Spirit of the Oryx

Early mornings in the desert are almost a lovely as the sunsets. Often a bright green burst precedes the emergence of a giant orange ball. Abdul always arose early so he could exercise and make his body fit for Allah’s service. He ran hard along the lakefront for about eight kilometers until the sun was fully up over the lip of the earth. He found a high point on one of the dunes a short ways off from the tent, where he could view Saudi Arabia as he exercised and lay down in the sand to begin his 500 ab crunches and sit-ups. Flopping over on the already warm sand, he did a hundred push-ups and then stretched for about fifteen minutes. He would call the stretching exercises tai chi, but that would give another culture too much credit for his low heart rate and general overall fitness. Barely out of breath, he returned to the tent, took his prayer rug from his bag and spread it out in the sand behind the tent. This was always a special time for Abdul, and he milked every routine second of it. He spread the rug out evenly, knelt, and prayed for courage to do the work he must do.

Aida Al-Sahri, the younger of the two women who served in Dr. Abu’s tent, had a plate of fresh fruit and yogurt waiting for him as he emerged from the sweet water shower in the back of the lodging. You could always get sweet fresh fruit in the Arabian Gulf, mostly coming from Saudi Arabia and Northern Africa.

   “Would you care for some tea, Dr. Surima?”

   “Coffee, actually, please. Five spoonfuls of sugar, please.”

   “Dr. Surima, it is a pleasure being here with you and Dr. Abu. We are most happy to serve you. Please excuse me.”

Moments later Dr. Abu emerged from his bedchamber and joined Surima, coffee cup in hand.

   “The ship arrives in six days,” he began. “It will be a grand moment. The boy arrives three days before and we will present him at the Sheikha Mozah Mosque in Doha. The Emir is not aware of it, but his Imam will work with us to encourage him and his wife to be present that morning. The Emir, as you know, has his own private mosque on the Palace grounds for his family to use, but that day he will take a private car to the mosque for this special prayer time.”

   “Where will the boy be kept before his momentous appearance?”

   “At the Al Gebab Mosque. It is out of the way and very special in the eyes of many Qataris, being made entirely of coral, mud, and wood, all gifts of the sea.”

   “Do we know which ship will be our deliverer?” Surima asked.

   “Their newest Q-flex ship, the Al Gharrafa. It is the pride of the Qatargas LNG fleet. But that is enough questions for today. Enjoy your breakfast, my brother. Then let us pray together for Allah’s blessings on our endeavor.”

Qatargas, the world’s largest distributor of liquefied natural gas, LNG, has developed a new fleet of super tankers, built in Korea, and designed to carry LNG in giant ultra-safe turtle-like-tanks aboard ships that dwarf previous super tankers in size and capacity. Their fleet is comprised of Q-flex and K-max ships that are the rival of the world. All of them hold between 210,000 and 266,000 cubic meters of liquefied gas for the energy needs of the world, carrying it to Japan, India, and the Americas. The Al Gharrafa had only recently returned from the United States, having made its first delivery and had made an unadvertised trip to Israel earlier in the year. This particular ship was leased to RasGas, a French-owned LNG company, but would be bequeathed to Allah for all eternity.

Actually several companies representing business interests in the US, UK

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