Andy McNab - DropZone

Even Ethan knew what these were – simple plastic tubes with two chemicals inside separated by a thin sliver of glass. All you had to do was bend the tube to break the glass, the chemicals would mix and the thing would glow blue or green or red or whatever for about eight hours. He smiled, remembering how his mum had given him one at Halloween and how he’d used it to read comics under his duvet.

‘Finally,’ said Sam, ‘the dark zone. Luke?’

Ethan saw Luke open his mouth – but Johnny got in first.

‘Allow me,’ he said, and turned to the team as though addressing a class. ‘Above a hundred feet you’ve a good view of the DZ because of all the ambient and moon light. The lower you get, the darker the ground looks, and once you get really close, this light is lost because of the low angle of reflection. Below a hundred, it feels like you’re landing in a black hole and you can experience ground rush – which is where it feels as if the DZ is flying up at you out of the darkness. Be prepared, guys, and don’t let it faze you!’

‘If it’s so dark, how do we see the DZ?’ asked Ethan.

‘It’s lit,’ said Sam. ‘Any other questions?’

No one spoke.

‘Good. It’ll be lights out in a couple of minutes. Everyone activate your glow stick and cover it with this.’

Sam handed out a roll of thick duct tape, then looked at Ethan. ‘We go for lights out so that our eyes are acclimatized to the darkness when we jump,’ he explained. ‘The lights will be off in the plane as well.’

‘And the duct tape?’ asked Ethan.

‘The glow sticks are activated now so that we can check they’re not duds. Once we’re sure they’re all OK, the duct tape goes on to stop the light shining in people’s eyes – we pull the tape off just before we jump.’

It was yet more information for Ethan to take in, but that didn’t bother him. Anything to do with skydiving and he lapped it up.

‘Right… lights,’ said Sam, and the room was plunged into darkness. They all sat there in silence for a few minutes; eventually Ethan’s eyes adjusted to the gloom and he could make out the rest of the team.

‘Remember,’ Sam told them, ‘maintain your night vision by not looking at any lights, even far-off ones. The only light in the plane will be red as that won’t affect your eyes. You need to be sharp for this, OK?’

The team murmured a yes.

Sam checked his watch. ‘Good,’ he said. ‘Let’s go.’

As everyone stood up, Kat looked at Ethan. ‘Excited?’ she asked.

Ethan nodded. ‘How many night jumps have you done?’

‘Not enough,’ said Kat. ‘It’s amazing. Everything looks and sounds and feels completely different when you jump at night. It’s like you’re just floating. Makes you wish it could last for ever.’

‘I can make any night last for ever,’ said Johnny, winking at her.

‘Yeah, and for all the wrong reasons,’ she said.

Everyone laughed.

‘Don’t knock it till you try it,’ said Johnny.

Ethan grinned. ‘So what’s it like, jumping in the dark?’

Johnny stopped and came close, as if he was about to pass on the biggest secret of his life. ‘Better than sex,’ he whispered. ‘Almost.’

‘Now load up, everyone,’ said Sam. They had driven to the plane in his Defender, lights out all the way. ‘I want us up there and jumping asap.’

The team lined up and clambered on board the plane. Ethan glanced at the pilot. He wasn’t the usual one. In the strange red light, he looked like the man who Johnny had once told Ethan was Gabe, Sam’s friend. Ethan figured maybe Gabe was a night pilot.

Sam pulled the door shut, locked it, nodded at the pilot and sat down. Ethan looked across at Johnny, who winked before pulling on his skydiving helmet. Kat, Luke and Natalya did the same – they all had full-face helmets, Kat’s still shiny new. And as the plane taxied round for takeoff, Ethan decided he had to get a full-face one too, if only because it would make him look so bloody cool.

Ethan, like the rest of the team, heard the pilot say that they were coming up to the DZ. Adrenaline fizzed through him. He wondered if it would ever feel any different; if one day he’d skydive and not get the buzz. He hoped not.

Everyone stood and lined up. Luke first, then Natalya, Kat, Johnny – with a camera helmet – and finally Ethan. Sam came over and clipped their harnesses together, pulling Ethan in tight.

Luke looked over to the pilot for the thumbs-up, then pushed open the door.

Ethan felt the air burst into the plane. All he could see beyond the door was a thick, tarry blackness. It seemed utterly impossible, unreal almost, as though they weren’t flying at all, just sitting on the ground with the engines running.

He wasn’t given much more time to think about it. With a nod, the rest of the team tumbled through the door in quick succession, and Ethan soon found himself staring into utter blackness.

Then he felt Sam pull his head back. He crossed his arms.

And jumped.

As they left the plane, Ethan didn’t know if he was terrified or excited or both. This was skydiving unlike anything he’d experienced before. Everything felt different. Jumping in daylight, you knew where you were going, could see the world below you. But this time, it was a jump into the unknown.

A stab of light caught Ethan’s eye as Sam activated the LED.

For the first few moments he felt like he was in a washing machine. He had no idea which was up and which was down as they tumbled through the air, accelerating to terminal velocity.

Then Sam flipped them over, belly down.

Ethan was blown away by what he saw. Above, in the clear night sky, stars glittered through the dark. Below, the world was a black canvas dotted with lights like distant galaxies.

He checked his altimeter, then quickly found the rest of the team, their LEDs pulsing in the blackness. The pilot had dropped them perfectly over the DZ – Ethan was able to make it out below. It was lit up as Sam had said it would be, and was getting closer.

Another check of the altimeter. Wind rushing past. This was it, thought Ethan, smiling. Everything he wanted was in this moment. He longed to feel like this for ever: so completely alive, buzzing with it, the metallic taste in his mouth of the adrenaline coursing through him.

He felt a tap on his shoulder; Sam was reaching for the ripcord.

Then the canopy exploded, and after the intense rush of the freefall, Ethan and Sam were pulled up into a perfectly controlled glide to the DZ.

It was eerie floating down in the blackness. Below them, lights of towns glowed, and car headlights seemed to cut the darkness into zigzags. During a normal day jump, Ethan knew where he was in the sky, how far away the ground was, but in the dark it was just like Kat had said – it felt as if he was floating there, not falling at all.

As Ethan stared into the night, trying to take it all in, he noticed it getting darker, just as Johnny had warned, and realized they were now in the dark zone. That meant the DZ was getting close.

‘Knees up!’ shouted Sam.

Ethan reacted, pulled his knees up hard. Seconds later the ground rushed up at them, Sam flared the canopy, and they landed gently.

‘Enjoy that?’ Sam asked as he unclipped Ethan.

‘What do you think?’ he replied. ‘What a rush!’

Sam sorted out the rig and pulled in the canopy, rolling it up.

As Ethan followed Sam back to the hangar, the rest of the team landed on the DZ. A beaming Johnny soon caught up with him. ‘Quite a mind-screw, isn’t it?’ he said. ‘Just wait till you do it solo; it’s a religious experience.’

Ethan laughed and raised his left hand. ‘I’m shaking. I think my brain’s still up there somewhere. I can’t stop buzzing!’