Did the original poster say why "foreshadowing" isn't sufficient? Other words: harbinger (a word I wish I saw more of) portent (overused to the nth degree) herald (a good word for religious and/or other glorious/exciting circumstances) adumbration (I like!!; literally: pre [before] + umbra [shadow]) omen (overused much like "portent"; perhaps more so) presage (a word I wish I saw more of) I think that "presentiment" is also good too. Personally, for something as slightly more complicated like this (I still don't know what you're trying to convey that couldn't be carried out by the word "foreshadow," so it's somewhat unclear and hence slightly complicated), I'd find a word that does exist and either 1.) use it as it is - i.e. its denotation, 2.) use it for what people understand it as - i.e. its connotation, or 3.) tweak the meaning of either - its denotation or connotation - and make it slightly different but still manageable.
Foreshadow has a definate association and meaning entirely inappropiate for this and is something I wish to avoid, I need to this to sound the opposite of afterimage, pre-image works well at this. Often long-ish names can be shortened by soldiers, so saying something like rat packs instead of ration packs is the type of word/phrase I am after. The full name of the ability, which is what I think some people miss, he can see into the future overlaying the present, it's short term ie three to five seconds max. Most other words reflect a more magical or mythological background which is something I want to avoid like the plague in a scifi piece. Going back the name of the ability, in full it is something like 'pre-sighted image' which is a bit of a mouthful to say at the best of times, let alone trying to explain it to a civvie, so it would be shortened to 'pre-image' making him a 'pre-imager' or similar. Adumbration is too complex, too scientific, he's not a lab rat but a field trooper and sniper, so deep down he's a simple guy with a strong idea of right and wrong. So far, it seems to fit most of my selection points. It is still open to debate as something of this type can be confused with magic, and in a story when buttons are pushed for near magical effects you have to be careful. Can you think of any current words that are about that relfect the ability to see the future and the present at the same time, the future appearing as ghosts to the person with the ability, I don't think so unfortunately.
