DropZone (7 page)

Ethan was about to respond when a voice shot across the café.

‘Jake!’

Everyone fell silent.

Sam was standing in the archway leading from the café to the bar area.

‘Hey, Sam!’ Jake grinned. ‘Everything’s cool, man. Had it all under control. And the rush – you haven’t skydived till you’ve flown that close to wiping out! It was just awesome!’

Sam came over. He towered over the gang, his shadow falling across Jake.

‘My office. Now.’

Jake opened his mouth to reply.

‘Now, Jake,’ said Sam. ‘
Now
.’

And seeing the look on Sam’s face – even though he wasn’t the one being called into his office – Ethan felt sick.

When Jake had left with Sam, Johnny flicked a glance at the rest of the gang. ‘Dead man walking,’ he said flatly.

No one argued.

8

Ethan heard Jake before he saw him. The crack of Sam’s office door slamming split the air.

Ethan turned, saw Jake storming towards him.

‘Rookie!’

Kat stood up and tried to stop him, but he pushed her out of the way and walked straight up to Ethan.

Ethan didn’t flinch. He’d never been one for backing down from anyone. It had got him knocked around a few times at school, but he didn’t care. Running away wasn’t part of his character.

Jake shoved Ethan in the chest. ‘I’m going to make you pay for this, Rookie . . .’

Ethan said nothing, did nothing. He just stood there, waiting to see what Jake would do next.

‘You hear me?’ said Jake as Kat tried to pull him away. ‘You did this. All you had to do was keep your stupid mouth shut – that’s all! You prick!’

Johnny and Luke walked over and stood between Ethan and Jake.

‘That’s it,’ said Johnny, looking straight at Jake. ‘Outside. Calm down. Now.’

Jake turned on Johnny. ‘Don’t tell me what to do, you shit!’ he screamed, and Ethan could see he was losing control.

Luke stepped in. ‘Jake, just do what Johnny suggested. Go outside and calm it.’ Then he looked at Ethan. ‘You, walk away,’ he said.

Ethan nodded and turned back towards the counter. He figured it made more sense to let this one lie than help things get out of hand. He wanted the job and he wanted the tandem, and he knew Sam wouldn’t look kindly on a fight at FreeFall.

Johnny and Luke stood firmly in Jake’s way and Kat finally managed to get him to leave the café, taking him by the arm and dragging him out.

Johnny looked at Ethan. ‘Kat was right about you,’ he said, a smile breaking through the seriousness of the moment. ‘You really do know how to make friends and influence people, don’t you?’

‘But I didn’t do anything,’ protested Ethan. ‘And what was all that about? What happened? What’s Sam done?’

Johnny and Luke sat back down at the table. Natalya hadn’t moved, but now she leaned forward and looked up.

‘The only thing he can do,’ she said. ‘If someone makes a stupid mistake like that out on the DZ, then they are grounded until they’ve learned better. With Jake, it should have happened sooner. I have never trusted him. He is too wild. Too obsessed with himself. Even more so than Johnny.’

‘Oh, you hurt me with your words,’ Johnny groaned.

‘What do you mean, grounded?’ said Ethan. ‘Kept inside for a week and not allowed to see his friends? Sam’s not your dad!’

‘No, he’s not,’ said Luke, ‘but what he says goes. Jake won’t be allowed to jump for a few weeks.’

‘You serious?’

‘Sam is always serious about this kind of thing,’ said Natalya. ‘Being grounded will give Jake time to sort himself out, get his priorities straight. And it will keep him out of the air while he is still considered a liability.’

‘Yeah,’ Johnny confirmed. ‘Sam will want to make sure Jake doesn’t do anything so stupid again. He’ll probably interview him before letting him jump too. Check he’s clued up enough on safety to be in the air. Jake will have to gen up on that stuff or Sam’ll kick him out for good.’

‘There would be no complaints from me,’ said Natalya. ‘I still cannot work out what Kat sees in him. She could do much better.’

Johnny gave a wink. ‘With someone like me, you mean?’

Natalya shot him one of her steely looks, but he just winked again and added a very large smile, all teeth.

‘Here’s Kat,’ said Luke, looking over at the door.

Her face was pale. She walked over, sat down, said nothing.

Natalya leaned over, concern etched on her face. ‘Kat?’

Nothing.

‘Come on, Kat,’ said Johnny. ‘Is it bad, really bad, or a full-on shit storm?’

