The Trust

They came out of the siq at sunset. Dr Ruba was waiting for them at the entrance, with three cars from the archaeology team and two antiquities police officers who had followed the camels' tracks after the storm.

Dr Ruba ran towards them, looked at their dusty, shining faces and said in a shaky voice, "Did you find it?"

"We found it," said Malik. "And it's more beautiful than all the stories."

Then she saw Nader Bek walking behind them, without his jacket, his head bowed. She frowned, and the two police officers stepped towards him.

But Nader Bek raised his hands and said quietly, "There's no need. I came here to steal — that's true. But I haven't stolen anything. And these people saved my life."

Then he took a small card out of his pocket and handed it to Dr Ruba. "This is my drone's memory card. It has photos of lots of places in the desert that I've filmed over the years while hunting for treasure. Ancient tombs, inscriptions, places nobody knows about. Take it. Protect them. I... I don't want them any more."