Jules Verne sat in the library of the Sorbonne. The hour was late and he knew that he should be returning to his cheerless room, but the library was warm and the chair, while not exactly comfortable, was much better than the one that resided under the table he used as a desk. The pile of books beside him did not contain treatises on the law, for which he felt slightly guilty, but instead were the libraries reference volumes on that strange civilization that once ranged over large stretches of the country now known as Mexico, the Aztecs.

The pictures in this latest book showed sketches of devices found by explorers as part of that civilization. Jules was looking specifically for any mention of anything that might be a part of that strange vehicle he and his friends knew as the "Phoenix." This peculiar machine had the ability to move through time the way that Phileas Fogg's dirigible Aurora could sail through the air. He was about to give up on this one as well when he spotted a diagram that looked familiar.

He turned the pages of his own notebook to find his sketch for comparison. "Yes!" he said triumphantly. "They match!" He scribbled the name of the book down next to his drawing. When next he saw Phileas, Passepartout, and Rebecca, he would have something to report.

Suddenly, the hair on the back of his neck prickled. Someone was coming. Someone silent. A shadow fell across his notebook. He turned quickly to look.

Jules jumped to his feet to confront the figure, then felt slightly foolish as he realized its feminine shape. Not that he had not had problems with females of a villainous bent before, but this one was merely standing silently watching him. He could see no signs of guns, knives, or anything else that might be interpreted as a weapon. She was dressed completely in black, including black gloves and a thick black veil. Very tall for a woman, he noted, almost as tall as Phileas. "May I help you?" he said finally.

For a moment there was no reply, then the veil stirred. "You are Monsieur Jules Verne?" The voice was muffled by the veil, and Jules could not guess at her age from the sound.

He nodded, realized she probably could not see too well, and spoke. "Yes, I am." He was still too wary to remember his manners. Lately, strangers had meant trouble and only trouble. "And you are?"

There was a suggestion of a chuckle in the muffled voice. "You could not pronounce my real name. For now, you may address me as Madame Coates. That is close enough to suffice."

Had Jules been a cat, his fur would have started rising. All that black and no real name. He edged away, sidling along the length of the library table. "And, what can I do for you, Madame Coates?" he asked cautiously.

"A small thing. But, important. At least to me. However, the explanation is long and standing is tiring. Will you come with me to my coach?"

 Chapter 3: Leaving the Library

Jules paused, and the woman leaned a bit closer.

“I understand your hesitation, Monsieur Verne, but it is imperative that you come with me immediately.” She glanced around briefly, then murmured, in a voice so soft he could barely catch it, “There are those who would gladly prevent this meeting… very… dark and troublesome individuals – do you understand?”

Jules caught his breath. Could she mean – the League of Darkness? He glanced around the quiet Library, and suddenly made his decision. He caught up his notebook and coat.

“Very well, Madame, I will accompany you.”

The woman made a sound of triumph, and caught Jules by the arm. “This way,” she whispered, "the front entrance is being watched.”

She led him through the dark Library, into the store-rooms in the rear. She indicated a set of double doors.

“This way, Monsieur Verne, through the loading-dock. We must hurry.”

Suddenly Jules was aware of the sound of footsteps coming up behind them, hurrying footsteps, that did not sound like the usual shuffling footfall of the aged Librarian. He hurried after the tall woman, who had already opened a door, and was looking outside.

“It is good,” she whispered, as Jules came up beside her. “We are unobserved.” A large black coach pulled up into the alleyway at the back of the Library. The driver was unrecognizable in a hat, dark coat and scarf. “Very good, here is our transport,” smiled the tall woman.

Swiftly they exited the building, and entered the coach. As they left the alley, Jules, looking out the window, saw two men exit the Library by the door they had just used. It was impossible to recognize them, by the brief glance he had, but he did notice that one of the men wore a scarlet vest beneath his coat.

The coach turned into the street, and Jules turned back to the woman. Was she his abductor, or his rescuer? He opened his mouth to speak, but the woman stopped him with a gesture.

She flung back her veil, to reveal – the handsome face of Phileas Fogg!

“Surprised?” Fogg asked.

"Surprised?" Jules laughed, "Not in the least, Fogg. You forget I live in a part of Paris where many men dress up as women for the stage to put bread on the table. And you, Fogg, for all your gracefulness, do not make make a believable woman."

Phileas shot Jules a nonplussed look, but Verne continued.

"Besides, Fogg," Jules explained, "Your cologne is a dead givaway. You really should.."

"That's enough, Verne," Fogg interrupted. "One of us will have to dress as a convicing woman, Rebecca's life may depend upon it."

