Chapter 2—From the Future

Nemo marveled at how easy it was to help Jekyll take control of his life.

Certainly Nemo had urged Jekyll to ignore his alter ego and to learn self-control. Several people had, but no one had taken the scant amount of time to actually sit down with Jekyll and help him. It had taken Nemo a single evening to give Jekyll's confidence an enormous boost, and only a few more to make him feel at ease.

What he had not been able to accomplish, yet, was letting Jekyll allow the possibility of releasing Hyde. This was an important end to accomplish for the sake of the League, as otherwise the man Jekyll was essentially useless.

Nemo shook the thoughts out of his mind, and for a few minutes, he was completely relaxed. He had never really been able to achieve a deep meditative state with Jekyll in the room, but this was for the other man instead of himself. Though, of course Jekyll needed to learn to take care of himself—

"Nemo! Get in here!" was heard through the walls, the voice belonging to Mina. Nemo and Jekyll both glanced up simultaneously and locked eyes, both immediately realizing that something was wrong. Mina's voice was commanding but shaken. Nemo grabbed his sword and quickly moved out of the room, Jekyll trailing behind him.

Nemo tried the door, but it wouldn't turn. He stepped back to kick through it, but the handle began rattling, presumably as Harker unlocked it. The door swung open, and Nemo walked in.

Nemo was nearly expecting the intruder, but he was not prepared for her to be in her underwear. The only parts of her that were really decently covered were her neck: clad with a collar, and her legs: covered with high boots. Behind him, he heard Jekyll give a surprised "Oh" when he saw her, and Nemo knew enough about his colleague to know, without turning around, that Jekyll had blushed and turned his head away. Nemo did not do the same, instead, taking in every detail of what may be an enemy. A whorish, indecent enemy, but an enemy nonetheless.

"Captain Nemo," the intruder said. "Good evening. I apologize to be in this state of dress, but I was quite unprepared for—"

"Who are you and how did you come to be on this ship?" Nemo asked, drawing his sword. She was female and probably harmless, but her gender was in no way a guarantee.

"I'm from the future," the woman said, "and I was on the ship when I went backwards in time. My name—you may call me Melissa. And I'm not asking you to take my story on faith." She casually tapped her belt. "I can prove it," she said. A moment passed, she glanced at her belt and tapped it again. A button depressed, but nothing happened. She looked down at it, now tapping frantically.

"Shit," she mumbled. "Shit, shit!" She removed her belt and glanced at it. "I don't suppose you have an electric outlet—?"

"Sit down," Nemo said, and turned to his crew. "Fetch weapons and the rest of the League," he said in Hindi. "She may be dangerous."

"I'm not dangerous," Melissa protested. Nemo made a quick mental note that Melissa, apparently, spoke Hindi. The lady was obviously Anglo, how had she come to know the language of India?

Melissa slowly, unthreateningly sat down. "I can speak Hindi," she said. "I've spent a lot of time on this ship in the future. It comes in handy."

There was a brief pause as Mina, Jekyll, and Nemo glanced at her contemplatively. Did she really expect for them to believe her? "I can't give you information about the future," she said, "but I can tell you about your League. It was formed by a man named 'M,' Moriarty. You tracked him down through Venice and Mongolia. Quatermain died. Jekyll got yellow feaver, Quatermain was resurrected after a brief telepathy trick."

It was then that Quatermain entered, Tom trailing slightly behind him. "Caught us a stowaway, have we?" Quatermain asked gruffly.

"Quatermain," Melissa said. "Good to see you are not dead anymore. Sawyer, glad to see you're alone in your head." She deliberately emphasized her knowledge, which really, she had no right to know. "Listen," Melissa continued. "If I could just get an outlet, I could recharge this useless thing," she said as she gestured to her belt. "It has proof. We compiled several events that have happened, and will happen soon. We don't have much time. A day at most, maybe two."

Nemo, against his better judgment, found himself fascinated with the idea of an electronic belt. He shook the idea out of his head, and reconcentrated on the situation at hand. It was easier to think of how an electronic garment might work, because Nemo felt turmoil in his mind as to how the woman who called herself Melissa had really gotten here.

If her technology was half as complex as she claimed, then Nemo was left with only a few possibilities. Perhaps someone had developed technology, vastly superior to Nemo's own and perhaps centuries before its time. Perhaps the "technology" was only fancy-looking bobbles. Perhaps she really possessed technology from the future.

The idea of a man alive with a greater capacity for inventing was unlikely and a bit insulting. The authenticity of her technology could be tested later. And if Melissa was from the future? Well, Nemo had seen stranger. A time-traveling scantily-clad woman was hardly more unbelievable than an invisible man and a vampire.

"Keep her in the holding area," Nemo said to the crew. "Have three men watch her. Have them armed."

She had hardly been led out of the room when Skinner strolled in. "What's goin' on?" he asked.

"I believe a meeting is in order," Nemo suggested.