Way of the Wolf: Book Summary
Doc finds himself before a large gang, trying to pretend that he is a simple merchant. Ryan is with him as well, acting like his personal guard. The rest of the group happens to be hidden away in the forest, waiting for the right time to attack.
They are in the southern portion of Kentucky, near the town of Hazard.
Doc Tanner shows off his wares to the gang. As Ryan had figured, the gang isn't interested in trading. They want the goods but don't want to, they'd rather get something for nothing.
The group attack, and wipe the gang members out in a matter of only a few minutes. The only person to survive is a Dwarf named Albert. He agrees to go along with them and help them get into Hazard where they can make the trades they want. Along the way he and Doc become fast friends.
Inside Hazard they meet the local sheriff a man named Liberty. He has the mark of the gang on him as well. The ville doctor, a man named Kirkland arrives to check out the wares. He is quite impressed with the quality of goods they have brought with them. Kirkland demands that they are to be treated very well and given a line of credit with the townsfolk.
The group take rooms at the Hazard royal inn. The maid, a girl named Chastity is pretty blunt towards the group and doesn't hide the fact that she likes Ryan. But she tells him that both he and Krysty are expected to dinner. They accept.
Jak and Dean decide to head out and see the ville. They immediately pick up on the fact that three men are trailing them, so decide to head into the local gaudy. They meet up with Kirkland and talk to him for a bit. A highly sexual, mohawked girl gets the boys attention and Kirkland offers her to them to sweeten the deal. Reluctantly they both refuse.
J.B. heads out to see the Tinker, the local gunsmith to trade for ammo. At the door he meets a girl named Anna. She reluctantly lets him in but keeps her weapon trained on him the entire time. He meets Tinker who orders the girl to put the blaster down and starts to trade with them. He is invited to eat, and discovers that they are constantly waiting to be attacked by Kirkland's men.
Albert convinces Doc to head out with him to a store owned by a man named Cobb. When they enter, Doc Tanner finds that the tables have been turned and he suddenly is taken prisoner. He feels badly betrayed by the dwarf. Doc is able to retaliate and breaks Cobbs nose before getting the upper hand. Here Doc learns that Kirkland has a plague which he uses to keep the town under tight control. Anyone who tries to leave is killed by the plague and the townsfolk have to get inoculations to keep from dying from it.
Dean and Jak are inside the bar and find that they are being followed still. They go to the bathroom and slip out, with the men hot on their tails. They head deep into the surrounding woods where they capture one man and kill the other. They manage to get a handful of 9mm rounds off the man as well as a dart gun. They begin their interrogation.
It turns out that the dart gun is loaded with ammunition containing the plague. They discover that Kirkland knows his gang are dead and that he and the other men were to kill both Jak and Dean. They kill him and make their way back to town.
Ryan and Krysty are given nice cloths to wear when they go to meet with the owner of the hotel, a woman named Aunt Maim. She had been brutally defaced, having had one arm, leg, eye, ear, and breast cut off. She explains to them what happened and that Kirkland was responsible for it.
Mildred is in her and JB's room when she gets captured by Kirkland's men. A the same time Doc and Albert are on their way back from Cobbs, to warn the others about what they have learned. They both spot what happened to Mildred. Doc sends Albert on ahead to let Ryan know what happened and he sets out to try and rescue Mildred.
Jak and Dean arrive at the same time and everyone shares their stories about what is really happening. Ryan goes on ahead to get JB so they could leave the ville. On the way, he is forced to kill two of Kirklands men. Doc kills two as well before getting into the barn where they are holding Mildred. He easily spots the trap door inside the barn and free's Mildred. The two are forced to fight their way back to the hotel.
JB and Ryan meet and are forced to fight back to the hotel as well, where they meet up with the rest of the group and start to plant the explosives that JB had gotten from Tinker, as well as all the ammunition. It turns out to be a very long night for everyone involved.
With the arrival of morning Kirkland calls out to Ryan from the protection of a Armaglass box. He offers to let Ryan and the others become members of his ville, and become part of his sec force. Of course, Ryan doesn't believe it for a second, and informs anyone who is listening that they know that the plague is a fake, and that Kirkland has been deceiving everyone for a long time.
