11
Shaking her head, Janine turned the wheel.
The research station had not obstructed her ascent, nor had it aided. After she'd squeezed out of the submersible, she'd returned to the lower rotunda, frightened and expecting the machinery to pursue her.
It had been as still as before.
Getting oriented had been baffling, until she remembered to use her encrypted optimitter. Guided by the map on her corn, she'd made her way upward, finding what looked like an exit to the surface, a pressure door with a wheel in the middle.
The seal stuck.
Probably hasn't been used in a long time, she thought, trying to remain positive, not wanting to acknowledge the other possibilities.
She tugged on the wheel.
Nothing.
The wheel seemed to be working properly. She turned it to its limits a couple of t
