"Understood." Bill nods. "Any time at all, Tom, and I mean it. But now I should be getting home to Fleur; I don't want her to worry. She reads the papers too."

Not in Arabic, of course, and not unless he points something out, but he's filled with an overwhelming desire to return to her immediately.

War is a troublesome business. It's even more troubling when she's in Luxor alone and he's at the end of the universe. He waves his hand at the Ogden's in a help yourself gesture before standing and gathering his newspapers. "Best to Door and Ingress."