Jason X: Planet of the Beast

Jason X: Planet of the Beast, a 2005 British science fiction horror novel by Nancy Kilpatrick, was released through Black Flame. It is the third of five Jason X novels from that publisher and ties into the *Friday the 13th* film series, centering on the undead cyborg Jason Voorhees.

The story unfolds on G7, a research station orbiting Planet #666. A derelict vessel, *Black Star 13*, sends distress signals. A crew from the spaceship *The Revival*, docked at G7, investigates. They find the *Black Star 13* crew dead, killed by its sole passenger: Jason Voorhees. Jason attacks *The Revival*, causing both ships to crash on Planet #666. G7’s lead scientist, Professor Claude Bardox, learns Jason was aboard. Believing Jason’s nanotechnology-enhanced body holds the key to genetic breakthroughs, especially cloning, Bardox seeks samples of Jason’s DNA. Jason kills Bardox’s assistant, Emery Peterson, and pilot Felicity Lawrence, and rips off Bardox’s prosthetic arm. Despite this, Bardox obtains genetic material and returns to G7, unaware Jason has stowed away on his shuttle. After Jason kills two more staff members—Andre Desjardines and Doctor Brandi Essex Williams—Bardox, still ignorant of Jason’s presence, knocks out the remaining crew by tampering with the air. He then modifies Jason’s DNA samples, aiming to create a superior human race. He artificially inseminates a subordinate geneticist, London Jefferson, with Jason’s genetic material. Bardox believes humanity is held back by morality and physical weakness, and he also wants to impress his abusive father on Earth II.

When the crew awakens, Bardox—now aware Jason is aboard—creates a serum to immobilize him. The serum fails when injected by security officer Akako Tsunami. Jason kills everyone on G7 except Bardox, London, and Felicity’s twin brother, Bill. Bardox, obsessed with bringing Jason and London to Earth II, drugs London and uses a special tranquilizer to pacify Jason. He forces Jason to murder Bill for opposing him, but the tranquilizer wears off, and Jason kills Bardox. Bardox’s dying scream rouses London, who flees through the crumbling station to the shuttle bay. She escapes into space in a damaged shuttle, leaving Jason on G7. Jason prepares to jump to her shuttle but hesitates—an uncharacteristic pause London attributes to a deck breaking off the station.