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A Full Length Play
No Secrets, No Lies
Act One)
By G. L. Horton
copyright © 2000
Geralyn Horton
CHARACTERS:
Can be performed by a cast of eight, 5 men and 3 women.
DOUG RAUSCHER: 35, a whiz computer programmer, and the
prime mover in the Foundation for Free Intelligence.
PHILIP CONGDON: lawyer, congressional aide. Not a man
to suffer fools gladly.
TRUDY: 50's, Congdon's office secretary. Very efficient.
She has more power than appears on the surface, and knows it.
MAR BERGMAN (DAVISON): 35, staff researcher. Idealistic
and warm, she is the mother of a 9 month old son.
THOMAS "TERM" MINNOW: 28, programmer, another "MIT type":
bright, unkempt, maybe a bit opportunistic.
HELEN RAUSCHER: 58, Doug's mother, well-groomed and ladylike.
JERRY BERGMAN: 40, Mar's husband. He is a social worker
in the suburban Boston area.
CHRISTINE ANDRAWSKI: 28, researcher at the Institute.
Intense and judgemental, she is a Christian of deep faith.
OCTO RATCHETT: 40's, hacker, conspiracy fan. There is
a touch of sleeze in his make-up.
SALLY: late 20's, a bright, expensive call girl.
MAN 1 and MAN 2: a surveillance team.
HACKER 1 and HACKER 2 and DR LOW: appear
in the last scene. All the smaller parts can be doubled.
ESSIE: Doug's cat, is an important role; but most of the
scenes in which she "appears" can be staged using an empty cat
carrier.
Nontraditional casting is encouraged.
Time/Place/Scene: The play takes place in the present.
It requires a unit set which will represent many locations --
mostly rooms in hotels in Washington, D.C. (Change the color of
the bedspread, and it represents a different hotel room.) The
momentum of the script is dependent on scenic elements that allow
for continuous action, with no pauses between scenes for set-up.
The spy films that are part of the plot can be fudged in a low
budget production, with scenes staged in such a way that the actors
"see" them but the audience just hears the sound track: but a
production that is able to use a video or movie screen would gain
impact.
SCENE 1
(The office of PHILIP CONGDON, 40, an aide on the Washington staff
of Congressman Pete Kelly of Massachusetts. A desk, a couple of
chairs, a flag, and one practical door should indicate the location.
DOUG RAUSCHER, 35, with long hair and a beard, is a computer programmer
widely believed to be The World's Greatest Hacker. He is being
interviewed by CONGDON while CONGDON'S secretary, TRUDY, takes
steno notes. In the next office is MAR BERGMAN, 35, who works
for Congressman Kelly in his home district.)
DOUG
What runs the whole mach---no, I won't call it a machine, machines
are elegant; the contraption -- it's run on grease. All the consultants,
the liaisons: they're paid for access. But free access is the
basis for progress, not just for pure science, for technology,
too. Why do you think our society's chasing its tail? Grease!
As soon as some bright guy figures out what works and begins to
publish, some bogus corporation cuts a deal. Contracts, patents.
Tie him up and shut him up. The same way the moneymen've bought
congress. If our representatives ride in limousines and eat in
four star restaurants ----
CONGDON
Marcia, get in here!
MAR (looks in door)
Yes?
CONGDON
How am I going to put this idiot in front of the committee?
MAR
What's wrong?
CONGDON
Everything! Listen to him! Trudy, read that last bit back.
TRUDY
"The nerve, to call us the pirates. An idea doesn't exist until
it's communicated, ideally to every meat machine with the capacity
to use it. These patents are a betrayal of society for personal
advantage. For sharks. If-"
CONGDON
Skip to the congress part.
TRUDY
"- they've bought congress. If our representatives ride in limousines
and eat in four star restaurants, ----
CONGDON (overlapping)
You see what I mean? That'll go down great! Especially with him
looking like that!
DOUG
Like what?
MAR
You mean his hair?
CONGDON
The whole--! Yes, his hair. We send up a resume that looks like
we've got a credible witness, and then this freak shows up! Like
a mad Bolshevik, or some pervert. Oh, my God. On top of all the
rest?
DOUG
What?
MAR
Are you gay?
DOUG
You mean happy? Or homosexual? I suppose it depends on your definition.
MAR
Are you attracted to members of your own sex, or the opposite
sex?
DOUG
Not particularly. I did masturbate with this guy once, Jamie,
when we were both working round the clock on a project and he
was up on adrenalin and kind of insistent. I was pretty spaced
out at the time and past pills any more--.
CONGDON
Merciful God. Drugs, too?
DOUG
Everybody masturbates. What's the big deal with company? If that
makes me gay, OK, but it's not like I'll go out of my way--.
MAR
He doesn't sound to me as if he necessarily has a problem. There's
such a thing as the right to privacy.
DOUG
Privacy, schmivacy! That's for the bathroom: all it protects is
shit. My sex life,-- or to be blunt about it, my total absence
of a sex life--, let it become a matter of record. Who cares?
Bertrand Russell went nine years celibate, and at the time he
was even married. While he was working on the Principia.
CONGDON
Marcia, if I stay in this room another minute I'll have to take
a pill. Talk to this --person-- find out if there's any way that
we can use him, and get him out of here. Trudy--.
(CONGDON indicates the door and he and TRUDY exit)
DOUG
Not very friendly, is he?
MAR
He's a lawyer.
DOUG
Down here it seems that everybody is.
MAR
Just about.
DOUG
Are you? Who are you, anyway?
MAR
Marcia Bergman. And no, I'm not a lawyer, really.
DOUG
What does that mean?
