INVENTION TO GREAT CONVENTION The practice of maintaining stockpiles of atomic weapons as an integral part of a House's defenses began when primitive nuclear weapons were invented oa Old Terra on the eve of the Little Diaspora, by tile "Raw Mental," Einstein, who was. working for House Washington When Einstein succeeded 10 his attempts to construct these weapons, two of the first were used to settle a trade dispute with House Nippon These weapons were of such a primitive nature that fewer than a million casualties were caused by the explosions-but one must remember that the entire empire at this time had only three billion subjects, all on one planet The demonstration, though unremarkable by later standards, served two purposes the destruc tron of two small cities and the threat of the destruction of others forced House Nippon to concede the lucrative Pacific trade routes to House Washington, and possession of the Empire's only atomic weapons gave House Washington the prestige and power it needed to displace House Windsor Naturally, the odier Houses Major spared no expense in their own research and espionage efforts in an attempt to equalize their power with that of House Washington De spite the best efforts of the counterespionage directorates of King George (the first Emper or of House Washington) the secret of how to construct atomic explosives was soon k