It's March 1882, and alarming news of an uprising against the Anglo-French suzerainty in Egypt has reached London. Sir Garnet Wolseley decides to call upon the services of renowned scouts Simon Fonthill, former army captain, and '352' Jenkins, Simon's ex-batman. Fonthill and Jenkins are sent into the desert ahead of Wolseley's soldiers to observe the movements and fighting prowess of the Egyptian force. On a mission of her own is war correspondent Alice Griffith. They are fully aware of the danger they will face in the desert, but they could never have foreseen the bloodshed that awaits them all at Tel el Kebir.