DropZone by Andy McNab Read Free Book Online Page B

Johnny.’
    ‘Ooooh, spiritual,’ said Johnny, then turned to the other girl in the group. ‘This is Natalya.’
    ‘Nice to meet you, Ethan,’ she said quietly, and held out her hand.
    Ethan noticed her accent immediately. His best guess was Russian, but that was only because he’d watched too many Bond movies. It was certainly eastern European. And she wasn’t wearing any make-up – unlike Kat, who was wearing just enough to say Notice me . Ethan guessed that Natalya wasn’t the kind of person who worked at being noticed by anyone.
    ‘And you,’ he replied, and took her hand. She gave a firm handshake – it was only when he let go that he was struck by how formal it seemed. The rest of the gang were relaxed with him from the off, but this was like meeting someone at a job interview or a wedding or something.
    ‘Natalya’s the serious one in the team,’ said Johnny. ‘So don’t worry too much about her inability to smile. I consider it my life’s mission to make her laugh.’
    Natalya turned to look at Johnny. ‘How very thoughtful of you, Johnny,’ she said. ‘And I do smile, just not all the time like you.’
    ‘I’m all heart,’ said Johnny. ‘Well, all heart and knock-knock gags.’
    ‘Without me, Johnny’s life has no purpose, you see?’ she told Ethan.
    Ethan wasn’t sure, but he thought he spotted the hint of a smile crease the corners of her eyes.
    ‘Whatever you do,’ said Johnny, stepping forward to whisper in Ethan’s ear, his eyes trained on Natalya, ‘don’t call her Nat. She gets angry. And you wouldn’t like to see her angry – would he, Nat?’
    Natalya’s face was stern, and Ethan decided to take Johnny’s advice. For all he knew, she could be a Russian spy, and he figured upsetting one of those wasn’t a good idea. He looked at the others and asked, ‘You guys hungry?’
    Everyone nodded, ordered, and a few minutes later Ethan returned with a loaded tray. Serving Luke first, he couldn’t help but watch as he opened a tomato sauce sachet, emptied it, then took the ripped corner and pushed it back inside.
    Johnny grinned. ‘Luke?’
    Luke looked up.
    ‘How are your chips?’
    ‘They’re fine,’ said Luke, biting into one. ‘Why?’
    ‘Oh, I just wondered, you know, if they were sufficiently straight for you, that’s all. I can go and get a ruler from Sam’s office for you if you want, just to make sure.’
    Luke ignored Johnny – Ethan could see it was something he was well used to – and simply carried on eating.
    ‘I’m surprised you know what a ruler is, Johnny,’ said Kat, over the top of her mug. ‘Kind of implies you’ve had time for things in your life other than perfecting the skill of being a flash git.’
    Ethan stood and watched as the group joked around.
    ‘I’m not flash,’ said Johnny, faking emotional hurt. ‘I’m just very, very good, that’s all. And if I hide my talent, how are you lot ever going to learn? You need something to aspire to. A target. And that’s me.’
    ‘With a mouth the size of yours,’ said Luke, ‘there’s already a large enough target.’
    Johnny burst out laughing; the others, including Ethan, joined in.
    As the laughter subsided, Kat asked, ‘Where’s Jake?’
    Natalya looked over. ‘He landed way out from the DZ. Maybe he had to cut away.’
    ‘Cut away?’ asked Ethan, remembering Sam mentioning it as they’d watched.
    ‘If your main canopy fails,’ explained Kat, ‘then you have to let it go so you can deploy your reserve.’
    ‘Well, that’s definitely what he did then,’ said Ethan.
    Everyone looked up.
    ‘What happened?’ asked Kat.
    Ethan saw her face flicker with concern. Everyone else was looking at him. ‘I was with Sam,’ he said. ‘I was watching you all come in: you pulled your canopies and everything was fine. Then I noticed someone just falling.’
    ‘How do you mean?’ asked Luke. ‘Was something wrong with the canopy?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ said Ethan, and he