Chapter Five

 

 

Ten Thousand Feet Above Northeast of Ottawa

Canada

 

The airplane was an old Cessna whose engine made a coughing noise every time the pilot banked to the right. Jack didn’t mind it. He knew there was nothing wrong with the aircraft, just some overdue maintenance. The pilot would curse, and the propeller would resume its droning pitch.

Jack also didn’t mind the wave of anxiety washing over him to the point of overwhelming his senses. He drew in a series of deep breaths to clear his mind and slow down his racing heart, which was threatening to jump out of his chest. Jack smiled at the evaluator constantly observing him as they sat close to the door near the Cessna’s aft. The evaluator had fastened a couple of wires to Jack’s chest, and they were hooked to a device strapped to his belt. The portable heart monitor tracked Jack’s pulse and his other vital signs. Jack had no problem with the never-ending examination. If that was the price he had to pay to return to the agency, it was a bargain.

What Jack had found frustrating was Riley Booker, the partner that had been assigned to work with him. Jack disliked the idea of being chained to a teammate he didn’t know and trust. Moreover, there was something about Riley’s attitude Jack disliked. He came across as brash, a quality that reminded Jack of his early years in the agency. He had soon learned that he wasn’t as tough as he so self-assuredly believed he was. Maybe it’s time Riley learned that lesson as well.

Jack sighed and looked at Riley, who was sitting across from him. There was a permanent smug grin on his clean-shaven face. Riley was a few years younger than Jack, maybe twenty-three or twenty-four. He had a mop of dirty blond hair that fell over his forehead, blue eyes, and an oval face. Riley was tall and muscular, his biceps bulging under his black shirt. He gave Jack a curious look and asked, “How’re you doing, X?”

Jack’s frown deepened. He had asked Riley to stop calling him that. “It’s a nickname for ‘extractor,’” Riley had said. “You’re a legend among the new recruits. Your helicopter stunts are incredible. The barrel rolls. The back flips. Everyone wants to fly like you, be like you, X. I’m so lucky to be your teammate.”

Jack didn’t think so. He didn’t want anyone to have his fate. Plus, that was what his wife called him. Every time he heard Riley say the word, Jack felt like his unhealed wound opened, and the unbearable pain returned.

“Jack, I asked how you’re doing?”

Jack didn’t answer right away. He glanced at the evaluator, a man in his fifties who looked visibly uncomfortable being in the air, and asked, “What do you think?”

The man nodded his half-bald head. He unclenched his jaw to say, “Okay, for now.”

Jack didn’t like how the evaluator said the words, but at this point, he didn’t like much of this entire situation. He returned his eyes to Riley and said, “He says I’m fine. How about you, rookie?”

Riley scrunched up his face. He liked his nickname as much as Jack liked his, but Riley hadn’t expressed any objections. He should have, Jack thought.

Riley reached for his olive-drab agency-issued parachute. He had packed it just before taking off, when they were still on the grounds of The Plant—the training facility for CIS recruits—northwest of Ottawa. “I couldn’t be better, man. I’ve done this dozens of times, twenty-nine times, to be exact. How about you?”

Jack shook his head. “I don’t remember. A few times.”

It was over fifty times for sure. After that, Jack had stopped counting. He didn’t like to boast.

“Come on, X, tell me.”

Jack clenched his teeth and bit his lip in anger. He didn’t answer, but looked at the evaluator. “Can I take this off?” He pointed at the wires and the heart monitor.

“Sure.” The man took them from Jack.

Jack strapped on his parachute and got ready for the jump, even though they were a long way off the drop zone. The pilot was going to give them the signal when they were a minute out. He had said they were at least five minutes away not long ago. It’s close enough.

“Are you going to tell me?” Riley asked.

“Maybe when we land.”

Jack shifted off his seat and reached the door. He pulled it open from the center and rolled it up slowly until it went all the way to the stops.

“Hey, X, what are you doing?” Riley said. “It’s too early, man.”

A strong wind gust blasted inside the plane. The evaluator moved back and away from the door, clutching his tablet, the heart monitor, and the wires so that nothing would fly out of the Cessna. Jack felt cold, even though he was dressed in a gray windbreaker. He held onto the bar near the top of the door and checked for other aircraft traffic. He looked down at the fields, then at Riley. “You ready?”

“No, man. I still haven’t put my chute on. We have time. Close the door.”

“How many times did you say you’ve jumped?” Jack asked over the howling wind.

“Twenty-nine times, X.”

“How many times without a parachute?”

Riley gave him a dumbfounded look. “What? Without a chute? That’s insane.”

Jack invited Riley with a hand gesture to come closer to the door. “What’s that down there?”

Riley peered down and shook his head. “I don’t see anything.”

“Look better. What do you see?”

Riley crouched next to the door, while Jack was a step away. Riley looked down, then up at Jack. “There’s nothing there, X.”

