‘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 alclass="underline" 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.
Sam called for everyone’s attention. ‘Right,’ he said. ‘Next weekend you’re all going to the skydiving competition in France. I’ve got some business of my own in France so I’ll head out earlier, but I’ll meet you there.’
‘What skydiving competition?’ asked Ethan.
‘The one in France,’ said Johnny. ‘The one Sam’s talking about. Jeez, how you gonna learn anything if you don’t listen?’
‘So how come you all know about it and I don’t?’
‘Because I didn’t tell you about it,’ said Sam.
‘But I’m invited?’ asked Ethan, unable to hide his smile.
Sam gave a nod. ‘Not just invited; I’ve booked your ticket.’ Ethan wasn’t given a chance to respond as Sam was already speaking to the whole team again. ‘Let me make one thing clear,’ he said. ‘You’re not there to compete as a four-way team, with Ethan instead of Jake, and Johnny filming. Despite what you all might think, Ethan isn’t ready to take Jake’s place just yet… He will be soon enough, but we’re not going to rush it. Got it?’