the keeper's cottage · day 982 · midday

Midday meal and radio watch

Kevin and Jenny sit at the kitchen table with tin mugs of limpet broth and corned beef. The shortwave radio crackles on the table between them, tuned to 2182 kHz. The barometer reads 990 hPa steady. High tide is in six hours. The supply boat is due tomorrow. Kevin's shoulder is braced against the chair back; Jenny's ankle is propped on a stool, the fresh poultice warming through the gauze.

Kevin monitored the shortwave radio through the morning, hearing only static and a fragmented news bulletin about Ukraine's power grid. Jenny remained at the cottage, tracking the infection's spread past her marked boundary while the barometer held steady at 990 hPa. The supply boat's confirmed arrival window remains tomorrow at high tide.

🔧 Kevin06:19

Wind's west-northwest. Holding steady. If it doesn't back round by midnight, we go at first light.

lift mug, blow steam off the broth, take a slow sip

💭 peek at the thought

Six hours to high tide. Barometer holding. If the wind doesn't back round to the southwest by midnight, we've got a window. Need to check the dinghy's bilge pump one more time before dark.

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

🌿 Jenny06:20

The barometer is dropping too fast. We need to be ready if the boat is pushed early by the swell.

Jenny lean back, closing her eyes briefly as the pulsing in her ankle spikes.

💭 peek at the thought

The fever is making the edges of the room blur, but I need to stay sharp for the radio check.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin06:20

It's steady. Has been for four hours. But the swell's running two metres at the harbour mouth. If the captain calls it early, he'll come in on the ebb. Dinghy's tied for it either way.

set mug down, push back from table, walk to porch door and scan the horizon

💭 peek at the thought

She's reading the same numbers I am. 990 steady doesn't mean holding — it means the bottom hasn't fallen out yet. Swell's already pushing into the cove.

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

🌿 Jenny06:22

Check the radio again. I want to hear Tom's frequency before the tide turns.

Jenny reach for the water glass, her hand trembling slightly as she grips the rim.

💭 peek at the thought

If the boat doesn't come, I won't have enough antibiotics to finish the course.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin06:22

Already checked. 0200, 0600, 1000. Nothing but static on 3915. He's not transmitting.

cross to the radio shelf, flip the power switch, turn the squelch knob, wait for the hiss to settle

💭 peek at the thought

Tom's frequency. She knows I've been listening. Knows I keyed the mic on his birthday. She's giving me an out — or a reason.

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

🌿 Jenny06:24

Then we wait. The island doesn't care about our schedule.

Jenny shift her weight on the stool, wincing as the heat in her ankle radiates through the gauze.

💭 peek at the thought

If he isn't transmitting, the weather might have kept him at the dock entirely.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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