Terminal Velocity Read online

  About the Book

  To the outside world, seventeen-year-old Ethan Blake is part of an elite skydiving team. An ordinary boy with an extreme hobby. But Ethan is also a highly trained covert operative, his team, the Raiders, a top-secret unit sent on dangerous, totally deniable missions.

  Now, the bodies of homeless teenagers are turning up on the streets, battered and bruised beyond recognition. Organized crime is suspected and the Raiders are called upon. Somebody suitable, trained in hand-to-hand combat needs to go undercover.

  Ethan’s life just got very, very dangerous …

  About the Author

  Andy McNab was a covert ops commander in the SAS and the British Army’s most highly decorated serving soldier. Besides his writing, Andy now advises intelligence agencies in the UK and US.

  For more about him and his books visit www.andymcnab.co.uk

  Titles by Andy McNab:

  DROPZONE

  Dropzone

  Dropzone: Terminal Velocity

  BOY SOLDIER (with Robert Rigby)

  Boy Soldier

  Payback

  Avenger

  Meltdown

  For adults:

  Bravo Two Zero

  Immediate Action

  Seven Troop

  Spoken from the Front

  Novels:

  Aggressor

  Brute Force

  Crisis Four

  Crossfire

  Dark Winter

  Deep Black

  Exit Wound

  Firewall

  Last Light

  Liberation Day

  Recoil

  Remote Control

  Zero Hour

  This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  Version 1.0

  Epub ISBN 9781409025320

  www.randomhouse.co.uk

  DROPZONE: TERMINAL VELOCITY

  A DOUBLEDAY BOOK 978 0 385 61711 6

  TRADE PAPERBACK 978 0 857 53004 2

  Published in Great Britain by Doubleday,

  an imprint of Random House Children’s Books

  A Random House Group Company

  This edition published 2011

  1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

  Copyright © Andy McNab, 2011

  With thanks to David Gatward

  The right of Andy McNab to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

  RANDOM HOUSE CHILDREN’S BOOKS

  61–63 Uxbridge Road, London W5 5SA

  www.kidsatrandomhouse.co.uk

  www.rbooks.co.uk

  Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at: www.randomhouse.co.uk/offices.htm

  THE RANDOM HOUSE GROUP Limited Reg. No. 954009

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  Contents

  Cover

  About the Book

  About the Author

  Also by Andy Mcnab

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Glossary

  Characters

  Skydiving/BASE Jumping

  Prologue

  Classified – Top Secret

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  GLOSSARY

  AAD

  Automatic Activation Device: senses rate of descent and altitude – mechanically activates reserve parachute if a skydiver passes below a set altitude at a high rate of descent.

  A/C

  Aircraft.

  Accuracy

  Also known as ‘precision landing’. Competition discipline in which the skydiver tries to land on a target three centimetres in diameter.

  AFF

  Accelerated Freefall training, comprising freefall jumps of forty seconds or longer, accompanied by a qualified jumpmaster.

  Airspeed

  Speed of a flying object through the air.

  AK-47/AK

  Kalashnikov automatic rifle firing 7.62 rounds.

  Altimeter

  Device indicating altitude.

  Altitude

  Process by which a skydiver regularly checks the

  awareness

  ground and altimeter.

  BASE jump

  Jump made from a fixed object rather than from an aircraft. BASE is an acronym for Buildings, Antennae, Spans (bridges) and Earth (cliff).

  Bergen

  A backpack, or rucksack.

  Body position

  Freefall body posture.

  Bounce

  To land at unsurvivable speed. Also to frap, or go in.

  Brakes

  The brake lines of the canopy are synonymous with steering lines. Used together, they slow the parachute. Used independently, they result in a turn.

  Break off

  To cease formation skydiving by tracking away from the formation prior to deploying the canopy.

  Burble

  An area of turbulence which occurs behind an object going through the air.

  Call

  Time remaining until you are to board the aircraft or jump out of it.

  Canopy

  Another name for parachute.

  Chat-net

  A closed network which allows a group of people to chat at the same time using electronic communications devices.

  Cover

  False details used by covert operators to describe their personal history.

  CQC

  Close-quarter combat.

