In the  ancient days when the Galactic Empire  had embraced the Galaxy, andAnacreon had  been the richest of the prefects  of the Periphery, more thanone emperor had visited the Viceregal Palace in state. And not one had leftwithout at least one  effort to pit his skill with air speedster and needlegun  against  the  feathered   flying  fortress  they  call  the  Nyakbird.
The fame  of Anacreon had withered to nothing with  the decay of the times.
The Viceregal  Palace was a drafty  mass of ruins except  for the wing thatFoundation workmen  had restored. And no Emperor  had been seen in Anacreonfor two hundred years.
But Nyak  hunting was still the royal sport and a  good eye with the needlegun still the first requirement of Anacreon's kings.
Lepold I, King of  Anacreon and ?as was invariably, but untruthfully added?Lord  of the Outer Dominions,  though not yet sixteen  had already provedhis skill many times over. He had brought down his first Nyak when scarcelythirteen; had  brought down his tenth  the week after his  accession to thethrone; and was returning now from his forty-sixth.
"Fifty  before I  come of age,"  he had  exulted. "Who'll take  the wager?"But  Courtiers don't  take wagers  against the  king's skill. There  is thedeadly danger  of winning. So no  one did, and the  king left to change hisclothes in high spirits.
"Lepold!"The king  stopped mid-step at the one voice that could  cause him to do so.
He turned sulkily.
Wienis stood  upon the threshold of  his chambers and beetled  at his youngnephew.
"Send   them  away,"   he   motioned  impatiently.   "Get  rid   of  them."The king  nodded curtly and the two chamberlains  bowed and backed down thestairs. Lepold entered his uncle's room.
Wienis  stared  at the  king's  hunting  suit morosely.  "You'll have  moreimportant   things   to   tend  to   than   Nyak   hunting  soon   enough."He turned his back  and stumped to his desk. Since he had grown too old forthe rush  of air, the perilous dive within wing-beat  of the Nyak, the rolland climb of the  speedster at the motion of a foot, he had soured upon thewhole sport.
Lepold appreciated his uncle's  sour-grapes attitude and it was not withoutmalice that  he began enthusiastically,  "But you should have  been with ustoday, uncle. We flushed one in the wilds of Sarnia that was a monster. Andgame as they come. We had it out for two hours over at least seventy squaremiles of ground. And then I got to Sunwards ?he was motioning graphically,as  though he  were  once more  in his  speedster ?and  dived torque-wise.
Caught him  on the rise just  under the left wing  at quarters. It maddenedhim and  he canted athwart. I took his dare  and veered a-left, waiting forthe plummet.  Sure enough, down he  came. He was within  wing-beat before Imoved and then ?
"Lepold!""Well!?I got him.""I'm sure you did. Now will you attend?"The king  shrugged and  gravitated to the  end table where he  nibbled at aLera nut  in quite  an unregal sulk.  He did not  dare to  meet his uncle'seyes.
Wienis  said,  by  way   of  preamble,  "I've  been  to  the  ship  today.""What ship?""There is only one  ship. The ship. The one the Foundation is repairing forthe navy.  The old Imperial cruiser. Do  I make myself sufficiently plain?""That one?  You see, I told you the Foundation would  repair it if we askedthem  to. It's  all poppycock, you  know, that  story of yours  about theirwanting to attack us.  Because if they did, why would they fix the ship? Itdoesn't make sense, you know.""Lepold, you're a fool!"The king, who had  just discarded the shell of the Lera nut and was liftinganother to his lips, flushed.
"Well  now,  look here,"  he  said,  with anger  that  scarcely rose  abovepeevishness, "I don't think you ought to call me that. You forget yourself.
I'll be of age in two months, you know.""Yes, and  you're in a  fine position to assume  regal responsibilities. Ifyou spent half the  time on public affairs that you do on Nyak hunting, I'dresign the regency directly with a clear conscience.""I don't care. That  has nothing to do with the case, you know. The fact isthat even  if you  are the regent and  my uncle, I'm still  king and you'restill my subject. You oughtn't to call me a fool and you oughtn't to sit inmy presence, anyway. You  haven't asked my permission. I think you ought tobe   careful,   or  I   might   do   something  about   it  pretty   soon."Wienis'  gaze   was  cold.  "May  I  refer   to  you  as  'your  majesty'?""Yes.""Very well! You are a fool, your majesty!"His dark eyes blazed from beneath his grizzled brows and the young king satdown slowly. For a  moment, there was sardonic satisfaction in the regent'sface, but  it faded quickly. His thick lips parted in  a smile and one handfell upon the king's shoulder.
"Never  mind,  Lepold. I  should  not have  spoken  harshly to  you. It  isdifficult  sometimes to  behave with  true propriety  when the  pressure ofevents is  such as ?You  understand?" But if the  words were conciliatory,there was something in his eyes that had not softened.
Lepold said  uncertainly, "Yes. Affairs of  State are deuced difficult, youknow." He wondered, not  without apprehension, whether he were not in for adull siege  of meaningless details on the year's  trade with Smyrno and thelong,  wrangling  dispute  over  the sparsely  settled  worlds  on the  RedCorridor.
Wienis was  speaking again. "My boy, I had thought to  speak of this to youearlier, and  perhaps I should have, but I  know that your youthful spiritsare impatient of the dry detail of statecraft."Lepold nodded. "Well, that's all right?
His uncle broke in  firmly and continued, "However, you will come of age intwo months. Moreover, in the difficult times that are coming, you will haveto take  a full  and active part. You  will be king  henceforward, Lepold."Again Lepold nodded, but his expression was quite blank.
"There will be war, Lepold.""War! But there's been truce with Smyrno?
"Not Smyrno. The Foundation itself.""But,   uncle,   they've   agreed   to   repair  the   ship.   You   said?
His voice choked off at the twist of his uncle's lip.
"Lepold" ? some of the friendliness had gone ?we are  to talk man to man.
There is  to be  war with the  Foundation, whether the ship  is repaired ornot; all the sooner, in fact, since it is being repaired. The Foundation isthe source of power and might. All the greatness of Anacreon; all its shipsand its  cities and its people and its commerce  depend on the dribbles andleavings of power that  the Foundation have given us grudgingly. I rememberthe  time ? I, myself  ?when the  cities of  Anacreon were warmed  by theburning of coal and  oil. But never mind that; you would have no conceptionof it.""It seems,"  suggested the  king timidly, "that  we ought to  be grateful?
"Grateful?&qu............