Andy McNab - DropZone

Sam raised an eyebrow at him. ‘You keeping on top of it all? You seem to be.’

Ethan stared back. What could he say? That for the first time in his life he felt like he was doing something really worthwhile, something he was good at, perhaps even better than good? That he loved the sensation of freedom you got when jumping, of being right out there at the very edge of what life was about?

Say any of that and I’ll sound like a total prick, he thought. So, ‘It’s great,’ he said. ‘I’m loving it. You think I’m doing OK?’

Sam nodded. ‘Yes.’ Then he pointed at Johnny. ‘You check we’re on for another jump.’ He turned back to Ethan. ‘You go wait outside. I’ll join you in a minute. I just need to make a phone call. When I come out, I’ll be asking questions, and I won’t be impressed by anything other than the correct answers. Got it?’

Johnny was out the door sharpish. Ethan followed.

‘Who’s that?’ asked Ethan as he and Johnny headed for the plane for his level seven jump that afternoon. He’d completed his level six just before lunch. The weather was still holding out. If it stayed this good, he’d be able to do his level eight tomorrow. Fantastic!

He pointed over to the car park, where a man in a suit was standing beside a nondescript black saloon car. Ethan instantly recognized him as the guy he’d seen shaking hands with Sam the day he’d done his tandem. Today he was holding a pair of binos in his left hand.

Johnny glanced over, following Ethan’s gaze. ‘That’s Gabe, Sam’s friend,’ he said. ‘Though he’s not very sociable. Why?’

Ethan wasn’t sure, but he had a feeling that the man was watching them. ‘I’ve seen him before,’ he said. ‘He was here when I did my tandem. And I think he’s watching us.’ The words sounded so stupid once they were out that he immediately wished he’d kept his mouth shut.

‘That explains it,’ said Johnny, a smirk sliding effortlessly onto his face.

‘It does?’

‘Absolutely! My fans come in all shapes and sizes.’

Laughing, they climbed into the plane. Ethan glanced back at the man. His binoculars were raised now and trained on the aircraft. Joking aside, thought Ethan, it was odd. But he soon forgot about the stranger, not least because of who was waiting for him in the plane. Along one side sat the rest of Johnny’s team, all rigged up in matching kit: Luke, Natalya and Kat.

Kat looked up at Johnny, then shot Ethan an electrifying smile. ‘We’ve been hearing so much about Sam’s new golden boy that we figured we should come and check out his progress.’ She leaned back against the inside of the plane, checked her ponytail. ‘Apparently you’re on your level seven – and ahead of schedule too. Perhaps all the good things we’ve been hearing are true?’

Ethan didn’t quite know how to take Kat’s words. He hadn’t seen her since Sam had bollocked Jake, and she hadn’t seemed too happy with him then. Now she was smiling, beaming almost, but he couldn’t help noticing an edge – not so much to her voice, but to her words. Golden boy? What the hell was that about? He was in no way Sam’s golden boy – doubted anyone was. Kat’s probably still pissed at me about Jake, he thought.

Johnny rested a hand on Ethan’s shoulder as they sat down. ‘He’s a natural, aren’t you, mate?’ he said. ‘Born to it, I reckon. Like me.’

Kat laughed. ‘The only thing you’re born to is self-appreciation.’

Again that edge, Ethan noticed. What was her problem? Was this really about Jake? Ethan wondered if he was just imagining things, reading something into what Kat was saying that just wasn’t there. He decided to ignore it, and focused on Natalya and Luke instead.

Luke was staring at his altimeter. He looked like he was convinced it wasn’t working; or that if he stopped looking at it, it would stop working, just to piss him off.

Natalya, though, gazed right back at Ethan.

Ethan nodded and gave her a smile.

Natalya nodded back, but said nothing. She didn’t need to, he thought. It was her eyes that did all the talking. They seemed to stare right through him, like she was sizing him up, looking for flaws. He looked away, but found himself glancing back at her a few times. And each time, he found her still staring at – no, into – him. It unnerved him. What the hell was she thinking? If I were Johnny, thought Ethan, I’d be convinced she fancied me. The thought brought a smile to his face that finally made Natalya turn and look elsewhere.

Luke was still busy going over his kit. He checked every buckle and clip once, then did so again in exactly the same order. Then again. He looked up. ‘Hey, Eth,’ he said. ‘Want me to check your kit?’

‘We’ve got it covered,’ said Johnny. ‘But I’ll let you know if his lapels need doing. You did bring the steam iron, didn’t you?’

Everyone laughed.

‘There’s nothing wrong with making sure everything’s right,’ said Luke. ‘But I’m afraid I left the iron in the hangar.’

‘That is a shame.’

‘Indeed. But I’m sure we’ll survive. We always do.’

‘Crumpled lapels and all! We really are something, aren’t we?’

Ethan liked the way the team ribbed each other. It was one of the things that made them work so well together.

Sam pulled himself into the plane and sat down next to Ethan. He looked over at Luke. ‘At least one of you is bothered about the seven Ps,’ he said. ‘So, are you all up here for a reason or just to piss around?’

‘To support Ethan,’ said Kat, then slowly turned and rested her eyes on him. ‘Isn’t that right?’

Ethan smiled back, but he knew that his eyes weren’t joining in. Yeah, there was definitely an edge to Kat. But so what? It was her problem, not his. ‘Yeah, that’s right,’ he said. ‘Kat’s really trying to make me feel part of the team – aren’t you, Kat?’

Kat gave him a sweeter-than-sweet smile as the pilot called through, and then the plane was taxiing for takeoff.

A few minutes later, they were airborne, and Ethan spent the rest of the flight totally focused on his next jump. He ran through the exit procedure, flicked through the hand signals, mentally rehearsed the forward roll, the 360-degree turns, deploying his canopy, and when the time came, he didn’t hesitate to jump…

The level-seven jump went well. Sam told him so, and so did everyone else – even Kat. Only one jump remained. And for that, Ethan would be totally on his own.

The next day, when he headed out to the plane for his level-eight jump, Ethan found himself sitting in the back of the minibus with Sam and one other skydiver. Sam was there to supervise his safe exit from the plane, but he wouldn’t be jumping this time. The thought didn’t scare Ethan as much as he would have expected a few days ago. He knew what he was doing now, and any fear he felt just kept his mind on the job. It was a useful emotion to have and he never wanted to get to the stage where he wasn’t at least a little nervous. Johnny was staying on the ground to film him landing his level eight.

Ethan looked at the other skydiver. Whereas he himself was dressed in borrowed kit from FreeFall, none of which was all that flattering, the other skydiver was in black, head to toe, with a black helmet, mirrored visor down. When Ethan looked over, he caught his own reflection in the visor. The man nodded; Ethan nodded back. Then the minibus arrived at the plane and soon they were taxiing down the runway.

The flight was smooth: no bumps – not that Ethan cared. He was jumping at 5,000 feet, opening at 3,500. Sam quizzed Ethan with a few questions, checked his kit, made sure everything was good. Ethan knew it took about ten seconds to fall the first 1,000 feet, then another five seconds for every 1,000 from then on. That gave him about fifteen seconds of freefall time. It wasn’t much, but it was more than enough. All the other stuff he’d been doing during his previous jumps, such as 360s and front rolls and tracking, was about improving his confidence in the air. But jumping at 5,000 feet didn’t allow time to do any of that. This time he’d be totally focused on what the level-eight jump was all about: executing a clean exit, getting stable, deploying the canopy, then making a good landing in the field by the DZ.