DropZone

‘What are you talking about?’ asked Ethan. ‘What job? What’s been arranged?’

‘My apologies,’ said Gabe, turning to Ethan. ‘We had pla

Ethan looked round at the rest of the team, his gaze finally settling on Joh

For a few minutes – while Gabe spoke privately with the rest of the team – Ethan was left on his own to wonder what the hell was going on. Looking back, he could see how certain things had been strange from the start. The free tandem jump had seemed a fantastic and unexpected perk of the job, but now he saw there was more to it than that. Had Sam actually used it to see just how he’d respond in the air? Had Sam been watching him, assessing him from the moment he’d walked in to take the job? Had he already been thinking about a replacement for Jake?

But a replacement for what exactly? All Ethan knew was that Joh

And now here they all were, on a private flight, with Gabe talking about a ‘top priority’ job and ‘sending’ them in. It all sounded top secret, military. Was Sam still in the military in some way – some top-secret, military intelligence kind of way? Or was that too far-fetched?

The huddle broke up and Gabe came over. ‘Joh

Joh

‘No shit,’ said Ethan.

‘We’re not your average skydiving team.’

Ethan wasn’t in the mood for games. He wanted to know what was going on and he wanted to know now. He’d guessed much of it, but he needed to hear it for real. ‘Forget the cryptic bullshit, Joh

‘First off,’ said Joh

‘I thought he was going to meet us at the competition,’ said Ethan.

‘The competition’s a cover,’ Joh

‘Just in case of what?’ asked Ethan.

Joh

‘He wants me to be part of the team,’ said Ethan, voicing his own conclusion. ‘I’m not stupid. I always thought it was odd that someone paid for me to do the AFF. It was Gabe, wasn’t it? Sam told him about me, and Gabe somehow came up with the cash to put me through.’

Joh

‘And it was Sam who put me up for this?’

Joh

‘Keep talking,’ said Ethan.

‘Look, let’s just say we’ve had our eye on you from the start. From the moment you did your tandem jump, Sam had us watching you. All of us.’

‘You’ve been spying on me?’

‘Not spying,’ said Joh

‘That makes me feel so much better.’

‘And so it should,’ snapped Joh

‘He disappeared?’ said Ethan.

‘Yeah – though it didn’t change the fact that he wasn’t good enough. But that’s another story.’

‘You’re not even past the first chapter of this one,’ said Ethan. ‘Tell me more about Gabe and MI5.’

‘Can’t,’ said Joh

‘You’d better.’

‘Seriously, I can’t. That’s down to Sam and Gabe. I’m not at liberty to divulge that information.’

‘ You don’t even understand some of the words you just used.’

‘What gave it away?’ Joh

Ethan opened his mouth, shut it again. Then said, ‘HAHO?’

‘High Altitude, High Opening,’ Joh

‘So I’ve a choice in this?’ asked Ethan. He really didn’t like the fact that so much had been going on behind his back. But at the same time he was psyched. Skydiving had changed his life, made him realize he could do something radically different to everyone else. And what Joh

‘You’ve always got a choice,’ said Joh

‘I guess so. In a way…’ said Ethan thoughtfully. ‘But it’s what I’ve selected myself for that’s the problem. I’m not sure I understand exactly what it is.’

‘I’ve told you everything I can,’ said Joh

Ethan sat back in his seat and, despite a strong urge to just say Count me in, decided to play devil’s advocate. ‘What if I say no? What then?’

‘We drug you and you wake up back home, stinking of booze.’

Ethan frowned. He couldn’t tell if Joh

‘Eth, mate,’ said Joh

Ethan already knew he wanted to be involved. He wanted it more than anything he’d ever wanted in his whole life. But he needed to be sure he’d thought it over fully. What he decided now would change everything. This was no longer just a hobby; something fun to do that sounded cool and sexy when you told girls about it. This was a career, a whole new life – important, exciting and very, very dangerous.