of if you were aware of her movements?"
"Dummkopf!" von Schiller snapped at him. "Because it now seems that she
is much more likely to lead me to the tomb than you are."
"But, sir, I have done-' Nahoot protested.
you have done nothing but make up excuses for your ilure. Thanks to you,
the stele is still an enigma,'
own fa von Schiller interrupted him contemptuously.
"It is very difficult-'
"Of course it is difficult. That's why I am paying you a great deal of
money. If it were easy I would have done it myself. If it is indeed the
instruction to find the tomb of Mamose, then the scribe Taita meant it
to be difficult."
"If I am allowed a little more time, I think I am very near to
establishing the key-'
"You have no more time. Did you not hear what I have just told you?
Harper is on his way back to the Abbay gorge. They flew from Malta last
night in a chartered aircraft that was heavily loaded with cargo. My men
were not able to establish the nature of that cargo, except that it
included some earth-moving equipment, a front-endloading tractor. To me,
this can mean only one thing.
They have located the tomb, and they are returning to begin excavating
it."
"You will be able to get rid of them as soon as they reach the
monastery." Nahoot relished the thought.
"Colonel Nogo will-'
"Why do I have to keep repeating myself?" Von Schiller's voice turned
shrill and he slapped his hand down on the tabletop. "They are now our
best chance of finding the tomb of Mamose. The very last thing that I
want to happen is that any harm should come to them." He glared at
Nahoot. "I am sending you back to Ethiopia immediately.
Perhaps you will be of some use to me there. You are certainly no use
here."
Nahoot looked disgruntled, but he had better sense than to argue again.
He sat sullenly as von Schiller went on, "You will go to the base camp
and place yourself under the command of Helm. You will take your orders
from him.
Treat them as if they come directly from me. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Herr von Schiller," Nahoot muttered sulkily.
"Do not interfere in any way with Harper and the woman. They must not
even know that you are at the base camp. The Pegasus geological team
will carry on its normal duties." He paused and smiled bleakly, then
went on, "It is most fortunate that Helm has actually discovered very
promising evidence of large deposits of galena, which as you may know is
the ore from which lead is obtained. He will continue the exploratory
work on-these deposits, and if they bear out their promise they will
make the entire operation highly profitable."
"What exactly will be my duties?" Nahoot wanted to know.
"You will be playing the waiting game. I want you there ready to take
advantage of any progress- that Harper makes. However, you are to give
him plenty of elbow room.
You will not alert him by any overflights with the helicopter, or by
approaching his camp. No more midnight raids.
Every move that you make must be cleared with me before, I repeat
before, you take any action."
"If I am to operate under these restrictions, how will I know if Harper
and the woman have made any progress?"
"Colonel Nogo already has a reliable man, a spy, in the monastery. He
will inform us of every move that Harper makes."
"But what about me? What will be my work?"
"You will evaluate the intelligence that Nogo collects.
You are familiar with archaeological methods. You will be able to judge
what Harper is trying to achieve, and you will be able to tell what
success he is enjoying."
"I see,'Nahoot muttered.
"If it were possible I would have gone back to the Abbay gorge myself.
-However, this is not possible. It may take time, months perhaps, before
Harper makes any important progress. You know as well as anybody that
these things take time."
"Howard Carter worked for ten years at Thebes before he found the tomb
of Tutankhamen," Nahoot pointed out maliciously.
"I hope that it will not take that long," said von Schiller coldly. "If
it does, it is very unlikely that you will still be involved with the
search. As for myself, I have a series of very important negotiations
coming up here in Germany, as well as the annual general meeting of the
company. These I cannot miss."
"You will not be coming back to Ethiopia at all, then?" Nahoot perked up
at the prospect of escaping from von Schiller's malignant influence.
"I will come as soon as there is something for me there.
I will be relying on you to decide when my presence is needed."
"What about the stele! I should-'
"You will continue to work on the translation." Von Schiller forestalled
his objections. "You will take a full set of photographs with you to
Ethiopia, and you will continue your work while you are there. I shall
expect you to report to me by satellite, at least once a week, on your
progress."
"When do you want me to leave?"
ly, "Immediately. Today if that is possible. Speak to Frulein Kemper.
She will make your travel arrangements." For the first time during the
interview Nahoot looked happy.
Dolly droned on steadily southeastwards, ig and there was very little to
relieve the boredom of the flight. The dawn was just breaking when they
crossed the African coast at a remote and lonely desert beach that
Jannie had chosen for just this reason.
Once they were over the land there was as little of interest to see as
there had been over the sea. The desert stretched away, bleak and brown
and featureless in every direction.
At irregular intervals they heard Jannie in the cockpit speaking to air
traffic control, but as they were able to hear only half the
conversation they had no idea as to- the identity or the nationality of
the station. Occasionally Jannie dropped the heavily accented English he
was affecting and broke into Arabic. Royan was surprised by Jannie's
fluency in the language, but then as an Afrikaner the guttural sounds
came naturally to him. He was even able to mimic the different accents
and dialects of Libyan and Egyptian convincingly as he tied his way
across the desert.
For the first few hours Sapper pored over his dam drawings; then, unable
to proceed further until he had the exact measurements of the site, he
curled up on his bunk with a paperback novel. The unfortunate author was
unable to hold his attention for long. The open book sagged down over
his face, and the pages fluttered every time he emitted a long grinding
snore.
Nicholas and Royan huddled on her bunk with the chessboard between them,
until hunger overtook them and they moved to the makeshift galley. Here
Royan took the subservient role of bread'sticer and coffee-maker, while
Nicholas demonstrated his artistry in creating a range of Dagwood
sandwiches. They shared the food with Jannie and Fred, perched up behind
the pilots' seats in the cockpit.
"Are we still over Egyptian territory?" Royan asked.
With his mouth full, Jannie pointed out over the port wingtip of Big
Dolly. "Fifty nautical miles out there is Wadi Halfia. My father was