They managed to escape Timbuktu, French Sudan, in one piece.Their second adventure has Montague Cutter and Jackson Dillard winging their way east across the Mediterranean Sea in a RAF Dakota ladened with desperately needed medical supplies for the island fortress of Malta. On board is a young RAF officer — a member of the SOE — carrying a locked attaché case.Arriving during an aerial dogfight between the British and Italian air forces, they manage to evade disaster and land the battle-damaged Dakota — mostly in one piece.On the ground, they find themselves unintentionally involved in the defense of the island. One hundred miles of open sea separates them from Sicily and Mussolini’s proud fascist military.They also find themselves — once again — involved with Professor Andrei Constantinescu and his daughter Alyxandria as the archaeologists endeavor to locate a relic once belonging to Joseph of Arimathea. Brought to the island stronghold of the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem by its future Grand Master — Jean Parisot de la Valette — in 1530, the relic disappeared during the Great Siege of Malta in 1565.And they are not alone in the search for the venerated artifact.They only need to locate the revered relic before an unknown — and thoroughly unpleasant — entity finds it.Oh, and survive the current Siege of Malta!