Talk over, everyone leaped into action. They started to sort through bags of kit Ethan had never seen before, handing out various bits and pieces to each other, checking everything once, twice and then a third time. And they were getting changed out of their everyday clothes, into stuff that looked considerably more hardcore.
Ethan turned to Kat, who was now dressed in black combat trousers, a black jacket and black boots. The outfit made her look scary as hell.
‘Why’s it so cold?’ he asked, finding it impossible to stop shivering.
‘No heating,’ said Kat. ‘No point making the luggage nice and cosy. Don’t worry, though – this’ll sort that out.’ She handed him a pile of clothing. ‘You’ll need to strip and put the black kit on first,’ she explained. ‘You’ll be in that for the mission after we land. It’s a pretty fab material actually: breathable, as close to silent as you can get, and completely waterproof.’
‘Doesn’t look waterproof,’ said Ethan, holding up the jacket and trousers.
‘What were you expecting?’ asked Kat. ‘Oilskins?’
Ethan examined the other piece of clothing, which looked like a jumpsuit, but was padded and much heavier. ‘What’s this?’
‘Once you’re dressed in the other kit, pull that on over the top,’ Kat told him. ‘It’s a silk-lined, thermal-insulated suit. It’ll stop you turning into a six-foot ice-pop when we jump.’
‘It’s that cold out there?’ Ethan felt pretty chilly as it was, and they were still in the plane.
‘It sure is. We’re jumping from a jet travelling at hundreds of miles an hour, thousands of feet up. The wind-chill factor’s going to be pretty extreme.’
‘Point taken.’
‘Then get a move on,’ said Kat. ‘And if you’re embarrassed about getting your kit off in front of me, I promise I won’t grope you or tell anyone if I see anything weird.’
‘There’s nothing we—’ Ethan began, then saw the smile on her face. ‘Ha ha,’ he said, and started to get changed.
When he was finally dressed, Johnny came over with some more kit.
‘Boots and socks,’ he said, handing them over. ‘They’re your size, trust me.’
Ethan took them. They too were black. And the boots had a high ankle and the mother of all treads.
Johnny smiled at him. ‘They’re not general issue. Government couldn’t really afford to have squaddies running around in these things. They’re an adaptation of an Italian mountain boot. Couple of hundred quid a pop.’
Ethan slipped on the socks – two pairs: one a silk lining sock, the other a thick wool sock with padded sole – then eased on the boots, laced them up. They felt absolutely amazing – snug, comfortable, warm.
‘They won’t require any breaking in, either,’ said Johnny. ‘Leather’s been specially treated. Kat?’
She turned round.
‘Just so you know,’ said Johnny, ‘Ethan has a tendency to scream like a big girl when he’s doing a tandem. And his language is simply appalling.’
Kat laughed. ‘I’ll look after him.’
Johnny went back towards Luke, who Ethan could see was now talking to Natalya and looking through some large black holdalls.
‘Right, Ethan,’ said Kat. ‘The rig.’
‘It’s a tandem rig,’ said Ethan. ‘Bigger canopy because of the additional weight.’
‘Exactly. We need to get it adjusted just right so we don’t cut off our circulation when we’re gliding. It’d be pretty embarrassing to land with you dead.’
For the next few minutes Kat pushed and pulled at Ethan, clipping him in and making sure everything felt right, comfortable.
‘How’s that?’
‘Fine,’ said Ethan.
‘Now the oxygen.’
Ethan looked at the large, black, canvas-covered box in Kat’s hand. She handed him a face mask.
‘We’ll both get our oxygen from this,’ she said. ‘All you need to remember is that there’s more than enough in here for us both. Don’t panic and start breathing like you’re about to die; you’ll use it up quicker, or hyperventilate and pass out.’
‘Not good,’ said Ethan.
‘Right,’ agreed Kat. ‘Flying in with you unconscious wouldn’t be as easy to control. I might even have to cut you loose, drop you before we get there.’
Ethan looked at Kat. Was she serious? ‘I’ll make sure I stay awake and alert,’ he promised.
‘All you need to remember,’ said Kat, ‘is that when we jump, you have your head back and your arms crossed, just like you did with Sam. That’ll allow me to flip us over, get our descent under control and deploy, without having you destabilize us.’
Ethan felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Luke.
‘Sorted?’
Ethan nodded. ‘I’m fine,’ he said. ‘Totally.’
‘Good,’ said Luke. ‘Remember we’ve all been watching you, not just Sam and Gabe. If we didn’t think you were up to it, you wouldn’t be here.’