Kat leaned back in her chair, hands on her head. ‘Sam’s not only grounded Jake for three months,’ she said, ‘he’s kicked him off the team. He’s out. Permanently.’

At this, Ethan heard everyone swear. Everyone but Natalya. She simply sat back in her chair, folded her arms and shook her head. But her eyes never left Kat, and Ethan could see she was concerned for her friend.

‘Great,’ said Johnny, and Ethan was surprised to hear disappointment in his voice. ‘Jake finally ruined it for all of us.’

‘What if Sam changes his mind when he calms down?’ said Ethan, and realized as the words left his mouth how crazy they sounded. He’d not worked for Sam that long, but it was already obvious that he was not the kind of person to go back on a decision.

‘He won’t,’ said Luke, confirming Ethan’s thoughts. ‘When Sam draws a line under something, he makes it clear exactly where it is. You cross it and you’re out. No appeal. Nothing. Sam’s word is law.’

Ethan looked at Kat. She was just sitting there shaking her head.

‘Jake didn’t want to talk about it,’ she said. ‘Not even to me.’ Then she turned to Ethan and he could see just how upset she was. ‘Why didn’t you just keep quiet? Why did you have to go and tell Sam about it?’

‘I told you – I didn’t,’ said Ethan. ‘Sam was there with me. He told me it was Jake. I didn’t know what was happening.’

But Kat wasn’t really listening. ‘You’ve ruined everything,’ she said, standing up and pushing her chair away. It skidded for a minute, caught a hole in the floor, flipped.

‘Don’t talk crap,’ said Johnny. ‘Jake did this to himself. You know he’s a liability.’

‘Whatever,’ said Kat.

‘It’s true, Kat. He’s more bothered about how he looks up there – whether I’ve got his good side on camera – than anything to do with safety. We’ve all thought it, so don’t kid yourself.’

‘Looking good?’ said Kat, turning on Johnny. ‘You of all people should know about that being a major priority!’

‘I look good because up there I do everything by the letter,’ said Johnny, sounding serious for once. ‘I certainly don’t put you guys at risk. Ever.’

Kat started to say something, but then just turned and walked out. The café door slammed behind her as she left.

‘I thought that all went rather well,’ said Johnny, grimacing. ‘Pity we’re now utterly screwed.’

‘How’s that then?’ asked Ethan.

Johnny sighed, and Ethan looked over at Luke, who just shrugged. Everyone seemed very downbeat.

‘Can’t believe the same thing’s happened again,’ said Johnny. ‘Do you think we’ll ever make a full team?’

‘It is not quite the same this time, though, is it?’ said Natalya. ‘Jake did not just disappear without trace.’

Ethan rested his tray on the table and stared at Natalya. ‘What do you mean? Who disappeared?’ He saw Johnny and Luke glance at her.

Johnny leaned forward, folded his hands, looked serious (serious didn’t really suit him, thought Ethan). ‘It’s nothing,’ he said. ‘We lost a member of our crew a few months back. Jake was trying out as the replacement.’

‘So what happened to him?’ asked Ethan. ‘Why did he disappear?’

Natalya opened her mouth to speak, but Luke got in first.

‘Nothing that mysterious,’ he said. ‘It just didn’t work out. One day he was here, the next he wasn’t.’

‘And we’ve never heard anything from him since,’ finished Johnny. He grinned. ‘I think he was intimidated by my amazing talent.’

Something about Natalya’s expression told Ethan he wasn’t getting the whole story. She had a distant look, like she was staring through Johnny, rather than at him, but she didn’t argue. And Ethan didn’t see any point in prying further. Hell, if Jake was their second team member to go, they were allowed to be a bit pissed off and weird about it.

It was a few moments before anyone said anything more. The silence felt awkward, and Ethan didn’t fancy being the one to spark a conversation, so he cleared and cleaned a couple of empty tables.

At last Natalya spoke. ‘We will just have to deal with it,’ she said. ‘It is not the end of the world.’

‘Not for you maybe,’ said Johnny.

‘Not for any of us,’ replied Natalya. ‘Jake was not safe, he took risks – we all knew that. Now he is gone and that is a good thing.’

Johnny and Luke were silent.

‘Sam really does rule this place, doesn’t he?’ said Ethan.