  Cut away

  To release the main parachute. Standard emergency procedure prior to deploying the reserve.

  DLB

  Acronym for dead letter box/dead letter drop.

  Drogue

  In a tandem jump, a drogue parachute is deployed shortly after exiting the aircraft to reduce the speed of descent. It is later used to deploy the main canopy.

  Dropzone/DZ

  Skydiving centre.

  Fall rate

  Speed at which a skydiver falls. Matching fall rate is essential to successful formation skydiving. This is done with jumpsuits, weights and body position.

  Flare

  To pull down the brakes of the canopy to slow it down, thus increasing the angle of attack and reducing the descent rate.

  Freestyle

  Acrobatic individual skydiving.

  Formation

&nb
sp; 1) A freefall skydiving formation of more than one jumper.

  2) A flight of more than one jump plane.

  GPS

  Global Positioning System.

  Grippers

  Handholds built onto formation skydiving jumpsuits to make the suits easier to hold onto.

  HAHO

  High altitude, high opening jump.

  Harness/

  Webbing/fabric holding main and reserve

  container

  canopies to the skydiver.

  Heading

  Direction in which the aircraft, skydiver or parachute is facing.

  Hook knife

  Small knife carried in jumpsuit or on rig to cut lines or webbing.

  Jumpsuit

  An overall designed for skydiving.

  Krav Maga

  Israeli hand-to-hand combat system.

  Main

  The primary canopy.

  MI5

  Military intelligence security service responsible for protecting the United Kingdom against threats to national security.

  Pinzgauer

  All-terrain four- and six-wheel drive military utility vehicle.

  Reserve

  Auxiliary parachute carried on every intentional parachute jump.

  Regiment (The)

  General term used to refer to the SAS.

  RIBs

  Rigid inflatable boats.

  Ripcord

  Deployment system on all reserves and most student parachutes. The ripcord is a piece of cable with a handle at one end and a pin at the other. When pulled, the pin comes out of the closing loop holding the container shut, and the pilot chute is released.

  Rig

  Slang for the entire canopy, including main and reserve canopies and the harness/container.

  Rigger

  Someone with a recognized qualification stating that they have successfully met the requirements to be a parachute rigger.

  RPG

  Rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

  RV

  Rendezvous.

  Selection

  Specific period of extended training where by soldiers who wish to join the UKSF (SAS and SBS) are required to pass three stages (endurance; jungle training; and escape and evasion and tactical questioning).

  Steering lines

  The lines that run from the steering toggles on the rear risers to the trailing edge of the canopy.

  Steering toggles

  Handles attached to the ends of the steering lines.

  Stress positions

  Interrogation technique whereby the human body is placed in various positions to put increased strain on muscle groups.

  Swoop

  1)To dive down to a formation or individual in freefall.

  2)To aggressively approach the landing area in order to produce a long, flat flare and exciting landing.

  Tandem

  Two skydivers share a rig, one of whom is in a separate harness that attaches to the front of the other harness.

  Terminal

  The speed at which drag matches gravity,

  velocity

  resulting in a constant fall rate. Generally terminal velocity for formation skydiving is 120–135 mph.

  Toggles

  Handles on the steering lines.

  Track

  Body position that creates a high forward speed. Used to approach or depart from other skydivers in freefall.

  UKSF

  United Kingdom Special Forces. General term to cover SAS/SBS.

  Wave off

  Before deployment a skydiver makes a clearly defined arm motion to indicate to others nearby that he is about to open his canopy.

  X-ray

  Enemy combatant.

  CHARACTERS

  Ethan

  Driven by a fierce determination to make something of his life, Ethan will push himself to the limit, face his fears head on and stand by his friends no matter what. Skydiving is just the opportunity he’s been looking for, and he doesn’t want to be simply good, he’s out to be the best. Period.

  Johnny

  Quick with the witty comments and fast in the air, he’s a living, breathing definition of ‘adrenaline junkie’. But beneath the smart-arse persona lies a seriously capable operator who doesn’t know the meaning of the word quit. His only problem is that he likes to go it alone, and that doesn’t always work well with a team.

