Salvor Hardin did not travel to the planet Anacreon ?from which planet thekingdom derived  its name ?immediately. It was only  on the day before thecoronation that he arrived, after having made flying visits to eight of thelarger stellar systems of the kingdom, stopping only long, enough to conferwith the local representatives of the Foundation.
The trip  left him  with an oppressive  realization of the  vastness of thekingdom. It  was a little splinter, an  insignificant fly speck compared tothe  inconceivable reaches  of  the Galactic  Empire of  which it  had onceformed so distinguished a part; but to one whose habits of thought had beenbuilt  around  a  single  planet,  and  a  sparsely settled  one  at  that,Anacreon's size in area and population was staggering.
Following  closely  the  boundaries  of the  old  Prefect  of Anacreon,  itembraced twenty-five  stellar systems, six of  which included more than oneinhabited world. The population  of nineteen billion, though still far lessthan  it  had been  in  the Empire's  heyday  was rising  rapidly with  theincreasing   scientific    development   fostered    by   the   Foundation.
And it  was only now that Hardin found himself floored  by the magnitude ofthat task.  Even in thirty years, only the  capital world had been powered.
The outer  provinces still possessed immense  stretches where nuclear powerhad not yet been  re-introduced. Even the progress that had been made mighthave been  impossible had  it not been  for the still  workable relics leftover by the ebbing tide of Empire.
When  Hardin did arrive  at the capital  world, it  was to find  all normalbusiness at  an absolute standstill. In the  outer provinces there had beenand still were celebrations;  but here on the planet Anacreon, not a personbut took feverish part  in the hectic religious pageantry that heralded thecoming-of-age of their god-king, Lepold.
Hardin had been able to snatch only half an hour from a haggard and harriedVerisof before  his ambassador  was forced to  rush off to  supervise stillanother temple  festival. But the half-hour was  a most profitable one, andHardin  prepared   himself  for  the  night's   fireworks  well  satisfied.
In all,  he acted as an  observer, for he had  no stomach for the religioustasks he  would undoubtedly  have had to  undertake if his  identity becameknown. So, when the palace's ballroom filled itself with a glittering hordeof the  kingdom's very highest and most  exalted nobility, he found himselfhugging the wall, little noticed or totally ignored.
He had been introduced  to Lepold as one of a long line of introducees, andfrom a  safe distance,  for the king  stood apart in  lonely and impressivegrandeur, surrounded  by his deadly blaze of  radioactive aura. And in lessthan an hour this  same king would take his seat upon the massive throne ofrhodium-iridium alloy  with jewel-set  gold chasings, and  then, throne andall would  rise maestically into the  air, skim the ground  slowly to hoverbefore the  great window from which  the great crowds of  common folk couldsee their  king and shout  themselves into near apoplexy.  The throne wouldnot have  been so massive, of course, if it had  not had a shielded nuclearmotor built into it.
It was  past eleven.  Hardin fidgeted and  stood on his toes  to better hisview. He  resisted an impulse to  stand on a chair.  And then he saw Wienisthreading through the crowd toward him and he relaxed.
Wienis' progress  was slow. At almost  every step, he had  to pass a kindlysentence  with some  revered  noble whose  grandfather had  helped Lepold'sgrandfather  brigandize the  kingdom and  had received a  dukedom therefor.
And then  he disentangled himself from the  last uniformed peer and reachedHardin. His  smile crooked  itself into a  smirk and his  black eyes peeredfrom   under  grizzled   brows  with   glints  of  satisfaction   in  them.
"My dear  Hardin," he said, in  a low voice, "you  must expect to be bored,when you refuse to announce your identity.""I am not bored,  your highness. This is all extremely interesting. We haveno comparable spectacles on Terminus, you know.""No doubt.  But would you care  to step into my  private chambers, where wecan  speak   at  greater  length  and   with  considerably  more  privacy?""Certainly."With arms linked, the two ascended the staircase, and more than one dowagerduchess stared after them  in surprise and wondered at the identity of thisinsignificantly  dressed and  uninteresting-looking  stranger on  whom suchsignal honor was being conferred by the prince regent.
In Wienis' chambers, Hardin  relaxed in perfect comfort and accepted with amurmur of  gratitude the  glass of liquor  that had been poured  out by theregent's own hand.
