You run as fast as you can along the orange route to the right. You duck behind the corner. There’s a blast sound behind you, followed by a body drop. You pocket the data chip in your hand and keep moving.

It’s difficult to stay on your feet. The cryo-cell made your limbs stiff. You trip twice. Once when the ship rocks violently, and again over a lifeless corpse. To avoid marching guards, you hide behind columns and crawl into freshly abandoned sleeping quarters. 

The orange route leads you down a level, where you arrive at a row of escape pods. All of them are gone – except one. You take the data chip out of your pocket and insert it into the escape pod’s control terminal. It spits the chip back out, like the broken nutrient machine spits out paper credits back at HQ. There’s a control panel on the terminal, but you don’t know the passcode.

“I saw you sneaking away,” states the superior officer, holding up her laser rifle at you. “Looking to escape?”

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK…

REMEMBER: YOU TOOK THE “ORANGE” ROUTE.