In the novel "Foundation", the Foundation, a large colony of scientists on the planet Terminus, find themselves cut off from their supporters in the Galactic Empire and threatened by the newly independent neighboring Kingdom of Anacreon, which covets their possession of scientific knowledge and nuclear power. The leader of Terminus, Mayor Salvor Hardin, visits three other nearby kingdoms and convinces their leaders that allowing Anacreon to conquer Terminus would make that kingdom powerful enough to conquer them in turn. The three other kingdoms force Anacreon to back down.