Cairo
Arrangements turned out to be fairly smooth to arrange. In the morning a coded message was sent to London via diplomatic cable, courtesy of Alexander's connections in the British and Egyptian governments. It was delivered to CSM Jones, and a reply was returned in hours. The Basara brothers, Egyptians and members of the mosque in Woking, agreed to shepherd the occult materials they'd collected to Berlin, where the Commercial would pick them up.
Then, as John-Marc was getting ready to meet Karlheinz and Selim at where the Commercial was being field hangared, they received another coded telegram, this time from their friend Roger Bedford! He was stranded in Cyprus.
Roger was an old friend of John-Marc's, a fellow Great War RAF vet they'd hired to help ferry down their second aeroplane, a Bistol F2 "Brisfit" fighter, bought as war surplus and fully armed. This was in addition to the Vickers Vimy Commercial aircraft that served as the main transport for the group. Cultists in Rome set fire to the hangar where the aircraft were being stored, and the Brisfit was unfit to fly. The rest of the group pressed on ahead in the Commercial as Roger had volunteered to meet up in the fighter when possible.
During his fuel stop in Cyprus, British authorities had suspected the armed plane was en route to fight in the Balkans, and impounded it. As it happened, Cyprus was on the way. After several hours of flight from south of Cairo and over the Mediterranean, the Commercial arrived in Nicosia and the RAF field there.
Roger saw the large commercial plane that was owned by his Canadian friend, JM, and JM's German partner, KH, circling to land on the hot dry field. It touched down, then the massive 2-engined biplane taxied over. The Brisfit would have to remain on Cyprus, but Roger was free to go. He was on the plane and saying hello to John-Marc and Karlheinz, lickety-split.
They finished that leg in Istanbul. The next night was spent in Vienna, Austria. From there, it was a short hop to Tempelhof airfield in Berlin. Haji and Faruk, two former Egyptian army officers, were waiting for them at the customs warehouse. The morning was sunny and warm, for Germany.
Haji, the older one, said, "Allah bless you and has seen your safe arrival. We are glad to pass along these accursed items. We can continue on to our beloved Egypt with you, or return back to London, should that be your wish."
In Cairo, Alexander kept the others busy. They were able to visit museums and galleries, incognito. As well, there were beaches at Alexandria, and sports and dinner at the nearby club. Alexander wasn't in favour of visiting the dealer just yet, while their companions were travelling, as events might prove to move too quickly. The others would be back within days. In the mean time, he continued to make enquiries of his own.
They were staying on his estate on an island in the middle of the Nile. This exclusive enclave in the middle of the city was the site of other mansions, embassies, sports clubs, parks, museums. His estate guards were either native veterans of the King's African Rifles, or Bedouin. They seemed competent and alert. Alexander's wife, Marjyan, was a delight to Molly and Cynthia, and seemed the equal of her husband in all ways. The daughter of a wealthy Coptic Christian family with extensive government connections, she'd been educated in England, excelled at sports and was a superb shot.