Nomad Omnibus 03: A Kurtherian Gambit Series (A Terry Henry Walton Chronicles Omnibus)

by Craig Martelle

  The squad assumed the line abreast formation, covering a frontage of less than one hundred yards. They carefully approached the wreckage of the blimp. Combat ready, they moved the barrels of their weapons with their lines of sight.

  The first wreckage was from the engine and supporting structure covered with some of the torn fabric. Small tendrils of smoke rose from parts that had burned, but the forest was clear.

  The crash had not started a forest fire.

  Fabric from the blimp fluttered from branches across the whole area. Boris pointed two fingers to his eyes and then to the fabric on the ground. He held two fingers up, then pointed with his hand in the shape of a pistol.

  Two by two, the squad cleared every place where an enemy could hide. One pulled the fabric aside while the other watched, ready to fire. They continued more slowly than Boris wanted, but he only had a total of twelve people to work with. Boris pumped a fist and signaled the squad to increase the distance between each warrior by five yards.

  The first body appeared after they passed two-thirds of the wreckage. It had been thrown from the gondola and splattered across a tree. Boris couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman.

  They pressed on, weaving between the crushed framework and a growing mountain of fabric. They stopped trying to clear beneath the material because as the quantity grew, it became too heavy to lift. They focused their efforts on what they could see.

  More bodies, but not too many, and all of them clearly dead. Boris scanned the surrounding woods, not for survivors but for Akio and the Weretigers. Their absence suggested they were chasing after the Forsaken, the ones they had sensed on board, the only beings capable of surviving such a crash.

  When they reached the limits of the main wreckage, Boris reoriented the squad, turning them around and declaring a search and salvage operation. “Any weapons you find, or technology, we need to gather it quickly and get back. I expect we’ll be leaving soon,” Boris shared with the squad.

  The group spread out and searched. The corporal and the lieutenant kept them moving forward, even though everything was interesting because none of the warriors had seen anything like a blimp before. None of the airships had ever visited Chicago.

  Boris wondered if this was civilization and North Chicago was the outcast.

  They froze at the first sound of gunfire. “To me!” Boris ordered and started to run.

  San Francisco

  “Timmons, bring the platoon in,” Char ordered. She could sense the platoon as it ran toward the intersection where the pack had turned off.

  Timmons let his hand linger on Sue’s arm for a moment before taking off to intercept the Force de Guerre.

  “How many and which way?” Terry asked.

  “Two over there.” She pointed haphazardly. “One there, one there, and one back over here.”

  They were surrounded.

  “Five, huh? Do you want me to leave any of them for you?” Terry stated boldly as he started to smile. His sword was still in his hand and he finally tried to wipe it off on his pants. The blood had dried, so he spat on it and scrubbed each side of the blade clean. He examined it under the street lights.

  To the enhanced, the world was as bright as day. To someone like Camilla, it was barely bright enough to fight by.

  “How far?” Terry asked.

  “They’ll be here soon, probably working it so they arrive at the same time,” she answered.

  “Tactics. We’ll isolate them and destroy them. We can’t let any Forsaken get into the middle of the platoon. Any humans coming?” Char shook her head. “We’ll put our people in the middle, loaded with silver, ready to take action when called. I’ll take the two, Char next to me. Gene over there. Sue and Timmons take the last two. Joseph? Tell us which ones we can talk with and we’ll spare them, at least for a moment.”

  “And me?” Marcie asked, with Cory standing beside her still breathing heavily from her efforts to keep up.

  “Take charge of your squad and be prepared to fight. And you, my real daughter, be ready to help me out when I get my ass kicked and your mother has to come save me yet again.”

  Cory relaxed and slapped her sister-in-law on the shoulder. “I guess we have our orders,” she said softly. Marcie didn’t smile. She knew that she was capable of more, but was smart enough to know that now wasn’t the time to broach it with her father-in-law.

  His face had changed in the past few moments. The colonel was all business, focused on the task of killing Forsaken. He would tolerate no dissent, because a bad decision at this point could mean the difference between life and death.