"Locris wine, Hardin," said Wienis, "from the royal cellars. The real thing? two centuries  in age.  It was  laid down  ten years before  the ZeonianRebellion.""A  really royal  drink," agreed  Hardin, politely.  "To Lepold I,  King ofAnacreon."They drank, and Wienis added blandly, at the pause, "And soon to be Emperorof  the Periphery,  and  further, who  knows? The  Galaxy  may some  day bereunited.""Undoubtedly. By Anacreon?""Why not? With the  help of the Foundation, our scientific superiority overthe rest of the Periphery would be undisputable."Hardin  set his  empty glass  down and  said, "Well,  yes, except  that, ofcourse, the Foundation is bound to help any nation that requests scientificaid of  it. Due to the high idealism of our  government and the great moralpurpose of our founder,  Hari Seldon, we are unable to play favorites. Thatcan't be helped, your highness."Wienis'  smile broadened. "The  Galactic Spirit,  to use the  popular cant,helps those  who help themselves. I quite  understand that, left to itself,the Foundation would never cooperate.""I wouldn't  say that. We repaired the Imperial  cruiser for you, though myboard  of  navigation  wished it  for  themselves  for research  purposes."The regent repeated the last words ironically. "Research purposes! Yeeeeeetyou   would   not  have   repaired   it,   had  I   not  threatened   war."Hardin made a deprecatory gesture. "I don't know.""I do. And that threat always stood.""And still stands now?""Now it  is rather too late  to speak of threats."  Wienis had cast a rapidglance at  the clock on his desk. "Look here,  Hardin, you were on Anacreononce before. You were  young then; we were both young. But even then we hadentirely different  ways of looking at things. You're  what they call a manof peace, aren't you?""I  suppose I  am. At  least, I  consider violence  an uneconomical  way ofattaining  an end.  There are  always better  substitutes, though  they maysometimes be a little less direct.""Yee. I've heard of your famous remark: 'Violence is the last refuge of theincompetent.' And  yet" ?the  regent scratched one ear  gently in affectedabstraction    ?I    wouldn't    call    myself   exactly    incompetent."Hardin nodded politely and said nothing.
"And in spite of that," Wienis continued, "I have always believed in directaction.  I have  believed in carving  a straight  path to my  objective andfollowing that path. I have accomplished much that way, and fully expect toaccomplish still more.""I know," interrupted Hardin. "I believe you are carving a path such as youdescribe for yourself and  your children that leads directly to the throne,considering the  late unfortunate death  of the king's father  ?your elderbrother  and  the  king's  own precarious  state  of  health.  He  is in  aprecarious state of health, is he not?"Wienis frowned  at the shot, and his voice grew  harder. "You might find itadvisable,  Hardin, to  avoid certain  subjects. You may  consider yourselfprivileged as mayor of Terminus to make ... uh ... injudicious remarks, butif  you do,  please disabuse  yourself of the  notion. I  am not one  to befrightened at  words. It has  been my philosophy of  life that difficultiesvanish when  faced boldly, and I  have never turned my  back upon one yet.""I don't  doubt that. What  particular difficulty are you  refusing to turnyour back upon at the present moment?""The difficulty,  Hardin, of persuading the  Foundation to co-operate. Yourpolicy  of peace,  you see, has  led you  into making several  very seriousmistakes, simply because you underestimated the boldness of your adversary.
Not everyone is as afraid of direct action as you are.""For instance?" suggested Hardin.
"For instance, you came to Anacreon alone and accompanied me to my chambersalone."Hardin looked about him. "And what is wrong with that?""Nothing," said the regent,  "except that outside this room are five policeguards,  well  armed and  ready  to shoot.  I  don't think  you can  leave,Hardin."The mayor's  eyebrows lifted, "I have no immediate  desire to leave. Do youthen fear me so much?""I  don't fear  you  at all.  But this  may  serve to  impress you  with mydetermination. Shall we call it a gesture?""Call  it  what  you  please," said  Hardin,  indifferently.  "I shall  notdiscommode  myself over  the  incident, whatever  you choose  to  call it.""I'm sure  that attitude will change  with time. But you  have made anothererror, Hardin,  a more  serious one. It  seems that the  planet Terminus isalmost wholly undefended.""Naturally. What  have we to fear? We threaten  no one's interest and serveall alike.""And while  remaining helpless," Wienis  went on, "you kindly  h............