Rickards nodded before continuing past the professor.  He retrieved a few items and returned to relax in the wooden chair opposite Townsend.  “Let me guess—you slept like a baby.”

“Not a baby.  A log.”

“Wonderful.”

The older man grinned while chewing.  “You’re being facetious again.”

“Not facetious.  Jealous.”

“Well, if it’s any consolation, I was also up before dawn.  I think I got too much sleep on the plane.”

Joe rolled his eyes and lifted a coffee cup to his mouth.  “Seen Angela?”

“She went to see the concierge to arrange a ride for us.”

“Where to?”

“A local airstrip.”

When Rickards raised an eyebrow, Townsend added, “I found a pilot.”

“You did?”

“Yes.  Although not a lot of charter pilots here speak English, so I’ve either chartered a plane or possibly a camel.”

“Fifty-fifty chance,” said Rickards, lowering his cup back to the table. He then asked, “You said you’d been here before?”

“The last time was about ten years or so.  My wife loves to travel.  She especially loves Egypt.”

Rickards nodded and took a bite of egg.  “I’ve never been.”

“To Egypt?”

“Anywhere.”

“Not a big travel bug, I take it?”

He shrugged as he ate.  “Used to travel a lot domestically for work, so I’ve spent more than my share of time on airplanes.”

“And your wife?”

“Wasn’t big on traveling either.  So, does our pilot know where we’re headed?”

“Yes.  Sounds like most of the area is private airspace, but he insists he can get us close enough for a look.”

“Assuming it’s not on a camel.”

Townsend laughed.

“Then what?”

“What do you mean?”

“Then what?” repeated Rickards.  “After that.”

“You mean, ‘What do we do?’”

“Yes.”

“Depends on how close we can get, I guess.  We’re looking for something that might point to an epicenter of sorts.  Satellite pictures of the area aren’t very detailed.  And hopefully we can also retrieve a sample.”

“A sample?”

“Of the glass.  I took some close-up photos of the spire and want to measure the silica composition.  See how similar they are.”

“And if they match?”

“Then we get our hands on another isotropic probe and find a way to get access to that area.”

“What about–”

They were interrupted by Angela, who approached and sat down at the table with them.  “Taxi will be ready in thirty minutes, which should get us there right on time.  What did I miss?”

Rickards picked up his coffee.  “We were just discussing how wonderful Leonard’s sleep was last night.”

She chuckled but stopped when she looked closer at Joe.  “You look awful.  Are you sure you’re up for this?”

He stared across the table at Townsend.  “That’s my kind of compliment.”

“Sorry.  That came out wrong.”

“I can’t wait to hear how it was supposed to come out.”