The Seers

by Katherine Bennet

  Great. She was caught in her house with two crazy people. If she couldn't get out the window, would defending herself with a kitchen knife help or hurt the situation?

  The woman cleared her throat. “Nora, I'm Charlotte. This is Henry. We're not here to hurt you, but we need to speak with you. You see...” She paused long enough for Nora's gaze to dart to her.

  “She's clear,” Henry announced as he hurried back to the windows. “There's not much time.”

  Charlotte thrust her slim shoulders down. “I can't rush this explanation. You promised we would have time before the Tavians came after us!”

  Tay-vee-uns? Someone else was coming? Nora inched toward the knife block on the counter.

  “I didn't anticipate they would detect us so fast, but they're here, and I don't think they care if she understands everything.” The honey-brown curls on Henry’s head shook as he spoke.

  “I want you out of my house!”

  “We're not going to hurt you. We're trying to help you,” Charlotte repeated.

  Nora scoffed. “Thanks, but no thanks. You can leave.”

  “Leo—I mean Nora.” Charlotte smiled tightly. “Think about your past for a moment. Can you tell me about your life five years ago?”

  Nora froze. “Why are you asking me about my past?”

  “Because you did move here for a fresh start, but not for the reasons you believe.”

  How could she know anything about her past? “I'm supposed to believe you? I’ve never seen you before in my life!”

  “They're moving in. Let's go!” Henry raced around the couch.

  “We'd like you to come with us,” Charlotte said, glancing at the door. “I promise you I will answer all your questions, but we must leave now.”

  Nora's eyes widened. “With you? Not a chance. No.”

  A sound, little more than a dull thud, came from outside. Henry and Charlotte froze.

  “Get down!” Henry dove behind the couch. Charlotte shoved Nora around the corner in the hall.

  A hoarse, shrill scream left Nora's throat just before the front door exploded from its hinges and flew across the room.

  She peered around the corner as two men stormed into her living room. Dressed in all black tactical gear, the hulking figures looked similar enough to be brothers. Their platinum-white hair was cropped short, and both searched the room with deep black eyes and white devices that looked like store inventory scanners—inventory scanners that could blow her front door away.

  They moved around the room, systematically sweeping every corner with their strange weapons in front of them. Struggling to free herself, she was glued to Charlotte's side as the taller Tavian focused on Henry.

  “No security detail?” the Tavian asked with a raspy snicker.

  Henry staggered toward Charlotte and Nora. “You—you shouldn't be here. You're in violation of the treaty. I'll be reporting this to the council—”

  “It seems to me you're the ones who violated the treaty," the Tavian sneered. "She's no longer a Niotian, which makes her a civilian. And the penalties for making contact with a civilian are pretty clear.”

  Nee-ocean? Another unfamiliar term—and this time it was directed at her. All these people were here for her.

  Fight or flight. She eyed the shorter Tavian, whose gaze bored through her like prey.

  Definitely flight.

  She couldn’t make it out the kitchen window with these two here. She backed farther into the safety of the hall.

  “It appears you had the same idea.” Henry stood tall, but his voice shook, shattering any pretense of self-confidence. “And this is an internal Niotian matter. It doesn't concern the Tavians.”

  “You can't expect us to overlook it when the Niotians throw away a Seer. You can trumpet your values and principles, but we knew the second things got rough, you'd come back for her.” The taller Tavian took a smooth step forward. “This is your only chance. Leave now, and we'll forget you were here.”

  “Without her?” Henry asked, jerking his head to Nora. “Not likely. Charlotte, now!”

  Both Tavians raised their weapons as Henry lunged towards Nora and grabbed her neck with both hands. Charlotte dropped to the ground and grabbed Nora's ankles. White light rippled from the Tavian weapons a moment before she, Henry, and Charlotte disappeared in a flash of blue.

  Chapter 2

  Nora's eyes fluttered open, and she staggered to catch her balance after the strong spinning sensation subsided. The yellowing treetops of an unfamiliar grove of aspens fluttered above her against a clear twilight sky. Scents of pine and dirt saturated the air.

