DropZone Read online

Ethan looked at his mum. He knew it was a desperate attempt on her part to get Dad interested in something other than drink – to maybe share a bit of what being a family was about. He loved her for it. He also knew it wouldn’t work.

  ‘You? In France?’ said his dad, and laughed. ‘And how are you affording that then, eh? Because I’m not bloody paying for it, that’s for sure.’

  ‘It’s paid for,’ said Ethan, determined to remain calm, if only for the sake of his mum and Jo. ‘There’s a skydiving competition. Sam’s organized the tickets.’

  ‘Sam?’ said his dad, pushing himself away from the door and stumbling forward a little. ‘You teacher’s pet now, is that it?’

  ‘The whole team’s going,’ Ethan said steadily. ‘All expenses paid.’ He watched as his dad just stood there, speechless. It was like he could actually see him trying to think of something to say.

  ‘You couldn’t pay me to go to that place,’ his dad muttered eventually. ‘All that foreign food and crap. Bloody awful. Never been abroad – never want to.’ He shuffled forward and dropped onto the sofa.

  Ethan felt unbelievably calm. For once, even his dad couldn’t rile him. He smiled. ‘Yeah, right,’ he said. ‘Or is it that I’m doing something you’ve never had the balls to do and you hate it.’

  ‘Who’d want to jump out of a plane?’ said his dad, laughing and switching on the TV. But Ethan could hear how forced his laughter was.

  ‘You should try it,’ he said. ‘I’ll get Sam to do a tandem with you.’ Then he smiled again. ‘Oh, actually that wouldn’t work. You have to be fit and healthy to do a jump – so that’s you screwed, isn’t it?’

  His dad looked up at him. ‘You’ve turned into a right cocky little shit, you know that?’ he snarled. ‘And I can still knock it out of you.’

  Ethan heard his mum murmur, ‘Leave it now, Ethan, go on,’ but he had something else to say.

  ‘You’re a loser, Dad,’ he said evenly. ‘And you hate the fact that you haven’t been able to drag me down with you.’

  ‘I’m warning you . . .’

  Ethan looked at his dad and smiled. ‘Warning me? How?’ he demanded. ‘You’re pissed, Dad. You can’t even pull yourself out of that sofa.’

  His dad rolled himself onto the sofa arm to push himself to his feet. ‘I’m going to give you such a kicking, you little . . .’

  And as Ethan watched his dad struggle to stand up, he knew he would never have a hold over him again. ‘Really?’ he said, then he reached out, and with a gentle push sent his dad falling back onto the sofa.

  The last thing Ethan heard as he left the flat was his dad swearing and Jo’s stifled laughter.

  It was 2200 hours the following evening and they were all gathered in the hangar for the night jump.

  ‘Listen up. Here are your altimeters,’ said Sam, handing them out. ‘You’ll be using your usual audible ones as well, but these are back-lit, for obvious reasons . . . Torches,’ he went on, handing out small, rubberized ones. Ethan watched as the team clipped them to their jumpsuits.

  ‘The torches are so you can check your canopy in the dark,’ Johnny told him.

  ‘Everyone’s got their LEDs strapped to their legs,’ said Luke, looking at Sam. ‘And I’ve checked each one to make sure they’re regulation brightness.’

  ‘Regulation brightness?’ said Ethan. ‘Seriously?’

  Luke nodded. ‘They have to be visible for three miles in every direction – we’re not the only ones in the sky.’

  ‘Remember, everyone,’ said Sam, ‘we don’t want those things activated until we’re in the air.’ He then pulled something from his pocket. ‘The final bit of kit . . . Glow sticks.’

  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!’

  ‘You’re really beginning to sound like one of us, Eth,’ Johnny told him. ‘Be afraid. Be very afraid.’

  ‘Nothing I can do about it,’ said Ethan. ‘I absolutely bloody love it!’

  ‘Then there’s just one thing left for you to try,’ said Johnny.

  Ethan looked at him. ‘What?’

  ‘Your first BASE jump,’ said Johnny. ‘You can come along tomorrow night and watch if you like.’ Then he winked. ‘But don’t tell Sam.’

  20

  Ethan was waiting outside his block of flats; he recognized the van as soon as it turned into the road. It was the one he’d seen Johnny jump into when he’d first met him. Hell, that seemed so long ago now.

  The side door flew open.

  ‘Kat?’

  ‘Well spotted,’ said Kat. ‘Jump in. It’s not exactly luxurious, but there are a few rucksacks to sit on.’

  Ethan got in. Kat slid the door shut behind him and the van sped off, sending him onto his arse. He shuffled himself round into a sitting position.

  Johnny was peering over from the front seat. ‘You remember The Dude?’

  The driver waved back with his left hand, the little finger and thumb outstretched, the middle three fingers clenched.

  ‘He’s a legend in his own lifetime,’ said Johnny. ‘It’s his fault I got into BASE jumping in the first place.’

  ‘So you skydive then?’ asked Ethan.

