DropZone

by Andy McNab

  23

  Climbing out of the minibus, Ethan looked across at the airport. It was early-evening busy, and buzzing with buses and cars dropping off and picking up. The air smelled hot with exhaust fumes, junk food, sweat.

  It was a week since the meeting in the hangar with Sam, and they’d all been doing as much as they could to get into the air and practise. No one had mentioned the BASE jump again – not even Johnny. Sam was now away on his business trip, so it was down to the team to get themselves ready and arrive at the competition in time.

  Ethan was excited. And nervous – but not just about the competition. He’d never been on a passenger flight before. The only plane he’d ever been in was the one he’d been jumping out of all summer. He guessed now wasn’t the time to start telling people that – after all, he didn’t want to look like an idiot.

  Luke had got out of the van first and was already standing outside the main entrance to the terminal, waiting until everyone had gathered up their kit.

  ‘Flight’s been changed,’ he said when they reached him. ‘We leave in twenty minutes.’

  Ethan didn’t understand. ‘I thought we had to check in,’ he said.

  ‘Already done,’ Luke said simply. ‘At least we’ll get there quicker. Ready?’

  Everyone nodded.

  Ethan started to ask more questions, but Johnny looked at him and said, ‘Come on – last one on the plane fancies Luke.’

  Luke didn’t laugh; he just set off. ‘We’re boarding at gate sixteen A. It’s this way. We’d best get a move on.’

  The change of flight seemed strange to Ethan, but no one else seemed bothered – not even Luke, which was reassuring. In fact, the change of plan seemed to have made everyone even more excited. Ethan shrugged and followed along behind. It wasn’t as though he was a seasoned traveller, used to the ups and downs of international flying. Perhaps this kind of thing was normal.

  It was only when they were all on board and the door to the plane was pulled shut that Ethan realized it wasn’t normal at all – because the only people on the plane were the team. Every other seat was empty.

  The plane taxied along to the runway and took off. Ethan was used to the sensation of being in a plane as it went airborne, but this was different. For one thing he was sitting in a proper seat and facing forwards. For another, this plane totally dwarfed the one he was used to jumping from.

  After the plane had broken through cloud, the seat-belt light flicked off and Ethan gazed out through the window. Clouds, like snow-covered peaks, stretched to the horizon. For a moment he wondered what it would be like to jump from such a height, to do one of those HAHO jumps Johnny had described. The thought made him sit back in his seat and grin.

  He was about to reach for the in-flight magazine when a man with blond hair came from the front of the plane. Ethan recognized him immediately as the man he’d seen at FreeFall from time to time – Sam’s friend.

  Just as Ethan remembered, he was in his early thirties, smart, clean-shaven, his blond hair swept back, not a strand out of place. His suit looked just a shade over very expensive. And he looked at Ethan as if he was studying him for an exam. It made Ethan uneasy.

  Johnny nodded at the guy. ‘Hey, Gabe,’ he said. ‘Figured this was your handiwork. What’s up?’

  ‘Change of plan,’ said the man, leaning against the back of Johnny’s seat.

  ‘Guessed that with the change of planes,’ said Luke, getting up from his seat to come and join them. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘You’re talking about this like you half expected it to happen,’ said Ethan curiously. He turned to Gabe. ‘Who are you? I know you’re something to do with FreeFall because I’ve seen you there. But what’s the connection?’

  Kat and Natalya came over, looked at Ethan. ‘This is Gabe,’ said Kat. ‘He looks cute, but I wouldn’t exactly take him home to meet the parents.’

  ‘Thank you, Kat,’ said Gabe. He looked back at the team. ‘A job’s come up,’ he said. ‘Top priority. We’re sending you in. Everything’s arranged.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ asked Ethan. ‘What job? What’s been arranged?’

  ‘My apologies,’ said Gabe, turning to Ethan. ‘We had planned to give you longer to settle in. We would not, by choice, have involved you in this so early, but the decision has been made for us. Sam’s agreed it because your progress has been – well, shall we say, unique?’

  Ethan looked round at the rest of the team, his gaze finally settling on Johnny. ‘So,’ he said. ‘What exactly am I involved in?’

