His musings so preoccupied Selkirk that he nearly missed the first stark blink of the heliograph. He read the message as the Morse flashed over the desert. "Red section successful" it said, and was followed a few moments by another: "blue section successful." He acknowledged at once; both his sections had located the oasis and cut a palm frond. Now all they had to do was find their way back to the pyramid, avoid the Fusilier ambushes and present him with their trophies. That should be an educational trip for them.
Selkirk waited as the soft glow from nearby Cairo increased until it chased away the security of the desert night. The moon rose, the same moon that had risen above Moses and dozens of dynasties of Pharaohs, and Selkirk wondered if they had ever wanted peace and solitude and a r
