Charlemagne held his wife's trembling form for long minutes, waiting till the tremors subsided before he finally spoke. "Better now?"

"I suspect not," she murmured, snuggling closer. "Are you very angry with me, beloved?"

"Absolutely furious." His tone belied his words though, as did the kiss he placed on her brow. "I'm very curious about something though. I gave strict orders that no one was to give you transport. Who disobeyed me?"

She grinned a little wickedly. "You're not the only person who knows people with ships."

"With no more reason than you gave me, I doubt that Dylan Hunt would divert the Andromeda," Charlemagne mused aloud. "But I'd be willing to bet that Bekka Valentine would take you anywhere you wanted to go."

"Please don't be upset with Bekka," Meaghan said. "She only did it for me."

"Because she's your friend, I suppose," her husband remarked.

"It's one of the best reasons I can think of for doing something," Meaghan remarked. "That and love."

The Nietzschean sighed over the ways humans did things and changed the subject. "Why are you dressed like that? You look like..," he searched for the right phrase and failed.

"Bekka? That's because this is hers," she informed him. "And as to the why, I'm in disguise."

"Not much of a disguise," he said casually. "I spotted you early this morning."

"But I never came near you," Meaghan protested. "That was the whole idea, to make me look different enough that you wouldn't look any closer."

"Meg, my darling love, I would know you even if you covered yourself with a sack," Charlemagne declared. "The few small changes you made never had a chance of deceiving me."

"Because you see me through the eyes of love?" she suggested.

"That must be why," he agreed, and kissed her.

"Kissing in the corridors again, I see," said a voice from behind them.

"Dylan!" Meaghan released her husband and went to hug the Andromeda's captain.

"I didn't know you were going to be here."

"See why I didn't want to bring her along, Dylan?" Charlemagne remarked conversationally. "She can't keep her hands off of other men."

Dylan laughed and hugged her back. "Men? You mean I'm not the only one?" he asked in mock-sorrowful tones.

"An old admirer of hers," the Nietzschean answered. "You didn't know Haedmon was going to be here either, did you, Meg?"

"No," she said ruefully. "If I had, I would have paid more attention to where I was going."

"But you still would have gone against my wishes and come?" Charlemagne accused.

"I told you, I have to be here," Meaghan stated finally.

"You never heard this, Dylan," Charlemagne said. "But I give up. I don't suppose that this will be the only time?"

"I'm afraid not, love," she replied apologetically. "I have a lot of work to do."

"What kind of work?" Hunt asked, as the three of them strolled down the passage.

"Helping," she responded mysteriously. "And," she added as both men opened their mouths to interject something. "That is all I can tell you because..,"

"We wouldn't understand," Charlemagne interrupted.

"Well, you wouldn't," she said a bit defensively.

"By the way," Dylan broke in, changing the subject. "Now that you've been found out, Meaghan, do you suppose that I can have my first officer back?"

&&&&&&&&&

The conference was over in record time, with the only note of dissension being King Haedmon, whose outrageous demands were voted down unanimously. As Dylan was later to remark, it was the most peaceful peace conference that he had ever attended. Many alliances were formed, with age-old enemies seeming to become the closest of friends. A certain Nietzschean archduke began to have some suspicions about the source of such amity, but having no proof decided to keep his own counsel. But from then on, whenever any such conference convened, he merely informed Meaghan of the event and refrained from trying to prevent her attendance again.