Epilogue
Paris, France
Six Months Later
The last several months had been a whirlwind.
Nate returned to Boston immediately after leaving Saudi Arabia and wrote the first draft of his dissertation in just one week.
In the ensuing months he filled in the gaps.
After paying Frank and Janet a quick visit he had hopped on a return flight to Saudi Arabia and began coordinating one of the largest archaeological digs in history.
Within a month from the date of discovery, he had a team of over four hundred trained workers at his disposal, as well as several other prominent archaeologists, anthropologists, and other scientists from around the globe.
They all worked under his direction and supervision as he coordinated the excavation, a highly unusual practice for someone who had not yet earned his PhD.
However, the crown prince trusted him, and the excavation itself was the backbone of his dissertation.
He had not taken a single day off, spending eighteen hours a day among the ruins of Ubar, planning, charting, cataloguing, and excavating.
He directed teams to ensure a systematic approach to the dig and made sure each and every item was painstakingly catalogued.
The Saudi government sent soldiers to protect the site and to make sure nothing went missing among the hundreds of people working there.
Within months he had more than enough fieldwork and research to significantly contribute to the literature of the field, having published multiple peer-reviewed articles throughout the process, as well as his documentation of the site.
Nate returned to Riyadh once a month to meet with the crown prince and provide him updates on the monumental operation.
The prince was enthralled at every visit, and Nate came to understand his deep fascination with history.
He was also a master of public relations and used every opportunity to put the recently discovered city at the forefront of the international media.
Unfortunately, that usually involved Nate.
As the front man for the unearthing of Iram of the Pillars, the crown prince hired him an agent.
Nate couldn’t tell if the agent worked for him or the prince, though all the prince wanted was exposure, so it was a moot point.
Nate was booked on late-night shows in the U.S.
and UK. He did radio interviews, the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, and made appearances on major news outlets in several different countries.
He appeared in multiple newspapers and magazines, had an entire edition of Archaeology magazine dedicated to the discovery, and was set to be named Time’s Person of the Year.
The prince also hired a biographer for him to detail the adventure surrounding the discovery while it was still fresh in his mind. The book was due out next year.
It was a significant amount of exposure, and over the course of several months he had turned into an international celebrity.
It made him extremely uncomfortable, though the prince assured him it was necessary.
Tim, whom he kept in close contact with, assured him it would fade.
The romance of a lost city was the hot new thing, but in a year or two the focus would be on something else, and he would just be that guy who found a city in the desert. Nate hoped he was right.
In the meantime, his recent fame had its advantages.
When he walked back into the faculty committee at Harvard after four solid months of excavations, it was not to propose his dissertation, but rather defend it.
He had sent the completed document, well over one thousand pages, several weeks prior, and was well prepared for any pushback.
After the opening remarks and his presentation, there were a multitude of questions, none of which had any skepticism attached to them.
“This committee can admit when it’s made a mistake, and it appears that we owe you an apology,” Dr. Martinez had said, looking around the room.
“While your theory of the existence of a lost city in the Arabian Desert initially appeared circumstantial, it is we who were shortsighted. And for that, I am sorry.”
“Thank you, ma’am” was Nate’s response.
His lead advisor, Professor Rogers, simply smiled and nodded.
Upon Nate’s return, they’d had a long conversation.
Rogers had apologized as well for his lack of defense during the pitch and enthusiastically offered to help in any way possible.
The man was a jellyfish, with no spine, but Nate politely accepted the apology and simply asked him to stay out of his way.
“Dr. Bradley,” Dr. Martinez had said, “would you like to address the candidate?”
It had been clear that Bradley was having an internal struggle with the whole situation.
If anything, Nate’s success probably made the little weasel hate him more, but there was very little he could do about it.
Nate had been right, and it had led to one of the most significant discoveries in history.
“We were wrong,” Dr. Bradley had managed to squeak out, without making eye contact. “Congratulations on your success.”
It had pleased Nate how much saying that must have hurt him. He was once again asked to leave the room so the panel could deliberate, though when he returned after a few short minutes, it was a much different circumstance than it had been nearly six months prior.
Dr. Martinez had smiled at him as he entered. “It gives me great pleasure to say congratulations to you, Dr. Wilde.”
Nate broke out into a broad grin. Finally, after all these years and the risks he had taken, he had made it. He had earned his PhD in Archaeology from Harvard University.
“Additionally,” Dr. Martinez addressed the room, “I am pleased to announce that a new endowed chair has been created, and Dr. Nathan Wilde will hold the newly created Iram of the Pillars Distinguished Professorship of Lost Civilizations, if he is so inclined to accept a tenured position here at Harvard.”
Nate had been shocked and still was. It was a great honor, one that had clearly been orchestrated by the crown prince with a sizable donation.
With it came plenty of money for independent research as well as a professorship at Harvard.
And tenure, much to the dismay of Professor Rogers, who was still seeking tenure of his own.
Whenever Nate was ready, the anthropology department had asked him to teach graduate classes on Ubar, prehistoric Arabia, and ancient civilizations, all of which he would design the curriculum for.
The accolades hadn’t stopped there. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Cambridge for completing the dream of a notable alumnus, Harry St. John Philby. It was humbling to be counted in the ranks of such a famous explorer, and he was truly honored.
Ana had spent time coming to grips with the death of her father and declined returning to her position at the European Union, instead seeking a position with the United Nations as her father had.
In the interim, Nate convinced the crown prince to let her oversee the geological survey of the water table beneath the Rub’ al Khali, allowing her to complete her father’s work.
The discovery of Ubar was of the utmost importance, yet it was a mystery of the past. What Ana was doing was creating the future.
The existence of a river flowing meters below the desert floor was going to revolutionize the Arabian Desert, and Ana was the head geologist breaking ground on the project.
And, as an added bonus, they were often co-located and able to spend quality time together.
Tim returned to Kentucky and used his reward money to open a new training facility, replete with a flat range, known-distance ranges, and shoot houses.
The new facility, combined with his skills, experience, and practiced teaching method brought him a wealth of new customers.
His exposure as a part of the famous expedition that discovered Ubar didn’t hurt either, and he was at the point where he was turning clients away.
Shane used the money for boat fuel, as promised, but he was also able to use his newfound fame to his advantage.
The fight gyms he owned saw a major influx of customers, and he opened several more across the country and even a few in Europe.
He spent his time flitting around the world visiting his various businesses and taking impressionable young ladies for rides on his yacht.
Wally returned to consulting, and business was booming for him as well.
All the big insurance companies wanted him, and he was able to raise his fees working kidnap and ransom cases.
He spent his days traveling the globe for different contracts, with the caveat that he couldn’t take any jobs in Saudi Arabia.
He chose to focus on South America, far from the deserts of the Middle East.
They had all found success in their own ways from the fantastic expedition.
And though they stayed in touch through email, phone calls, and Zoom, it was difficult to get together in the same place at the same time.
Tonight was the first opportunity since they’d left Saudi Arabia that they had managed to do so.
Within months of breaking ground on the excavation, a special display of artifacts was opened in the National Museum of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh.
In addition, a collection was curated to go on the road and travel to museums around the world, another of the prince’s promotions.
He hoped to generate enough interest with a world tour of select pieces that someday in the future Ubar would become a major tourist attraction.