With the disguise as failure, Phileas started to peel off the woman's frock to reveal that beneath, he was still fully-dressed in men's street clothes. He repeated with a resigned sigh, "life may depend upon it..."

With those words, shades of panic flashed across Jules' face. "What are you saying? Just yesterday midday she asked me to research the Aztecs of Mexico."

"Forget that, Verne." Phileas was becoming annoyed. "I warn you, if you don't get that nose of yours out of books more often, the world will pass you by. Anyway, as I was saying, Rebecca is in danger. I fear she has been abducted."

"By whom?" Jules was getting impatient.

"I'm not sure," Fogg answered, "but it may be the Turks. Or at least one Turk I know Rebecca has crossed paths with before."

"But, what about Rebecca, where is she?" Jules pressed for more information.

"I have no idea, but she was renting a flat nearby and when I arrived to pay a visit this morning, her rooms were ransacked, and I found this on the front step," Fogg held up an intricate metal ring.

"That's the ring Rebecca got at the Turkish bazaar," Jules said as he grabbed the ring from Phileas.

"As I was saying, I think the Turks are behind it, and we'll need a disguise to break into the Turkish embassy as a cleaning woman." Phileas started explaining an elaborate plan as Jules continued to study the ring.

"Wait," Jules interrupted. "This ring is not Turkish; it's Aztec. Look. This symbol on the ring matches one from the book in the library about Aztecs." Jules showed Phileas Rebecca's ring and how it, indeed, was identical to the sketch he made in his journal.

"Good lord," Phileas said as he tapped on the carriage to signal the driver to change route.

"Go back to the Library," Phileas told the driver. "The front entrance." As the coach turned around, he added to Jules, "We should fetch that book that you made the sketch from. And any others you think might be useful."

"What about the men who were following us?" Jules asked.

Phileas considered for a moment then said with a small sly smile, "You'll need to go in dressed as Madame Coates."

"What?" Jules was indignant. "I'm not wearing a dress!"

"Not even for Rebecca?"

That stoped his protests. Jules sighed and submitted to being put into the garments that Phileas had discarded. He felt ridiculous and suspected he looked worse. He informed Phileas of it.

Phileas tsk'ed impatiently. "You are not posing for an illustration of a fashion journal, Verne. With any luck, no one will see you." Phileas put the hat on Jules's head and arranged the veil.

The world became very black. "I can't see," Jules protested.

"Don't be tiresome. You will be able to see once you get out of the coach." A moment later the coach stopped. Phileas continued. "Go in and get the books. Be quick as you can, but remember to take small steps, like a lady. I'll help you down."

With Phileas's assistance, Jules managed to make it to the street without tripping. The street lamps allowed him to see at least partially through the material of the veil. He lifted the skirt slightly in one gloved hand and minced toward the library door.

The few patrons left in the library at this hour gave him scarcely a glance. He threaded his way to the table where he had been sitting before, wondering how any woman managed to move about without knocking everything over in her path. The skirt was like a living thing that needed to be tamed. He resisted the urge to swat it down, but only just. He was so engrossed in battling his disguise that he was almost upon the table before he saw the figure seated there. He froze.

Jules looked closer at the seated figure.

It was Felix Nader, charismatic and notorious womanizer as well as Jules's long-time drinking companion.

As Felix looked up at him, Jules felt light headed. Hopefully Felix would not see him behind the veil, possibly enabling him to fetch the book unaccosted.

But, unfortunately, that was not what fate had planned for Jules. As the dress-wearing Frenchman attempted to pass by Felix unnotoiced, Jules' foot caught on a raised floor board.

The voluminous material of the dress was no help in allowing Jules to retain his balance. He wobbled and fell into the very lap of Felix Nader.

As Jules settled, the veil flipped up and over his head - revealing his face.

As their eyes met and locked, Felix looked at the dress-clad frenchman sitting squarely and uncomfortably in his lap.

"Jules?" Felix asked, his breath heavy with wine. He was drunk.

Felix smiled happily as he struggled to maintain focus on his friend's face. "I'm used to women falling for me but you?" he paused to enjoy his own joke.

Jules struggle to get free, but his drunk friend easily held him still. Felix had always been stronger than Jules, who was going nowhere.

Felix continued, "I must say, you do look fetching in that gown, dear Jules. But there is no need to dress to impress me."

"Uh..." Jules struggled to raise his natural baritone voice to a more womanly level.

"Excuse me sir," Jules succeeded in a reasonable falsetto impression of a female voice. "But I am not Jules, I am his sister, Julia."

Felix leaned in closer to examine the face of the figure sitting in his lap.