  “They shot at us!” Henry paced through the clearing only to turn around and stride back. “They actually shot at us. You said they wouldn’t do that!”

  Charlotte smoothed her hair and dress. “We haven’t had an incident like this in seven years. I assumed they wouldn’t take it that far. Anyway, you told me we would have time before they responded!”

  That was all the refresher Nora needed. She clambered to the edge of the clearing and whirled one way, then another. There had to be a road or trail—anything that could lead to human civilization. Instead, there were trees for miles. She was trapped in the woods—with them.

  Her pulse pounded in her ears. “Where are we?”

  “Buffalo Peaks in the Rocky Mountains,” he replied before turning back to Charlotte. “This is bad. This is really bad. They’re going to be able to track our teleportation signature.”

  Teleportation? No. Teleportation was impossible. There had to be a more plausible explanation; Nora just had to find it. One minute she was in her living room, and the next… Mammoth rocks jutted out of the tree-covered slopes around her. It all looked very, very real.

  Charlotte scanned the treetops. “Why are we here? This wasn’t the plan!”

  “The plan?” Henry laughed nervously. “You mean the one where we told Leonora who she is and what’s happening without Tavians shooting at us? Does any of that plan sound possible now?” He spun, inexplicably squinting and blinking. “We can’t take her back to Nios now! How will we explain this? We need a plan B.”

  Nora’s heartbeat drummed louder. The Rocky Mountains were hundreds of miles from Minnesota. Was it possible they had drugged her? She searched her arms for puncture marks. This all had to be fake. “Somebody tell me what’s going on.”

  Charlotte planted her hands on her hips. “This is your plan B?”

  They were ignoring her now? Even if this was real—and that was a big if—they owed her an explanation.

  Henry broke from his odd trance. “My plan B isn’t this place; it’s who’s here.”

  Charlotte’s eyes widened. “Oh no. No, no, no.”

  “He’s the only one who can help her!”

  “Clearly you don’t remember how badly things ended with him.” Charlotte glanced at Nora. “A lot has changed.”

  “Hey!” Nora shouted, startling them. “You promised me answers. Who were those men?”

  “Those men.” Charlotte wrung her hands. “They're Tavian guards—”

  “Yes, I heard that part. What does that mean? Why were they at my house?”

  Charlotte shrugged, flailing her arms. “We didn’t think they’d be there so fast. They must have been watching you.”

  “No.” Nora shook her head. “I'm the most careful person you'll ever meet. I don't carry a purse to avoid getting mugged. I never unlock my windows, and I always lock my door. I would've known if I were being followed.”

  “These aren't normal humans,” Charlotte said. “They are exceptionally gifted fighters and trackers. And as if that isn't enough, their bioengineering capabilities are without equal. They can implant a device with little more than a puff of air. The subject would never feel it. After that, they can track you from miles away. You'd never suspect a thing.”

  “Found him,” Henry interrupted. “Good news. He's closer than I expected.” His eyes streaked back and forth with the occasional hard blink. �
��A mile south of our position. We should get going.”

  Charlotte’s shoulders slumped. “There has to be some other way. This isn’t a good idea. I really don’t think he’ll help us.”

  “I didn’t say he’d help us, but he won’t turn his back on her.” He nodded to Nora, raising the hair on her arms again. Not a single spark lit up in her mind, but something about what he’d said seemed very familiar. He plodded off through the trees.

  “No.” She crossed her arms. Regardless of her feelings, she wasn’t about to follow two strangers even deeper into the woods. Logic had to prevail.

  “No?” Charlotte asked. Henry stopped and turned around.

  “I don’t know you. Why should I trust you?” Her best chance to get to safety might be to try to hike out on her own. The pink streaks in the sky and a chill in the air signaled night was fast approaching. She glanced at her ballet flats, wondering how long they’d last in this terrain; they were her favorite shoes.

  “You do know me, Leonora,” Henry said quietly.

