Terminal Velocity

by Andy McNab

  Sam spoke again, looking directly at Ethan. ‘Your skydiving is fine. And like Kat said, it will do you good to have a break.’

  Ethan went to say something, but thought better of it.

  ‘So for a few days you’re going to skill up in other areas.’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘You’ll find out soon enough,’ said Sam. ‘And it’ll be a serious test to take you to the next level, give you a chance to keep up with the rest of the team on these skills. It’s tough but you’ll survive.’

  Ethan had only just survived a cutaway. He didn’t much like the idea of having to take part in something else which involved the same sensation.

  Sam looked back round at the rest of the team. ‘As for the rest of you, this is revision.’

  Ethan felt Kat’s shoulders slump a little against his. She looked suddenly not just serious, but a little worried. In fact, they all did. He turned to Johnny and said under his breath, ‘What does he mean by the next level? What’s going on?’

  What Sam had just said made him a little nervous. When it came to ‘tough’, he knew Sam meant something a little more extreme than the rest of humanity.

  When Johnny spoke next, his voice had lost his usual jokiness. ‘It’s quite simple; Sam’s about to take us somewhere wet, muddy and cold, and do his best to make us feel like he’s actually trying to kill us.’

  Ethan felt Kat’s hand tap his thigh. ‘It’s a learning experience. At least that’s what we’re supposed to think.’ She glanced up at Sam. ‘Couldn’t you just take us away for a nice hot beach holiday?’

  Ethan laughed, not just at the thought of Sam doing something so completely out of character, but also to disguise the fact that all he could now think of was seeing Kat in a bikini.

  ‘I’ve arranged a two-week intensive course to cover the basic skills you all need to help you survive hostile situations. Your cover story is simple; like Ethan said, you’re all training for the new competition season next year. So as far as anyone else is concerned, you’re away doing two weeks of intensive jumping somewhere with better weather than the UK.’

  ‘We’re going abroad?’ said Ethan. Now that, he liked the sound of. But he saw Johnny shaking his head.

  ‘I doubt that, mate,’ he said. ‘We get to stay here while our imaginary selves are skydiving in Gap, in France. Doesn’t seem very fair, does it?’

  Sam said, ‘I’ve enlisted the expertise of a few of my contacts to make sure that this is as real as it gets. I know I’m preaching to the converted, but be assured that you will be pushed beyond what you ever thought you were capable of, and then pushed some more.’ He paused then said, ‘Prepare yourselves to be hungry, cold, knackered and at points – assuming I’ve done my job right – bloody scared.’

  Ethan was starting to feel even more nervous and did his best to make sure it didn’t show. He knew full well that Sam was more than capable of scaring him half to death. He had a horrible sinking feeling that the cutaway would have nothing on what Sam’s imagination could dream up.

  Luke coughed. ‘When are we going?’

  A crinkled smile definitely appeared on Sam’s face and Ethan knew better than he knew anything else that it meant trouble.

  ‘Welcome to your first test,’ Sam said, looking at each of them in turn. ‘We leave tomorrow. So use the cover story and get out of whatever it is you have planned from now until we come back.’

  Words jumped from Ethan’s mouth before he had a chance to stop his thoughts being said aloud: ‘But I’m moving into Johnny’s tonight and we’re having the house-warming party tomorrow!’

  ‘You can still move in,’ said Johnny. ‘We’ll just have to postpone the knees-up.’

  Ethan couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Moving out of his family’s flat was a big step, and the party was as much a part of it as the actual unloading of boxes. And he’d been looking forward to an evening doing something other than skydiving with the team, particularly with Kat.

  Sam wasn’t finished. ‘Forget asking me any questions,’ he said, and Ethan saw him glance at Kat, who was in the process of putting her hand up. ‘You will be presented with surprise situations and be expected to react accordingly, both as a team and as individuals. I’m not about to spoil all that by telling you what I’ve got planned.’

  ‘But—’ began Kat.

  ‘But nothing,’ Sam replied, and turned for the door. ‘Here’s your kit list. Get it sorted. And don’t take anything that’s not on it.’

  Then he was gone.

  Ethan looked at the list. It was huge.