‘No,’ said Johnny, coming over with Natalya. ‘You’d be sedated at the front of the plane, utterly unaware of just how cool we really are.’
‘Are you serious?’ asked Ethan.
‘Deadly,’ said Johnny.
For a few moments Ethan was silent, thinking about that. Then he looked up and said, ‘Right, so tell me about the jump. I’ve done plenty at twelve thousand. How different is it at thirty-two thousand?’
Everyone smiled at him. It felt really good.
‘The big difference,’ began Kat, ‘is the amount of time you’ll spend in the air.’
‘You’ve been skydiving up until now,’ Luke continued. ‘Forty-five-second freefall, followed by about five to ten minutes in glide. This isn’t a skydive. We leave the plane and deploy canopies immediately.’
‘So how long are we in the air?’ asked Ethan.
‘We’ll be gliding across approximately thirty miles,’ said Luke, ‘so we’ll be in the air for about two hours.’
Ethan did a double-take. ‘Two
hours
? No way!’
‘Way,’ said Johnny. ‘You’ll love it. Everyone knows what they’re doing, including you. It’s just another jump, but from a little bit higher, is all.’
‘Gets pretty surreal though; particularly when you’re drifting through cloud,’ said Kat.
‘Here . . .’ said Luke, handing Ethan a watch. It looked bomb-proof, Ethan thought as he put it on his wrist. ‘And this is a tactical throat mic.’
Ethan looked at the next piece of kit in his hands. It looked like a length of black elastic attached to a wire, a battery pack, an earpiece and two small cylinders that pointed inwards.
‘It’s designed for operators in the military,’ said Luke, ‘and you wear it round your neck like this.’
Ethan watched as Luke put one on himself, securing it round his neck. He felt like he was watching a demonstration of some new gadget on a weird military TV shopping channel.
‘These two things here’ – Luke pointed at the cylinders – ‘are the dual transponders or throat mics. If you want to talk, just press both of them against your throat and you’re on.’
Ethan copied Luke, and put on the throat mic.
‘It’ll block out most ambient noise,’ continued Luke as Ethan slipped the earpiece in, ‘and will even pick up a whisper.’
‘Yes,’ Johnny said, his expression serious and businesslike. ‘The throat mic is the product of choice both on and off the battlefield. Thank you, Luke.’
Ethan laughed.
‘Anyway’ – Luke ignored Johnny as best he could – ‘you’ve probably seen plenty of these things being used in bad action movies by macho actors.’
‘You know – the ones that look like me,’ said Johnny, checking Ethan had put the thing on properly.
‘We’ll be on a chat-net,’ said Luke. ‘It means everyone can speak at the same time.’
‘So don’t go telling Kat you think Luke’s a dick,’ said Johnny, ‘because he’ll hear you.’
‘We’ll be tumbling out of the plane in close formation, one after the other,’ Luke continued. ‘Aim is to get out, find space and pull the canopy quickly. Once we all know where we are, we’ll head off.’
‘So how do we know where we’re going?’ asked Ethan. ‘And how do we keep close when we’re jumping in the dark?’
Johnny began to answer, but the call came through from the pilot.
‘No time for any more explanations,’ said Luke. ‘We’re good to go.’
26
Luke called everyone over, and Ethan followed Kat, who leaned closer and said, ‘We may take the piss, but Luke’s generally our reason for staying alive. If he doesn’t check it, don’t use it. OK?’
Ethan stood with everyone else as Luke did his rounds. And after what Kat had just said, he looked at Luke in a new light. He knew from experience that he was into the detail, but to know he was so vital to everything the team did made him listen all the harder. After all, Ethan was pretty keen on staying alive. He was amazed at just how thorough Luke was. Nothing got missed. He pulled Johnny up for a pocket left undone. The pocket was empty, Johnny had protested, but that didn’t matter, not to Luke. He even checked Kat and Natalya’s hair.
‘When are you two going to cut this off?’ he asked. ‘It’s always a tangle risk, you know that.’
‘So’s Johnny’s,’ said Kat.
‘Seriously though – long hair and this kind of activity don’t mix too well.’
‘We tie it up well,’ Natalya pointed out. ‘And you are forgetting that our cover relies on the fact that we do not look like the kind of people who would do what we are about to do.’
‘Hmm . . .’ Luke sounded unconvinced. He glanced at Ethan. ‘OK?’
‘Fine,’ said Ethan as Luke checked him over carefully.