  “No. I’ve never seen you before—”

  “Your father, Edwin. He was my uncle.” He raised his voice to talk over her. “We’re cousins.”

  She gaped at him. Her parents had been dead for years. How did he know her father’s name?

  Honey-brown hair. Blue eyes. Just like mine.

  “No. My parents are dead. I-I don’t have any family. I…” she mumbled, rubbing the goosebumps on her arms. “I need to go home.”

  Henry shook his head. “You can’t go back there.”

  “Why not?” Nora yelled.

  “Because you’re a Seer.” Henry steadily met her gaze. “A genetically gifted, and very rare, probability expert. Those Tavians at your house? They kill Seers—they’ve killed all the Seers in Nios. You would have been the last.”

  “Killed?” Nora shook her head. There had to be a mistake; she wasn’t a threat to anyone. She was a risk analyst—a glorified paper pusher.

  Charlotte buried her face in her hand. “Wonderful, Henry. We’ve already shocked her out of her senses. Why would you say that?”

  “Don’t blame me for this!” He pointed to himself. “I wasn’t the one who erased her memories.”

  Nora’s breathing sped. They wouldn’t really try to kill her, would they? “This is all a big misunderstanding. I’m not who you think I am.”

  Charlotte sighed. “You are, Nora. You’re a Seer, and you were once part of our society.”

  Nora shook her head so hard her vision jittered.

  “Your gifts have undoubtedly diminished since leaving, but you're a risk analyst. You use your abilities every day to spot... well, risks. I bet it’s easy for you to find the one detail no one else can see, or that you can remember every detail of a claim and use that information years later.”

  My sparks.

  “I…” Nora stuttered. “I'm detail-oriented.”

  “Our society produces Seers through eugenics and genetic engineering to See every detail and connect the dots faster than any computer,” Charlotte continued. “You’re able to find a pattern with things that a computer program wouldn’t even know to connect.”

  Nora leaned on a tree for support. According to them, she had a past she didn’t remember, and an army of SWAT team mutants was after her because of what she’d been bred to be. How could she make sense of any of this?

  “So why now?” she asked. “It’s been five years, and suddenly everyone shows up at my door at the same time?”

  Charlotte pursed her cherry-red lips at Henry. “The deaths of the other Seers.”

  “Murders,” Henry corrected.

  Charlotte narrowed her eyes at Henry. “Fine. Murders. Seers played a vital role in our war with the Tavians. They had lived under the full protection of the Guard, but over the past year we’ve lost them all. We investigated the matter fully and were never able to find any evidence to suggest anything nefarious.”

  Henry scoffed. “Until I showed you the mainframe logs.”

  “Yes, Henry. You were right. Is that what you wanted to hear?” Charlotte balled her hands. “It should have been impossible. The treaty prohibited it, and I’d like to remind you that the cyber engineers assured us that our encryptions would keep them out.”

  Nora folded her arms. “I’m guessing they got in.”

  Charlotte scowled. “Even if they tried to teleport in, our mainframe should have detected it and sent a fatality signal. They should have had to teleport out immediately or risk serious harm to themselves—even death. This should have never happened.”

  He lifted his chin. “But it did.”

  “We took every precaution,” Charlotte said through tight lips. “There’s no way to plan for someone programming exceptions directly into the mainframe for certain Tavian implants.”

  Henry’s face reddened. “I tried to warn the council. None of you would listen! I had to sneak access to get the proof that Tavians were entering Nios, and it was worse than I’d thought. That proof tied them to Doctor Fry’s disappearance. Disappearances never happen with our implants, but he’s gone. No one can find him.”

  Nora shivered. “If you have evidence that the Tavians were there, it sounds like you have all the proof you need. Why did you come for me?”

  Charlotte and Henry exchanged a knowing glance.

  “We’ve been betrayed by one of our own. Only a handful of people have access to the mainframe. We still don’t know who among them would do this, but none of them are the kind of people you want to accuse unless you’re sure,” Henry said, shifting on his feet. “We thought if we brought you back, you could help us figure out who was responsible.”

