Nomad Redeemed Read online

  CONTENTS

  Dedication

  Legal

  Series List

  Social Links

  Prologue

  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

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Epilogue

  Author Notes - Craig Martelle

  Author Notes - Michael Anderle

  End Times Alaska - Intro

  End Times Alaska

  DEDICATION

  We can’t write without those who support us

  On the home front, we thank you for being there for us

  We wouldn’t be able to do this for a living if it weren’t for our readers

  We thank you for reading our books

  Nomad Redeemed

  The Terry Henry Walton Chronicles

  Team Includes

  BETA / EDITOR BOOK Acknowledgements in Back!

  JIT Beta Readers - From both of us, our deepest gratitude!

  Norman Merideth

  Sherry Foster

  If I missed anyone, please let me know!

  Nomad Redeemed (this book) is a work of fiction.

  All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.

  The Kurtherian Gambit (and what happens within / characters / situations / worlds)

  are Copyright (c) 2016 by Michael T. Anderle

  This Complete Book is Copyright (c) 2016 by Michael T. Anderle / Craig Martelle

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Michael T. Anderle.

  Version 1.0

  Cover by Andrew Dobell, creativeedgestudios.co.uk

  Editing by Mia Darien, miadarien.com

  The Terry Henry Walton Chronicles

  A Kurtherian Gambit Series

  Book 1 – Nomad Found

  Book 2 – Nomad Redeemed

  Book 3 - Nomad Unleashed (2017)

  Book 4 - Nomad Supreme(2017)

  Free Trader Series

  Book 1 – The Free Trader of Warren Deep

  Book 2 – The Free Trader of Planet Vii

  Book 3 – Adventures on RV Traveler

  Book 4 – Battle for the Amazon

  Book 5 – Free the North!

  Book 6 – Free Trader on the High Seas

  Book 7 – Southern Discontent (January 2017)

  Book 8 – The Great ‘Cat Rebellion (2017)

  Book 9 – Return to the Traveler (2017)

  Cygnus Space Opera – Set in the Free Trader Universe

  Book 1 – Cygnus Rising

  Book 2 – Cygnus Expanding

  Book 3 – Cygnus Arrives (2017)

  End Times Alaska Series, a Winlock Press publication

  Book 1: Endure

  Book 2: Run

  Book 3: Return

  Book 4: Fury

  Rick Banik Thrillers

  People Raged and the Sky Was on Fire

  The Heart Raged (2017)

  Short Story Contributions to Anthologies

  Earth Prime Anthology, Volume 1 (Stephen Lee & James M. Ward)

  Apocalyptic Space Short Story Collection (Stephen Lee & James M. Ward)

  Lunar Resorts Anthology, Volume 2 (Stephen Lee & James M. Ward)

  Just One More Fight (published as a novella standalone)

  The Expanding Universe, Volume 1 (edited by Craig Martelle)

  The Expanding Universe, Volume 2 (edited by Craig Martell – June 2017)

  The Misadventures of Jacob Wild McKilljoy (with Michael-Scott Earle)

  Metamorphosis Alpha, Stories from the Starship Warden (with James M. Ward – Summer 2017)

  Michael Anderle

  Kurtherian Gambit Series Titles Include:

  First Arc

  Death Becomes Her (01) - Queen Bitch (02) - Love Lost (03) - Bite This (04)

  Never Forsaken (05) - Under My Heel (06) Kneel Or Die (07)

  Second Arc

  We Will Build (08) - It’s Hell To Choose (09) - Release The Dogs of War (10)

  Sued For Peace (11) - We Have Contact (12) - My Ride is a Bitch (13)

  Don’t Cross This Line (14)

  Third Arc (Due 2017)

  Never Submit (15) - Never Surrender (16) - Forever Defend (17)

  Might Makes Right (18) - Ahead Full (19) - Capture Death (20)

  Life Goes On (21)

  **New Kurtherian Gambit Series**

  The Second Dark Ages

  The Dark Messiah

  The Darkest Night (04.2017)

  Darkest Before the Dawn (07.2017)

  Light Is Breaking (11.2017)

  The Boris Chronicles

  * With Paul C. Middleton *

  Evacuation

  Retaliation

  Revelation

  Restitution 2017

  Reclaiming Honor

  * With JUSTIN SLOAN *

  Justice Is Calling (01)

  Claimed By Honor (02)

  The Etheric Academy

  * With TS PAUL *

  ALPHA CLASS (01) Dec 2016/Jan 2017

  ALPHA CLASS (02) Feb/Mar 2017

  ALPHA CLASS (03) May/June 2017

  Terry Henry “TH” Walton Chronicles

  * With CRAIG MARTELLE *

  SEE ABOVE!

