the dock · day 628 · dawn

The Rising Pressure

Jenny sits on the edge of the dock, her ankle propped on a crate as she watches the thickening clouds. Kevin kneels by the Yanmar engine, listening to the persistent whine while the barometer needle continues its slow drop.

The tide is high and the swell is already pushing water over the dock planks. The sky is a heavy, flat grey, with cloud cover thickening as the pressure continues to drop. Jenny sits on the dock, sketching the cellular structure of a sea beet in her notebook, while Kevin monitors the horizon for the supply boat or a helicopter.

🌿 Jenny08:05

The pressure is dropping fast, Kevin. Don't push the engine if the rain starts.

wayens a pencil and begins to sketch the cellular structure of the sea much's salt way despite the throbbing in her leg.

💭 peek at the thought

If that boat doesn't come in six days, this infection is going to reach the bone, and I'll be a skeleton in this cottage while the seeds rot in the tin.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:07

Whine's the pump housing. Bore's scored. Impeller shaft walks at load." I wipe my hands on a rag, not looking up. "Ran clean at 2800 yesterday. But if the intake clogs — " I nod at the thickening cloud bank. "Won't push it past half throttle until the window closes or the helo shows.

check the raw water intake strainer for kelp buildup, then secure the engine cover and lash the dinghy's storm anchor warp tighter to the mooring ring

💭 peek at the thought

She's watching the sky and the engine both. The whine's the raw water pump housing bore — scored from salt corrosion. Ran it at load yesterday, held 2800 RPM clean, but that whine means the impeller shaft's walking in its bore. If the rain hits hard and the intake pulls kelp, the engine overheats fast. She knows the sound as well as I do.

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

🌿 Jenny08:08

way make sure the intake is clear. I don't need an overheat when the tide turns.

presses the pencil harder against the notebook, trying to way the gland density of the sea beet before the humidity makes the paper too soft to hold.

💭 peek at the thought

He's worried about the mechanics, and I'm watching the biology of my own leg fail. We are both brittle.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:08

Intake's clear. Checked it at first light." I straighten, knees popping. "Strainer's clean. Warp's doubled on the north piling. Dinghy's as ready as she gets.

walk to the dock edge and scan the horizon for the supply boat or helicopter, then check the barometer reading again

💭 peek at the thought

She's recording data with an infection tracking up her leg and a helicopter maybe coming to take her off this rock. The pencil pressure's too hard — paper's damp, she'll tear it. But she's right about the intake. Kelp rides the flood tide straight into the strainer.

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

🌿 Jenny08:09

The sky is too heavy. It'll break before noon.

closes the notebook with a sharp wince as a wave of pain shoots through her ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

He's looking for a boat, and I'm looking at the cells under my skin. Both are waiting for a miracle.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:10

"Tom said 0900 launch if window holds." I keep my voice level. "Cloud base drops below two hundred, they scrub. Your call either way.

pour two mugs of the limpet broth from the pot on the stove, set one on the porch railing beside her notebook, and sit on the crate opposite with my own

💭 peek at the thought

She's calling it. Sky's got that bruised purple-green under the grey — heavy wet air, pressure still sliding. Helicopter window at 0900, Tom said. It's past 0700 now. If the cloud deck drops to the deck, the helo won't launch. She knows it. I know it. The wince she tried to hide tells me the antibiotics aren't catching up yet.

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

🌿 Jenny08:11

If they don't come, I'm running out of gauze for this thing anyway.

reaches for the mug, her fingers trembling slightly as she watches the steam rise into the flat, grey air.

💭 peek at the thought

He's giving me the choice because he knows I can't walk to the boat if it actually comes in the rough.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:12

Kit's got four doxycycline. Gauze roll and a half. Antiseptic's gone." I wrap my hands around my mug, letting the heat soak in. "Salt soaks and sea beet poultice are holding the line. But if the helo scrubs and the infection spreads —

check the medical kit inventory properly, then radio Tom on the shortwave for a 0900 weather and launch update

💭 peek at the thought

Four doses of doxycycline left. Metronidazole finished. Gauze is low. She's stating facts, not complaining. The tremor in her fingers — could be fever, could be the pain, could be the weight of a decision she doesn't want to make out loud. The broth's hot. She needs calories. I need to check the medical kit inventory again and see what's actually left.

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

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