  “I’m no one! How could I possibly help?”

  “You told the council this was going to happen,” Charlotte replied. “You were the only one who predicted any of this. If you return, perhaps you’d find the same clues and lead us to the culprit.”

  Nora combed her memory—there was nothing, no sparks or even the vaguest recollection of any of this. “I’m sorry. I can’t help you.”

  “This benefits you, too,” Charlotte said. “I'll be petitioning for Niotian asylum for you as soon as I can. Even with our system’s weaknesses, the Tavians wouldn’t be able to pursue you the way that they can through the rest of the world. You’d be much safer.”

  A spark glowed in her mind, little more than a minor inconsistency, but it was something. “If I’m one of you, why would I need asylum?”

  Charlotte’s mouth dropped open.

  “Yes, Charlotte. Why would she need asylum?” Henry asked with a wry smile.

  “You didn't exactly leave.” Charlotte avoided eye contact and tossed her arms in the air. “You were exiled.”

  “Exiled.” She glared at Charlotte. “As in a punishment? What did I do?”

  Charlotte heaved a heavy sigh. “When you started telling people that this would happen, no one could corroborate your claims. You were making some very serious accusations—”

  “Accusations that turned out to be true? So that’s really why you’re here,” Nora said, laughing. “I’ve already made these accusations. Now you have proof, but you don’t want to end up exiled like me.”

  Charlotte tilted her head and scanned the treetops.

  Unbelievable. Even in an alternate universe, people wanted her to do their dirty work.

  Leaves crunched in the distance. A twig snapped from the same direction. She dove under a pine tree, dry needles pricking at her skin, and waited. Everything went silent, but it was too soon to hope. If the Tavians were here, she’d need a whole lot more than a pine tree to save her.

  Chapter 3

  Annabel paced the gray marble floors of the main corridor in her family's estate. Normally, she found the view of the gardens from there soothing, but not today. Not after everything that had happened.

  She smoothed an invisible wrinkle in the front of her black dress. Valle had been a poor choice; she could see that now. He might have been easy to ma
nipulate, but he wasn’t smart enough to coordinate a mission like this. Leonora had escaped.

  Annabel had been able to siphon a guard or two for reconnaissance, but there was no way she could hide a pursuit. She had to tell Cyrus.

  Another garbled scream echoed from the atrium, bouncing off the gray and black marble pillars, and she drew in a breath through flared nostrils. She knew exactly whom her brother was torturing. While she felt nothing for Doctor Fry himself, his skills were invaluable to their cause. Once again, Cyrus’s sadistic tendencies threatened to ruin everything.

  The Seer is still alive, Nios could get her back, and Cyrus will kill our only chance to even the battlefield.

  There wasn’t a single Tavian in all of Octavius who was happy with the peace treaty they had been forced to sign with the Niotians, but with every Tavian Seer dead, they had been fighting blind. The Niotians had been able to predict every move they’d made; their forces had never stood a chance.

  The war had been over for almost thirty years, but no one would ever know it from the sentiment among the Elite Families; they were hungry for revenge. Everything from breeding to research in Octavius had been geared toward producing another Seer.

  Seers meant victory. If Cyrus couldn’t deliver, he’d be forced out, maybe even killed.

  And she’d die with him.

  Her pace slowed to a crawl. Even as the sole remaining descendants of Octavius Renaud, their relationship with the other Elites had been tenuous.

  Questions about her family’s genetic profile had persisted for years all because of Uncle Tiberius’s dark hair, which had made him a Variant—an anomaly, and anomalies were rarely tolerated in Octavius. It didn’t matter that her parents had passed on their white hair and black eyes to both herself and Cyrus. Tiberius was proof that their bloodline still carried imperfections, so the murmurs continued.

  It provided a convenient cover for the true jockeying among them. Outwardly, the Elites had always presented a united front behind the Renauds, but lust for power simmered just below the surface. She could never forget that. Three years ago, it had led to Mother and Father’s murder.