Originally published in parts as Stella and Thalassa, this section focuses on the grim realities of World War II. It follows a Dutch captain of an unarmed rescue tugboat tasked with towing damaged Allied merchant ships through the highly dangerous, U-boat-infested waters off the English coast. It shifts between high-stakes maritime action, the psychological trauma of war, and poignant shore-leave romances. (This story was adapted into the 1958 film "The Key" starring William Holden and Sophia Loren)