Serenity drifted closer and closer to the area everyone within the Alliance knew as the "Dead Zone". Flashing red perimeter beacons marked the outer edge of Alliance territory warning off any vessels that had gotten strayed too close.
Not that any vessel would purposefully stray toward that area. Not if they knew what was in store for them if they did.
Zoe sat in the pilot's chair and stared out into the vastness of space. It was usually a comfort to her, but tonight it brought forth memories of her worst nightmares. The only sound that could be heard on the bridge was the first officer's quiet breathing as she recalled her childhood growing up on a transport freighter. In between her school lessons, her uncle would tell her tales of what existed beyond the beacons. Thousands of light years of dead, empty space, he told her as he tucked her into bed at night. Liable to make a man go crazy if he stayed out there too long, uncle would say. He was a smart man who knew what he was talking about, which is why Zoe shuddered as she stared. If she had any other choice, she would have turned this ship around and headed full-burn in the other direction.
"It's so creepy," Kaylee said as she walked onto the bridge, wrapped up tightly in a knit blanket. Zoe turned slightly to look at the mechanic.
"Seems a mite odd that there ain't any patrols out this way," the younger woman continued quietly. "Figure if the Alliance didn't want people to enter this area, they'd at least have some ships or something."
"Ain't nothing to protect," Zoe replied, her face calm and reserved as usual, but her eyes betraying the fear she felt deep inside. "That's why it's called the Dead Zone. Way I heard it, there's nothing out here worth going after so the Alliance doesn't care who tries to enter. No man that's ever entered the Dead Zone has come back out alive. They say you can travel for years and never meet another living soul. They say a man's liable to go crazy if'n he stays out there too long."
Kaylee shivered and wrapped the blanket tighter around herself at the sudden feeling of coldness that washed over her.
"Well, I'm gonna go see how the Cap'n's doing." she said quietly as she turned around, leaving the soldier alone to her introspection.
Zoe nodded solemnly then resumed her staring.
Bao bei, why are you here?
I have to protect you, River.
But he'll kill you.
Not if he doesn't know I'm still here. Now keep quiet.
River opened her eyes and stared into the blackness of the dark room. She saw nothing but the man standing above her, staring down at her strapped helplessly into the chair. His sinister penetrating gaze sent chills up and down her spine.
His name is Sylar.
Don't speak, he'll hear you.
"Where did he go?" the man said. River closed her eyes tightly, her heart pounding in her chest as she used all her willpower to shut the man out.
"Where did he go!" he yelled again as he grabbed her arms and shook her hard. Tears threatened to spill and River shut her eyes tightly to keep them contained, but it was no use. Tears began streaming down her face as her breathing quickened and she moaned. The man kept shaking her, trying to force an answer from her, trying to force her to open her mind to him once again.
Then, the girl's most basic survival and protection instincts took over. She knew she had to protect the man she loved and so she did the only thing she could. The only thing she was trained to do. The girl buried herself deeper and deeper into the farthest recesses of her mind until what was left on the outside was a mere babbling shell of the person she once was. All that remained of River was the girl.
"Will never know. Will never tell," she sighed dreamily not caring when Sylar yanked her out of her chair and threw her to the ground like a ragdoll. River laughed.
She squealed and giggled, then crawled to the wall and hid her face behind her hair. She was hidden now. She was safe. He would never find her because she would never say a word. They had trained her to withstand worse.
Sylar turned away without a word. His face contorted into a grimace, his breathing deep and heavy. The girl was hiding from him, but he wasn't worried. This was all part of her programming. Those scientists created her this way so no enemies could unlock her mysteries and recreate her working code. But they were mere mortals. Limited in their scope and practice. They didn't factor in all the variables. They didn't think there was another psychic that would want to break her. After all, she was too dangerous. It was too easy to get lost in her mind. The girl was so powerful, even as a bruised and cracked shell, that all the others stayed away.
Sylar smirked and had River been watching him, she would have shuddered at the look of evilness that crossed his face. Sylar smirked because he knew something those scientists did not. This girl was powerful, but Sylar was more powerful.
Turning around, Sylar knelt down by the young girl who sat babbling in the corner. He tenderly stroked her face and brushed a stray hair out of her eyes.
