The Sword Master

pits the technologically driven nation of

Japan against an industrially declining

America in a struggle for world supremacy.

Art Garrett, entrepreneur and president

of one of Silicon Vailey s smallest but most

successful high-tech firms, is rocked by the

sudden disappearance of his most sophisti-

cated 256K optical chip, a vital component

in the Pentagon s new electronic arsenal.

Garrett suspects the Russians, of course,

until his friend Sally Hendricks, an Asian

scholar, unravels the threads of industrial

espionage that lead them to Tokyo. Here

Fukuda Kenji, a director of planning for

the global giant Matsuzaka Electric, who

is infused with the samurai spirit of Musashi

and inspired by his beautiful mistress, has

managed to procure this prized technology

that his isolated island country must have

to achieve economic independence. These

chips will soon hold all life on this planet

hostage.