‘Thank you,’ she said, breaking the silence. ‘What you did, it was amazing.’
‘As Johnny would say – “I know,”’ replied Ethan.
‘I mean it. I’m alive because of you. I shouldn’t even be sitting here. I didn’t wake up until after I’d landed, and even then I had no idea what had happened. And now it seems you’re more injured than I am.’
‘I’m all right,’ said Ethan. ‘Just got to rest the arm for a few weeks, that’s all.’
‘What about skydiving?’
Ethan shrugged. ‘Don’t know,’ he said. ‘Just have to wait it out, I guess.’
‘That sucks,’ said Kat. ‘I’ll be in the air before you. That doesn’t seem right, seeing as it’s my fault you’re injured.’
‘Think you’ll be nervous?’
‘I’d be more nervous if I could never jump again,’ said Kat.
Ethan smiled. He wasn’t handling this well, and he knew it. He wasn’t cut out to be the hero. He’d just reacted, that was all; it was instinct.
‘I’m really sorry, Ethan,’ said Kat. ‘I was a cow to you before the jump and then I put your life at risk. Unbelievable.’
‘It’s OK. To be honest, I’m as stunned as you are by all this,’ said Ethan. And he was. It wasn’t like he’d planned any of it. Kat had fallen, he’d gone after her. At the time he hadn’t really thought about what he was doing. All he’d known was that he had to save Kat. And he’d done that. ‘I just jumped out after you,’ he told her. ‘You’d have done the same. Anyone would.’
Kat laughed. ‘You really think so?’
‘Sure,’ said Ethan. ‘I was just there at the time, that’s all. Anyway, how long do you have to stay here for?’
Kat shuffled slightly on the bed. ‘To be honest, I don’t actually need to be here at all. There’s not a scratch on me. They’re just keeping me in overnight for observation. I think it’s just because they like coming in to ask me about what happened. No one can really believe it.’
‘It’s quite a story, isn’t it?’ said Ethan, grinning. ‘You flying through the air unconscious, me flying in to save you. We’ll be on the front page of the newspapers before we know it.’
‘If you were Johnny, I’m pretty sure photographers and reporters would already be here,’ said Kat. ‘You know he’s not going to shut up about this for about a million years, don’t you?’
‘It’ll be fun to hear how the story gets exaggerated in the telling,’ said Ethan. ‘By the end of the week you’ll have been jumping without a parachute.’
They both laughed. Ethan couldn’t help feeling a little proud of what he’d done. Even Johnny hadn’t done anything like that – which was saying something. And as icebreakers went, having your life saved certainly seemed to work: Kat was being more friendly now than she’d ever been. The only bummer in the whole thing was that he wouldn’t be skydiving for a month. Skydiving had completely taken over his life. He lived it and breathed it. He spent every waking moment thinking about it, and at night he dreamed of falling through the sky with a big fat smile on his face. So what would he do with himself for the next four weeks?
‘You OK?’
Ethan looked at Kat. ‘Just thinking about the skydiving,’ he said. ‘Can’t believe I won’t be able to do it for four weeks. Seems like for ever.’
‘It’s not that long,’ said Kat. ‘Anyway, that’s not as long as Jake’s got to wait, is it?’
Ethan looked at her. ‘He’s only been banned from jumping at FreeFall. Sam can’t stop him jumping elsewhere, can he?’
‘No,’ said Kat, ‘but what he did can. Word gets round, Eth. And messing with rigs is the sin of all sins in skydiving.’
‘So he’s really screwed?’
Kat nodded. ‘Totally.’ She laughed. ‘Anyway, you’ve got more important things to worry about. Like your addiction.’
Ethan looked at her.
‘Johnny’s right about that. I can see it in your eyes,’ she continued. ‘Skydiving does this to people – takes them over completely. You’re addicted, Ethan. Join the club.’
Ethan grinned. ‘Nuts really, isn’t it? I’ve only been doing it for a few weeks, and look at me!’
‘Don’t knock it,’ said Kat. ‘When you find something that you not only love doing, but do well, it’s a great feeling. You’re lucky.’
‘We both are,’ said Ethan.
18
‘You’ve a face on you like a slapped arse,’ said Sam when he next saw Ethan at FreeFall. ‘How’s the shoulder?’
Ethan was back at work. His shoulder felt fine. All he could think about was the fact that he couldn’t jump. For four weeks. It bugged the hell out of him.
‘Fine,’ he replied. ‘Aches a little, that’s all.’ He moved his shoulder as if to prove a point, winced.