  For a few minutes – while Gabe spoke privately with the rest of the team – Ethan was left on his own to wonder what the hell was going on. Looking back, he could see how certain things had been strange from the start. The free tandem jump had seemed a fantastic and unexpected perk of the job, but now he saw there was more to it than that. Had Sam actually used it to see just how he’d respond in the air? Had Sam been watching him, assessing him from the moment he’d walked in to take the job? Had he already been thinking about a replacement for Jake?

  But a replacement for what exactly? All Ethan knew was that Johnny and the rest were a skydiving team, but now he was sure they were more than that. For a start, it seemed pretty certain that it was Gabe who had funded his AFF – no wonder Ethan had seen the man watching him at FreeFall.

  And now here they all were, on a private flight, with Gabe talking about a ‘top priority’ job and ‘sending’ them in. It all sounded top secret, military. Was Sam still in the military in some way – some top-secret, military intelligence kind of way? Or was that too far-fetched?

  The huddle broke up and Gabe came over. ‘Johnny will explain everything,’ he said to Ethan. ‘You can then decide if you’re in.’ And he made his way back to the front of the plane and disappeared; the door slid shut behind him with a faint hiss.

  Johnny slipped into the seat next to Ethan. ‘I’ve a confession,’ he said.

  ‘No shit,’ said Ethan.

  ‘We’re not your average skydiving team.’

  Ethan wasn’t in the mood for games. He wanted to know what was going on and he wanted to know now. He’d guessed much of it, but he needed to hear it for real. ‘Forget the cryptic bullshit, Johnny,’ he said. ‘I’ve already worked that out. Sam’s not been training me up just so that I can have fun at a hundred and twenty mph – so why don’t you tell me what’s happening, what Gabe’s on about, what Sam’s got to do with all this, and just what job it is we’re being sent on?’

  ‘First off,’ said Johnny, ‘I can tell you that we work for Sam and he needs our help.’

  ‘I thought he was going to meet us at the competition,’ said Ethan.

  ‘The competition’s a cover,’ Johnny explained. ‘It gave Sam a reason to be in France and us a reason to be around – just in case.’

  ‘Just in case of what?’ asked Ethan.

  Johnny leaned forward. ‘Sam hasn’t just been training us to skydive,’ he said. ‘And he hasn’t just been giving you a nice bit of charity either.’

  ‘He wants me to be part of the team,’ said Ethan, voicing his own conclusion. ‘I’m not stupid. I always thought it was odd that someone paid for me to do the AFF. It was Gabe, wasn’t it? Sam told him about me, and Gabe somehow came up with the cash to put me through.’

  Johnny’s usual jokey persona disappeared completely. ‘We’re a freefall team,’ he said, ‘but that’s also a cover story. The whole thing was Sam’s idea. He used FreeFall as a way to find the people he wanted – and he found us. We work for MI5. Gabe’s our contact. He provides the cash and the sexy equipment.’

  ‘And it was Sam who put me up for this?’

  Johnny nodded. ‘You impressed him, and that’s saying something. We’ve seen you skydive, and he’s right, you’re a natural. Your first solo dive was excellent, and you’ve improved with every jump since. Plus – and this is a biggie – you fit with the team.’

  ‘Keep talking,’ said Ethan.
/>   ‘Look, let’s just say we’ve had our eye on you from the start. From the moment you did your tandem jump, Sam had us watching you. All of us.’

  ‘You’ve been spying on me?’

  ‘Not spying,’ said Johnny, ‘but we have been keeping an eye on you to see if you’d fit in.’

  ‘That makes me feel so much better.’

  ‘And so it should,’ snapped Johnny, the ice in his voice surprising Ethan. ‘Jake didn’t make the grade, and neither did the bloke before him. But then he just fucked off into nowhere and we never heard from him again.’

  ‘He disappeared?’ said Ethan.

  ‘Yeah – though it didn’t change the fact that he wasn’t good enough. But that’s another story.’

  ‘You’re not even past the first chapter of this one,’ said Ethan. ‘Tell me more about Gabe and MI5.’

  ‘Can’t,’ said Johnny.

  ‘You’d better.’

  ‘Seriously, I can’t. That’s down to Sam and Gabe. I’m not at liberty to divulge that information.’

  ‘ You don’t even understand some of the words you just used.’

