Part 6 (2/2)

'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 s.h.i.+t 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 pus.h.i.+ng her chair away. It skidded for a minute, caught a hole in the floor, flipped.

'Don't talk c.r.a.p,' 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 cafe 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. h.e.l.l, if Jake was their second team member to go, they were allowed to be a bit p.i.s.sed 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.

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