When Adrian Mander flew off to the Sahara to look for the tomb of King Ras Tenazza, his choice of a partner was unlucky, for once they had located the site, the unscrupulous Sekunder took off in their aircraft, leaving the young archaeologist to die of thirst. Weeks later, ignorant of these events, Biggles comes looking for Adrian. What he finds astonishes even the hard-bitten Biggles, and his ultimate meeting with Sekunder shows Biggles at his most resourceful.