‘Yes, I can see how everything’s just fine,’ said Sam. ‘So listen.’
Ethan was struck by the purpose in his voice. It sounded like he had a plan.
‘You’re a damned good skydiver, Ethan. Don’t let your impatience ruin it. Give the shoulder enough time to heal and you’ll be back in the air. But if you don’t rest it, you’ll knacker it up completely. Don’t let that happen.’
Ethan nodded.
‘I mean it,’ said Sam. ‘Wind your neck in and deal with it. See this as an opportunity. Get to know the regulars better, read up on skydiving, get a better understanding of everything. Just because you’re not jumping doesn’t mean you have to stop learning. Right?’
‘Yeah,’ said Ethan.
‘And a warning . . . Don’t think for a single second that I won’t know if you book in for a jump. You may be qualified, and you may not need my permission any more, but nothing gets past me at FreeFall, OK? And if I find out you’ve jumped before your four weeks are up, I’ll ground you for the rest of your life.’
Ethan could see from the look on Sam’s face that he meant it. But then Sam always had that look on his face: hard, unmoving, unwavering.
‘Now that’s sorted,’ said Sam, ‘I’ve arranged for you to meet up with Luke after work. He’ll be waiting for you in the hangar. Head over there as soon as you shut up the shop.’
‘What am I meeting him for?’ asked Ethan.
‘Luke’s offered to help keep your mind off the fact that you won’t be jumping for a while.’ Sam looked at his watch. ‘He’s going to train the hell out of you instead. Now get your arse over to the shop and open up. You’re losing me business.’
As usual, Ethan wasn’t given a chance to reply – Sam was already heading off to his office.
The shop was busy, and with every customer that came in to buy kit, Ethan felt more and more envious. Since completing his AFF, he’d hardly gone a day without a jump. It didn’t seem fair – like he was being punished for saving Kat’s life. He was glad when the time came to shut; he headed off to the hangar, wondering what Luke had planned ‘to keep his mind occupied’, as Sam had put it.
Luke was waiting for him when he arrived. ‘Hi, Ethan,’ he said. ‘Good day?’
‘It was a day,’ replied Ethan. ‘What are we doing?’ He couldn’t be bothered with the small talk. He was grumpy, and he doubted there was much anyone could do about it.
‘Formation drills,’ said Luke. ‘And you need to get this shit absolutely right on the ground before you can even consider doing it in freefall.’ He walked over to the hangar wall and pulled out one of the trolleys Ethan had used during his AFF. ‘Once I’ve shown you the basics, we’ll lie on these,’ Luke explained. ‘As you already know from your AFF, you lie flat on them, as if in freefall, and try to move smoothly between each formation.’
‘I’m going to learn formation stuff?’ said Ethan. ‘Why? I didn’t think I was ready.’
‘Sam’s idea,’ said Luke, ‘and he thinks you are. He also wants to make sure you don’t stagnate while you’re resting that shoulder. We’ll be running through all the usual skydiving drills as well as the formation stuff. Got it?’
Ethan nodded. If Sam thought he was ready, then he wasn’t going to say no. As he headed towards the trolleys, he thought about the team, and about Jake. Did this mean Sam was considering him as Jake’s replacement? If there was anything he wanted more, then he couldn’t think what it was. He pushed one of the trolleys back and forth. ‘Are you sure this isn’t a joke?’
‘No joke, Ethan. Remember – this is all down to Sam. And I don’t know whether you’ve noticed, but he doesn’t really have a sense of humour.’
What followed then, and for the four ensuing weeks as Ethan’s shoulder was allowed to recover, was training that covered just about everything Luke knew about formations and skydiving in general. Ethan knew everyone joked about Luke’s obsession with the tiniest of details, but as the weeks passed, he soon saw just how useful and important that obsession was. Luke didn’t just know what he was talking about, he sounded like he’d invented it. And before long, Ethan had the formation drills down to a fine art. But that wasn’t all: Luke constantly quizzed Ethan on the finer points of safety, awareness in the air, and landing. He also taught Ethan how to pack his own rig.
‘You’ll not be able to jump with this until you pass your rigger’s qualification,’ said Luke as Ethan repacked his rig under Luke’s watchful gaze. ‘But at least this way you’ll know what you’re doing when you come to do the official training. And knowing it won’t do any harm, will it? Means you’ve a better understanding of how your rig works.’
