He noted the time on his Omega, then smiled, leaned back, and snipped the end off his cigar.
"Mino-sama." The man bowed low. "NHK just telephoned your office in Tokyo, asking for comment."
"Comment about what?"
"They have received some text off a satellite."
"What? What did they receive?"
"It was purportedly the English translation of a secret protocol, an agreement between Mino Industries and the Soviets. Naturally we denied it in the strongest possible terms."
"It has to be some preposterous fabrication. I can't imagine how anything so absurd could have—"
"That's actually the problem, Mino-sama. NHK says they received it from a manned space station, but they've checked with NASDA and have been assured there are currently no astronauts in orbit by any nation."