Lowther Lodge, South Kensington, London.
Alexander Hussein Mahfouz, dressed in the uniform of a Captain in the Somaliland Camel Corp, stood on the front step of the Royal Geographical Society greeting the guests as they arrived.
Tonight was the end of several weeks work, helping his best friend and fellow explorer Ahmed Hassanein, to promote his book "The Lost Oasis", which detailing their expedition through Egypt, Libya and the Sudan, ultimately opened new Saharan routes from Kufra to Sudanic Africa.
"Ah Mr Rodd a pleasure to meet you again, this time so far from Cairo....Please go in. The reading will take place upstairs in the Council rooms....Yes, as well as the reading there will be a short film, slides too and from what I hear a most pleasant supper afterwards."
Ahmed Hassanein was currently in New York fulfilling commitments there, leaving London to his companion. London...A second home? No, but a city that was the home to one part of his family, albeit one that did not publicly acknowledge their dark skinned secret.
Alexander suddenly stands up straight and salutes, as Percy Cox, Major General (retired) and one time High Commissioner of Iraq and Iran arrived.
"Ah Captain...A pleasure indeed, heard much about you" and squinting at Alexander's campaign ribbons he continues "Somaliland eh? Mentioned in Dispatches I see. Had a devil of a time there myself...Took me six weeks in '95 to defeat the Red Hared clan. Tough lot....Anyways carry on.....I believe it's the Council rooms tonight and probably some rotten food afterwards... My Goodness is that Gertie?"
And so it goes, with cars depositing their learned guests one by one, coats removed, and in the main hall drinks are served whilst waiting for the call to move upstairs.
Alexander found himself in the vestibule for a moment, glass in hand, talking to a Professor Lawrence Stamp, who had recently returned from Rangoon and knew his father. Alex introduced him to the Imam and then turned as another car arrived....