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began to see that the residents loved other things besides waterways and canals. The planet was under direct Royal rule, and it showed. The closer we came to the Governor’s Palace, the more flags and patriotic banners I saw. “Down with the Imperial upstart!” read a slogan hung above a large tavern, while a hotel ran “God bless Hummingbird ! Glory to the King!” in flashing letters over and over again above their main entrance. It was the war, I supposed. Humans took such things very seriously indeed, though Rabbits tended to only be at best vaguely aware of politics. I mean, we Marcus-Rabbits loved and supported milord with all of our hearts, but that was mostly because we knew that he actually, for-real cared about us and let us live better lives than anyone else did. Even Dad hadn’t been able to tell me much when I showed him a newspage headline predicting war and asked why the emperor was angry with our own monarch. “It’s better not to worry about such matters, son,” he’d replied with a smile. “War is like bad weather; it just happens. Instead of wasting time and effort on things you can’t control, you should work at mastering your trade.”
    I didn’t like his answer very much at the time, but somehow I’d never worried much about the matter afterwards except when someone was actually shooting at me. And the Rabbits of other Lords were even less interested in politics than we Marcuses! I bet Lord Robert knew all about what the fighting was over, though! And James and Mr. Banes too, though if I asked the latter he’d probably make me write a bazillion-word report on the subject.
    We kept driving on and on into older parts of town, until I began to wonder exactly where we’d end up. Lord Robert had mentioned a townhouse but by now all that I could see were government buildings, blocks and blocks of them stretching in every direction with only an odd tavern or lunchroom here and there to break the monotony. Nova Amsterdam was the administrative hub for dozens of planets. So it was natural that the government needed lots of space. But still… I was a little overawed at the sheer scale of it all.
    Finally we went through a little checkpoint where a Dog sniffed us both and waved a little scanner-thingie at our limo. Then his master scowled at me, checked something off a list, and waved us through. I probably shouldn’t have been surprised at what came next, though I most certainly was. We drove perhaps another block, made a left turn…
    …and there I was, sitting directly in front of the Governor’s Palace!
    At first I thought it must’ve been a mistake, even when I saw the big mockups of Hummingbird and Sword of the People locked side-by-side in battle stretching across the Royal front lawn. Then Pedro came galumphing up to greet me and a Royal-liveried Rabbit appeared with a wheelchair. “It’s a terribly long way, sir,” the latter explained when at first I wouldn’t sit down in it. “You’ll be all worn out if insist on walking yourself, or so I’m told.”
    “Come on, David!” Pedro urged, clasping my shoulder. He was wearing a blue hat that said “Hummingbird Crewman” in big red and white letters. “Don’t argue! You always make things so hard for everyone!”
    I smiled at last and seated myself, whereupon the Royal footbunny bent over, laid his hand on my shoulder, and whispered in my ear. “We’re all so proud of you, sir!” he explained. “We servants, I mean! And you’re even younger than I imagined! Please, just rest easy and trust us. We’ll take perfect care of you.”
    How could I reply to that, except to lay my hand over his and smile back at him? Then we were on our way, with Pedro marching soberly at my side.
    “Here comes the hard part, sir,” the footbunny whispered again in my ear as we approached the Palace doors. “Keep your arms and legs tucked in, and I’ll rush us through lickety-split.”
    Before I could even ask what the problem was we passed