Mayor Salvor Hardin now leads the government of Terminus and the Foundation, but is threatened politically by the emergent Actionist Party headed by the young firebrand Sef Sermak. The Anacreonian military threat is greater than ever, but is momentarily controlled by the Foundation's use of a false religion based on nuclear technology. A new king will soon take the throne in Anacreon, controlled by a regent intent on attacking and eliminating the Foundation as a political rival. Sermak and the Actionists want to preemptively attack while they hold the upper hand. Hardin must navigate these dual threats to resolve the latest Seldon Crisis and maintain the Foundation's fragile independence.