Felix gaped at the black-clad 'Julia' Verne on his lap.

"Jules never mentioned he had a twin sister. I'm not sure if he ever mentioned he had any sisters." Felix squinted at the nearby face again, and broke into a huge smile.

"What is so amusing, m'sieur?" Jules/Julia trebled. Knowing Felix as he did, Jules began to get a little bit worried about more than being caught dressed as a woman. He tried to rise from Nadar's lap, slipped on his skirts, and poomfed back onto the lap.

"Steady, Madamoiselle," Felix cautioned. "You might hurt yourself, and then Jules would never forgive me!"

**You didn't answer my question, Felix,** thought Jules, annoyed. At least he believes the lie.

"You don't talk much, do you, Mlle. Julia. May I call you Julia? I am very good friends with your brother--we can talk for hours at the cafe. He must have done all the talking when you were growing up together, yes?" His eyes glittered naughtily in the dim light.

**What's he up to?** Jules decided that Felix's behavior was a bit strange, that he was looking a bit too closely. He had seen Felix look at young ladies like that! He reached back to pull the veil over his face before things got even stranger, but his friend caught the arm.

Felix smiled wickedly. "Is something wrong, Julia? Why do you try to hide your face? Don't tell Jules--I know he would get angry at me for saying so--but I think that you are a very pretty girl. Imagine it! What do you think your brother would say if he knew I'd met his sister? Perhaps even given her a little kiss?" He smiled even wider. "What do you think?"

Jules tried to get up again, and slipped again. This time, he managed to fall backwards and slid to the floor. Unfortunately, the drunken Felix hadn't let go of his arm, and fell to the floor right beside him. Great.

"Oh dear, are you all right?" Felix asked. Jules thought Felix was starting to sound a bit strange. **Maybe because he thinks I'm a woman he's talking differently.**

"I'm fine, thank you. Please..." he tried to pull his arm away from Felix's grasp, but failed. Jules tensed as he realized what Felix was doing, but it was already too late. **Great, my friends are kissing my hand now. Fogg will just love this if he finds out.**

"Don't go yet, Mam'selle Julia," pleaded Felix. He seemed terribly choked up about something. "Please, may I kiss you? Just once?"

Jules blanched and tried to scramble away. This time, Felix let go of his wrist. Jules managed to stand up, awkward in the voluminous skirts. He turned to look at Felix, and stared wide-eyed.

Felix had falled to his side and was shaking terribly. Had he had too much to drink? Jules didn't think so, but he was unsure. He knelt down again, very carefully, and looked closer. Felix was laughing!

"Y...you should just see the... the look on your face, Jules!" His eyes teared up as his body rocked with laughter. "I thought you were going to pass out, you looked so shocked. " He managed to sit up, but was undone when he looked back at Jules. "Mon Dieu! "

"You knew?"

"Of course I knew. I am not that drunk, Jules. Help me up, would you? You don't make a convincing woman. Stick to writing plays, and leave the acting to others."

Chagrinned, Jules looked at Felix, who continued. "I would have known anyway, for who else but you would have such a collection of books." He gestured at the table covered with Aztec-related tomes. "I saw you here earlier reading these things and I came back to see if you wanted to join us, but you were gone. Better to put these away before someone gets angry at you."

"I will. I came back because I needed to look at some of them again."

"You must have needed them badly to come out dressed like that! I never knew..." he teased. "I'm sure there is a good reason that you are all 'dressed' up. Are you going to tell me, or do I have to guess?"

"I don't care, guess. Now, if you'll excuse me..." he elbowed Felix out of the way and pulled out a few volumes. The rest he pushed away: he turned to leave. "You can put those back for me."

"Come on, Jules. Don't be mad at me. You aren't that bad a woman. No, really! I bet the actresses could make you look more like one as well--they have all sorts of tricks and face paint. Why ARE you dressed like that?"

Jules stopped and spoke quietly. "I can't tell you right now, Felix. Look, I'm in the middle of something very important and I need these books for it. Please put the others back and wait a while before you leave."

"Sounds mysterious and full of danger. It must be because of those English friends of yours."

"Yes."

"Ok, Jules," Nadar said, serious for once. "I will clean up for you and wait to go, but you have to tell me what this is all about when you get back, or I will tell everyone that I saw you running around dressed like a lady!"

"You'll tell them anyway, Felix."

"Maybe." The toothy grin was back. "Be careful."

"I will, thanks."

***

Jules had replaced the veil and was walking towards the door, wondering how to explain to all of his friends about the dress. They'd never believe the truth, even if Fogg will let me tell them. **I'm going to be teased about this for years, curse it, Fogg.**