the keeper's cottage · day 981 · midday

Midday meal and radio check

They sit on the porch steps sharing corned beef and limpets from the pot. The handheld VHF crackles on channel sixteen. The barometer holds at 994. Cloud cover is low and featureless. The supply boat's wake is still visible on the horizon.

Kevin confirmed the supply boat's ETA and verified the Yanmar's fuel line repair held under load, while Jenny's ankle infection worsened despite the trimethoprim dose, the heat and pulsing spreading past the marked boundary.

🌿 Jenny05:15

They aren't answering the radio, Kevin.

Pick up the radio, press the PTT, and listen to the static.

💭 peek at the thought

The boat is there, but they aren't answering. If they don't land, the infection will take the whole leg.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:15

Captain acknowledged on 2182. Confirmed impeller and antibiotics aboard. He's past the headland by now.

eat another limpet from the pot, watching the horizon

💭 peek at the thought

They're gone. Captain said 0640 high tide, two-hour window. He kept it. Radio silence now is just distance.

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

🌿 Jenny05:16

Two days' sail if the wind holds.

Rub the back of the swollen ankle and wince as the heat hits the skin.

💭 peek at the thought

He says they're coming, but the island doesn't care about schedules. My leg is screaming again.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:16

Wind's north. They'll make the channel by nightfall if they don't fight it.

hand her the tin mug with the last of the broth

💭 peek at the thought

She's tracking the swelling against the marked line. Red ink's faded on her skin but the boundary's clear in her head.

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

🌿 Jenny05:18

I hope they do.

Drink the broth quickly and stare at the thickening clouds.

💭 peek at the thought

If they don't make it, I'm opening the tin. I can't die holding them.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:18

Front's stacking up west. Twelve hours, maybe less.

stand and go inside for the radio log, flip to the fresh page

💭 peek at the thought

She's not talking about the boat. The barometer's held at 994 for six hours. That's not holding — that's waiting.

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

🌿 Jenny05:20

We need to check the fuel line again.

Lean heavily on the porch railing to shift the weight off the ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

The sky is turning heavy. If that storm hits before they dock, we're stuck waiting.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:20

Held pressure at 2200 RPM. Bracket shim's solid. You checked it with me.

set the radio log on the porch table, tap the barometer entry — 994, 0600, steady

💭 peek at the thought

Generator fuel line held at load yesterday. She's testing me, or testing her own memory through the fever fog.

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.