Ethan agreed. Everything Luke showed him he absorbed, memorized and practised. And if he wasn’t at work, he was reading up on skydiving, chatting to more experienced skydivers, hanging out with Johnny; anything, just so long as it was about being in the air.
Ethan was obsessed. He knew it.
It was a bright Saturday morning when Ethan finally rode his bike into FreeFall with a grin on his face like a melon slice. The four weeks was over. He was jumping today.
He was just climbing into the minibus with Sam when Johnny arrived.
‘Couldn’t miss your first jump,’ he said as he sat down next to Ethan.
Two other faces appeared.
‘Luke . . . Natalya . . .’ said Ethan, surprised to see them.
Luke nodded back; Natalya, as usual, just stared at him with those intense, penetrating eyes. But there was something new in her gaze, Ethan thought. It was as if she was looking at him with a little respect. And maybe she was. Maybe his insane rescue of Kat had given him a little kudos. If so, he wasn’t about to complain.
‘And Kat,’ said Luke as Kat jumped in behind.
Kat looked at Ethan. ‘Figured it’d be nice to jump out of a plane with you and actually remember the experience,’ she said. ‘And I’ve got this.’ Ethan smiled as she held up a new skydiving helmet. It was bright red, with a full-face visor.
‘Nice,’ he said, nodding at it.
‘Cost over three hundred quid,’ said Kat. ‘Can’t really believe I’ve spent that much.’
‘When you’re a slave to freedom, money doesn’t matter,’ said Johnny.
‘Slave to freedom?’ queried Ethan.
‘I can’t believe I said it either,’ said Johnny. ‘Sounds good though, don’t you think? I’m so . . . mystical.’
Luke turned to Sam. ‘I reckon we should do some of the formation stuff with Ethan. He knows it now. All he’s got to do is put it into practice in the air.’
Sam looked at Ethan. ‘Couldn’t agree more,’ he said. ‘You OK with that, Ethan? Reckon your shoulder is up to it?’
Ethan nodded. ‘Totally. Never felt better.’
‘I’ll make sure I’m careful,’ said Luke. ‘The movements are pretty slight anyway. It’s not like I’ll be trying to pull your arm out of its socket.’
‘I’m OK with anything so long as I get to jump,’ said Ethan.
‘Ah, just listen to him,’ said Johnny. ‘He’s all excited!’ Then he hugged Ethan dramatically. ‘I’m so . . . proud of you . . . son . . .’
Ethan pushed him away, smiling and shaking his head. Then the minibus set off and he felt his stomach lurch. This was it . . .
The call came through – they were over the DZ. In the minibus, Sam had given them the order of things: Luke was to do some simple two-person formation stuff with Ethan; Johnny, Kat and Natalya were free to do whatever they fancied; Sam was going to follow Ethan and Luke, just to keep an eye on things and assess Ethan’s performance.
Johnny, Kat and Natalya were at the door of the plane. They nodded at Ethan, then jumped.
Ethan took his place at the door with Luke. He wasn’t even given time to think about what he was doing. It was all instinctive. He followed Luke’s hand signals, got into position.
Jumped.
Ethan didn’t need to scream – the adrenaline searing through his veins was doing it for him. As he accelerated to terminal velocity, he looked up to see the plane above become nothing more than a black dot.
Seven and a half seconds later, he was doing 120 mph.
He arched his back, flipped over, got stable. Luke was just away to his right. On seeing Ethan get into the stable freefall position, he tracked over.
Luke gave a hand signal and they both flicked themselves into the first position – facing each other, holding hands. With a nod, they switched to the next position – Ethan holding Luke’s left ankle with his left arm, Luke doing the same to Ethan. Then back to the first position.
Luke grinned. Ethan smiled back as he spotted Sam, who was tracking in to join them. And so they finished their freefall as a three-point star.
Ethan looked at Sam, then back at Luke. Jumping alone was a rush, but jumping with others, people who trusted him in the air . . . this was something else.
Sam nodded at Luke and Ethan. They checked altimeters, then broke the star formation, bursting away from each other like fire crackers.
Ethan made sure he had clean air above and around him, checked his altimeter, pulled the ripcord.
The unmistakable crack of his canopy catching air filled his ears as he was pulled into a steady glide. Then everything was peaceful, and he could enjoy the gentle return to Earth.
Back at the hangar, everyone was talking. Ethan loved everything about being back in the air – even being on the ground afterwards. After a jump, it was impossible to come down from the high for hours. It was a rush like nothing else. And, he realized, this was the first time that he’d felt a part of the team, rather than just a tag-along.