Before they can do anything, a travelling circus arrives. Ryan and JB recognized the leader of the caravan as a former part of Traders convoy, a man named Handsome Wyatt who was kicked out for stealing gas and selling it for a profit. They both realise that things have just taken a turn for the worse, but also it could be a blessing in disguise as they could use the arrival to escape.
Handsome Wyatt recognizes Ryan and the fight is joined. Both JB and Ryan kill a couple of Wyatt's men to make certain that he will fight. It works almost too well. In the confusion of the battle, they are able to slip to the next building and blow the charges. They then steal a wag and race out of the ville, but not before Ryan shoots Wyatt in the hand.
A short time later they abandon the wag and make their way to the redoubt. Along the way Ryan refuses to let Doc help the Dwarf, as it would slow them down. But Albert is able to keep up with them. They can hear the arrival of Handsome Wyatt and his people as they enter the redoubt and take an elevator down into the depths of the redoubt. Albert is violently sick during the descent.
They jump out right away. When they awaken, they discover that they are very cold, and the gateway seems to be totally encased in ice. They try to close the door, but discover that the jump comp has been damaged.
It takes several hours but they finally manage to break the ice away from the door and gain access to the rest of the redoubt. They, as usual, go exploring.
It isn’t long before they find the first body. Further exploration reveals a large number of dead soldiers. They all seem to have died from nerve gas attack. From the way the redoubt moves and shakes, as well as the way the compass acts, they figure that they are on an iceberg.
After the exploration they return to the gateway chamber, clear away all the ice they can, and start up the environmental controls. Enough heat comes through, and they are able to get some sleep.
The next day when Ryan awakens, he discovers that JB has already been up for quite some time and has been mapping the redoubt. JB confirms that the comp control circuit boards need to be repaired before they can jump out. They can't do it in the redoubt as that level is cut off from them.
They head out to explore and see if they can find something above ground where they could do the repairs. They travel quite a distance before the sound of gun shots are heard. They approach the battle and discover a group of Inuit under attack from soldiers, including two using ultra lights.
They wipe out the soldiers and go to talk to the natives they helped. They talk to the leader, a man named Harlan. It turns out the soldiers were the descendants of soviet sailors that were stranded in the arctic after the holocaust. The leader of the soldiers is a man named Vitkin.
JB is sure that they would be able to get what they need to repair the comp chips on the Russian ship, but would face anywhere from thirty to forty enemy sailors. It's a risk that they will have to take because they know it's only a matter of time before the iceberg sinks.
They know that a full frontal attack won't cut it as the Inuit natives tried about twelve years before and the warriors were cut to pieces by the ships onboard weapons. Stealth is the only way they will be able to board and take the ship.
Jak, Ryan, and JB are covered in furs, then packed with ice to hide their heat signatures. They crawl up to the ship and board it. Almost immediately they are under attack. Harlans warriors attack at the same time, and much to their surprise a rival tribe go after the ship as well.
Once on board JB heads right for the maintenance level and sets about repairing the comp chips. He doesn't have much time as he feels the iceberg shudder and the ship begins to sink below the surface.
When the repairs are completed, JB meets with Ryan and they hit the main deck. They launch the ships Depth charges at the rival tribe and use their weapons to detonate them. The confusion turns the tide of the battle. They know they have to get to the life rafts and fast.
Vitkin grabs Krysty, and tries to use her as leverage to obtain a boat for himself. No dice. Ryan blows him away when Krysty distracts him. They manage to secure a raft just as the ship slips below the surface disappearing without a trace.
Wasting no time, they return to the redoubt. The water lines is only four feet away from the entrance and they have to race against the clock to make it back to the mat trans chamber. Albert and Doc are the last ones, Doc just making it. Albert isn't fast enough and is swept away, drowning.
JB replaces the repaired board and they are all relieved when the gateway activates and they jump out.
End of Way of the Wolf.
A total of four days passed in this novel.