“There is.” Jack nodded. “There’s you skydiving without a chute.” He gave Riley a firm shove.

“What the—”

The wind cut off his curse words as Riley fell through the air.

“What’s going on?” the pilot’s worried voice came over the PA system.

Terror shone brightly in the evaluator’s eyes. All color drained from his face. He began to shake, and Jack wondered if he’d go into shock. “You’ve… you’ve killed him.”

“Relax,” Jack stepped closer to the door. “I still have time to catch him. See you on the ground.” He gave the evaluator’s trembling hand a fist bump with his gloved hand.

The evaluator’s mouth dropped open.

If he said something, Jack didn’t hear it, because he dove headfirst and tumbled through the bitterly cold but clear sky. He saw Riley a few meters down and smiled. The young agent hadn’t panicked. He was free-falling toward certain death at a hundred miles per hour or more, but he was still in the fight. He had flipped onto his stomach and had spread his limbs into an X-shape to increase his surface area. The maneuver had slowed down his fall, because it increased the cross-section area of his body and created more air resistance. The decrease in speed wouldn’t be enough to survive a crash into the earth, but enough to allow Jack to catch up.

Jack dropped fast through the air. He had brought his arms back and along his body to increase his speed. He was arrowing down toward Riley, who was doing everything he could to steer toward Jack. They were now about fifty meters away from one another, closing the distance fast.

A few more seconds.

They were now about six or seven meters apart.

A strong wind gust shoved Jack to the side, moving him off track. He corrected his course, but not in time. He missed Riley, who flew overhead. Jack turned his body around, trying to complete a circle.

Riley did the same.

They were now maybe three meters apart.

Jack reached out with his hands, advancing toward Riley.

A couple of seconds and their fingers touched.

Jack held Riley’s arms tight, then slid over him and hooked his arms and legs around Riley. Both men drew in deep breaths of relief as they hung onto each other. Jack regretted, to a certain point, his extreme measure. Riley was too terrified and exhausted to say anything.

Jack wanted to glance at the altimeter strapped to his wrist, but he couldn’t. Still, he knew they had a few more seconds before he’d need to open the parachute. He looked around, trying to orientate himself. He noticed Ottawa’s skyline in the distance through the blue, cloudless sky. Then he looked to his left at the great expanse of fields as they continued to drop at terminal velocity.

About ten seconds later, one of the gauges hooked to his harness beeped. The sharp alarm informed Jack it was time to deploy the main parachute. A small device was installed in the rigs, in case he wouldn’t be able to open the main or the reserve parachute himself. The device would deploy the parachute automatically in a matter of seconds.

“Hold on,” he shouted at Riley. “I’m gonna let go for a moment. Just my right hand.”

“Okay.” Riley’s fingers were clenching Jack’s harness.

Jack popped the parachute by pulling the handle on the right side of his chest. The large blue-and-white canopy burst open and unfurled above their heads. The free-fall stopped.

The two agents began to glide down at a much slower speed. Jack pulled the left toggle and steered the parachute toward an open field up ahead on the flight path. There was barely any wind. They couldn’t have asked for better conditions.

Jack adjusted their course by pulling the toggles one after the other. The drop zone was coming up fast.

He steered them away from a grove of trees and the nearby house. He then pulled both toggles, flaring the parachute. The maneuver slowed the descent for a soft landing near the edge of the field. Both agents bent their knees and touched down.

Riley collapsed onto the ground, while Jack jogged forward for a few steps. The parachute twirled around him, cocooning him in. He unhooked all the straps and removed the harness. He hurried toward Riley, who was lying on his back and panting.

When Jack stood next to him, Riley gave him a deep frown. Pure rage flashed in his eyes. “What was that for?”

“I don’t like being called ‘X.’ That’s… my wife used to call me by that name.”

Riley’s eyes lost some of the rage. “Couldn’t you have said so, instead of throwing me out of a plane?”

“I tried to. A couple of times. You didn’t listen,” Jack said in a low voice.

Riley snorted. “And you thought to teach me a lesson? In that insane way?”

Jack looked away and offered a small shrug. “I’m… I overreacted, Riley. I’m sorry.”

Riley waited until Jack’s eyes returned to him, then offered a mischievous grin. “Don’t do it again. But… that was pretty cool. I’ve always wanted to try, just… never got the courage.”

Jack offered his hand to Riley and helped him up. “You don’t lack any courage, rookie.”

Riley held Jack’s hand a moment longer and peered deep into his eyes. “I don’t like that nickname any more than you like yours.”

Jack nodded. “I get that. Riley, you’re a brave man.”

Riley smiled. “Thanks, Jack.”

“Now, let’s make our way to the landing zone.” Jack gestured with his hand toward the west. “I’m not sure the evaluator liked my stunt…”