DropZone

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 U s 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 the 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.

‘Sorted,’ said Johnny. ‘Now here’s what we’re gonna do.’

Ethan drew closer; he wasn’t going to miss a chance to learn something from his friend.

‘Kat and I are going to peg it over to the antenna. Then we’ll climb as quickly as we can to the highest point and jump. Dude, you’re on filming duty. Ethan – you keep a watch out. If we get spotted, we’re in the shit.’

Ethan nodded.

Johnny pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to him. ‘Two-way radio,’ he explained. ‘If there’s a problem, you tell us and we bolt. Right?’

Ethan nodded again. It was a skill he’d mastered since turning up at FreeFall.

‘It’s just a simple press-’n’-talk job,’ Johnny told him, pointing at the large black button on the side of the radio. ‘It’s quicker than a mobile. Saves time if you don’t have to tap in a phone number.’ He turned to Kat. ‘A ladder leads up the antenna, but it starts about seven metres off the ground. We’ll use this to get up to that point…’

He opened a rucksack and revealed a thick knotted rope with a three-pronged grappling hook attached to the end of it. Ethan wondered where he’d found the hook – it looked pretty deadly.

‘The ladder is enclosed all the way up to a small platform. You go first, Kat, and I’ll follow. OK?’

Kat nodded, and Ethan saw her shift from foot to foot.

‘When you jump, you know what to do. We’ve practised this plenty of times.’

‘Is it different from jumping out of a plane?’ asked Ethan.

‘You jump from a plane at speed,’ said Johnny, ‘so your canopy grabs air immediately. BASE jumping’s different. You’re starting from a stationary position and your canopy won’t grab enough air until you’ve picked up speed.’

He turned to Kat. ‘We’ll be fine with this. We’re jumping from one of the highest points in the country. Just make sure that when you jump, you get yourself far enough away from the antenna for your canopy to deploy safely. And throw your drogue chute out straight away; it needs to pull your canopy out asap.’

‘Isn’t the drogue chute packed with the canopy?’ said Ethan. ‘I thought it came out when you pulled the ripcord.’

‘Not when you’re BASE jumping,’ said Johnny. ‘Do that and the delay would have you bouncing before the main canopy had even been fully deployed. For this, you have it in your hand and chuck it out as soon as you jump. That way it pulls the canopy out straight away.’

‘Makes sense,’ said Ethan. ‘As much as jumping off a huge aerial can ever make sense,’ he added.

He glanced over at Kat. ‘Are you sure about this?’ he asked her. ‘I mean, it’s not like I’m there to jump out after you and pull your reserve.’

Kat smiled. ‘Totally,’ she said. ‘And I can’t expect you to be there every time I jump, can I? You’re not Superman!’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ said Ethan, hiding a smile.

‘Anyway,’ said Kat, ‘Johnny knows what he’s doing and so do I. Nothing will go wrong.’

‘I know,’ said Ethan. ‘Johnny’s the best there is.’

‘I’m pretty damned good myself, Ethan.’

‘Sorry, I wasn’t… I mean… Look…’

Kat laughed at his discomfort. ‘It’s fine. Don’t worry. I’ll be golden. Johnny’s done so many BASE jumps he’s lost count, and we’ve practised loads. OK?’

Ethan nodded.

‘Thanks for the concern though,’ she said, and winked.

Ethan turned and saw that The Dude had switched on the video camera. ‘Eth,’ he said, ‘you’re on film, man! Is this a rush or what?’

Ethan grinned. OK, so he was just watching, but the atmosphere was electric, like the air was crackling with the energy of what was about to happen.

‘Dude? Eth? See you in a few minutes,’ said Johnny. ‘Kat – let’s do this thing!’

Ethan watched Johnny and Kat march off into the dark towards the antenna; he was still thinking about what Johnny had said. He’d never given the whole issue of grabbing air much thought before. He’d always figured BASE jumping was much like skydiving – just from much closer to earth. But now he realized it really didn’t allow any room for error. If Kat didn’t pick up enough speed in those first few seconds, if she didn’t grab enough air, then that was it.

Game over.