  Kat

  Pretty, athletic and impulsive, she loves being that rare thing among her peers – a girl who skydives. She does it because she knows she’s good at it and because it makes her sexy as hell.

  Luke

  The one the rest of the team depend on to make sure everything is safe and sorted. He’s quiet, methodical, and all about the detail. When it comes to skydiving, if Luke doesn’t know it, it’s not worth knowing.

  Natalya

  A serious girl with a mysterious past buried deep somewhere in eastern Europe. No one quite knows where she came from or how she ended up skydiving in the UK.

  Sam

  A world-class skydiver, skilled undercover operator and exceptional soldier, Sam is tough, serious and a natural leader. He has a long history with the SAS – having led operations across the globe – and he hasn’t exactly retired. He’s responsible for bringing the team together in the first place. His word is law. And he’s someone you really don’t want to cross.

  Gabe

  Sam’s key contact at MI5, which is about all that Gabe would like any of the team knowing about him. In his mid-thirties, he’s ambitious and single-minded, qualities which enabled him to pass Selection in his early twenties. He’s rarely seen by the team, communicating only with Sam. However, when he does show up, it’s as good a sign as anything that something is going down.

  Skydiving

  You jump from a plane at 12,000 feet, reach speeds of over 120 mph, then glide in under your canopy, gazing at the most amazing view of the earth you’ll ever see. Adrenaline never tasted this good.

  Warning: dangerously addictive.

  BASE jumping

  You don’t jump from a plane, but from a fixed object closer to the ground. BASE stands for Building, Antenna, Span (bridge or arch), Earth. Unlike skydiving, a BASE jumper rarely reaches terminal velocity (120 mph).

  Warning: this is the closest you can get to falling to your death without dying.

  Prologue

  The cage was hexagonal, five metres wide, the walls over two metres high. The rubber floor was wet and slick with blood and sweat. Both fighters had lost their footing more than once. Both had turned it to their advantage, landed blows, drawn blood.

  They had been at it nonstop for all of seven minutes and twenty-four seconds. Twenty-five … twenty-six … twenty-seven … No way would they make it all the way to ten minutes. No one ever did. It wasn’t long, but it was long enough.

  No rules.

  No referee.

  Just survival.

  Or death.

  The darkness around the cage buzzed with the sound of a dozen cameras filming the fight, the encrypted images streamed via satellite to a small number of private screens around the world. To get access to this exclusive entertainment, just two things were required: the right amount of money, and the right contacts. The only information you were given was the time of the fight, the code to break the encryption and how much money you might win. Or lose.

  How you came by the money, clean or dirty, was your business. And as far as the contacts were concerned, they weren’t exactly the kind you’d meet in an average betting shop. But if you knew how to find them, then you also knew that double-crossing them was a bad idea. A very bad idea indeed.

  Only a few miles away, in a lounge lit only by a roaring fire, a man sat in a black leather chair, his well-manicured hands playing with the gold rings he wore. Leaning against his leg was a black cane topped with a silver ball. The wall above the fire was hidden behind a huge flat-screen television, which cast electric colours into the room to spill
across the carpet. The picture was so clear, so perfect, he could almost smell the perspiration of the fighters, reach out and touch the wire walls of the cage. And the best bit was only seconds away …

  The man in the lounge was enjoying himself. He wasn’t quite sure how much he’d put down: five, maybe six million. But the money wasn’t important. He had plenty. Couldn’t spend it quick enough. Which was why he had come up with this little game for others to play in the first place, wasn’t it? A select few with billions in the bank and a thirst for the extreme.

  It was winning that he enjoyed. That was what life was all about. Winning was everything. By any means necessary. As anyone who’d taken him on in his field of business knew all too well.

  Not that any of them were still alive to talk about it.

  Like a snake sliding across glass, a thin smile slipped across the man’s face as he sat forward, leaned in towards the television; he didn’t want to miss any of the final moments …

  CLASSIFIED – TOP SECRET

  SIT REP No R302

  OPERATION: RAIDERS

  Aim:

  Recruit, train and develop a high-performance skydiving team of five young people for specialist covert operations work.

  Progress:

  The following candidate has been successfully identified and recruited:

  ETHAN BLAKE

  Age:

  17

  Height: