Jason X vs. The Thing: A Learning Experience

Chapter 10: Escapes, Narrow and Otherwise

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Still don't own either the Friday the Thirteenth nor the Thing franchises, of course. Now, on with the story.

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Chapter 10: Escapes, Narrow and Otherwise

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"What? When did you discover this?"

"Just a few minutes ago. Janessa and I went to check on her. It looked like she'd jimmied her door open from the inside."

Professor Stein sighed, but his sigh had a strong hint of frustration in it. Tsunaron admired the professor's self-control; he looked as though he was one breath away from a cursing spree. One thing after another. Grabbing his gauss rifle, Stein turned to Tsunaron and Kay Em. "I've got to go find her. Can the two of you finish setting this up?"

"Sure, prof. You need to take somebody with you, though, don't you?"

Stein shook his head. "There's no time. From what Rowan was telling me, she may be suicidal. And even if she's not, Jason is sure to find her faster than any search party we could throw together. You two are needed here to set this up, and Mary and Jaxon are busy trying to find our identity test. And Waylander, Janessa…" He paused. "Where was Rowan when you left her?" he asked.

"Down in the comm room. She needed a circuit board to reset the system."

"I've got to find Kinsa now, before Jason—or something else—does." I only hope I'm in time. "I need you two to make sure the shuttle is operational…and, don't we have life-pods, too?" He sighed. "This is looking more and more like a situation where we'll need them."

….

In a lone corridor, a long way from where the professor and the others were: Kinsa ran, not really knowing or caring where she was running to. She only knew what she was running from.

She'd awakened to find herself alone and her door locked and fastened. That could only mean that either Jason had already overpowered the rest of crew, and she'd been saved for last, or else the other thing, the alien monster had…eaten, absorbed, whatever it did…the rest of them, and it was only a matter of time until it was her turn. Either way, she couldn't stand to just sit in her room. She had to get out, get out somehow.

She recalled, from some plans Stoney had once showed her, that the shuttle bay was down one of these corridors. Thinking about Stoney made her breath hitch. Sobbing, she ran for what she hoped was the way to the shuttle….

…And suddenly, Jason was just there, standing not more than a dozen feet away from her. "No!" She turned and ran in the other direction. There; there was a turbolift door…maybe if she could get to it in time, she could get away…

But the lift doors opened onto an empty shaft. "Noooo!" No way out that way…and Jason was still coming, an unstoppable juggernaut, raised machete gleaming in the light. All she could do was cower down by the wall, and cover her face with her hands, not wanting to see death coming….

BOOOOM! The sound of the shot was like a physical blow, there in the confines of the corridor, and Jason reeled back. The professor took a step forward and fired again, the three hundred grain sabot round hitting Jason with nearly three tons of energy. Even that couldn't penetrate the new Jason's armor plate, but it did put a hefty dent in it, driving him back, in the direction of the empty lift shaft. Again, Stein stepped forward, his gauss rifle dialed all the way up, the thunder of the shot echoing throughout the hallway, its impact forcing the monster back into the shaft. They could hear him clattering against the sides of the shaft as he plummeted to the bottom. "Come on, Kinsa!" Stein grabbed her by the arm and levered her into a standing position. "We've got to get away from here! This way!" And he hauled her off down the corridor, towards the lab Mary and Jax were using.

Kinsa could do nothing more than sob. Once again, she'd been totally useless. She wished, oh, how she wished, that Dr. LaFontaine hadn't stopped her from killing herself; she was a complete waste of space. Needed? Her? That was actually funny.

They reached the lab, and Professor Stein keyed open the door and hustled her inside. Mary and Jax looked up in alarm. "Kinsa? Professor? What—what's going on?"

Kinsa couldn't stop crying. "Just me, being useless again. I—I'm…" She broke down completely, the nervous shock of the last few minutes, combined with all the other shocks she'd had, practically reducing her to a puddle of misery.

"Kinsa." Professor Stein had shouldered his rifle, and now faced her, holding her by her arms. "Listen to me. Okay? Just listen." The other two looked on, wanting to help the stricken girl, but not knowing how. "You call yourself useless. You're not. You're a part of us, you're one of us. We're fighting to survive here, for us all to survive…and you're one of the 'us' we're all fighting for.

"You blame yourself for Stoney's death. You blame yourself for not being able to do more. But you're not useless. You're part of the reason we're all fighting in the first place. We, all of us, are fighting as much for you as for ourselves. Because we care about you.

"You're never useless as long as someone cares about you, Kinsa. And we do. We all do."

For a moment, she was silent. Then she grabbed him and pulled herself closer, laying her head against his chest, clinging to him like a child. After a few minutes, the sobs ceased. He stood there, stroking her hair, making soothing noises.

She looked up at them, still holding onto the professor, and wiped her eyes. "You know," she said, "this is gettin' to be a habit." And she actually smiled.

Mary moved in closer. She was still in awe at how the professor always seemed to know just the right words to say to comfort the hurting girl. It was almost like he had telepathy or something. "Kinsa, the professor's right. We're not gonna leave you or let anything bad happen to you." Not if we can help it, at least. "C'mon. Jax, take her over there; I'll see if we don't have anything to help calm her down." After Jax had led Kinsa over to the other side of the room, she turned to the professor. "How did she wake up? I thought I gave her enough to knock her out for hours."

"Mary…did you actually prepare that hypo? Yourself?"

"Yes…no, wait. Dr. LaFontaine actually got it out of the med cabinet. I didn't have that kind of clearance." She chewed her lip, wondering if she should share Jax's suspicion regarding Rowan with him.

She finally decided she would have to. When he heard, he looked more troubled that she'd seen him look so far, even in the morgue, with the bodies…the bodies that had vanished so strangely. "That…that is a disturbing notion, Mary. Rowan's been with us for some time now, and…did you come up with a test?"

"Yes, Dr. Stein. I tested it on Jax, and it works."

"Maybe you'd better test Kinsa. I find it…troubling that she awoke as soon as she did. After all," he said, "you may be on to something with this. But if that line of thinking has merit, it may also apply to anyone who displays any…unusual physical abilities."

"What are you thinking of, professor?"

"If Rowan is indeed…not Rowan, then there's no telling what could have been in that hypo. Maybe even some of the thing's own cells." Mary's eyes widened as she took in the full import of what he was thinking. "I just hope…just hope Kinsa is still Kinsa."

Mary and the professor went over to where Jax was sharing some sweet cakes with Kinsa. "Kinsa? We'd like to run a test on you. Would you mind?"

"N-no, Mary, of course not. But, w-what is this all about?"

"It's our test that Jax and I have been working on. I think we've finally got it perfected. Wanna be my guinea pig?" she said with a smile that, she hoped, hid a very troubled mind.

Jax turned to the professor. "Those must'a been some lucky grandchildren you had."

Professor Stein hesitated a moment. Then, "I…did my best. It's a learning experience, Jax. Takes place in this great classroom we call life." He nodded towards Mary, who was taking a sample from Kinsa. "One that, it looks like, you might find yourself in, soon enough." And he shot Jaxon a sly look.

Jax blushed crimson. "Oh, I, I don't know. I mean…" He floundered. "I mean, she's so…" He shrugged, unsure how to continue. What could someone like her ever see in a guy like me?

Professor Stein clapped him on the shoulder. "Just keep going the way you've been going, and you'll do fine."

He went over the where Mary was testing Kinsa. "Well, Kinsa tests out. Congrats, Kinsa. You're human."

Kinsa hiccupped, whether in fright or laughter, they couldn't tell. "G-good to know. So…what do we do now? Please let me do something! I've been doing nothing too long!"

Mary met the professor's eyes. "Of course we will, Kinsa. Don't worry about that. But we first have to figure out what to do."