  The sound of the platoon running in formation echoed off the buildings. Char shushed them, but Terry smiled the grim smile of a Marine whose reinforcements had just arrived to deliver a world-class ass-kicking to the enemy.

  Marcie guided them in, forming them up in the middle of the street while the colonel and the Were folk moved to positions around them.

  “Forsaken are coming. Silver loads only. Squads abreast ready to react in a triangle formation facing outboard. Cory and Joseph will be within, along with the squad leaders, ready to direct fire or take other immediate action as directed,” Marcie briefed based on what she understood the colonel wanted.

  “First squad here, now, second squad on this line, and third squad here,” Kim directed, pointing. The warriors efficiently rushed into position, took a knee with their rifles aimed skyward, and waited.

  Kim ran in a tight circle, slapping the combat helmet of each as she ran by. Soft ‘oorahs’ followed her. Terry looked back at the platoon, smiled, and gave a single thumbs up. He slashed his sword in an X in front of his body.

  “Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Terry sang loudly.

  As Char had expected, the Forsaken arrived simultaneously.

  “Let me through, let me through!” Joseph said, flustered as he worked his way between the members of one squad.

  “Uncle Joe!” Cory called in surprise, but she remained within the triangle. Joseph hurried to Terry’s side.

  The five Forsaken continued around the circle, abandoning their effort to surround Terry and his people. They walked until they were standing in a small group. Char waved her pack to her until it looked like the standoff at the OK Corral.

  Terry heard the shuffle of leather on concrete as Kimber reoriented the platoon. He liked not having to worry about the small details so he could focus on the bigger matters.

  He waited for the Forsaken’s leader to emerge. Then he’d kill that one first.

  “Second from the left,” Joseph whispered.

  “You should be with us, brother,” the one who Joseph indicated said.

  Terry took a step forward. “Eat a bag of dicks,” the colonel replied, flicking the tip of his sword back and forth.

  “I’m pretty sure I wasn’t talking with you, human. Who’s in charge of this rabble, Werewolves, a Werebear, a Vampire, boosted humans, and a bunch of wannabe soldiers?” the Forsaken sneered. He thrust his chin forward, showing the disdain on his face.

  “Like I said, you can eat a bag of dicks,” Terry reiterated. “What the fuck are you and your misbegotten kind doing here?”

  Terry leaned over his shoulder and whispered, “No disrespect intended, Joseph.”

  “Hard not to take that way, TH,” Joseph replied.

  “Misbegotten kind? I think I’ll ask you the same question, TH. You have entered our house. It is our place to ask what you are doing here. I know that you’ve already killed one of our own, so we’ll discuss the recourse for that shortly.”

  “Twits. You are such twits. My name is Terry Henry Walton and only my friends call me TH. Which you clearly are not. A twit is what you are.” Terry emphasized his point by giving the Forsaken the finger. “You can call me Colonel Walton of the Force de Guerre. These are the good people who bring justice to the world. You’re raising a crop of humans to feed on like cattle. I won’t have that, so you’re going to have to die. All of you.”<
br />
  “In your sole determination, you decide what justice is or is not? Fairly arrogant, even for a human. I am appalled at your lack of humility. I think I’ll refer to you as the dumb one. There surely must be someone of greater intellect over there. Alas, but no. Low brows, vacant stares, and slack jaws all. A shame. I was hoping for better.” The Forsaken looked to its fellows, who laughed.

  To Terry, it seemed forced.

  “I expect you raise cattle. I can smell the beef jerky on you from here. What makes that any different? We are as far above you on the evolutionary scale as you are above the bovine,” the Forsaken explained.

  Terry leaned over his shoulder without taking his eyes from his enemy. “Anything, Joseph?”

  “None of them are Mister Smith, if that’s what you want to know.”

  “It is.” Terry turned back to the front. “Where’s Mister Smith?”

  “You’ll never find him,” the lead Forsaken answered.