  ‘Totally,’ said The Dude. ‘I’ve been out of the country for a while – otherwise you’d have seen me at FreeFall.’

  ‘He’s so mysterious . . .’ Johnny’s eyes were wide. ‘By out of the country he actually means lying on a beach in Goa.’

  The Dude laughed.

  Ethan looked at Kat. ‘He really calls himself that?’

  Kat rolled her eyes. ‘His favourite movie’s The Big Lebowski. Ever seen it? He watches it every week.’

  The Dude nodded, waved his hand again, accelerated as some traffic lights ahead turned from green to red.

  ‘Feeling OK?’ Johnny asked Kat.

  ‘I’m a little nervous,’ she replied.

  ‘Good,’ said Johnny. ‘I don’t want to do this with anyone who doesn’t get nervous.’

  The Dude reached for the stereo. ‘Time for some tunes,’ he said, drawling out the word ‘tunes’ as if it was spelled with at least a hundred Us and ended with ‘zaaaahhhh’.

  Music slammed into the van, turned up to the maximum. No one spoke, simply because you couldn’t hear anything above the music.

  A few miles down the road, and halfway through something that sounded like a drum kit being destroyed, The Dude turned the music down. ‘We’re being followed.’

  ‘Shut up,’ said Kat. ‘No one knows we’re doing this.’

  Johnny turned to The Dude. ‘Serious?’

  The Dude nodded. ‘Car’s been tailing us for the past few miles. I’ve slowed down a few times to give the driver a chance to overtake, but he’s just stayed behind.’

  ‘Maybe he’s just a nervous driver,’ said Ethan. ‘You know – doesn’t like overtaking at night or something. My mum’s like that.’

  ‘Nah, this is different,’ said The Dude. ‘I’m sure of it.’

  Kat looked up at Johnny.

  ‘See what happens if we pull over,’ he said. ‘Wait till you’re on a straight bit of road, then indicate and pull off the road, like we’re checking a map or someone’s getting out to take a piss or something.’

  A few moments later, The Dude pulled the van off the road, flicking his hazard lights on as they came to a standstill. A black hatchback zipped past at way above the speed limit, the exhaust growling angrily, so low that it caught the road, sending sparks scattering across the tarmac.

  ‘Idiot,’ said Kat, looking at the disappearing tail lights.

  Johnny turned to The Dude. ‘Did you get a look at the registration number?’

  He shook his head. ‘Must’ve been mistaken,’ he said, ‘but all the signs were there. Kept his speed on mine, and never overtook, even when I slowed.’

  ‘But who’d follow us?’ asked Ethan.

  Johnny sighed dramatically. ‘It was probably some of my more hardcore fans,’ he said. ‘They get so fractious if they’ve not touched me for a while.’

  ‘Did you really just use the word fractious?’ asked Kat.

  ‘And I hardly know what it means,’ said Johnny. ‘Sounded good though, didn’t it?’ He turned to The Dude. ‘OK to head on?’

  The Dude answered by easing the van back out onto t
he road. About fifteen minutes later he pulled into a lay-by.

  ‘This is it,’ said Johnny, looking over at Ethan and Kat.

  The Dude jumped out of the van and pulled open the side door.

  Ethan jumped out and watched as Kat and Johnny grabbed a rig each and clipped themselves in.

  ‘Follow me,’ said Johnny.

  The Dude locked the van and they trailed off into the dark.

  ‘We’re here,’ Johnny said after a hard ten-minute climb.

  Ethan stopped. ‘Where’s here exactly?’

  Johnny pointed at the view. It was fantastic. Rolling hills stretched away beneath them, dotted with specks of light. And stretching up into the sky above, just a couple of hundred metres from where they were standing, stood an enormous antenna.

  ‘You’re kidding,’ said Ethan. ‘You’re crazy.’

  ‘Right,’ said Johnny. ‘Kat? You ready?’

  Ethan looked at Kat, saw her nod nervously. It was the first time he’d ever seen her look even slightly unsure of herself.

  ‘First we check each other’s rigs,’ said Johnny.

  ‘I know that,’ Kat told him.

  ‘I know you know,’ he said. ‘But we’ll be doing everything by the letter tonight. There’s no second chance with this. OK?’

  Kat nodded and started to check Johnny’s rig.

  Ethan noticed that the rigs were much smaller than those he’d used. They were more like the size of a Raider.

  ‘What’s the difference between these rigs and the ones I’m used to?’ he asked, always keen to learn something new about the sport that had taken over his life.

  ‘These are BASE-specific rigs,’ said Johnny. ‘You can use converted rigs, but these are better.’

  ‘They look no bigger than a Raider,’ said Ethan.

  ‘They’re not,’ said Johnny, ‘but the difference is that these are low-aspect-ratio canopies – technical term which means they’re bloody reliable in the opening and stable in flight. Last thing you need on a BASE jump is some highly manoeuvrable canopy above you – it’ll swing you into a cliff before you know it.’

  ‘Right,’ said Ethan, and realized he had never seen Johnny so serious before. It was reassuring, but it didn’t quite make him wish he was Kat.