Hired for secrets

Creature of luxury

Sofie's cheeks were flushed and she had to collect her thoughts. Philip wanted to share his secrets but only as part of an unsavoury deal. Not out of passion or as a power play, it was a test. A test to determine if she could be trusted with the explosive information he was going to provide.

"That's a steep price. How do I know you actually have anything worth that much?" Sofie asked.

"I love your confidence." He almost laughed, shaking his head. "Let me assure you that the information I have is worth far more than whatever value you place on a night with you."

Seeing her anger rise, he leaned closer to add, "Not because you are not beautiful or unique... you absolutely are," he paused to observe how his calculated compliment affected her. "But because you are only one person. Getting the information into the wrong hands, now that would have consequences for a lot more people."

"Including you?"

Gone was her anger, replaced by genuine concern. She knew that Kerry's secrets were deadly. And Philip was the first in the firing line.

"Likely," he said with a dangerous smile.

He likes playing with fire.

"Ok, let's assume you have valuable secrets, in general. How do I know you've got the one I'm interested in?"

"Did you know," he replied as if to divert the topic, "that the Monach Butterfly is considered the queen of the butterflies? Do you know where the name comes from?"

"Um, because it's the largest butterfly?" Sofie knew nothing about butterflies but was playing along to humor him.

"Sure, it's big and beautiful, but that's not where the name comes from. It's because it has a very unique skill... It can cheat death."

Where was this conversation going?

"You see..." His words were dripping with subcontext, "most butterflies only live three weeks. But if a Monarch butterfly is born just before winter, it becomes skilful and determined to survive for eight months. During that time it migrates; conquering and ruling above the laws of physics."

Conquering and ruling? Was he talking about MP Kerry?

Kerry certainly saw herself above the law and god knows what she was planning to do as Prime Minister. But even if he was talking about her, being driven and skilful wasn't a secret. Some of her supporters hailed them as the qualities that set her apart from the other politicians. The real question was: did Philip have dirt on her?

Sensing her doubt he continued, "the secret to this uncanny longevity lies in its genes. Scientists have created a machine that can read these secrets. It's not much larger than a USB stick."

Sofie swallowed.

A USB stick to read secrets?

This wasn't an article from a New Scientist magazine! He was talking about a YubiKey, a device that looks just like an USB stick but functions as a digital key to protect online information. Was he telling her that he had Kerry's YubiKey?

"Is that valuable enough for you?" He smiled, pleased with how Sofie caught his meaning.

Sofie's heart raced. This was better than she could have hoped for. The key was the central part of Kerry's two-factor authentication system. By giving it to her, Philip was essentially serving her all of Kerry's shady deals on a silver platter.

Philip leaned back in his chair. He looked relaxed. Calm. Oblivious.

He doesn't know! He thinks he only gives away the key but not the actual access.