Page 50 of Tiger's Voyage

“It’s a yacht club. Our boat isn’t too far now.”

We followed the circular drive around the building toward the ocean and onto a road built on the water. It was designed like a cul-de-sac and branched off into radiating docks, each with its own huge ship.

My mouth dropped. “You own a cruise ship?”

Mr. Kadam laughed. “Technically, it’s called a mega yacht.”

“You mean it’s bigger than the average yacht?”

“Yes. Yachts are classified by size. The general consensus among boaters is that a yacht is defined as any boat needing a crew. Super yachts are roughly seventy-five to one hundred fifty feet, mega yachts are one-fifty to two-fifteen, and giga yachts are two-fifteen to three hundred feet. It’s rare for anything bigger to be owned by an individual.”

I blinked and teased. “Mr. Kadam! I’m shocked that you don’t own a giga yacht.”

“I thought about it, but giga yachts are too large for our purposes. This one is close in size to the smallest giga yacht. I feel that this boat will be sufficient.”

“You think?”

He nodded soberly and said, “I believe so, yes,” missing my sarcasm completely.

Mr. Kadam turned left onto the third dock, and we drove the length of the ship while I gaped out the window. The mega yacht was glossy and gorgeous. The top half was white, full of windows, and looked to be about three decks with a short white tower at the top. The bottom half was black, and had smaller windows. I guessed there were maybe one or two more decks under the waterline.

As we passed the stern, I looked up and saw the boat’s name written in Hindi.

“What’s she called, Mr. Kadam?”

“She’s called theDeschen.”

Mr. Kadam navigated the Jeep up a sturdy ramp attached to the side of the massive vessel and stopped the car in what was essentially the boat’s garage. Ren changed to a man again, winked at me, and we all scrambled out.

Mr. Kadam immediately took charge. “Ren? Kishan? If you two don’t mind, would you haul our gear up to our rooms and let the captain know we are on board and will be ready to leave as soon as he gives the word? I’d like to give Miss Kelsey a tour, if she doesn’t mind.”

I nodded mutely and handed my backpack to Kishan, who squeezed my arm briefly before following Ren up the stairs. Two men had come down to remove the ramp. As they secured the boat’s outer doors, I inspected the well-lit garage. Another car could have easily fit inside. Tarps covered some items along the back wall. Other than that, we could have been standing in a very clean garage in any home. Blinking, I still couldn’t quite believe we had driven directly onto the biggest boat I had ever seen.

“Shall we?”

Mr. Kadam indicated I should go first, so I headed up the stairs.

“The only thing I know about boats is that the bow is the front and the stern is the back. I can never remember the other two.”

“Starboard and port. Starboard is on your right. A way for you to remember is to think about Peter Pan.”

“Peter Pan?”

“Yes. Neverland is the second star to the right—star on the right. Then you’ll know port is to your left. The body of the vessel is called the hull, and the upper edge all around is the gunwale, which you can remember easily because in warships that’s where the guns are mounted. Through here, Miss Kelsey.”

I followed him toward the center of the ship, and we came upon a circular, glass-sided elevator. I spun around. “You have an elevator? On a yacht?”

Mr. Kadam chuckled. “It came with the ship. It’s very convenient. Shall we start with the wheelhouse?”

“What’s that?”

“The bridge of the ship. You can meet the captain.”

We stepped into theDeschen’s Willy-Wonka-style elevator. It had a lever like old-fashioned, bellboy-operated hotel elevators. We were apparently on the fifth of six levels. Mr. Kadam pushed the lever all the way to the top, and we began to rise. We passed a lounge area, a library, a gym, and stopped at a sundeck. We stepped out, climbed another set of stairs, and entered the bridge.

Mr. Kadam explained, “The wheelhouse doesn’t technically have a wheel in it anymore, and most call it a bridge now. I’m old-fashioned enough to still use the old name. The captain’s cabin is aft of the wheelhouse, and he has a nice office just around the corner.”

“How many crewmembers are on board?”