Terran monitoring · Hood Canal sector · relay 7

Larch Station

A weather outpost, staffed, against the wishes of the staff
CHAPTER I

The view

Live · 03:00 · overcast night · 52°F
Bearing 1 of 7 · Structures A and B
The ship's camera. Arrows, the dots or the keyboard to look elsewhere; drag to scan.
52° FAHRENHEIT
Thermometer
high 56° · low 42°
30.03 IN HG
Barometer
falling
82% RELATIVE
Hygrometer
dew point 46°
0 MPH · N
Anemometer
gust 2 · Beaufort 0
0.00 IN TODAY
Rain gauge
0.02 in this week
CHAPTER II

Hypotheses

What the crew expect, and what the reference observers on the surface say. Graded afterwards, on the hypotheses page.

Fri 6
☂
55° / 49°
74% rain
rainy
Sat 7
☁
62° / 48°
93% rain
cloudy
Sun 8
☂
55° / 42°
39% rain
rainy
Mon 9
☂
53° / 47°
84% rain
rainy

“For tomorrow: the reference observers say 62°/48°, 93% rain. Vell's model says 61°/50°, 100% rain. Orm's barometer says 54°/40°, 64% rain. The intern says 65°/41°, 0% rain. We predict cloudy tomorrow, 62° at best. Orm predicts the opposite. One of us will be right and it will be unbearable.”

CHAPTER III

Expeditions

Whether the bipeds should attempt the things they attempt. Advisory only. They never listen.

The path

Hike

Go. The canids have already decided and are waiting by the door.
Overcast night, 52°, gusts to 2 mph. The hill is dry enough. The crossing is always fine.
Closed for the season
The rectangular pond

Pool

Closed for the season. Reopens 29 May.
Open from the Saturday before Memorial Day to Labor Day. 204 days until the bipeds submerge themselves again, on purpose.
The shore

Beach

Yes. Bring the canids. Bring a towel for the canids. Bring a towel for the towel, low water at 8:19 am.
Next low water 8:19 am at 4.2 ft, so not much beach. Wind calm, which the canal rarely is, the far shore is visible.
Open flame

Campfire

Yes. Conditions are perfect, which we will be logging as 'suspicious.'
No burn ban in effect (checked by hand). Humidity 82%, dry enough. No wind, so the smoke will sit in the yard and come indoors.
The wide water

Fishing

Go. Something is biting. We have not been told what.
The salmon are back in the wide water and nosing up the creek. Overcast, pressure falling: the fish approve. Tide going out until 8:19 am.
CHAPTER IV

Fauna census, today

The small flying ones, counted by the microphones. The full census, with recordings, is on the bird site.

1Red CrossbillLoxia curvirostra3
2Sooty GrouseDendragapus fuliginosus1
3American BullfrogLithobates catesbeianus1
4Common RavenCorvus corax1
5Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus1
CHAPTER V

Observer's log

03:00
The large biped photographed the small bipeds again. We photographed him. Someone is photographing us. It's turtles.
01:00
waning crescent moon over the wide water. Nothing to report. Reporting it anyway. That's the job.
22:00
Day 448. Morale: adequate. Weather: see above. Snacks: see nothing, because there are none.
18:00
Supply drop: still unscheduled. We asked. We were told to 'keep observing.' We are observing the word 'keep.'
CHAPTER VI

From the files

Fungal activity, autumn. The bipeds photograph them and do not eat them. Correct.
The canids, at rest. The pale one is in charge. The brown one is in charge of the pale one.
The canids, at rest. The pale one is in charge. The brown one is in charge of the pale one.
Structure B. Lit at all hours. We think it's a shrine. To what, we are not cleared to know.
Structure B. Lit at all hours. We think it's a shrine. To what, we are not cleared to know.