The inner wheel sat behind a half-collapsed brace, glowing red through the furnace haze.
Sella studied the support from the corridor. “If the pressure shifts before we release it, that beam will fail.”
Gu traced the channel on the maintenance sketch. A second handle stood beyond the brace, set behind the inner wheel. Yan would have to reach it through the narrowest part of the shaft. He measured the opening with his shoulders and the reach with his arm. The brace leaned over the channel; if it fell, he would have no space to turn.
“Can we use the winch?” Han asked.
“There is no anchor point on the far side,” Sella said. “It would pull the wrong way.” She had checked the wall already. The pressure had cracked the stone where a hook might hold, and no one could safely wedge a new anchor beneath the beam.
Yan looked at the crew. “I can reach the handle if you keep the pressure aligned.”
He performed the containment sequence again. Its intended destructive backlash reversed into strong support through his joints and spine. He entered the chamber under the furnace heat and wedged himself between the channel and the broken brace. The wheel was physically jammed. He pushed with his shoulder.