"Now River," he said in a quiet and melodic voice. "I need you to pay close attention because we're going to try something new."
"How is he doc?" Peter questioned impatiently, pacing back and forth through the infirmary. Simon glanced up and sighed as he tiredly rubbed his eyes. The doctor looked haggard and unshaven. There were bags under his eyes and he looked as though he hadn't slept in days.
"It's difficult to say," Simon responded, running his fingers through his dark hair. "As far as I can tell, he's in some sort of reverse cortical depression. He's in a hyper-aware condition that has driven him into a comatose state. His vital signs are all normal and what I have been able to scan indicates his brain is working at full capacity. There is no reason for him to be in a coma. The problem is that I can't figure out what's causing it and how to reverse it."
Simon hovered near Mal's comatose body and began to scan it again. Without warning, Mal began to jerk erratically and foam started issuing from his mouth. Peter rushed over to the stretcher and held the seizing man down. Simon grabbed an anticonvulsant from the med drawer and began pumping it into the Captain's body, but the drug had no effect.
"Why isn't it working?" Peter demanded, struggling while he restrained Mal. Simon gave a worried glance up at the heart rate readout.
"I don't know," replied Simon as he pulled out another drug and injected it into the Captain's deep muscle tissue.
"Too high," the doctor muttered to himself. "His heart rate is way too high."
Peter watched as the doctor pulled out another drug and began drawing it up in a long syringes. The monitor attached to the Captain began beeping as the numbers on the readout steadily climbed higher and higher until suddenly Mal stopped moving. It took a moment for Peter and Simon to realize what had happened and as they did, the numbers slowly leveled out until they were within an acceptable range.
"What happened?" Peter asked. Simon shook his head and continued examining Mal.
"I don't know," Simon replied. He flashed a small light into Mal's eyes and watched the pupil reaction.
"He had some kind of a seizure," Simon continued. "But I don't know what caused it."
Peter suddenly let go of Mal and stumbled backward, away from the now still body. He stared at the hands that had been connected to Mal as though they were foreign objects. His breathing quickened and became erratic and he was vaguely aware of a voice off in the distance. It took him a moment to realize that the voice sounding through the fog was the doctor asking him if he was alright. He tried to answer but found that he couldn't. it was as though his mind was being dragged away from reality and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Then there was nothing but black.
Zoe was sitting on the bridge contemplating the strange turn of events that brought them to the point of entering the Dead Zone when Simon's panicked voice sounded out over the comm channel.
"Zoe, I need you in the med bay right now," the doctor's insistent voice sounded through the channel, interrupting her thoughts.
Zoe quickly left the bridge and rushed to the med bay, worried that something had happened to the Captain but she wasn't prepared for the sight that greeted her. She stopped short in the doorway at the sight of Peter laid out on the table beside the Captain. Mal was still unconscious, but now it appeared as though Peter had also slipped into a comatose state.
"What happened here?" Zoe demanded as she entered the infirmary.
Simon looked up at her as she walked over to check on Mal.
"I don't know," he replied, rubbing the tired feeling out of his eyes. "I was performing some scans on the Captain, trying to figure out how to draw him out of this state when he had a seizure of some sort. Peter helped me restrain him while I attempted to stop the seizue and then Peter blacked out."
"Is it related somehow?" Zoe folded her arms as a worried look crossed her face. Simon shook his head and leaned against the counter.
"I don't know," he answered truthfully. "I know I seem to be saying that a lot lately, but I have no explanation for you, Zoe. Neuroscience is hardly my area of expertise, despite the issues River was having. Biopsychology is even further from field of knowledge."
The doctor and the first mate stood in silence for a moment, gathering in the scene that had unfolded before them. Mal, who was the only man who could connect with River, and Peter, the only man who knew what to look for, were lying unconscious before them and they had no indication of how or why this happened.
"So what do we do now?" Simon broke the silence a few minutes later. Zoe looked at him and cocked an eyebrow.
"We find some way of waking them up," she replied in a serious and authoritative tone. "Until then, we continue on the course Peter set for us. Because that's our job and the Captain would do no less for any of us."