Part 14 (1/2)

'Help yourself,' said Ethan.

'Thanks, I will,' said Johnny, taking another swig before handing it back.

They were both sitting outside the hangar, rigged up and ready for another jump, their second of the day. FreeFall was busy, business was good. It was a couple of weeks since the run-in with Jake, and despite the damage to the rigs, Sam had managed to call in a few favours and everything was running smoothly. Nothing about Jake's unwelcome visit had been mentioned since. They had cobbled together a believable cover story to explain their bruises a run-in between a tree and Johnny's motorbike.

Ethan's final two consolidation jumps had gone by so quickly and smoothly he'd hardly noticed them. He was now diving solo and getting in at least one jump a day, depending on the weather and how busy things were at FreeFall. He'd even had the chance to fly a Raider, which had been scary as h.e.l.l but a total blast. Luke had laid it on thick with the instructions for flying such a responsive canopy. Ethan had listened carefully, and it had paid off because the thing had handled amazingly like it was hardwired to the wind; you directed it, it didn't hesitate. And it was tiny no bigger than a fas.h.i.+onable daysack when it was packed up, little larger than a power kite when deployed. And, as Johnny had said back when Ethan had met him on his first day at FreeFall, small, fast and scary.

A shadow fell across Ethan and Johnny and they looked up to find Sam standing over them, binoculars in his hand.

'Another good jump, Ethan,' he said. 'Well done.'

'Thanks,' said Ethan to Sam's back as he headed off to his office.

'A man of few words,' said Johnny, and Ethan nodded. 'Incidentally, are you trying to make a habit of impressing him?'

Ethan turned at Johnny's question. 'What do you mean?'

'Well, just look at you. It's like you belong here or something. From tandem rookie to skydiver in just a few weeks. It's pretty impressive.'

'No it's not,' said Ethan, shrugging. 'It's like most things: do what you're told to do and do it properly and you'll probably be OK at it.'

'Don't sell yourself short,' said Johnny. 'Sam really is impressed. So am I. You remind me of someone brilliant.'

'Who?'

'Me.'

Ethan laughed. 'How do you cope with being you?'

'It's hard,' said Johnny. 'You wouldn't be able to hack it. The girls, the glamour; it's tough.'

'You bear it well, all things considered.'

Another shadow cast itself over the conversation. This time Ethan and Johnny looked up to see Kat. She too was rigged up.

'Hey,' she said, and sat down opposite them.

'Kat,' said Johnny. 'How's Jake?'

Kat looked at him. 'Is there ever a moment in your life when you think before you speak?'

'Never,' said Johnny. 'So what was the attraction anyway?'

'He drove it,' said Kat, and stalked off.

Ethan went after her, catching up with her in a few strides, racking his brain for a topic of conversation.

'So you bought one yet, then?' he came up with, falling into step beside her. 'You know, one of those fancy skydiving helmets you were talking about?'

'Yeah. Ordered it yesterday. Arrives at the weekend.'

'What's it like?'

Kat stopped and looked round at Ethan. 'It's like a helmet, Ethan. You put it on your head.'

The conversation had dropped dead, so he asked, 'You OK?'

'What, apart from being boyfriend-less?'

Johnny came up and b.u.t.ted in. 'You're better off without a t.o.s.s.e.r like that, especially after what he did.'

Kat turned on him. 'He made a mistake,' she said. 'That's all. What, like you're the perfect skydiver? You've never messed up? Not even once?'

'I'm not talking about the skydive,' said Johnny.

Ethan looked at him. 'Sam said he'd deal with it.'

'She has to know,' said Johnny, and he turned back to Kat. 'We found him ruining the rigs. Him and a couple of other blokes built like trolls.'

'Shut up,' said Kat.

'It's true,' Ethan told her. 'They ruined stacks of stuff. Sam was able to sort it out, but the damage was pretty bad. It got a bit rough. Jake must've had a fair few bruises on him.'

Kat shook her head. 'Jake wouldn't do that,' she said. 'And the bruises... he said they were from a bar fight he got into. Anyway, he's all mouth. Doesn't have the b.a.l.l.s.'

'You believe what you want,' said Johnny. 'And then ask Sam.'

For a moment no one said anything. The silence stretched on as Kat scowled at them both.

Again Ethan desperately thought of something to say to break the awkwardness. 'So how did you get into skydiving exactly?' he asked Kat.

'Same as you,' she said, shrugging. 'Tandem, then AFF. It's not that difficult really, you know. Anyone can do it.'

'Oh, I wouldn't be so sure,' said Johnny. 'Ethan's a natural. Not as good as me, obviously, but still pretty brilliant. Aren't you, Eth?' He slapped Ethan hard on the back and Ethan shrugged, looked at Kat, attempted an apologetic smile.

The look Kat returned was cold, her eyes narrow. 'It takes more than a few jumps and an ego to make a skydiver, Ethan,' she said flatly. Then she headed for the minibus as it pulled up to ferry the next group of jumpers to the plane. It was pretty clear to Ethan that she wanted him to shut up.

'Come on, Eth,' said Johnny. 'We're jumping too.' Then he shouted ahead to Kat, 'If you want, I'll go first show you how it should be done.'

'You're so full of s.h.i.+t,' said Kat without looking back.

Ethan and Johnny watched her walk away.

'p.r.i.c.kly today, isn't she?' said Johnny. 'Ready?'

'Sure am,' said Ethan, and the two of them followed Kat into the minibus.