  SHORT STORIES

  Frank Kurns Stories of the Unknownworld 01 (7.5)

  You Don’t Mess with John’s Cousin

  Frank Kurns Stories of the Unknownworld 02 (9.5)

  Bitch’s Night Out

  Frank Kurns Stories of the Unknownworld 03 (13.25)

  BELLATRIX

  With Natalie Grey

  Anthologies

  Glimpse

  Honor in Death

  (Michael’s First Few Days)

  Beyond the Stars: At Galaxy's Edge

  Tabitha’s Vacation

  Craig Martelle Social

  For a chance to see ALL of Craig’s new Book Series

  Check out his website below!

  Website:

  http://www.craigmartelle.com

  Email List:

  http://www.craigmartelle.com

  (Go 1/2 way down his first page, the box is in the center!)

  Facebook Here:

  https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCraigMartelle/

  Michael Anderle Social

  Website:

  http://kurtherianbooks.com/

  Email List:

  http://kurtherianbooks.com/email-list/

  Facebook Here:

  https://www.facebook.com/TheKurtherianGambitBooks/

  PROLOGUE

  That wasn’t good enough for TH. He wanted to search for the stockpile. He hunted Mark down to let him know. “You take this group back to New Boulder. Char and I are going to search for the stockpile,” Terry informed him.

  Mark was instantly boiling mad. “That’s bullshit!” he yelled. “You sell these people on a better world, and then you bail on them? You’re not going anywhere except back north with us. Do you understand me?” Mark crossed his arms and stood with feet spread wide.

&nbs
p; “That’s not how it works. I give the orders, and you follow them,” Terry said coldly.

  “Is your white whale out there somewhere, Terry Henry Walton? I’m begging you, come with us.” Mark’s eyes were wide as he unfolded his arms and clasped his hands in front of him, pleading with Terry to change his mind. “Search for your mystical Nirvana later.”

  “Can’t you take them on your own?” Terry asked.

  There was a pause before Mark admitted, “Of course I can, but it’s not about that. It’s about you being the leader we need you to be, the person who’s going to bring civilization back to us. I can take them to New Boulder, but I can’t do the rest of it.” Mark pointed to Terry, “That’s you, bastard,” he said, gaining confidence in being an upstart.

  “Fuck me …” Terry hung his head and looked at the ground. Char slapped him on the back while Clyde nuzzled his leg. The people watched, wondering what he was going to do.

  CHAPTER ONE

  The mountain lion wanted the deer as much as Sawyer Brown’s people did. Two men tried to push him away, but he snarled and slashed at their meager walking sticks. He grabbed the carcass and started to drag it backwards away from the offending humans. The people watched, helplessly. One man, Devlin was running from the front of the long, drawn out line of people and another two from the back. The two from the back were closing at an unnatural speed.

  Terry Henry Walton and Charumati ran straight for the deer, wondering where Mark had disappeared to after shooting the animal, leaving the poor people from Brownsville to fend for themselves.

  Terry stopped at fifty yards away and dropped to a knee. As he aimed his M4 combat rifle, Char continued to run past, heading straight for the mountain lion. She veered out of his line of sight for an instant, all he needed to pull the trigger. The round hit the great creature between the eyes as it released the deer and prepared to fight the werewolf. Char leapt and landed on the thing as it dropped dead.

  She growled her dismay at not getting to fight her fellow predator, but, realizing the risk she had taken, quickly relaxed. As far as she knew, her secret of being a Werewolf was safe. She didn’t know that Terry risked hitting her to help her keep that secret.

  She stood up and brushed herself off, suggesting they skin the mountain lion and keep the hide. There was always something to be done with such a magnificent pelt.

  Terry walked up beside her, “So, you decided that fighting a mountain lion barehanded was your best course of action? Is there any reason to carry pistols if you’re not going to use them?” He asked sarcastically. Sometimes he wondered how hard she was trying to keep her secret.

  “Oh, those? I didn’t need those to fight that little thing,” she replied innocently as she pointed to the cat. The others started cleaning the deer, and one man looked proud that he was the one given the opportunity to skin a mountain lion.

  When Devlin arrived, out of breath from his run, he was happy that no one got hurt, but miffed at having run all that way for no reason.

  Terry looked around, his eyes narrowed. “Where in the hell did Mark go? He should have been here,” he spat out, not at Devlin, but he was angry.

  “Squirts,” Devlin answered, keeping his voice low and shrugging. He knew Terry wasn’t mad at him. He turned and then jogged slowly back toward the front of the line leaving the two of them behind.