‘Totally,’ said Luke. ‘He’ll never see Jake as reliable now. And on a team you have to be. It’s vital. Everyone’s depending on you up there. It’s not a place to get complacent. Mess up in a formation or a stack? That’s what kills skydivers. It’s never the equipment. It’s always human error.’

‘Or stupidity,’ said Johnny.

Silence.

But it was so loud, it was deafening.

‘It is down to Sam,’ said Natalya, finally breaking the silence. ‘It is his call. We have to trust his decision. We all know that.’

‘But that’s just it, isn’t it?’ said Johnny. ‘We
do
trust his decision. Which means we’re screwed because we now don’t have enough members to make up a skydiving team.’ He leaned over the table and raised a glass. ‘Here’s to Jake – who ruined everything by being a tit.’

9

It was late afternoon. After the incident with Jake the day before, Ethan was happy it had all been fairly quiet. He was just getting onto his bike to head home when the sound of footsteps on gravel made him turn. A man wearing sunglasses and an expensive-looking dark suit had emerged from a black saloon car and was striding towards the café. He was younger than Sam, older than Luke – probably mid thirties. And his blond hair was swept back. He looked like an accountant, albeit one with a sense of style.

Sam came out of the café and shook the man’s hand, then turned and spotted Ethan. Sam said something to the man, nodded, then came over.

‘Ethan,’ he said. ‘Good day?’

Ethan nodded, and noticed that the man in the suit was still looking at him.

‘Excellent,’ said Sam. ‘And it’s about to get a whole lot better. You jump today.’

Ethan hesitated. It wasn’t that he didn’t feel up to it; it had just taken him by surprise. He shook his head a little to clear his mind, to think about what Sam had just said.

‘Having second thoughts?’

Ethan shook his head again, realizing Sam had misinterpreted his hesitation. ‘No,’ he said. No way was he backing out. He wanted to be like Johnny and the rest of the team. He wanted to be that good. And it was the first time in his life he’d felt this strongly about anything.

‘Then follow me.’ Sam headed off towards the hangar without another word.

As Ethan followed him, he noticed that the man in the suit was still looking at him, his sunglasses revealing nothing but reflected sky. Then Ethan was through the hangar doors and any thoughts as to who the man in the suit was were gone. This was it: he was about to skydive.

No one else was around. The last group to jump were now waiting outside for the minibus to take them to the plane.

‘Sit. Watch,’ said Sam, pointing at the TV in front of a row of plastic chairs. The screen flickered and Ethan sat down. He’d spent every day since taking the job watching people skydive. He’d heard them talk about it, scream about it, cry about it. He’d even caught bits of the DVD he was about to watch. From first jumpers to seasoned skydivers, they’d all passed through the café, the reception, the shop. And there was one thing he’d realized above all else: skydiving was ninety-five per cent waiting and five per cent adrenaline. If the conditions weren’t right, no one jumped.

Today the conditions were right.

The TV was showing a tandem jump. Over a thumping rock soundtrack, the camera panned out from the buckle on a parachute harness to reveal an excited twenty-something girl. She gave a thumbs-up. The scene cut to the interior of a plane, the girl sitting quietly, seriously, between the legs of her instructor – who was smiling and acting very relaxed. Next scene they were sitting at the open door of the plane, feet dangling out, 12,000 feet up in the air. The girl was still sitting between the legs of her instructor and had her head back. He nodded at the camera, and then they jumped. The camera turned blue, spun, then focused on the girl. Ethan couldn’t work out if she was actually smiling or if the wind was just pushing her face into an impression of The Joker. Finally the instructor looked at the camera, crossed his arms, then pulled a cable and disappeared. The film finished with the girl on the ground, leaping around and screaming.

‘Simple, really,’ said Sam as the film ended. ‘You’ll love it. Trust me.’

Ethan glanced up at him. He looked as imposing as ever, but Ethan could see that he meant every word. Not just about loving the tandem he was about to do, but about trusting him.

‘How many times have you jumped?’ Ethan asked.

‘I’ve lost count,’ said Sam. ‘I went over the four thousand mark years ago.’

There was no bragging in what he said. It was just simple fact. Ethan was in the presence of a man utterly unlike anyone he’d ever met before. Sam seemed scary at first, but Ethan had come to realize that there was a lot more to him than the rough, tough exterior. He really cared about those who jumped at FreeFall. And he especially cared about Johnny and the rest of his team.