…..

Corridor X4 : the entrance way. "Okay, here's the drill." Working with Kay Em, Tsunaron had lined the entire corridor with superconducting wires. There was no charge in them yet, for fear Jason's new cyborg senses would detect the magnetic field. "We set up this holographic projector here," he indicated the doorway to X4. "It projects an image of Camp Crystal Lake. Thank God Mary's research turned this up.

"The reasoning is, this is Jason's home turf. Yeah, he seems to dig it, here, maybe, true, but chances are he'll go for the familiar rather than the strange. So he'll head down this way, if nothing else, out of curiosity. Then, we spring the trap. Kay Em? You got that remote for the airlock?"

"Yes. I incorporated it into my own systems. That way, I can't lose it, and I'll know immediately if something goes wrong."

"Sweet. Okay. Now, we just have to get some idea as to where Jason is."

…

The control room: the place resembled a construction site. Rowan was desperately trying to get the communications array to functioning again. A great deal was riding on it.

She wasn't too worried about being alone. She'd instructed Waylander and Janessa to go in pairs; the general consensus being that anyone who showed up all by themselves would be suspect. Her comm signaled. "Yes?"

"Dr. LaFontaine?" Waylander's voice came over the comm. "Just wanted to let you know that Kinsa got loose somehow. She very nearly got killed by Jason, but the professor managed to blast him into that empty shaft on deck 3. He said he heard him hit the bottom. But that means he may be in your vicinity."

"Okay." She continued to work, the tiny comm badge on her collar relaying both their voices. "I'll be on my guard. How did Kinsa get loose?"

Professor Stein's voice came on over the communicator. "She evidently woke too soon from her…imposed slumber. What did you give her, anyway?"

There was a moment of hesitation from the other end of the line. Then, they heard Rowan's voice. "I gave her the maximum that I felt I safely could. In her state, I was afraid a full dose might cause her to go into respiratory failure. And with no one there to watch her…"

"I understand, doctor," said Stein, his expression unreadable. "In any case, Mary and Jax have come up with our test. We can now test each of us to see who is and who isn't human."

Another brief pause. "They have? Good. I'll be up as soon as I get something done here. In the meantime, can you test the others? And what about those medical transponders? Was Jax able to get those rebuilt?"

"Yes. As soon as we can start testing, we can begin implanting the transponders in those we know to be human. In the meantime, be careful. Given Jason's proclivity for turning up at the most unexpected moments, you could have a run-in with him."

"I'm not afraid of Jason. He and I are old 'pals.' Anyway, I've got this pulse rifle. It may not stop him, but by God, it'll be satisfying to use it on him. I almost hope he does show up. Ah, what am I saying." Another pause, while they heard her grunt with effort. "Anyway, I'll be joining you as soon as I can. Oh, and it might be useful to see if we couldn't come up with some other test, maybe a lower tech one, to use for corroboration. Wouldn't hurt."

"We'll see what we can come up with. Anyway, get up here as soon as you can, and we'll outfit you with a transponder." He closed the communicator, looking at the others. "I'm going down the control room. Mary. Do you have a portable version of that test? Good. I'll take it with me; perhaps we can eliminate Rowan right off the bat, without interrupting her work." His expression said, assuming it doesn't need to be interrupted.

"Professor Stein, no! It's too risky! What if she's…not?"

"But we have to know, Mary. Remember her saying that whatever was interfering with the communication system seemed to be active, like a virus? If, indeed, she has been…compromised, she might even now be the very reason why we can't contact anyone.

"And about Jason: we think we've come up with something." He turned to Jax. "You two might want to get down to 4X yourselves, test those there. Plus, you could be needed if things go south. Tsunaron will fill you in on the plan." He picked up his rifle. "Kinsa? You go with them. The shuttle's close by that area; if things take a turn for the worse….get in it and get out. Don't worry about me. Just go. Go and bring back help. Okay?" Kinsa tried to smile a brave smile. She didn't quite succeed. "If our plan works, Jason won't be a problem much longer. So go on; I'll join you as soon as I can."

