"What we want to know," Tam interrupted, "here and now, is whether our program is being run by the ministry."
"Dr. Richardson, you . . . and Mr. Walton, are in the employ of Dai Nippon, International, not MITI." He leaned back in his chair. "Though of course nothing in this world is entirely simple. Certain . . . interests of the ministry are germane to our programs here."
"Then we'd like to hear about it." She glanced at the leather chairs but decided to remain on her feet. I did the same.
His face was like granite. "Well, you are aware we've occasionally received input from MITI's Industrial Technology arm.
"How about Research and Planning, Ken's section?"
"Only a few informal—"
"Nothing to do with Marketshare - 90?"
He betrayed a hint of confusion, quickly masked. "Dr. Richardson, with all due respect, I fear you may not be entirely aware of the various forces at play here." He leaned back. "This program of ours must succeed. There are many avenues of responsibility, but all difficulties will be overcome."
"What do you mean?"
"All in time, please believe me." He smiled once more. "I'll readily grant you our acquisition program may have evolved slightly as of late in the direction of more-solid securities, but you can be assured that is merely a response to the concerns of certain conservative institutional investors in Tokyo." He continued, a silver tongue to match his silver hair. "Risk is involved. Not to mention an enormous quantity of funds. There is pressure on us just now to try and maintain a prudent balance in our portfolio." He glanced at his watch impatiently. As if he was anxious to move ahead. "Which brings us to the matter we have to address."