  ‘Sorry about the party,’ said Kat. ‘I was really looking forward to it.’

  ‘Sam can be a bit of git at times, can’t he?’ said Ethan. ‘I bet he’s been planning this for ages. Why didn’t he just tell us a couple of weeks ago rather than now?’

  ‘He likes to keep us on our toes,’ said Kat. ‘I was going to remind him that we’d been planning the party for a while, but he didn’t give me a chance.’

  ‘I wondered why you had your hand up,’ said Ethan. ‘Thanks, anyway.’

  Kat smiled. ‘It’s a big step, you moving out. Sam probably doesn’t understand how big, but the rest of us do. We’ll just have the party when we get back; it’ll be brilliant, I promise!’

  Ethan felt chuffed to hear Kat cared and also understood. But it still wasn’t much of a buffer to what Sam had just said.

  ‘So where are we supposed to get all this stuff?’ he asked, nodding at the list. ‘Sam always seems to expect the impossible.’

  Luke rattled the keys, then strode off to the far end of the hangar. Ethan and the rest followed and found themselves in Sam’s storeroom.

  ‘Oh, right,’ said Ethan. ‘Figures.’

  3

  Ethan pulled his Land Rover into a parking space which, unlike most of the others, wasn’t actually filled with broken bottles and cigarette packets, then heaved on the hand brake. Switching off the engine, he used his shoulder as much as the handle to open the door, and clambered out. Walking away from it, he tapped his hand against the wing. The vehicle was ancient, the canvas roof leaked, and every time he went over a puddle, water splashed up through the floor. The heater didn’t work, just rattled, and sometimes the windscreen wipers just gave up altogether. But to Ethan, these were just niggles, little things he had to put up with.

  From the moment he’d clapped eyes on Sam’s own Defender, he’d wanted one. Granted, he’d known from the off he’d never be able to afford one like that, but with a bit of searching around he’d found a local dealer who’d helped out.

  He’d bought it for next to nothing. It was basic, which had allowed him to fix a few problems he’d otherwise have had to go to a garage for, and it was pretty much indestructible. Slow it may have been, but it made enough noise to scare the hell out of anyone laughing at him as they drove past him in their boy racers. Above all, it gave him a way to escape, which was worth more than anything. And tonight, even though the house-warming party was now cancelled, he was taking that final step to true freedom; moving out of the family flat and in with Johnny. Fantastic!

  Ethan looked up at the block of flats he’d called home for far too long. Just seeing it standing there, like a dead tree against the sky, made it even more clear to him that moving out wasn’t just the right decision, it was the only one he could actually make. Amazingly, it had been Johnny who’d suggested he move in with him, making it even easier; he hadn’t had to look for digs or even save up a deposit. Life, Ethan felt, had sorted it out, and he wasn’t going to argue.

  A few minutes later, having climbed the concrete stairwell, doing his best not to breathe and avoid the stale stench of urine all the way, he walked along to the flat. From this point on, he thought with a smile, it was no longer home. He was out of here and God, did that taste good. But as the thought of what was to come made Ethan smile, the sight of the front door to the flat snapped the smile in half.

  The door, which had clearly been kicke
d in, was hanging by one hinge, the wind catching it and making it flap against the wall.

  Ethan stepped through and into the flat – or what was left of it.

  ‘Mum? Jo?’

  The flat was horribly silent, like the place had been swept clean of life by a hurricane.

  In the hallway, pictures that had been hanging on the wall were all smashed on the floor. One had a huge dirty boot print on it. Ethan clocked his dad’s jacket chucked on the carpet. The sight of it, and the sound of glass from the picture frames crunching under his feet, sent a shiver of rage through him and he clenched his fists.

  ‘Dad …’

  With each step now, Ethan was more careful. He knew who was responsible for the damage. And if he was still here he was going to be ready for him.

  Ethan leaned his head into the kitchen, but he didn’t go in. No point; he could see the damage well enough from where he was. It looked like the place had suffered an earthquake. The floor was covered in broken plates and jars of food, shelves had been stripped bare and the fridge light was blinking on and off as the door tried to swing itself shut.

