"…and that marked the end of major action. Mopping-up was handled by local authorities, the Renzan Navy and supported by three units of the Galaxy Army."

Airi Masaki, Chairwoman of the Galactic University, stared over her hands at Seina Yamada, Captain of the Galaxy Police Anti-Pirate Ship Kamedake. To her left sat the commandant of the Galaxy police academy Mikami Kuramitsu. As the young man finished his oral report of the recently concluded campaign against the pirates infesting the Renzan Federation, one of the interstellar governments bordering what was grandiosely styled the 'Galactic Union,' her attention turned to the eight women arrayed in two groups on either side of him. The group to Seina's right was stood in the patient posture of trained ladies in waiting the group to the left was more varied, neither hid the tension between them as well as the thought they did.

His report had been a dry recitation of combat statistics, probably written with a lot of help from his wife Kiriko Masaki, who natural reticence and a term of service in Galactic Army Special OPS had given her a fine touch for creating unassailable reports that left all the important information out. Including whatever had caused the increasingly more hysterical communiqués from Airi's eldest Minaho, as pirates threw themselves on the non-existent mercy of Seto Kamiki Jurai, the Oni-hime, rather than face Seina's combat mech Tsuyoi, with or without the Kamidake in attendance.

Airi didn't know but could make a pretty educated guess. Over 700 years in the cutthroat worlds of galactic and academic politics had given the charwoman a sharp eye for non-verbal signals, and all the ones she was seeing said that the group was waiting for the right spark to go up like a room full of fire works. The wooden posture of Capitan Yamada indicated that he to was all too aware of the tensions among his crew. There was tightness in his voice that she had never heard before and the sparkle of excitement she was used to seeing in his eyes was absent.

"Well, Seina-chan", she said brightly, "It looks like you and your crew have done a fine job. I think you all deserve a vacation. Besides" she said with a deliberately exaggerated leer, "I believe you're overdue for your honeymoon."

None of them smiled back.


One week latter Seina sat, with his chin in his hands and his elbows braced on his knees, staring at the image of his home planet on the screen before him. It had been only four months, local, since he had last stood on the surface of Earth. Four months since he had been in this solar system. Four months since his very big, very public, and very peculiar wedding to the eight beautiful women sitting and standing scattered around the bridge of 'his' ship.

"Seina-chan, we are in parking orbit," said Kiriko from her seat at the helm.

"Thank you, Kiriko-san" He still had a hard time not saying 'san' with her name; he had done it for so long. "Is everybody ready?"

A chorus of affirmations came from around the room.

"Good. Let's go see Mom and Dad." And Tenchi-sempai, he thought, I really need to talk to Tenchi-sempai.