  ‘What gave it away?’ Johnny laughed. ‘Look, I’ve told you all I can. We’re skydivers and we’ve been trained by Sam, the best in the business, to be a covert operations team for MI5. We get to do stuff people only ever see in the movies. The only other thing you need to know is that Sam’s in trouble. We’re now on a heading to get him out of trouble. This will involve wearing lots of black, doing a HAHO jump, setting off explosives and generally causing a diversion. Interested?’

  Ethan opened his mouth, shut it again. Then said, ‘HAHO?’

  ‘High Altitude, High Opening,’ Johnny reminded him. ‘Sometime pretty soon we’re going to be leaving this plane at thirty-two thousand feet. This is just the sort of mission Sam’s been training us for. He thinks – and so do we – that you should be our last team member. I can tell you nothing more than what I’ve already said until you decide whether you’re in.’ He paused, then sighed. ‘I know it’s not much to go on, mate, but you’ll just have to trust me. I’m not making this up. And the stuff I’m not telling you – what you could be doing with your life if you joined us – well, it’s pretty mind-blowing…’

  ‘So I’ve a choice in this?’ asked Ethan. He really didn’t like the fact that so much had been going on behind his back. But at the same time he was psyched. Skydiving had changed his life, made him realize he could do something radically different to everyone else. And what Johnny was describing was even wilder. Joining some kind of secret military operation certainly sounded better than just sitting in an office or being a drunk like his loser dad, but he needed to know it was his own decision.

  ‘You’ve always got a choice,’ said Johnny. ‘ You decided to take up skydiving. You decided to take on Jake when he killed the rigs. You decided to save Kat. You’ve been making the decisions all along. If anything, you’ve selected yourself.’

  ‘I guess so. In a way…’ said Ethan thoughtfully. ‘But it’s what I’ve selected myself for that’s the problem. I’m not sure I understand exactly what it is.’

  ‘I’ve told you everything I can,’ said Johnny, ‘but if you want a word of advice from a friend, forget thinking, forget trying to weigh up the pros and cons. Just go with what your gut tells you!’

  Ethan sat back in his seat and, despite a strong urge to just say Count me in, decided to play devil’s advocate. ‘What if I say no? What then?’

  ‘We drug you and you wake up back home, stinking of booze.’

  Ethan frowned. He couldn’t tell if Johnny was bullshitting or not.

  ‘Eth, mate,’ said Johnny seriously, ‘none of this is a joke. I – we – are asking you to join us because we want you to be a part of the team. But if you want out, you’ve got that option.’

  Ethan already knew he wanted to be involved. He wanted it more than anything he’d ever wanted in his whole life. But he needed to be sure he’d thought it over fully. What he decided now would change everything. This was no longer just a hobby; something fun to do that sounded cool and sexy when you told girls about it. This was a career, a whole new life – important, exciting and very, very dangerous.

  ‘Ethan-’ Johnny began.

  And then the words were out before he had a chance to stop them. ‘Fuck it,’ Ethan said. ‘I’m in.’

  24

  Johnny stood up. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new team member!’

  Luke was the first to respond. ‘Nice one, Eth,’ he said. ‘Glad to have someone on board who actually takes things seriously.’ He looked at Johnny, and they both smiled.

  ‘Cheers,’ said Ethan; then he winked. ‘But I’m only in it for the girls.’

  Luke and Johnny laughed.

  ‘You made the right decision all the same,’ said Natalya. ‘I am pleased you have joined us.’

  For the first time Ethan saw a genuine smile on her face. It suited her, he thought.

  ‘Don’t think Jake could call you a rookie now,’ said Kat. ‘Pity we can’t tell him – it’d be worth it just to see the look on his face.’

  ‘You’re over him, then?’ said Ethan.

  ‘Was never on or even under him,’ she joked.

  ‘Enough of the emotional stuff,’ said Johnny. ‘Let’s get down to business. Luke?’

  Ethan listened up. So did everyone else.

  ‘The situation is this,’ Luke began: ‘an encrypted hard disk has been stolen. It contains sensitive information that, were the encryption to be broken, could prove damaging to certain parties.’

  ‘If it’s encrypted, what’s the problem?’ asked Ethan, hoping he didn’t sound like a total knob. ‘Isn’t that supposed to mean no one can read it unless they’re the right person with the right code or something?’

