Past Periods Of The Technic History

Preparing for an interview with Edwin Cairncross, Grand Duke of Hermes, Flandry reviews the planet Hermes both historically and socially. Thus, two pages of  A Stone In Heaven summarize events from both the Polesotechnic League period and the Terran Empire period of the Technic History. The star Maia in Sector Antares has a terrestroid planet with a single continent, arid in its interior, colonized along its coasts by corporations which built a stratified state that caused much social unrest particularly during the Baburite occupation of the planet. Hermes gained protectorship of Babur and stewardship of Mirkheim, the source of supermetals. Militarized during the Troubles, Hermes joined the newly founded Terran Empire. Before becoming Grand Duke, Cairncross had enlisted in the Imperial Navy and:

"...had served well, earning promotions during the suppression of the Nyanzan revolt and in the Syrax confrontation."

-Poul Anderson, A Stone In Heaven IN Anderson, Flandry's Legacy (Riverdale, NY, June 2012), pp. 1-188 AT III, p. 34.

Anderson makes maximal use of his already existing fictional history:

in Mirkheim, the Babur War is fought for possession of Mirkheim (discovered by David Falkayn) and Falkayn returns home to Hermes during its Baburite occupation;

in "The Star Plunderer," Manuel Argos ends the Troubles by founding the Empire;

in "The Game of Glory," Dominic Flandry counteracts Merseian subversion on Nyanza;

in "Hunters of the Sky Cave," Flandry helps to end the Syrax deadlock.

Four names:

Falkayn

Argos

Flandry

Cairncross