 In 1967 the US and Soviet Russia reach a new crisis when Jupiter 16, a US space capsule, is captured in Earth orbit by a strange rocket ship. The US accuses the Soviets of the space hijacking, even though Great Britain believes the alien ship landed in the Sea Of Japan. Her Majesty s Secret Service now swings into action by "killing" James Bond in Hong Kong - a ruse so Bond can move about Japan unmolested by his enemies. Working with, and enjoying the exotic hospitality of, Japanese SIS and its commander "Tiger" Tanaka, James uncovers evidence that a major chemical company is smuggling liquid oxygen for rocket fuel, and his and Tanaka s investigation leads to an extinct volcano that is the source of the space hijacking - just as a Soviet spacecraft is grabbed by the alien rocket and a previously scheduled US launch is pushed upward with America s strategic forces on full battle alert, forcing James and Tanaka to confront the true source of the space hijackings - SPECTRE, and its ruthless leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld.