Part 18 (1/2)

As they left the plane, Ethan didn't know if he was terrified or excited or both. This was skydiving unlike anything he'd experienced before. Everything felt different. Jumping in daylight, you knew where you were going, could see the world below you. But this time, it was a jump into the unknown.

A stab of light caught Ethan's eye as Sam activated the LED.

For the first few moments he felt like he was in a was.h.i.+ng machine. He had no idea which was up and which was down as they tumbled through the air, accelerating to terminal velocity.

Then Sam flipped them over, belly down.

Ethan was blown away by what he saw. Above, in the clear night sky, stars glittered through the dark. Below, the world was a black canvas dotted with lights like distant galaxies.

He checked his altimeter, then quickly found the rest of the team, their LEDs pulsing in the blackness. The pilot had dropped them perfectly over the DZ Ethan was able to make it out below. It was lit up as Sam had said it would be, and was getting closer.

Another check of the altimeter. Wind rus.h.i.+ng past. This was it, thought Ethan, smiling. Everything he wanted was in this moment. He longed to feel like this for ever: so completely alive, buzzing with it, the metallic taste in his mouth of the adrenaline coursing through him.

He felt a tap on his shoulder; Sam was reaching for the ripcord.

Then the canopy exploded, and after the intense rush of the freefall, Ethan and Sam were pulled up into a perfectly controlled glide to the DZ.

It was eerie floating down in the blackness. Below them, lights of towns glowed, and car headlights seemed to cut the darkness into zigzags. During a normal day jump, Ethan knew where he was in the sky, how far away the ground was, but in the dark it was just like Kat had said it felt as if he was floating there, not falling at all.

As Ethan stared into the night, trying to take it all in, he noticed it getting darker, just as Johnny had warned, and realized they were now in the dark zone. That meant the DZ was getting close.

'Knees up!' shouted Sam.

Ethan reacted, pulled his knees up hard. Seconds later the ground rushed up at them, Sam flared the canopy, and they landed gently.

'Enjoy that?' Sam asked as he unclipped Ethan.

'What do you think?' he replied. 'What a rus.h.!.+'

Sam sorted out the rig and pulled in the canopy, rolling it up.

As Ethan followed Sam back to the hangar, the rest of the team landed on the DZ. A beaming Johnny soon caught up with him. 'Quite a mind-screw, isn't it?' he said. 'Just wait till you do it solo; it's a religious experience.'

Ethan laughed and raised his left hand. 'I'm shaking. I think my brain's still up there somewhere. I can't stop buzzing!'

'You're really beginning to sound like one of us, Eth,' Johnny told him. 'Be afraid. Be very afraid.'

'Nothing I can do about it,' said Ethan. 'I absolutely b.l.o.o.d.y love it!'

'Then there's just one thing left for you to try,' said Johnny.

Ethan looked at him. 'What?'

'Your first BASE jump,' said Johnny. 'You can come along tomorrow night and watch if you like.' Then he winked. 'But don't tell Sam.'

CHAPTER 20

Ethan was waiting outside his block of flats; he recognized the van as soon as it turned into the road. It was the one he'd seen Johnny jump into when he'd first met him. h.e.l.l, that seemed so long ago now.

The side door flew open.

'Kat?'

'Well spotted,' said Kat. 'Jump in. It's not exactly luxurious, but there are a few rucksacks to sit on.'

Ethan got in. Kat slid the door shut behind him and the van sped off, sending him onto his a.r.s.e. He shuffled himself round into a sitting position.

Johnny was peering over from the front seat. 'You remember The Dude?'

The driver waved back with his left hand, the little finger and thumb outstretched, the middle three fingers clenched.

'He's a legend in his own lifetime,' said Johnny. 'It's his fault I got into BASE jumping in the first place.'

'So you skydive then?' asked Ethan.

'Totally,' said The Dude. 'I've been out of the country for a while otherwise you'd have seen me at FreeFall.'

'He's so mysterious...' Johnny's eyes were wide. 'By out of the country out of the country he actually means lying on a beach in Goa.' he actually means lying on a beach in Goa.'

The Dude laughed.

Ethan looked at Kat. 'He really calls himself that?'

Kat rolled her eyes. 'His favourite movie's The Big Lebowski. The Big Lebowski. Ever seen it? He watches it every week.' Ever seen it? He watches it every week.'

The Dude nodded, waved his hand again, accelerated as some traffic lights ahead turned from green to red.

'Feeling OK?' Johnny asked Kat.

'I'm a little nervous,' she replied.

'Good,' said Johnny. 'I don't want to do this with anyone who doesn't get nervous.'

The Dude reached for the stereo. 'Time for some tunes,' he said, drawling out the word 'tunes' as if it was spelled with at least a hundred U Us and ended with 'zaaaahhhh'.

Music slammed into the van, turned up to the maximum. No one spoke, simply because you couldn't hear anything above the music.

A few miles down the road, and halfway through something that sounded like a drum kit being destroyed, The Dude turned the music down. 'We're being followed.'

'Shut up,' said Kat. 'No one knows we're doing this.'

Johnny turned to The Dude. 'Serious?'

The Dude nodded. 'Car's been tailing us for the past few miles. I've slowed down a few times to give the driver a chance to overtake, but he's just stayed behind.'

'Maybe he's just a nervous driver,' said Ethan. 'You know doesn't like overtaking at night or something. My mum's like that.'