  Pulling himself away to walk on, he could almost hear his dad charging through the house; he’d heard it all too often. But this … he’d never gone so far before. Usually it had been just another drunken tantrum, a smashed mug or two and that was it. Nothing like this.

  Ethan realized then his anger at what he’d found was turning to concern; despite calling out again, he’d got no reply from his mum or his sister. Were they OK? Had his dad completely lost the plot and gone at them too?

  Nervous now of what he might find, Ethan headed further down the hallway. The lounge door was open. He glanced in, saw the television on its back, giving the ceiling a nice private viewing of some crappy game show. The sofa was on its side, more pictures had been pulled from the wall and smashed on the floor. Even the curtains had been ripped down. Christ, what had his dad been on to do this?

  Ethan moved past the bathroom and to the bedrooms. He called out again. Still no reply. He was finding it hard to stay calm now, but seeing what his dad had done made him cautious. If his dad was still here, he wasn’t about to let himself be caught out; he was going to be ready for him.

  Ethan came to his own room, easing the door slowly open then letting it go so that it swung right round to hit the wall behind; at least his dad wasn’t hiding in here, he thought. But the damage he then saw almost made him wish that he were.

  He’d spent hours boxing his belongings up all ready to move to Johnny’s, but now he felt like he was staring into the back of a dump truck. Every box had been kicked in, slashed and ripped, his bags emptied, clothes scattered.

  Ethan bent down to pick up a broken CD case, the anger burning inside him feeling like it had been doused with petrol. ‘Why did you do this, Dad?’ he muttered to himself, then a sound made his voice catch in his throat. He listened in, tried to filter out all the other sounds coming through the flat from the open front door. There it was again; someone crying.

  Ethan tossed the CD case into the room like a crap Frisbee and was on his feet and into the hallway. Across from his room was Jo’s. He flung the door open; it was in as much a state as the rest of the flat, Jo’s artwork and posters scattered and ruined like rubbish washed up on a beach. But it was empty. Ethan turned back to the hallway and ran through the remaining door into his parents’ bedroom.

  The floor was covered in clothes ripped from the wardrobe, the chest of drawers on its face like a drunk.

  ‘Mum …’

  She was curled up in a ball on the bed.

  Ethan walked over and rested a hand on her arm. At his touch, she flinched.

  ‘Mum, it’s me, Ethan. He didn’t hurt you, did he? You OK?’

  Ethan saw a faint nod of the head.

  Ethan sat down. His mum stayed curled up.

  ‘What happened? Why did Dad do this? Where’s Jo?’

  Ethan felt his mum reach out and rest her hand on his. His emotions were a mess. He wasn’t just angry at his dad for what he’d done; he was upset for his mum, for having to put up with the arsehole for all these years, and for having him destroy the home she worked so hard to look after. A part of him wanted to head out right away, find him, and just let rip. But another part told him he had to stay, make sure his mum was OK, sort the flat out. Suddenly moving in with Johnny didn’t seem so important, not with everything he’d grown up with now lying in tatters in front of him.

  ‘Jo wasn’t here,’ said his mum, at last pushing herself up, wiping her face of tears. ‘And I’m glad. Your dad, he was drunk, but not like usual. He was uncontrollable, Ethan.’

  ‘Where is he?’ Ethan couldn’t hide the anger in his voice; it laced every word he said.

  ‘It doesn’t matter, Ethan,’ said his mum. ‘He’s gone now.’

  ‘I’ll kill him.’

  ‘No, you won’t,’ his mum replied, looking at Ethan through bloodshot eyes. ‘You won’t do anything of the sort. Do you understand?’

  Ethan didn’t understand at all, but he nodded a yes anyway.

  ‘I’m sorry about your room. You spent so long packing up. I’ll help you sort it.’

  Ethan smiled. Typical Mum, he thought.

  A shout came from the hallway and Jo appeared at the door.

  ‘What the hell happened? Where is he? Where’s Dad?’

  ‘Not here,’ said Ethan. ‘Where’ve you been?’

  ‘Working,’ replied Jo, and Ethan didn’t just hear the edge in her voice; he felt it. ‘With you moving out, someone’s got to help out round here, haven’t they?’

  ‘You know why I’m moving out,’ said Ethan.

