The Adventures of Hassan

The Adventures of Hassan are a series of short adventure stories, set in the future. The hero of the stories, Hassan, is a young man who was born in the city of Kufa on the rather desolate planet Lam, a colony established over a century before his birth when many people fled the turmoil and persecutions which followed the Great Revolution on Earth. The revolutionists sought to violently overthrow what had become a military dictatorship in all but name, and the initial military retaliation was severe.

The uprising failed to achieve most of its aims, but did lead, after several years of bloodshed and turmoil, to a long period of civilian rule which brought stability and prosperity to most of the citizens of Earth. During this period, the colony on Lam concentrated on building trading links with nearby colonies and star-systems, and on developing new technology, particularly that related to Space travel.

The Earth Government slowly ventured back into Space, establishing military outposts and regaining control of several nearby colonies which had declared their independence from Earth control. Growing more confident, and eager to maintain its new prosperity, the Earth Government began a policy of expansion, driven by the renewed power and influence of the military many of whose idealistic young Officers dreamed of an Empire centered on Earth and who took as their model the ancient Earth Empire of Rome.  The President of the Earth Government was concerned about growing divisions on Earth itself, and within the military, and believed that by encouraging expansion, and spreading the idea of a new Earth Empire, he could unite its people.

At the same time, the President and his military advisors were becoming increasingly occupied with the growing influence of Lam, and particularly about the new acausal star-drive which Lam had invented which Earth believed would give Lam an overwhelming  military superiority.  With Presidential elections near, and with his personal popularity decreasing, the President decided it would be an opportune time to plan and then launch an invasion of Lam and so gain control of Lam's new Space technology. As part of this plan, Martial Law was declared in the territories around the city of Najaf on Earth, for the peoples in these territories follow the culture, religion and customs of the colonists on Lam. Many of those who founded the colony on Lam were from this area of Earth.

The first adventure takes place while Earth is preparing to invade Lam.