  “Break!” Terry yelled in his Marine voice, projecting well past the running man. The people stopped walking and found places to sit. Devlin looked back, shaking his head as Terry smiled.

  Mark finally appeared, looking miserable. There was nothing anyone could do for him. He must have eaten something undercooked or gotten water that was bad. It would pass with enough good water and better food, like the venison they were cutting up.

  Terry Henry remained gloomy as they walked north, toward New Boulder. Char stayed by his side and laughed the entire time because he didn’t get his way. Clyde seemed indifferent to it all and was more than happy to feast on mountain lion when the time came. Terry thought it would be inedible, but this was the Wasteland and food was hard to come by.

  He asked the man skinning the great cat to butcher it as well. The man did as he was told, keenly stripping the meat and piling it onto the inside of the hide.

  Terry told a pair of young men to build a fire to cook their kill. There wasn’t any firewood handy so they conscripted more of the people from Brownsville to search for anything that would burn.

  As the refugees returned with bits and pieces of Wasteland scrub, Terry helped the men build a field smoker. He stole a blanket from the travois, hoping it wasn’t someone’s bedroll. It would help contain the smoke and that would preserve the meat long enough that they didn’t have to eat it in one sitting, although they were getting low on food. A total of thirty-six people and twelve horses were headed north on a trip over 100 miles, most of which was through the Wastelands east of Denver.

  The Wastelands weren’t as bad as they used to be, some people thought. Terry had lived out there, he knew all about it.

  For a while anyway, if you call what he did living.

  And he agreed. The climate was changing, getting a little cooler with each year. Terry preferred to think of it as less brutal as opposed to cooler.

  Terry stood and walked the line of people, stroking the grazing horses’ necks as he passed. The people waved and greeted him kindly. He shook hands and refused to look at them like the refugees they might feel like they were. Rather, he’d told them that there was work, a new and better life that they could make for themselves.

  He hoped Billy Spires saw things that way. Terry decided to ride ahead and make his own luck by preparing Billy and New Boulder for the influx of refugees.

  * * *

  There was a sudden bang from a kick to the wall. “It’s been three weeks. Those fuckers bailed on us! Son of a bitch. I just started to trust that bastard, too.” Billy delivered his latest tirade while looking out the window, as he had been doing much too often.

  Felicity drawled, trying to calm Billy down. “Billy, let’s go to the power plant, see how things are progressing, and then we can go to the greenhouses. We didn’t go yesterday and all that does is drive you deeper into that black pit of yours. Let it go. We will find out in due time. We’ve had no surprises over the past three weeks, have we? Isn’t that something? Think what you want, but I believe that Mr. Terry Henry Walton has been successful in driving the bad men away. They would have returned by now if they could. Pretty soon the weather won’t allow it, will it, Billy dear?”

  Billy faced her, frowning, shoulders sagging. “I know you’re right, but I just can’t get past the feeling that I’ve been double-crossed.”

  “Billy. Seriously. What has Terry Henry done that would suggest he wouldn’t come back? Mark and those others. You think Ivan would run away? I don’t know about Char, but it doesn’t add up that they’d leave us high and dry. They didn’t take anything of yours. The horses, their rifles, they took those from the others. Sure, Terry has your rifle and pistol, but there wasn’t much ammunition for them, was there?” Felicity argued, saving her best for last. “Don’t forget about his beer!”

  She pointed in the direction where it had been fermenting. “If nothing else, he’s a man and that is the only beer that’s been available for the past twenty years. He’ll be back, not for you or me,” she pointed to him then herself, “but for his beer.”

  He slowly started to nod, then shrugged his shoulders. Billy didn’t understand why he found that argument compelling, but he did and it put his mind at ease.

  Felicity had gone to see Margie Rose and asked that she make Billy a new shirt at the very least. He’d worn that one for six weeks before Felicity threatened to burn it and leave him with nothing.

  Billy wore the patchwork shirt that Margie Rose had put together for him, and Felicity had a hard time not shaking her head. She’d created this situation through her hasty actions. She was the one who had to look at it. Even twenty
years after, she believed that people could still show a little class, like what she’d done for Char, getting her new clothes, a hairstyle, and makeup after the last battle.

  Putting her envy of the tall beauty aside, Felicity determined that killing her with kindness would have to do. That woman was far too dangerous for a cat fight.

  Billy watched Felicity’s mind work. He wondered what she was thinking about, but shrugged it off and decided that they’d head out, do as she recommended.

  They walked downstairs together and out the front door, where the sound of horses trotting on pavement greeted them.

  The two looked towards the new arrivals. “What did I tell you?” Felicity beamed.