  ‘Whatever,’ said Jo and went over to her mum. ‘Did he hurt you?’

  ‘No, he didn’t,’ Ethan told her, and stood up.

  Jo said, ‘Where are going? You’re not seriously still thinking of moving out tonight, are you?’

  ‘I’m going to phone the police,’ Ethan replied.

  He saw his mum start at this and she looked up at him, her face lined with worry and fear. ‘No, Ethan, don’t do that. We can sort this out. Please …’

  Ethan looked at Jo. She nodded, rested a hand on her mum’s shoulder.

  ‘We have to,’ said Ethan. ‘This is nothing like what he’s done before.’

  Decision made, Ethan left the room, found the phone in the hallway under one of the smashed pictures, and punched in a call.

  Soon after, the police arrived, checked the damage and took all the details Ethan, Jo and their mum could give on his dad, promising to bring him in as soon as possible. They then called in a community-support officer to keep an eye on the flat, just in case he returned that night. When finally left alone, the three of them set about tidying up. Ethan hadn’t forgotten that as of tomorrow he was away with Sam and the rest of the team. He just hadn’t quite worked out how to tell his mum and Jo. He really wanted to stay and help them get sorted but, despite what had happened, he knew that missing Sam’s training was not an option.

  He was in the kitchen with his mum and Jo, and filling the teapot, when his mum said, ‘You need to give Johnny a ring.’

  ‘I know,’ said Ethan. ‘No way am I going to move in tonight, but—’

  His mum cut him off. ‘No, Ethan, I meant just to tell him why you’re late. You need to go. We’ll be fine. You’ve made your decision. Don’t let your dad mess it up. Don’t give him that power.’

  Ethan made to protest.

  ‘I won’t hear of it,’ said his mum.

  ‘But you’ll need the locks changing,’ said Ethan. ‘Maybe you should come with me, to Johnny’s? I’m sure he’d be fine about it. Anyway, we’re going to be away for a couple of weeks, so it’s not like the place would be crowded.’

  ‘You’re what?’ said Jo.

  Ethan felt like a stone had just dropped into his stomach as he went on with the cover story. ‘Sam’s taking us away for some intensive skydiving training,’ he said. ‘We’re headin
g to Gap in France. The weather’s better there so we can get more air time.’

  ‘And you only thought to tell us now?’

  ‘I’ve cleared it with college,’ he lied. ‘I’m taking my course-work with me.’

  ‘Still doesn’t explain why you didn’t tell us,’ said Jo.

  ‘Because,’ said Ethan, ‘when Sam told us, I knew I’d have moved in with Johnny, so the fact I was going to be away wasn’t really going to be a problem, was it?’

  ‘And you’d have told us how? By postcard?’

  Ethan saw his mum shake her head. ‘Please,’ she said, ‘don’t argue, you two.’

  Jo huffed into her mug of tea and Ethan tried to ignore the dagger eyes she was stabbing him with.

  ‘Ethan, we will be fine. Won’t we, Jo?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Jo. ‘More than.’

  ‘We can sort the flat tomorrow; it’s just a bit of tidying up, really, nothing more. And I can get someone to do the locks as well.’

  ‘But Johnny’s place is going to be empty,’ said Ethan.

  ‘No,’ said his mum, and Ethan could tell the argument was over. ‘All this is just cosmetic. If anything, I’m pleased it happened; he’s forced our hand, hasn’t he?’

  Ethan said nothing, just listened. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard his mum sound so determined.

  ‘He’s out of our lives for good now, Ethan. And we’re not going to let him ruin this new life of yours, either. Understand?’

  Ethan nodded.

  ‘Good,’ said his mum. ‘Now let’s get you packed and off, shall we? The sooner you’re out of here, the sooner I can get on with throwing out your dad’s stuff, and that’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time indeed.’

  4

  ‘Tell me again why you bought this?’ asked Johnny, his feet braced against the metal dash of Ethan’s Land Rover.

  It was early morning, and Ethan and Johnny were only a couple of minutes away from FreeFall and whatever it was that Sam had sorted for the next two weeks. Johnny had attempted to read a skydiving magazine, but given up thanks to the ride from the vehicle being anything but smooth.