DropZone

5

The morning was coming to a close and the sky, which had been clear, was now clouding over. Ethan was helping to move some tandem skydiving rigs into the hangar. They were heavier and more bulky than a normal rig, and with one on his back and one in his arms, he was moving a little awkwardly.

Unable to use his hands thanks to the weight he was carrying in front of him, Ethan turned round to push backwards through the hangar door. But on his way through he backed right into a girl in skydiving kit coming the other way.

‘Hey! Watch it!’ she yelled, jumping out of Ethan’s path. Ethan had too much momentum to stop, and her abrupt shout made him jump and lose his balance. Before he knew it, he’d stumbled through the door, tripped over his own feet and landed on the floor, sprawling like a beetle on its back, legs and arms flailing.

He looked up. The owner of the voice looked down. She was laughing and she was gorgeous.

‘Hi,’ said Ethan, none too impressed with himself for behaving like a complete idiot in front of this girl. She looked as if she was about his own age.

‘Here,’ she said, reaching out a hand and hauling him to his feet with surprising strength.

‘Cheers,’ he said.

‘No worries,’ the girl replied. ‘You just owe me one, that’s all.’ She smiled. ‘I’m Kat. I’m guessing you’re Ethan, right? Sam’s new squaddie?’

‘I’m not in the forces,’ said Ethan, but Kat grinned and cut him off.

‘It’s what we call anyone Sam brings in new to the centre,’ she told him. ‘It’s because he generally has you running around for the first few weeks doing everything he says, like he’s forgotten he’s not actually in the army any more. Has he got you doing press-ups yet?’

Ethan didn’t quite know how to answer that.

‘Joke!’ said Kat, and laughed.

The sound of her laughter bounced around the hangar. Ethan stared. His first guess had been right: definitely his age. She was slightly shorter than him – he guessed about five foot eight – and wore her long blonde hair pulled back in a tight and perfect ponytail. She was dressed in exactly the same outfit he’d seen Johnny wearing when he was jumping. But it looked better on her. A lot better.

‘Don’t speak much, do you?’ said Kat, pulling her hair out of the ponytail and shaking it loose.

‘No, er, sorry,’ said Ethan, trying not to stare, which was pretty difficult. He smiled. ‘You just jumped?’

Kat nodded. ‘Practising some four-way formation stuff with the team.’

‘You jump with Johnny?’ asked Ethan, guessing that they were in the same outfits for a reason.

‘Yeah,’ Kat said. ‘You know him?’

Ethan nodded. ‘He did a BASE jump off the block of flats where I live. He’s kind of the reason I’ve ended up working here, I guess.’

Kat smiled. ‘Always likes to make an impression, does Johnny, good or bad. You up for a coffee?’

‘Can’t,’ said Ethan as he quickly jogged over to put the rigs down in the place Sam had shown him. He grabbed his bag. ‘But I’m going to be helping Nancy out for the rest of the day so I’ll walk over to the café with you.’

‘Cool,’ said Kat, pulling the hangar door open. ‘After you.’

‘Thanks,’ said Ethan.

‘I wasn’t being polite,’ Kat explained. ‘It’s just safer if you go first.’

Ethan saw a teasing smile flicker across her face.

‘Cloud’s coming in,’ she said, looking up at the sky outside. ‘No one’s gonna be jumping for a while. Which means you and Nancy will be busy.’

‘Busy’s better than bored,’ said Ethan as they headed for the café. ‘Way better.’

‘Fair point,’ said Kat. ‘So when are you going to jump? You can’t really work here and be taken seriously if you’re only a spectator, can you?’

Ethan reached into his bag and pulled out the forms Sam had given him a couple of days earlier. He hadn’t been able to catch up with his mum since the run-in with his dad.

‘Sam gave me these,’ he said, showing Kat the crumpled forms. ‘Just haven’t had a chance to talk to my mum and get them signed.’

‘You’re not putting it off, are you?’

Ethan shook his head, slipping the forms back into his pocket. ‘No way,’ he said. ‘Not when it’s free. I couldn’t afford to do it otherwise.’

‘So Sam’s doing the jump with you, is he?’

Ethan nodded. ‘It’s not like I had any choice in it. He just gave me the forms, told me I was doing a tandem with him, and walked off.’

Kat laughed out loud. ‘You must’ve made an impression,’ she said. ‘He doesn’t do that for just anyone. Anyway, you’ll love it, trust me. It’s just one of those things you have to do before you die, simple as that.’

Before I die? thought Ethan. Well, that puts it in perspective.

‘And if Nancy can do it, so can you.’

‘ Nancy?’ said Ethan, stopping dead halfway through the doorway to the café. ‘ Nancy did a jump?’

‘Too right! You should’ve seen her face afterwards!’

‘But, Nancy…’ said Ethan. ‘It just doesn’t seem…’

Kat turned to him and leaned in conspiratorially. ‘She reckons that that one jump has got her more action than she’s ever had in her whole life! Apparently it’s the perfect way to impress men!’

Ethan laughed and headed over to the counter, then turned at the sound of the café door bursting open behind him. A guy stood in the doorway, his hands raised in the air like he was some kind of returning dignitary. He was wearing the same outfit as Kat and Johnny; another team member, Ethan guessed.

‘It’s OK, everyone, I’m here,’ the guy said, a smug smile slapped across his face. ‘You can all relax.’

