DropZone

‘Don’t you want to do it for me?’ asked Joh

Luke smiled, shook his head and took Ethan’s rig. ‘Grab some scoff. It’ll be a couple of hours before you’re in the air again.’

Ethan thanked Luke as the man in black walked past. His visor was up now, but Ethan still couldn’t see much of his face. Ethan nodded as he headed towards the car park.

‘Ah,’ said Joh

‘He was the only other skydiver in the plane when I went up with Sam,’ Ethan explained. ‘For some reason no one else was jumping. Still, it was nice to have the thing as private as possible. Helped me to focus.’

‘Hungry?’ asked Joh

‘Always,’ said Ethan.

Before they headed off for Ethan’s first consolidation jump, Sam quickly grilled him on a few drills and hand signals, and ran him through a set sequence for the skydive. Then he checked Ethan’s rig, pulling the clips to make sure they were secure. Finally he said, ‘For this jump, I want to see a clean exit, stable position, and then two three-sixties, left then right, good deployment of canopy. Joh

‘And we’re jumping from thirteen thousand?’ asked Ethan.

Sam nodded. ‘You’ve shown you can skydive solo. That’s what the level-eight jump is all about. Now you need enough air time before deploying your canopy to practise your skills. And that’s what consolidation is for. This is where you really get the chance to prove yourself.’

Ethan was quiet – not scared, just focused, ru

Joh

Ethan couldn’t help but smile. ‘I have a good side?’

‘I’ll let you know,’ said Joh

‘Here’s the minibus,’ Sam growled, shaking his head at Joh

The rush of air as the plane door was pulled open slammed into Ethan and momentarily took his breath away. He suddenly felt very aware of the height he was jumping from: all there was between him and the ground below was the few centimetres of the plane’s skin beneath his backside. He closed his eyes, squeezed them shut so hard that pinpricks of light stabbed his brain, then breathed deep and slow.

13,000 feet… Easy…

The call came. Ethan was first to jump, with Sam and Joh

And then he jumped.

Air caught him, pulled at him, the sound of it battered his ears. He saw the plane above him, and then two other dots in the sky, before arching his back, flipping over.

Earth below, sky above. Sky everywhere.

Rock ’n’ roll!

Ethan got himself stable, then spied Joh

Joh

Joh

Ethan looked at Sam, who gave a hand signal that told Ethan to do a 360.

Ethan did two – one left, one right. Then he returned to the stable position, found the DZ below, and got on course. All he had to do now was deploy. But he still had a few seconds of freefall left.

And each second made his smile grow and grow.

He checked his altimeter. It was time to deploy. He looked at Joh

That sound again – bed sheets flapping in the wind – then total silence, almost eerie. Ethan didn’t know if his face was aching because of the freefall and the wind, or because he just couldn’t wipe the smile off it. In the end he didn’t even bother trying. He just kept his eyes on the field next to the DZ, and guided himself in, correcting his canopy now and again with a tug of a toggle, until the ground rushed up to meet him. He pulled both toggles, and landed, not entirely gracefully, on his arse.

He quickly got to his feet, started to pull in his canopy. Adrenaline was still coursing through him from the dive and it felt better than good. He could taste it; his fingers tingled. He caught sight of Joh

Joh

‘I said you’d nail it.’ Joh

‘You serious?’

‘Dead.’

Sam called over. ‘Wait up, lads.’

Ethan and Joh

He looked at Ethan and smiled. ‘You should be proud of yourself, Ethan,’ he said and reached out to shake Ethan’s hand. ‘Well done.’

Ethan felt as though his arm was about to be ripped off. ‘Thanks.’

‘I never say that unless I mean it,’ said Sam, still gripping Ethan’s hand. ‘You’ve a natural talent for this. Don’t waste it.’

‘I won’t,’ said Ethan, but the words didn’t exactly express how he felt right then. Getting such praise from someone like Sam – with his experience, his perfectionism – was amazing. Ethan had never been so damned proud in his life. For the first time ever he felt like he’d actually achieved something worthwhile. And he knew then that he didn’t just like skydiving, he was addicted to it – just as Joh

By the time Ethan had thought of anything intelligent to say, Sam had gone. He turned to Joh

Joh

A shout brought them both up sharp. They looked round to see someone trotting over from the side of the DZ.

‘Jake,’ said Joh

Ethan saw where Jake had come from. ‘Kat’s over there.’ He pointed. ‘He must’ve been talking to her, watching us jump.’

‘Having fun, are we? You and Sam enjoying yourselves with the rookie?’ Jake yelled.

‘Nice to see you too, Jake,’ said Joh

‘Don’t give a shit. Like I’m going to listen to Sam. His judgement’s totally out. He’s losing it in his old age.’

‘Come on, Eth,’ said Joh

Jake stepped in front, blocking their way; nodded at Ethan. ‘He my replacement?’

‘What’s going on with you, Jake?’ asked Joh

‘I’m asking if this rookie is my replacement; if Sam’s eyeing him for jumping with the team.’

‘No idea what Sam’s thinking,’ said Joh

‘I remember all right,’ said Jake, getting up close. ‘I remember how you were always his favourite. Is that what this is? Another little Joh

‘Hey,’ said Ethan. ‘Leave it.’

Joh

Jake pushed him, and Ethan stepped in. ‘I said leave it.’

‘Look, head back to the hangar,’ said Joh