Olaf Magnusson has proven himself to be a great military leader. With inferior forces, he has beaten back a powerful Merseian invasion fleet. Some of the many malcontents of the Terran Empire, weary of the corrupt imperial government, have focused their hopes for a better government on the seemingly incorruptible Magnusson, who has built a power base for himself on the edge of the Terran Empire. His father Erik was a trading captain who felt betrayed by the empire and who eventually gave his allegiance to the rival Merseian Empire. He had Olaf trained and educated by the Merseians in secret; Olaf was made into a "mole" — he was returned to the Terran Empire to live as if he were a faithful subject, to grow up and create a career like other people. His mission was to become a military officer. He was so successful that his...