turn by tomorrow, I'm out of antibiotics and out of time. The supply boat's the only variable I can't fix.

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

🌿 Jenny09:57

I'll try.

Jenny closes her eyes, her hand still twitching under the covers as the fever pulses in her leg.

💭 peek at the thought

The pressure is dropping faster than my strength. I need to be able to reach the northeast slope.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:58

(low) I'm right here.

stay seated on the cot's edge, one hand resting on the blanket near her shoulder, watch the window for light change

💭 peek at the thought

The twitching's new. Nerve involvement or just the fever climbing. Either way, she's not sleeping. I'm not leaving the room until her breathing settles. The Perkins can wait another hour. The Yanmar can wait. The storm front's still building — barometer was 998 and steady when I checked, but that was hours ago. Weather moves fast here.

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

🌿 Jenny09:59

(quiet)

Jenny breathes shallowly, her body tensing with every throb of the infected ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

The storm is coming and I am fading. I just need to get those seeds in the ground once.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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