Explorer X Alpha by LM. Preston

Tacitus’s next punch, struggling to stand, and punched Tacitus in the stomach only to feel his knuckles crack with the impact of the blow. Tacitus still didn’t falter but punched Dakota’s chin up and then hit downward at the top of Dakota’s head. Dakota tasted blood, and every part of his body throbbed in a sharp, painful ache, but he was not going to give up without a good fight, so Dakota struggled and stood up, mentally focusing to force the pain out of his head. He stood and raised his hand to land a final punch. Then, he drummed up all the energy he had left to end this battle.
    â€œGive up, Dakota. I will win,” said Tacitus coolly as he jumped up off his knees to stand. With strength Dakota underestimated, Tacitus managed to get to his feet. He grabbed both of Dakota’s arms, forcing him back down to his knees on the ground. Pain awakened like fire and tunneled through Dakota’s arms and shoulders. Tacitus let go of Dakota’s right arm and threw him back to land flat on the ground. He put his knee on Dakota’s stomach and then cut off Dakota’s breathing to a point were Dakota’s lungs felt as though they would burst. Tacitus then slowly leaned down toward Dakota’s ear and pulled Dakota’s hair up to position Dakota for the final punch.
    â€œYou lose,” he whispered in Dakota’s ear. Then Tacitus punched Dakota in one quick and fatal blow.
    Dakota saw darkness and then opened his eyes to Mr. Faulkner who stood over him after slapping his face.
    â€œAw, man! Don’t tell me I am the first?” asked Dakota, as Mr. Faulkner helped him stand up in the simulation room. About two yards in front of him were the simulation space cruisers. Dakota looked over to the left of the cruisers to see the others in the simulation boxes. Mr. Faulkner was looking at the side of the huge screen, checking the vitals of each remaining Cadet. It took Dakota a moment to get adjusted to being out of the virtual reality of the simulation, and he tilted his head to readjust to being pulled out of the virtual world.
    â€œTake off your tags. Your part in the simulation is over, and hopefully your teammate will come through for you,” Mr. Faulkner said, as he watched the others on the floor-to-ceiling screen.
    â€œOh, yeah? You mean the chicken head that took off running and left me behind to fight his battles!” Dakota yelled at Mr. Faulkner as he stood to follow him.

 
Chapter 19
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    Carter ran as fast as he could to try to get back to his cruiser. He wanted to get in the cruiser and get it started before Tacitus got to him. He hoped that the cruiser would knock Tacitus out during take off and take Tacitus out of the game. He was totally caught off guard with Tacitus overtaking Dakota, as Tacitus always seemed pretty timid or just quiet and weird. Carter ran so fast that his arms, back, and legs burned in pain, but he kept on running and never looked back. The sensation of the hairs standing up on his neck made Carter start to shiver. He saw the cruiser and let out a brief sigh of relief until he decided to peek behind him out of curiosity to see how far Tacitus was.
    â€œOh, man, oh man. Dang it!” Carter said as he spied Tacitus a slight distance from him as he gained ground. Carter started to panic, and his hands shook. Breathing hard, he finally got to the cruiser and then fumbled through the sequence to open the craft. By this time, Tacitus was just a few yards away and running so fast he looked like he would run right through the cruiser if Carter didn’t move it.
    â€œGive it up, Carter. You are out of the game,” Tacitus yelled. Tacitus pumped his arms faster and faster as he ran up to the cruiser. He speed up and looked totally unaffected by the fight he just had with Dakota or the run to catch up with Carter.
    Carter fell through the opening of the top of the cruiser. He punched in the sequence to close the door. As the door