The Seer

The Seer

Book 1 – The Shadowcon Series

By: Margaret Taylor

The Seer

Copyright February, 2014 Margaret Taylor

Cover Art by: eBook Cover Designs by Carey

Formatted by: Author’s HQ

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights reserved under copyright above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and publisher of this book.

This a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, bands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication of these trademarks is associated with or sponsored by the trademark owners.

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this eBook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. Thank you for respecting the hard work of all people involved with the creation of this eBook.

Table of Contents

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

About Margaret Taylor

Dedication

For my Mother, who always believed in my talent and never let me quit.

May you rest in peace, Margaret P., December, 2003.

I would like to acknowledge and deeply thank my cousin Jana for all her loving support and belief in my work. Without her I'd have given up long ago…

To my Cover Designer, Carey, I love you…you get me! Thanks for that.

And to Ms. Grace, for always being patient with me! You are the best!

And thanks to Dr. Monica for helping with the blurb! Love you darlin’!

Chapter One

Jasmine

"I count two at the bar and three at the booth in the back."

"Roger that." Luken’s voice in my ear paused and I knew he was counting the ones on his side. Three in the front booth and two guarding the kitchen door.

Geez that was ten total. Had we stumbled into a waypoint? I shifted my focus, allowing the switch in my head to flip on. With a blink, I took in the forty some odd males and females in the room. I waited patiently for each of them to turn eyes in my direction and by the time they all had, I figured out we were in deep shit. "Houston. We have a problem."

Luken’s voice echoed my worried tone. "Noticed. Plan?"

Reaching for the water glass on the table, I took a sip. "Um…run?"

"Not much of a plan, Luken replied moodily. This a waypoint?"

I toyed with the glass, twirling it between my fingers. "Most likely."

A waitress appeared, pad in hand, pen poised to take my order. She cracked her gum loudly, a bored expression on her human face. What’ll ya have, hun?

I lifted my gaze to hers, trying not to let my knowledge of exactly what she was show on my face. She was one of them. A Shadowcon and I pasted a smile on my lips. How’s the steak tonight?

One shoulder lifted in a shrug and her sparkling purple eyes ran over me. Ok I guess. Gus is cooking, so it should be fine. She scribbled on the pad then quirked an eyebrow. That do ya?

If she knew what I was, she gave no indication. Yeah, that’ll do.

Her gum popped and she spun away, presumably to place the order. With her back to me, she looked as human as anyone else in the place, but I knew better. She wasn’t. Oh, on the outside sure, you couldn’t tell the difference.

To you lot of oblivious humans, she was just like you.

To me, she wasn’t. I knew what was beneath the outer human covering she’d taken.

I turned off the switch, allowing my ability to fade with a shake of my head. I honestly didn’t want to see the mish-mash of bio-organic pieces and parts.

I let my gaze roam the room again. The staff, from the bartender to the waitresses, were all Cons, along with 15 of the patrons.

A total of 22 against our measly two. Not good odds. Not good at all.

On my best day I could take four maybe five. Luken could handle 10, but that still left us outnumbered.

Even more so than I like…

"Should I call Rykan?"

"Not yet. Let’s see if we can find the Nex first. If it’s here, we’ll shut it down so they can’t call for backup."

"Understood."

I didn’t make a show of getting up. I wanted to hold onto the advantage of surprise as long as I could, just in case. If they found out I was among them, this would be a very short lived adventure. Heading to the restrooms, I slipped out the emergency exit at the end of the hall and rounded the back of the building.

The alley was as non-descript as any other in San Antonio, TX. Dumpsters clogged it, overflowing with trash from the various businesses that faced Broadway Ave. I ducked behind one and turned on my ability again, searching the area for the Nexus doorway. Nothing. If there was one, it was probably in the kitchen or basement of the restaurant.

Great. Just great.

The backdoor opened with a creak and I spied one of the staff hauling out three bags of trash. He was a Con too and his eyes roamed over the area, glowing with the purple hue they couldn’t hide from someone like me. I waited for him sling the heavy black sacks over the edge and turn to go back in.

I dashed forward, my combat boots silent on the concrete and slipped in the door before it closed. Ducking into the hallway, I held my breath but no one sounded the alarm. I could hear the cooks ahead but ignored them.

I wasn’t here for them today.

"Where are you, Jasmine?"

"Kitchen."

To my left a set of stairs led to the basement and I took them, dropping down two at a time on the balls of my feet, finding a typical storage room at the bottom. Food stuffs stacked the shelves, cans waited to be opened and prepared and paper products took up one set of shelves alone. But that wasn’t what caught my attention.

No, it was the door to the freezer that drew my eye. It glowed with an orange-purple pulse of light. Found it.

"Well, block it."

I snorted. "That’s the plan slick. Call in, we’ll… My order was cut off as I opened the door itself and stared across the vast, desolate expanse of the Waste. Shit. Nix that. Get down here."

"On the way."

Alright, I know you’re confused and I don’t blame you. The first time I saw what was on the other side of a Nexus, I was too. So, I’ll take a moment while I wait for Luken and bring you up to speed.

I’m a Seer. Well, that’s what they call me anyway. In laymen’s terms it means I have the ability to see Shadowcons for what they really are. Now, if you ever saw one, you’d probably call them bio-roids. Personally, I’m fond of the term Bobblehead cause in their natural form, they have this tick in their necks they just can’t hide. But that’s just me and I’m slightly biased on the matter.

But that’s neither here nor there. Anyway, as crazy as it sounds, they’re from an alternate version of Earth. One that, according to Luken, became infested with some sort of plague about a hundred years ago. I don’t really know all the particulars, my partner isn’t exactly forthcoming with the details, but it pretty much decimated the populace.

In his version of Earth, they were already light years ahead of us as far as technology goes and those that survived the disease were forced into using bio-organic bodies in order to continue living.

The problem was, and is apparently, that only sustains them for a little while. After so long the pieces and parts break down and have to be replaced.

The other problem is the War that started the plague never ended, and from what I hear, is still going to this day.

Which is why they come here. To our world. Or try too.

Now, please, understand, I’m all for immigration. I really am. Hell, my family is Italian and we were some of the first to come to the good old U.S. of A way back when.

What I’m not for, is what the Cons do when they get here.

Remember that old black and white movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers? Yeah, similar concept but with one major difference. They don’t just take you over. They suck you dry and become whomever you are. On the outside at least.

Again, Luken isn’t very forthcoming with the details and I honestly haven’t pushed the issue. I probably should, someday, but for now, I know all I need to know. And you should probably be warned too. If your neighbor or family member suddenly starts acting strange, can’t remember the little things, then you might want to give me a call.

Holy shit…

I jumped and turned enough to slap Luken on the arm. Don’t sneak up like that. You know I hate it.

He actually looked sorry. Ok, well, no he didn’t but there was a flash of regret in his glowing purple eyes. And yes, he is a Con, but one of the good ones, I promise you. Unlike most of his kind he didn’t come here with