Andy McNab - DropZone

The two men stopped, and Ethan saw a light flash as one lit a cigarette, passed it to his mate, then lit one more. And in that brief moment of brightness he spotted their weapons. He didn’t care what sort of weapons they were, just that things were now more than serious – one slip-up and he was dead.

The cigarette smoke caught on the wind, drifted down past Ethan. He could smell it, taste it. He nearly coughed, but managed to stop himself.

Then they just stood there, talking, only metres away from him. Their voices were clear, but he couldn’t understand what they were saying; whatever language they were using, it certainly wasn’t English. One of the men put his cigarette out, then nodded down the path.

Ethan realized they were going to continue on down to the beach, and the only way for them to do that was past him – in which case he’d be discovered for sure. He remembered how important it was for the team to remain unseen on this mission. Now was not the time to pick a fight with two armed men on a narrow cliff path. He had to do something else.

One of the men started off towards him, but the other stopped him, handed him another cigarette and a small hipflask. They both laughed.

Ethan knew this was his last chance – either he made a move now, or he waited to be discovered. He glanced around. The path disappeared into darkness, and he wondered about slipping on towards the beach himself, but then he remembered Johnny. OK, so the idiotic, egotistical bastard had left him in the lurch, but that was no reason for him to go and do the same. He had to get out of here, make his way past the x-rays, and warn Johnny they were there – before he came running back down the path and got them both killed.

Ethan sized up the situation. There was no way he could slip past the men. The track was barely wide enough for two people, never mind another trying to hide in the shadows. So what the hell was he going to do?

He let his head fall back as he tried to think – and saw the cliff face rising above him. It was jagged and rough. It was climbable!

He had to climb; it was the only way.

Ethan slipped further down the path, further into the darkness, so that the men wouldn’t hear him. Eventually he could no longer see them, so he turned to face the rock, found some hand-holds, and started up.

The rock was cold and cut into his hands, but at least the holds were large and easy. It wasn’t long before he was well off the path, but a glance upwards made him realize just how dangerous a position he was now in. The cliff stretched on up into the dark and he had no idea if the climbing got harder. Still, he had little choice but to press on. He kept climbing, trying to ignore the heavy bergen on his back, which threatened to drag him backwards off the cliff-face.

Adrenaline was surging through him, but so was fear. The HAHO jump had been fine, but this? It felt mildly insane. Ethan had never done much climbing before – having to do it soundlessly, in case he got shot at, sure focused the mind. At the same time, he was aware of the minutes slipping by: surely Johnny would be back any minute. He had to move faster, reach the clifftop and get back round to the start of the path so that he could head Johnny off and stop everything from going tits up.

But then he heard the voices of the two x-rays directly below him. He stopped, hugged the cliff, didn’t move. If he dislodged a stone onto the men below, he knew he was dead. They wouldn’t wait for him to climb down; they’d just shoot him off the cliff.

Then his left foot slipped.

Ethan caught himself before he fell, but the sound of his foot scraping against the rock seemed loud enough to wake the dead.

For a few moments he stayed where he was, a shadow on the rock, hoping to God that the two men below had moved on far enough not to have noticed the noise. He strained his ears to hear their voices, and was relieved that they sounded more distant now.

Ethan knew there was no more time to lose. He started climbing again, powering upwards as fast as he could go – foot… hand… foot… hand…

He felt no fear now, only determination. Just because the men had headed down to the beach didn’t mean they wouldn’t be coming back up again in a few minutes’ time.

At last Ethan could see the top of the cliff. A little further and then he was pulling himself up over the edge and onto the flat ground. He didn’t give himself a moment to think about what he’d just done or get his breath back; instead he jumped up and ran as quickly and quietly as possible to the top of the path.

He was only a few metres from it when he saw movement up ahead. It was just a blur, a shadow moving quickly through other shadows, but he instantly recognized Johnny. Ethan knew that unless he stopped him now, Johnny would be racing down the path, totally unaware of the two x-rays below. So he did the only thing he could.

He jumped, the weight of the bergen on his back adding momentum.

For the split second that he was in the air, Ethan felt like every sense was heightened. He could hear the waves crashing on the beach below. He could taste the tang of the sea in the air around him, even smell the damp rock he’d been climbing.

Then he crashed into Johnny – hard, tumbling him backwards into a hellishly prickly bush. Before Johnny had a chance to struggle or shout, Ethan wrapped himself round him, slapped his hand over his mouth and pulled him deeper into the bush.

Johnny struggled, but Ethan had him fast.

‘It’s me,’ he hissed. ‘Where the hell have you been?’

He felt Johnny relax and immediately let his friend go.

‘I had something to do,’ said Johnny. ‘What’s up?’

‘Two x-rays on the path,’ replied Ethan, and he knew he sounded pissed off. ‘I had to do something to stop you running into them and getting us both killed. You shouldn’t have left me.’

Johnny looked at Ethan, surprise in his eyes. ‘You were OK, weren’t you? You’re alive!’

‘Not the point,’ said Ethan. ‘We work as a team, remember? This isn’t the goddamn Johnny Show.’

Johnny nodded. ‘Point taken. So what were you doing on top of the cliff?’

‘The x-rays came after you went,’ said Ethan. ‘I had to climb over them to reach you.’

‘So they’re still down there now?’

Ethan nodded.

Johnny looked thoughtful. ‘OK,’ he said. ‘You’ve seen them. You’ve got a better idea of the situation than I have. What are our options?’

‘They’re armed,’ said Ethan, the images as clear as day in his mind, ‘so we don’t want to take them on. I think we need a diversion – something to draw them away so that we can get down to the beach.’

‘Like what?’ asked Johnny.

As if in answer to his question, an explosion ripped through the air, lighting up the night around them as flames and shockwaves blasted across the island.

‘That’ll do,’ said Ethan, and he could feel himself smiling.

A second shockwave hit them as another explosion followed the first. Ethan had never heard anything like it in his life. He could smell burning in the air, his ears were ringing, and he could feel his teeth tingling, as if the shockwaves were jarring every last part of him.

‘What the hell are they using?’ he hissed. ‘Are the explosions supposed to be that big?’

‘Sam wants a diversion, that’s what he gets,’ said Johnny.

Ethan heard the sound of running feet. ‘Down!’ he hissed, and pulled Johnny further into the bush.

The two x-rays shot up from the cliff path, racing towards the explosion.

‘You really have to stop hugging me,’ said Johnny as Ethan let go of him again. ‘I’ve told you before, you’re not my type.’