  ‘Yup,’ said Johnny. ‘But Gabe reckons this was an inside job. Which means there probably is someone with all that. Sam was sent in to recover the disk before the encryption could be broken and the info sold to the highest bidder.’

  ‘So where’s Sam now?’ asked Kat. ‘Why call us in?’

  Luke went on, ‘The person suspected of stealing the disk was tracked to a small island off the coast of France. Sam was HAHO’d in a few hours ago to get the disk back. But he’s now communicated that the situation has changed and is critical. He needs urgent support to complete the mission.’

  ‘Which is where we come in,’ said Natalya. ‘Right?’

  Johnny nodded and looked at Ethan. ‘Like I said, the skydiving competition was the perfect cover for Sam to leave the country and for us to follow on in case it turned into a full-on shit-storm – which it has.’

  ‘So eloquently put,’ said Kat, shaking her head.

  ‘So we were sent to the competition just in case Sam needed us?’ Ethan asked.

  Luke nodded. ‘No one would suspect a thing,’ he said. ‘Gabe got the communication from Sam as we left FreeFall. The jet was being held in reserve, just in case this kicked off.’

  The more Ethan heard, the more unreal it all seemed. He’d just found out he was a member of a special ops team working for MI5. It was like something from the movies; something that only ever happened to good-looking actors on the big screen – oh, and as it turned out, him! He felt himself grinning like an idiot and tried to focus. ‘You’ve still not explained how we’re involved,’ he said. ‘Or what’s in the files on the disk.’

  ‘The contents of the files are on a strictly need-to-know basis,’ said Johnny. ‘And Gabe doesn’t want us to know. Which means none of us needs to ask. All we have to do is help Sam. He’s arrived at the target destination but is unable to locate and extract the disk without being compromised.’

  ‘Why?’ asked Natalya. ‘What has happened? Did Gabe not know the situation before he sent Sam in?’

  ‘The situation’s changed,’ said Johnny. ‘There are more x-rays on the ground than originally thought and it’s now too risky for Sam to act without a diversion.’ He looked a
t Ethan and grinned. ‘Which is where we come in.’

  ‘X-rays?’ asked Ethan.

  ‘Enemies,’ explained Kat, then turned to Johnny. ‘And by “compromised” you mean killed, don’t you?’

  Johnny nodded and looked at Ethan. ‘You keeping up with this? It’s a lot to take in.’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Ethan, smiling. ‘It’s not every day you become part of a covert ops team, is it?’

  ‘Shit happens,’ Johnny said with a shrug.

  The plane dropped suddenly and Ethan heard the engines squeal a little, felt his stomach flip. It had been doing that a lot in the past few minutes.

  ‘This situation Sam’s in…’ he said. ‘Does it mean we have to take guns with us?’

  ‘For a start, we use the term weapon rather than gun,’ said Luke. ‘And, no, we won’t go in armed. We never do. The job of the team is always to try and slip in under the radar, not to go in and take people out. We need to be invisible. Weapons have a habit of making people very obvious indeed. But we will be taking in explosives to create a diversion.’

  ‘He means we’ll blow shit up,’ said Johnny.

  ‘Sounds dangerous,’ said Ethan.

  ‘Comes with the territory,’ Johnny replied, ‘and it’s all part of the fun. Anyway, who wants to live a life that’s risk-free? Better to live as a lion for a day than a lamb for a year, right?’

  ‘That’s cheesy,’ said Ethan.

  ‘I know,’ said Johnny. ‘Can’t believe I said it.’

  ‘True though,’ Kat put in quietly.

  ‘If the op goes well, we’ll still be going to the competition,’ Luke added. ‘It’s all part of the cover story.’

  Ethan looked at the team – his team – four people he now counted as the best friends he’d ever had. He was about to jump from a jet with them – on a mission for MI5 to rescue the toughest bloke he’d ever met in his life. Just a few weeks ago he wouldn’t have believed it was possible, wouldn’t have believed he could have the skills for such a mission. But it was and he did. He was confident of that. Sam – the team – wouldn’t have chosen him otherwise. All he had to do was stay sharp, stay focused, and remember everything he’d been taught.