It is 1943 and the world is at war. Archaeologists Lily Sampson and Gideon Weil have been sent by the Office of Strategic Services to survey Trans-Jordan. In the Trans-Jordanian desert, they discover two oil pipelines from Iraq which may decide the outcome of the war: one which supplies the Allies and one which supplies the Nazis. Then Lily and Gideon are stranded in the Wadi Rum, and their Bedouin guide is murdered. When Gideon is accused of the crime, Lily must clear him of the accusation.