"Okay, professor," said Jax, hefting his gauss rifle. He, too, had dialed it up all the way to shoulder-punishing maximum. He clearly wasn't happy with this plan, but he had to see to the safety of Mary and Kinsa.

…

Corridor X4 : Tsunaron activated the hologram. Immediately, the view of the corridor leading to the airlock was replaced by a three-dimensional image of an idyllic woodland scene, the trees, green with spring, swaying gently in the nonexistent breeze. A ways off, they could see light reflecting off the lake, hear the sounds of children playing. Tsunaron whistled low. "Wow. So Jason got his start here?" But he knew the story: outcast mutant kid gets drowned while camp counselors watch, comes back as murderous monster, determined to punish those he deemed guilty. "This guy is some seriously fucked up."

A noise in one of the corridors just outside attracted their attention. "Quick, Kay Em! Hide! If that's Jason…" They'd been alerted to the killer's possible presence on this floor.

They hid in one of the closets that was between the doors, Tsunaron still holding the remote that would activate the magnetic fields.

Jason crashed through one of the doorways to the left, crashed through…and stopped, dead still, apparently thunderstruck by the vision he was seeing. He stepped forward….and halted, just before he was within effective range of the mag fields.

"He's close." Tsunaron breathed. He and Kay Em were watching nervously. "Just a few more feet, you maniac, just a few more feet…c'mon, you can do it, just take one more step…" But Jason stood where he was, seemingly mesmerized by the sight.

"Here," said Kay Em. "Let me by." She shouldered past him, moved towards the door.

"Kay Em!" he hissed, "what are you doing?"

"He's distracted. If I can just give him a little push…just hold on to that button."

"No, Kay Em, it's too ris-*" But the android woman was already out of the door, and creeping up on Jason, moving as soundlessly as a cat…

…And all at once, Jason whirled around, swung a massive fist, and slammed her against the wall, the force of the blow disconnecting her head from her body. "Shit!" Tsunaron dodged out of the closet and made a dive for Kay Em.

Or, rather, for Kay Em's head, which spoke, even as he flung himself towards her. "Tsunaron! Don't! Get the hell outta here!" But he didn't listen, rolling right past Jason, narrowly dodging Jason's shovel-sized hand, grabbed her head, and, cradling it in his arms, flung open the nearest door and made tracks. "Stupid!" fussed Kay Em. "You could've been killed!"

He glanced over his shoulder, hearing the sounds of pursuit. "I might be yet. But no way was I gonna leave you."

"Yeah, well, I'm flattered, an' all, but just remember, the switch to blow that airlock is back there in my body."

They ran.

Mary and Jax were just coming off the turbolift when they saw Tsunaron running, hell-bent, towards them, cradling Kay Em's disembodied head in his arms. "Look out! Jason's right behind me!"

Jax stepped forward, gauss rifle dialed up to the max, dropped to one knee and fired, the shot nearly deafening them all. Once again, Jason was knocked back, but he recovered quicker this time, and once more advanced, machete at the ready….Jax fired again, and once again, the oncoming giant was knocked back, but even less so this time…

….and Jax's rifle clicked on an empty chamber. "Shit!" He'd left one of his gauss rounds in the lab, as a template for the nanites to build on. He stepped in front of the others, even as Mary screamed at him to get outta the way! He held up the rifle crosswise, to block the downward stroke of the machete. But the sheer force of the blow threw him off-balance, knocking him to one side.

Mary rushed up beside him, grabbing his shirt sleeve, trying to pull him out of the way, and Jason shifted his attention to her. With a speed belying his huge bulk, he adjusted his aim, sending the machete's razor edge straight for her….

….and Jax desperately shoved her out of the way of the descending blade….

….which proceeded to slice his arm completely off, between the elbow and the shoulder.

To be continued….