The Secret of Secrets: A Novel
by Dan Brown
Contents
Chapter 7
Overview
In a quiet, after-hours Penguin Random House office, editor Jonas Faukman prepares to read Katherine Solomon’s newly finished consciousness manuscript—an important project he believes could reshape scientific thinking. A data-security alert interrupts him: an unknown intruder has accessed an SVW linked to his account. The hacked workspace is identified as “SUM,” revealing Katherine’s manuscript has been compromised at the moment it is supposed to be delivered.
Summary
After midnight at Penguin Random House’s Manhattan headquarters, editor Jonas Faukman works alone in his corner office, eager to start reading a long-awaited manuscript from noetic scientist Katherine Solomon.
Faukman reflects on how Katherine’s mind-blowing pitch—introduced to him by his friend Robert Langdon—led him to offer her a lucrative contract and encourage strict anti-piracy security measures. Katherine agreed to write inside a secure virtual workspace (SVW) on PRH’s servers, protected by an author-only access code until delivery day.
A young data-security employee, Alex Conan, unexpectedly knocks and reports an “unverified user” alert: someone accessed data tied to Faukman. When Faukman insists he has not logged in or even powered on his computer, Alex clarifies that the intruder penetrated Faukman’s partition without credentials and then disappeared.
Faukman demands to know what was accessed. Alex identifies the SVW by title as “SUM.” Faukman panics, recognizing it is not a math project but the acronym for “Solomon—Untitled Manuscript,” meaning Katherine’s newly finished book has been breached.
Who Appears
- Jonas FaukmanPenguin Random House editor; expects Katherine’s manuscript, then panics over a security breach.
- Alex ConanNight-shift PRH data-security technician who reports an unverified user accessing Faukman’s SVW.
- Katherine SolomonNoetic scientist and author; her SVW manuscript “SUM” is identified as the hacked target.
- Robert LangdonFaukman’s friend; previously introduced Katherine and likely urged her to stop revising.