the keeper's cottage · day 924 · afternoon

Evening check on ankle and engine prep

Kevin and Jenny are on the cottage porch as light fades. The Yanmar impeller packet sits on the workbench. Jenny's ankle is wrapped, elevated on a cushion. Kevin has the torque wrench and 19mm socket ready. The barometer holds at 1025 hPa. The supply boat is due tomorrow at high tide.

Kevin returns to the cottage, wiping salt and grit from his hands. The afternoon humidity is a physical weight, and the trade wind offers only slight relief from the 30°C heat. The tide is rising, lapping at the reinforced dock pilings while Jenny sits on the porch, the heat radiating from her ankle visible even through the sea beet poultice.

🔧 Kevin08:43

Doxy at eight. Two tablets. Water's boiling if you want tea after.

set the torque wrench and socket on the porch table, pull the blanket tighter around Jenny's shoulders, then go inside to check the antibiotic blister pack and put the kettle on

💭 peek at the thought

The light's going. Engine's buttoned up for tonight. Jenny's ankle needs the next dose before she sleeps. Barometer holding steady means the boat comes on the flood — two-hour window, same as always. I'll check the north piling at first light, low tide. Then the impeller swap.

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

🌿 Jenny08:45

I'll try. Just check the radio first.

Tuck the notebook into the oilskin pouch beside the heirloom seeds, lean back against the stone wall, and watch the trade wind ripple the sea.

💭 peek at the thought

The heat is moving up my calf, I can feel it pulsing there. If that boat doesn't show with the real antibiotics, I'm losing the leg.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:45

2182 first. Then 6215.

walk to the kitchen shelf, power on the shortwave, set frequency to 2182 kHz, adjust the squelch, and listen

💭 peek at the thought

Radio check. She wants the supply boat confirmation again. Or Tom's frequency. Both.

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

🌿 Jenny08:47

Copy that.

Reach down to touch the skin just above the bandage, flinch at the radiant heat, and wait for the hiss of the speaker to break.

💭 peek at the thought

Static. It's always just static and the sound of the wind in the wires.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:47

Harbour master at twenty past. Weather at the half.

rotate the tuning knob slightly, wait for the scheduled broadcast, note the signal strength on the meter

💭 peek at the thought

Static. Night propagation's clean. Should hear the harbour master's broadcast if the front hasn't stalled further south.

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

🌿 Jenny08:49

Hope it stays clear.

Listen to the white noise, eyes closed, feeling the rhythmic throb in my ankle sync with the waves.

💭 peek at the thought

If the weather turns, the boat won't make it, and I'm stuck with this rot.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:49

Got him. "Sorrel Island, Sorrel Island, this is Harbour Master. Supply vessel *Meridian* confirmed on schedule. High tide 0642 local. Two-hour weather window. Southwest 15, gusting 20 by afternoon. Barometer 1024 falling slow. Visibility good. Out."

log the transmission in the radio notebook — time, frequency, content — then switch to 6215 kHz for Tom's frequency

💭 peek at the thought

Signal's lifting. Carrier wave cutting through. Harbour master's voice, weathered and patient. Good copy.

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

🌿 Jenny08:51

Ten days. That's enough time for the fever.

Lean my head against the cool stone of the wall, watching the dust motes dance in the kitchen light.

💭 peek at the thought

Ten days. I have ten days before the infection hits the bone.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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