As they came on board, there was a general gasp of disbelief, as seeming skeletons feebly stepped onto the deck."Good God!" gasped Liz. Many of the cr...w turned away, not sure what to make of what they were witnessing. The Captain had come down from the bridge and the Captain of the submarine came forward and saluted.In near perfect English he spoke. "I am surrendering my vessel and I am handing over to you the log and code books. Please look after my crew, they need to eat." He looked like some. I did not know what to make of this and feelings of embarrassment began to stir within me until I heard a single icy voice in my mind,“Se-ba-sti-en, do not fear us. We wish only to please you. You are our salvation and you are most welcome.”I found the voice utterly soothing and I soon realised that one of the women, slightly taller than the rest, was speaking to me and making eye contact. I must have tried to speak but I was met with a volley of smiles and high pitched, icy laughter which I. I needed very little sleep; in fact, I could go for several days without sleep if I had to, but my ring cautioned me that I still needed about 10-12 hours of sleep per week.None of us found this a happy solution, but nothing else seemed to present itself. I left it to Sally to set up a schedule for the women, and I would take whatever they came up with.Meanwhile, I was getting so much flak from all sides that being mayor had lost a lot of its appeal. I refused to back down on my position that. The common currency of strangers thrown together en route to their destinations.I had set the tone by permitting a little flirting. Not that it was planned, particularly, but I rapidly realised that he was indeed a gentleman and undeniably a very attractive man. He was from a South African farming family but had joined the military and was on secondment from the Natal Light Infantry, heading for the Foreign Office to take up a post there. He was very pleasant company, and as we rattled through.