DropZone

21

‘Everything OK?’

Ethan put the radio to his mouth, pressed the button. ‘Yeah, Johnny,’ he said. ‘All quiet down here. You?’

‘We’re at the antenna,’ said Johnny, his voice crackly on the radio. ‘Kat’s looking nervous though. Don’t know if she’s up for this. Might spew.’

Ethan heard the distinct sound of someone being punched.

‘Scratch that,’ said Johnny. ‘She’s fine.’

Ethan laughed. ‘You’re both nuts – you know that, don’t you?’

‘You love it,’ said Johnny. ‘Cutting radio contact now. I’m going to throw the rope up. If all goes well, we’ll be grabbing air in less than ten minutes.’

‘Good luck,’ said Ethan, but Johnny was gone. He turned to The Dude. ‘Got any binos?’

The Dude reached into his pocket. ‘Here,’ he said. ‘You’ll just be able to make them out against the night sky as it’s so clear.’

Ethan put the binos to his eyes. For a moment he saw nothing, just a blur of shadows as he tried to find the antenna. Then he found it, tracked up the ladder and soon spotted Johnny and Kat. ‘These are amazing,’ he said, stunned by how much he could see in the dark.

‘They’ve got some kind of special night-vision system or coating or something,’ said The Dude. ‘Johnny gave them to me.’

‘Where’d he get them?’

‘Sam, I think. Pretty cool, huh?’

Ethan nodded. They were very cool indeed. He kept the binos trained on Johnny and Kat. They had now reached the tiny platform Johnny had mentioned. Ethan had no idea how high they were, but he did know it was high enough to kill them if something went wrong.

‘You see them?’ asked The Dude.

‘At the platform,’ said Ethan. ‘Camera not making them out?’

‘Too dark,’ said The Dude. ‘Should be able to get something when they jump, though. They’ll be visible against the sky then. At the moment they’re just blurs against the antenna.’

Ethan kept watching. He could see Kat now; she was at the edge of the platform. Johnny looked like he was giving her a final prep talk. Ethan wondered what he was saying, how Kat was feeling. He loved the adrenaline of skydiving, but he knew that it was pretty safe – that he had a reserve canopy if necessary. Hell, it had already saved him once! But BASE jumping didn’t have that. And yet, in spite of all the danger – or maybe because of it – he couldn’t help wanting to try it for himself.

He watched as Kat turned away from Johnny – and jumped.

‘Kat’s gone!’ he said. ‘She’s-’ He broke off as he heard the distinctive crack of a canopy grabbing air. ‘Bloody hell! She’s done it!’

‘Awesome!’ yelled The Dude.

Ethan heard a whoop that took him straight back to the first time he’d seen Johnny BASE jumping. He pulled his binos from Kat, spotted Johnny, went back to Kat. She was coming in to land now. Ethan watched her touch down, heard her scream, saw her punch the air – and felt a little jealous…

The Dude was still filming Johnny, who’d just touched down near Kat.

‘They’re on their way,’ Ethan told him. ‘Look pretty happy with themselves, don’t they?’

‘Totally,’ said The Dude. ‘Unreal.’

Ethan lowered his binos as Johnny and Kat jogged over, carrying their canopies. He could see a wildness in their eyes – Kat was babbling in excitement.

‘What did it look like?’ she was asking Johnny. ‘I thought I’d messed up, but then the canopy opened, and next thing I was just gliding down. It was un-bloody-believable! Eth, you’ve got to do it! You just have to!’

‘You know, I think she enjoyed it,’ said Ethan, smiling.

‘It’s the effect I have on women,’ said Johnny. ‘It’s a burden, but I deal with it.’

Kat leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

‘No time for that,’ said The Dude. ‘Need to go.’ And he turned back towards the van, started jogging.

Ethan looked at Johnny and Kat. ‘You two need a hand with anything?’

‘We’re fine,’ said Kat. ‘More than fine. I just want to get back and see what it all looked like on film! Come on!’

Ethan watched her head off after The Dude.

‘What have I done?’ asked Johnny, shaking his head.

‘Created a monster, I think,’ said Ethan with a laugh.

They jogged back to the van. Ethan and Kat piled into the back while Johnny and The Dude climbed into the front.

‘Always thought you’d fit in,’ Johnny told Ethan. ‘The team feels right with you in it.’

‘I’m not sure I’m part of the team yet,’ said Ethan. ‘Not till I can jump in formation with you.’

‘Oh, you’re part of the team all right,’ said Johnny. ‘Otherwise you wouldn’t be here. It was Kat who suggested it.’

‘Really?’

Kat nodded. ‘You’re in, Ethan. No doubt about it.’

Ethan beamed. He couldn’t help it. The grin spread across his face and refused to leave.

‘You OK with that?’ asked Johnny. ‘I only ask because you don’t look too sure.’

Everybody laughed.

Suddenly there was a flash of headlights and Ethan saw a Porsche come speeding round the bend. Then he heard the police sirens.

They all did.