‘Remember about the oxygen. Don’t gulp it. Breathe normally. It may feel weird, sound weird, and it doesn’t taste great either, but it’s fine.’
‘Got it,’ said Ethan.
‘Good,’ said Luke, and clapped him on the shoulders with both hands. ‘You’re part of the team now, Ethan.’
Ethan nodded and smiled. He knew he couldn’t back out now – he didn’t want to.
Gabe appeared through a door at the rear of the hold. ‘We depressurize in a few minutes,’ he said, ‘so I’m going to be brief . . .’
Ethan listened closely. He didn’t want to miss anything. Whatever it was they were about to do, whatever it was he’d agreed to be involved in, he wanted to be clear on every last detail. He knew it was dangerous – that much was obvious. All the more reason to make sure he didn’t let everyone else down – or make a tit of himself.
‘Right, you all know what you’re taking with you, but I’m going to run through it again – partly for Ethan’s sake, and also to make sure you don’t get your faces shot off because I didn’t tell you everything.’ Gabe crouched down beside the two large black holdalls they were jumping with. Luke would carry one, Johnny the other. Each holdall contained two black bergens. Gabe explained that, on landing, Luke, Johnny, Natalya and Ethan would take a bergen each. Kat got off lightly – for this mission only four bergens were needed, so she wouldn’t be carrying.
Gabe turned to Johnny and Luke. ‘Your bergens contain the BASE rigs. Everything checked?’
Johnny and Luke nodded.
‘Good,’ said Gabe. ‘Lose those, and your emergency exit is screwed . . . Natalya,’ he continued, ‘your bergen contains everything you’ll need for the diversion – P4 explosive, detonators and Claymores. Has it all been checked?’
Natalya nodded. ‘The equipment is all OK,’ she said, ‘but I am not happy about our lack of protection. What are we to do if they shoot?’
‘Make sure they don’t see you,’ said Gabe. Then he turned to Ethan. ‘Your bergen will contain the two inflatable canoes.’
‘OK,’ Ethan replied. ‘But what about Sam? Don’t we need to know where he is?’
‘All you need to do is focus on the mission,’ said Gabe. ‘Sam’s more than capable of looking after himself. He’s made a career out of it. Just provide the diversion he needs and get the hell out. Right?’
The pilot buzzed through with the final call.
‘OK, we’re about to depressurize,’ said Gabe. ‘Everyone to oxygen. Now.’
‘Ethan, put this on,’ said Kat, handing him a face mask.
‘But it’s not connected,’ Ethan pointed out.
‘And it won’t be until we know the oxygen in the bottle is flowing. And we need to check the seal on your mask, OK? Can’t have the thing leaking when we’re outside the plane.’
She reached over, blocked the hole where the tube attached with her hand. ‘Can you breathe?’
Ethan shook his head. He didn’t like the sensation.
‘Good,’ said Kat. She did the same with her own mask before grabbing the bottle, turning it on and staring at the dial. Then she took the tube attached to the bottle and put it up to her eye.
Ethan was about to ask what she was doing, but Kat got in first. ‘This way we can feel if the oxygen is flowing,’ she told him. ‘Just because the dial gives a reading doesn’t mean it isn’t defective.’
‘Oh, right . . .’ Ethan was stunned by the attention to detail. It almost made him feel safe. Almost.
‘If we put these on and the oxygen flow is screwed, then when the cabin depressurizes we’ll be in a state of hypoxia within a minute, dead in two.’
Ethan didn’t say a thing. Dead in two minutes?
‘And don’t worry about the farting,’ added Kat.
He looked at her, not sure if he’d heard her right. Farting? What the hell did that have to do with anything?
‘Once this thing’s unpressurized, all gases expand,’ Kat explained with a grin; ‘even oxygen under a tooth filling – causes it to explode. You’re lucky; we checked you out – no fillings. Must be all that flossing.’
Kat attached the tubes to the face masks and nodded.
Ethan nodded back. He could taste the oxygen coming through.
Kat turned to the rest of the team, gave the thumbs-up. Ethan did the same, even though it made him feel like a complete idiot.
He saw Gabe grab a cabin mask, put it on.
Then the hold was depressurized.
The temperature dropped even further, and Ethan looked at Kat, who nodded to confirm the plane had indeed depressurized. All he could now hear was the sound of his breathing as he sucked in oxygen, and the noise of the plane. When pressurized, the cabin was sealed in a sound-tight vacuum. Now that it was depressurized, the vacuum had gone and the noise of the plane was loud to the point where Ethan wondered if it would actually hold together.