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‘It’ll cut down the number of recces we have to do.’
    At the final briefing that evening, Rusty talked them through the techniques for driving over dunes of soft sand. ‘Sand dunes are shaped by the wind,’ he explained. ‘On the windward side they’re convex and can be several hundred metres in height.  On the lee side they’re usually concave.  The skill to driving in the dunes is to accelerate up the windward side until you’re almost at the top, but then you must take your foot off the throttle and use the impetus of the vehicle to just clear the crest.  Then you can coast down the lee side using the remaining impetus of the vehicle and gravity to keep up your momentum. If you’re going too fast, you risk the vehicle plunging down the lee side and turning turtle with potentially serious consequences for the crew. If you are going too slowly you will be constantly getting bogged down in the sand. That means a lot of digging and the use of sand channels - perforated aluminium sections in a sort of flattened-out U-shape.  In areas where the sand is soft we might have to offload the vehicle and carry the stores to where the vehicle has been moved to. Trust me, that’s bloody tiring and uncomfortable in those extreme temperatures.  So whoever’s doing the driving has to know what’s doing.’
    Shepherd grinned. ‘Well after that build-up, you’ll have to put your money where your mouth is and drive the lead vehicle yourself,’ he said. ‘I’ll take the second vehicle unless anyone else thinks they can do a better job.’
    ‘One other thing,’ Rusty said. ‘You often find hard gravel plains among the dunes.  They may only be going in the general direction of your route but you can drive at high speed across them.  So you may have to do drive three sides of a square to keep on your general heading but it will still be quicker than travelling the direct route across the sand.’
    ‘I’ll remember that,’ said Shepherd.
    They set out at dawn the following morning, laden with weaponry, fuel and ammunition and with Rusty’s chuggles lashed to the outside of the vehicles. Despite Jimbo’s scepticism, Rusty’s faith in them proved correct. Despite their porous skins they lost remarkably little of their contents during the day and the water was always pleasantly cool to drink.
    Parker, who had still not fully recovered from the IED blast, stayed behind with Beebop to co-ordinate any support they might need. ‘When we give you the word,’ Shepherd said, ‘we’ll need your magic electronic filing cabinet to put a temporary black-out over the area, blocking any transmissions, particularly IED detonation signals. Can do?’
    Parker glanced at Beebop who was operating the equipment, then nodded. ‘No problem,’ said the MI6 officer.
    ‘You not coming with us this time, Jonathan?’ Jock said, his expression a picture of innocence. ‘Had your fill of desert trips with us after the last one?’
    ‘Let him be, Jock,’ Shepherd said. ‘We need someone back at the base.’
    They maintained radio silence as they drove all day through the searing heat of the Great Sand Sea. They followed a course well to the west of the sole road to the oasis and made slow progress through the shifting sands. That night they camped in a depression in the desert inhabited by semi-wild camels.  ‘There are never any totally wild camels,’ Rusty said. ‘The Bedu just turn their camels loose to find their own grazing and then recover them when they need them.’ Now firmly established as their desert expert, he then began telling them about some of the desert fauna while they ate their rations. ‘Have any of you heard of camel spiders?’ he said. ‘They’re as big as dinner plates and covered in hair just like the hair on a camel.  They’re reputed to inject their victims with an anaesthetic and then eat their flesh. Incredibly creepy.’
    ‘Can you get us one?’ asked Geordie. ‘Spider here likes nothing