Ethan couldn’t help but notice that no one in the café seemed in any way interested in whoever this idiot was.

‘That’s Jake,’ said Kat as the figure turned, winked and strutted over. When he reached Kat, he rested his arm on her shoulder like he was doing her a favour. They were clearly an item – though Ethan noticed that she seemed to shrink a little, like a candle fighting to stay alight. Not that Jake noticed. All he seemed to care about was whether everyone else was watching him.

‘Hey, babe,’ said Jake loudly to Kat. ‘Missed me? Course you have!’

Kat nodded and sort of smiled as Jake leaned over to kiss her cheek. ‘This is Ethan,’ she said, gesturing towards him.

The look Jake gave him wasn’t exactly friendly.

‘Oh, the new boy,’ he said dismissively, addressing Kat as though Ethan didn’t exist. ‘Busy tonight?’ he asked, moving in to nibble her ear.

She shook her head, pulled away from him a little, and shrugged.

‘You are now,’ said Jake. ‘We’re out tonight. Just you and me. I’ve got a table booked. I’ll pick you up in the Porsche. It’s gonna be amazing, trust me!’ He leaned in for another kiss.

‘You own a Porsche?’ said Ethan, not quite believing what he’d heard. Jake looked no older than Johnny. How the hell could he own a Porsche?

Jake glanced at him, nodded, then turned back to Kat, pulling her close.

‘Ethan’s going to do a jump too – aren’t you, Ethan?’ said Kat, smiling. ‘Sam’s got him working all over the centre.’ She gave a laugh, but it didn’t sound quite as happy and full of life as the last time Ethan had heard it.

Jake released Kat, and this time he looked Ethan up and down like he was really checking him out. Then he shook his head. ‘Great,’ he said. ‘That’s all we need; another rookie in the sky.’

‘I didn’t know people were born skydiving,’ Ethan retorted, before his brain kicked in to tell him to keep his mouth shut.

‘You what?’ said Jake.

He shrugged. ‘We’ve all got to start somewhere, haven’t we? I mean, I know it’s hard to believe, but I guess even you had to do a first jump once upon a time.’

Ethan saw Jake’s eyes narrow as he came closer, until there were just inches between them. ‘You haven’t even jumped yet. What would you know about anything?’ he said icily.

Ethan suddenly felt very sure that he and Jake hadn’t just got off on the wrong foot, but were about to use those feet to kick each other round the café – but then Johnny strolled in and put his arm round Kat.

‘I see you’ve met some of the team,’ he said easily, grinning at Ethan. ‘Natalya’s disappeared again, but she does that. And Luke’s around somewhere. Probably ironing the creases in his forehead.’

Kat laughed; Jake didn’t. But Johnny had drawn his attention away from Ethan and now he grabbed Kat again, dislodging Johnny’s arm.

Ethan smiled at Johnny. ‘I’m doing a tandem,’ he said, and just saying it felt completely amazing, like he’d taken a sudden and definite step into something that was completely different from the rest of his life. ‘Sam’s taking me. Perk of the job apparently.’

Jake shook his head, but Johnny buzzed at this. ‘That’s awesome!’ he said. ‘You’ll love it! When’s the jump?’

Ethan shrugged. ‘Need to get the forms signed first, then I guess it’s just down to Sam. Does he always take new staff up for free?’

Jake frowned. ‘Sam’s losing it,’ he said. ‘I mean, it makes sense to take people like us up, but he can’t go around giving just anyone a free jump, can he? What’s wrong with him? Age getting to him? Gulf War Syndrome finally kicking in?’

‘I’m not complaining,’ said Ethan. ‘I can’t wait, to be honest.’ Then he turned and looked at Jake. ‘It’s not like you have to be superhuman, is it? Even Nancy ’s done it.’

Jake opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything Kat pulled him away, turning back to wink at Ethan. ‘Well, you certainly know how to make friends and influence people, don’t you?’ she said softly before following Jake out of the café.

Ethan looked over at Johnny, who laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. ‘Don’t worry about Jake,’ he said. ‘He can’t help being a total dick.’

Ethan laughed. ‘So what’s with him and Kat then?’ he asked, thinking that they just didn’t seem right together. ‘And what’s with the attitude and the need to mention the Porsche?’

‘Jake’s deluded,’ Johnny told him. ‘Bit of a tosser in most ways really. Thinks he owns everything he can see, including people. And he loves everyone to know just how rich he is.’

‘And he and Kat…?’

Johnny shook his head. ‘They’ve a history, that’s all. Doesn’t make sense to anyone, least of all me.’

‘Why’s that?’

Johnny grinned, his eyes glinting. ‘What, with me around? How does he even get a look in?’

Ethan was about to reply when Nancy called over from the serving hatch. She was running low on chips – would he be a love and nip round the back to get some out of the freezer.

Ethan made his way outside. Johnny followed, jumped on his motorbike, pulled on his helmet and kicked the engine into life.

‘See you tomorrow?’ said Ethan.

Johnny nodded, then spun his bike round and floored it.

Ethan watched as Johnny wheelied out of the centre, one-handed. He shook his head and smiled. Something told him that if he had a bike, he’d probably do just the same – or at least try it and fall off.

Overhead, the clouds started to break and the sky cleared. Ethan breathed in deeply. He felt happy, but it was more than that. Now that he was doing a tandem skydive he felt like he belonged. He had a reason to be there at FreeFall; a purpose.

And Sam had given it to him.