Ministry of Disturbance is a science fiction novella written by H. Beam Piper frist published in 1958.
Sometimes getting a job is harder than the job after you get it--and sometimes getting out of a job is harder than either!
The galactic empire (of a few thousand planets) has been stable for 600 years. Emperor succeeds emperor, and planetary production is regulated to keep markets and economies stable. Then why is there a plot to overthrow the emperor? And who is behind it?
Ministry of Disturbance first appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, in December 1958.
Henry Beam Piper (1904–1964) was an American science fiction author. He wrote many short stories and several novels. He is best known for his extensive Terro-Human Future History series of stories and a shorter series of «Paratime» alternate history tales. Piper's stories fall into two camps: stark space opera, such as Space Viking, or stories of cultural conflict or misunderstanding, such as Little Fuzzy or the Paratime stories.
