Andy McNab - DropZone

Ethan turned and saw Sam’s head round the door; he was looking at Johnny. ‘Got a minute? I’ve a little job for you. Right up your street, I think.’ Then he glanced at Ethan. ‘And, Ethan – make sure you’re in early tomorrow. Seven thirty, OK?’

‘Yeah, no worries,’ said Ethan, and Johnny followed Sam out of the shop.

Ethan thought again about the AFF and felt like he’d been kicked in the stomach. The tandem had been amazing, had totally blown his mind. He didn’t want to just do that again; he wanted to skydive properly, do what Johnny did. But fifteen hundred quid? No chance, he thought. No chance at all. He spent the rest of the day trying not to think about skydiving.

For him, it was just impossible.

The next day Ethan arrived at FreeFall dead on seven thirty, skidding to a halt beside the café. To his surprise, Johnny was already there, sitting outside, shades on. He smiled, waved. Ethan returned the gesture.

‘So,’ he said, slipping into a chair in front of Johnny, ‘what’s this all about? Why are you here? Did Sam ask you to be in early too?’

Johnny just grinned and pushed his shades back. ‘You still thinking about that skydive?’

Ethan nodded. ‘Too right I am. Can hardly think of anything else. Bit of a pisser about the AFF, though.’ He still felt gutted.

‘True,’ said Johnny.

‘I’ll get over it,’ said Ethan. ‘I’ve been thinking I might do it next summer. You know, celebrate the end of school with it or something. If I keep working here and maybe take another job as well, I should be able to save up enough.’

Johnny nodded thoughtfully then leaned forward. ‘Look,’ he said. ‘Here’s the thing…’

‘What thing?’

‘It’s all been taken care of.’

Ethan didn’t understand. ‘What do you mean? What are you on about? What’s been taken care of?’

‘You. The AFF. It’s sorted.’

‘Shut up,’ said Ethan. ‘And don’t be a dick.’

‘I’m not being a dick,’ Johnny insisted. ‘It’s true. That’s what Sam wanted to see me about yesterday. He wants me to help him put you through the AFF.’

Ethan opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Surely Johnny was just taking the piss.

‘Sam will be teaching you,’ Johnny told him. ‘He’s the business, as you know. Doesn’t miss a trick and doesn’t let you jump unless he’s confident you’re not going to spin out and kill yourself.’

‘You’re not serious, are you?’ said Ethan, but Johnny simply went on:

‘I’ll be doing the filming. I need the practice anyway. We’ll be able to assess every single jump you do, show you what you’re doing wrong, what you’re doing right. And you’ll have a nice little souvenir at the end, won’t you? A little bit of Ethan Hollywood all of your own.’

At last words formed in Ethan’s head. ‘But… who?’ he asked. ‘ Who’s sorted it? This doesn’t make sense…’ And it didn’t. He’d spent the whole of yesterday dealing with the fact that he wouldn’t be able to do his AFF until next summer at the earliest, and now here was Johnny telling him he’d be doing it right away. It sounded nuts.

A throaty growl interrupted his thoughts as Sam pulled up in his Defender and climbed out.

‘Ethan. Johnny,’ he said, striding over to them. ‘Ready?’

‘I sure am,’ said Johnny, standing up. ‘Ethan’s still in shock, though, aren’t you, mate?’

Ethan looked up at Sam and slowly got to his feet. ‘How am I supposed to pay for this?’ he asked. ‘It’s OK you helping me out by teaching and filming and stuff, but it’s still going to cost, isn’t it? And I just don’t have the cash. I really don’t. I mean, fifteen hundred quid… that’s-’

‘A lot of money, I know,’ said Sam, cutting Ethan off. ‘But hasn’t Johnny told you? It’s all sorted.’

Ethan nodded. ‘Yeah, he said, but-’

‘Then here’s a little tip: shut up and accept it, right? I have ways of getting extra funding when I need it. That’s all you need to know.’

‘But I’ll still have to pay it back,’ said Ethan.

‘No,’ said Sam, ‘you won’t. That’s what “sorted” means. I’ve also arranged cover for you this week so you don’t have to worry about work. All you need to think about now is keeping your eyes and ears open, listening, learning and making sure you don’t die. Got it?’

Ethan stood there for a moment, trying to take it all in. The tandem – that had been pretty crazy. But now this! How on earth had Sam sorted out the costs? And why? It didn’t make sense, but Ethan didn’t want to ask any more questions in case Sam got annoyed and changed his mind. It started to sink in. He was going to learn to skydive… bloody hell!

Adrenaline raced through him. ‘You’re serious, aren’t you?’ he said, and as he looked up at Sam, he saw a flicker of a smile cross his face.

‘I’m always serious,’ said Sam. ‘So sort your shit out and I’ll see you and Johnny in the hangar in ten.’

He went over to the café door, unlocked it and disappeared inside.

Ethan turned to Johnny. ‘I’m actually going to be learning to skydive? For real?’

Johnny nodded, and came to put his arm across Ethan’s shoulders. ‘Not just skydive,’ he said, ‘but skydive with the best.’

‘Sam?’

‘No,’ said Johnny. ‘Me.’

‘The AFF course,’ Sam began, ‘takes you from beginner to category eight qualified skydiver in eight jumps.’

Ethan was sitting in the hangar, Johnny next to him. He was fully rigged up and hanging on Sam’s every word. Outside, the day was clear; sunshine was streaming in through the windows. ‘Eight jumps?’ he said, thinking it hardly sounded enough.

Sam nodded. ‘Today we’re doing ground training,’ he went on. ‘You’ll do your first jump tomorrow.’

Ethan immediately felt disappointed. He was impatient, wanted to jump now, get back into the air, feel the sky rushing past him, experience again that strange moment when the world below just seems to sit there, perfectly still, not getting any closer, your brain unable to compute that you’re at terminal velocity, falling at around 120 mph.

Johnny went and stood next to Sam. Ethan thought how different they were – Sam with his startlingly short hair, hard face and unflinching stance; Johnny looking like an advert for why extreme sports make women want to sleep with you.

‘Sam’s going to be leading on this,’ Johnny said. ‘I’m helping out. When you do your jumps, you’ll leave the plane with both of us. We’ll help you get a feel for the air, sort your positioning out, that kind of thing. And I’ll be filming it all too. So at least you’ll look good.’

‘It’ll give us something to analyse on the ground,’ said Sam, ignoring Johnny’s comment. ‘Just another way of being extra thorough. The quicker you get the details right, the better you’ll be when you’re up there.’

‘It’ll also give us something to laugh at,’ added Johnny.

Ethan noticed a smile start to flicker across Sam’s face, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. He was beginning to understand the man a little more now, and since the jump he felt he could trust him absolutely.

‘As Sam said,’ said Johnny, ‘today’s ground training.’ He went over to the hangar wall and pulled out what looked to Ethan like a tea trolley.

‘What the hell’s that?’

‘The perfect way to make you look a total knob,’ said Johnny. ‘We’ll be using it to show you the basic moves you’ll need. You lie on top of it – that way you can practise the correct positions and movements in freefall.’

‘Are you having a laugh?’ Ethan looked doubtfully at the trolley.