  “I’ve heard that one before, but we will find this mystery man. What should we call you, you know, in case we make a marker for your grave?”

  “I am General Tiberius Winstock,” the Forsaken replied. “You called yourself a colonel, but you have such bad manners. I guess we have lost our way in the officer corps since the destruction of mankind.”

  “We haven’t lost jack, General. I would love to learn more about your history and experience, but it doesn’t seem like it’s meant to be. It’ll be a shame to have to kill you, but if you’re not going to help us, then our conversation has come to an end.” Terry nodded to the others to spread out. Gene stood on his back legs and roared.

  Three of the Forsaken stepped forward while the general moved behind them.

  “In the rear of your troops. How apropos, General.” Terry started walking and then ran at his enemy. Gene launched his mass forward. Char pulled her pistols and fired, sending silver rounds into each of the front three. She moved in behind Terry Henry. Sue and Timmons started a step later and were forced to swing wide to see around the Werebear.

  The Forsaken pulled swords that looked like the Roman shortswords, the gladius, as Terry remembered they were called. He would study them more closely once he recovered them from the dead bodies.

  All of that flashed in less than a heartbeat. Terry engaged the Forsaken on the left while Gene feigned a charge, hesitating long enough to bat the sword away before ramming the Forsaken with his full weight.

  The Vampire was upended and flew into the second Forsaken. Gene leaped and came down on both the creatures, where he pinned them to the ground with his back paws while rending his enemies with a flurry of slashes. Gene’s hyper-engaged movements were too fast to follow.

  Terry slashed, turning the blade at the last instant when he saw it would be blocked. Hitting another sword with the sharp edge was never good. It led to chips and cracks that would end with a broken sword in the middle of a fight. He caught the Forsaken’s blocking counterattack with the flat of his blade

  Terry’s eyes glowed red and he gritted his teeth as he planted his feet and engaged his enemy.

  The swords rang three, then four times, before the Forsaken’s arm and blade fell to the ground. The creature grabbed at the stump. The next instant, the headless body fell to the ground.

  “Let’s see what you learned during your service, you fucking traitor,” Terry growled as he stepped over the rapidly shriveling body.

  Terry ignored Gene as the Werebear continued ripping the two bodies apart. Char fired from behind Terry. The general winced when the two bullets impacted his chest. The other Forsaken turned and ran.

  “Get him,” Terry ordered conversationally, pointing with his sword. Sue and Timmons bolted, accelerating at Were speed. They bracketed the Forsaken, quickly overtaking the creature as it kept turning to look back.

  Sue tripped the Forsaken and Timmons pounced, driving his knife deep into the side of its neck. He started twisting and sawing while trying to hold it down.

  Sue stomped on its lower back, breaking the creature’s spine. She dropped, pile-driving her knees into its rib cage. Timmons continued to saw at its neck. It gurgled as it tried to scream. Sue twisted one of its arms around in a circle until the sickening snap of its breaking bones echoed off a nearby building.

  Terry and the general turned their attention back to each other.

  “I surrender,” the general said.

  “I don’t accept your surrender,” Terry replied.

  “I think you do,” the creature retorted. “Despite the brashness of your youth, I sense that you hold your honor as your most prized possession.”

  “Kill it,” Char demanded as she angled to the side to keep TH out of her line of fire. Her purple eyes flared with her anger.

  “Interesting,” the general said slowly. Char joined Terry to stand at his side. Terry shifted his sword to the other hand and reached out to touch her, as he did without thinking. She brought him comfort. She never stopped aiming her pistol at the Forsaken’s face.

  “You make a cute couple. A Werewolf and a human whose eyes glow red. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were some kind of bastardized hybrid, jealous not to be a member of the brotherhood,” the general said, putting his hands over his head, mocking the position of surrender.

  Gene snuffled and snorted as he ambled up to the last Forsaken.

  “I want to know where Mister Smith is,” Terry growled through clenched teeth.

  “I already answered that one. Honestly, TH, this is going to take forever if we continue to cover the same ground.” The general leaned his head back and yawned.

  Terry’s eyes glowed a brighter red than ever before. He wrestled with the desire to kill the creature before him and his honor in not executing an enemy who had surrendered. The muscles on his jaw stood out as he waged the battle within.

  A window opened through his fury, a light that beckoned. He looked at it. This wasn’t about the general at all. He was a lackey.

  “You’re stalling,” Terry said with a wry smile. He rotated at the waist to put the maximum power into his punch, impacting the creature’s abdomen and doubling it over. He forced the Forsaken to its knees. “Seize this thing and bind it. Char, where did these things first appear? They’re hiding underground. Looks like it’s time for us to do some spelunking.”

  Kim tasked Marcie with securing the prisoner.

  As Terry pushed the Forsaken forward, expecting it to be driven face-first into the pavement, it pulled itself upright and lunged for Marcie.

  She hit the creature in the face with the heel of her hand, then continued forward with a knee to the groin and an elbow to the back of the head. Marcie spun around the creature and straddling it, she drove it to the ground, then hammered its face into the concrete. Kae had taken one step between the moment the attack started and when it was all over. He smiled proudly.

  The squad produced a rope and together, they bound the arms and legs of the forsaken, wrapping the creature into a near cocoon.

  “Well done, Marcie,” Terry told his daughter-in-law.

  Terry and Char ran ahead. “Gene, Joseph!” Char yelled. “Sue and Timmons stay here.”

  She didn’t wait to see if her orders were followed. Everyone had a job to do and theirs was up ahead.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Germany

  Akio heard the platoon jingling and stomping as they ran from the crash site on their way back to the camp. He could sense the Weretigers in the distance. They were in human form engaged in activities inconsistent with those of a unit in combat.

  They finally unclenched and started running when they realized the circumstance.

  Akio forced his Forsaken prisoner ahead, never letting go of his arm. The platoon was up ahead. Akio stopped to let the squad pass. The engagement being fought up the hill was between humans and best handled by humans.

  The Weretigers reached their clothes and were dressing. Akio took his time.

  “What are we waiting for?”
Andrew asked.

  “What is your hurry?” Akio replied.

  “Fair enough,” Andrew offered as he turned in an effort to face Akio. “It sounds like your group is well-armed.”

  Akio didn’t bother to answer as he renewed his efforts in pushing Andrew up the hill. The firing picked up pace, then slowed to single rounds fired every few seconds. They heard Boris yelling.

  “Police up your brass!”

  “I guess the battle is over,” Andrew said resignedly.

  Akio didn’t read into the meaning. The Forsaken could sense the same as he did. A human military unit had defended its position and remained alone as the skirmish victors on an insignificant battlefield in the middle of nowhere.

  “Something with beer,” Akio stated loudly as he approached the perimeter. Yuko informed the warriors that Akio was headed in and that he had a prisoner. Lacy joined Yuko and ordered two warriors to stand ready.

  Andrew didn’t look like a Forsaken. He seemed younger and had a better tan, even though he wore the black leather like the type they seemed to prefer. His skin was less waxy. Akio expected he was a recent convert and had not yet embraced his life of feeding on people.

  Boris approached and bowed his head slightly. “Retrograde?” he asked.

  “I don’t understand,” Akio replied.

  “Are we leaving?” Boris clarified.

  “Ah so, yes, as soon as possible, Boris-san,” Akio ordered softly.

  Aaron and Yanmei strolled up and looked at the Forsaken, but didn’t say anything. Yuko studied him with great interest.

  “Are you from the Sacred Clan?” Andrew asked.

  “I was,” Yanmei answered, straightening her back and standing defiantly.

  “New Schwabenland used to have more interaction with the Sacred Clan than they do now. The group is fairly isolated here,” Andrew offered.

  Akio looked into the Forsaken’s mind. There was only one left in this area and Andrew didn’t know where it was. Akio could sense no others from the Unknown World nearby.