MAR
I went to law school, but I've never practiced.
DOUG
Could you?
MAR
Technically, I'd have to re-take the--
DOUG
That's not what I mean. Do you have the -- temperament, the point
of view?
MAR
No.
DOUG
Thank God. I hate 'em.
MAR
A lot of people feel that way.
DOUG
I never even thought about it until I started this case. Do you
have any idea how many lawyers a company like IBM has on retainer?
Every one of them sharks, every one of them eager to get their
teeth into you.
MAR
Once they smell blood. DOUG
Or money.
MAR
Well, there's a lot of that at stake here. That's why Congdon
wants to be certain that what you say will be--
DOUG
Money's nothing, money's green tape! Brainpower's what counts,
in the long run. Tie up brains to wring money out of the system
is criminal. A crime against the species. Facts, theories, analogs,
they're our birthright, our building blocks.
MAR
From your point of view. To the companies, those are trade secrets.
DOUG
You can't patent language! Can you understand? Computer code is
like words, it forms thought. Trademark that, outlaw its use,
intelligence has to shut down. Given a formulation, anyone with
a modicum of skill can come up with solutions, more or less elegant.
But you see, I came up with the framework, for dozens of ideas
that the biggies have used to pile up bucks. And I said, fine,
go to it, guys. So now they're trying to cut me out of my own
stuff!
MAR
If you could prove that--
DOUG
You mean with lawyers? Thousands of hours worth, and even then,
what's to stop them from changing some commas and slapping a patent
on my thoughts all over again!? I want to share, to have my stuff
built on. It takes dozens of guys to figure out how to deal with
the consequences of a simple bug, and then to have to waste time
dealing with deliberate blockage, with stonewalling and cover-up!
MAR
I know.
DOUG
Do you? Most people have never even considered it.
MAR
Oh, I know. In a very personal way. If you ever have a free weekend.
I'll tell you all about it.
DOUG
You will?
MAR
I thought you said you were gay.
DOUG
I said I have no sex life. Unless you count Essie.
MAR
Well, don't look to me for improvement. I'm a happily married
woman.
DOUG
What is your function here, exactly?
MAR
I don't really have a function here. I'm from the congressman's
home district, just running errands on this case.
DOUG
Then why did Congdon sic you on me?
MAR
I believe I'm to make you presentable. The woman's touch. Would
you consider a shave and a haircut?
DOUG
I'd prefer not to.
MAR
But would you consider it?
DOUG
If these people I'll be talking to know anything about programmers,
the way I look adds credibility. In our business we divide up.
The real guys in the company wear T shirts, and if they tell you
something it'll be the truth if they know it, or if they don't,
maybe science fiction. Then there are the guys in suits, who lie.
Whether they know anything or not. All the good guys-
MAR
Recognize each other. It's a sign, I suppose, like the rock star's--
DOUG
Not at all like that. The opposite. They do it for image, we do
it because image doesn't matter. Hair is nonessential, so why
waste time?
MAR
Because you're being televised. Ordinary Joes who shave every
day and go to the barber even when they can't afford to take long
hair as an insult. Here's a man claiming to know better than businessmen
and economists and college professors--
DOUG
And lawyers--
MAR
How information should be stored and distributed--
DOUG
No secrets, no lies.
MAR
If you look like you've never had to hold down a real job-
DOUG
I'll think about it.
MAR
You've got until Tuesday.
DOUG
I'm scheduled to give a speech at the science fiction convention
Friday afternoon, so I couldn't possibly before--
MAR
This is Friday afternoon.
DOUG
It is? What time? My God, I should be there-- (exits)
(re-enters)
Sorry. I forgot Essie.
MAR
Your computer? You carry it around with you?
DOUG
My cat.
MAR
You brought it here?
DOUG
I take her everywhere. She's my Significant Other.
MAR
But cats hate travel. They get sick, they run away.
DOUG
Not Essie. She's fine as long as she's with me. I can't leave
her in the hotel room alone, but in her carrier with the sound
of my voice-- Say goodbye to Ms. Berman, Essie--
MAR
Bergman, Marcia Bergman! Two o'clock tomorrow afternoon!
(DOUG exits with cat)
CONGDON (coming back in)
Is he gone?
MAR
Uhhuh.
CONGDON
What a waste. The guy's hopeless.
MAR
Actually, I was rather impressed.
CONGDON
Well, you're not the public, are you? Rausher has no idea how
he comes across! No tact, no modesty,-
MAR
No lies. He could be effective, Phil. Anyone can tell he means
what he's saying. He comes across as pure, almost as sweet.
CONGDON
Sweet!
MAR
Well, childlike. The kid who won the science fair. And he's in
the tradition, an American maverick.
CONGDON
Looks like a faggot. Or a robot. Weird sex. I don't like that.
MAR
But he implied that he'd he'd hardly ever -
CONGDON
Not normal, is it? And who the hell is Bertrand Russell?
MAR
British mathematician and philosopher, 1880-1970. Notorious in
the anti-nuke movement, and in other men's beds. Correction: Their
wives' beds.
CONGDON
And that's the good news.
SCENE 2
(Unlocated. DOUG has just arrived at the Science Fiction Convention
hotel in D.C., where he is to give an address to a sympathetic,
technically sophisticated audience.)
TERM (he's wearing striped prisoner's garb)
Doug? Where've you been? You were due two hours ago. But everything's
running late, so I arranged for you to speak after the Cybernation
panel. Right before the masquerade, and in the same room. It should
be a good crowd. You can change in the men's room. (hands DOUG
a matching striped costume)
DOUG (hands costume back)
I've decided not to wear the it.
TERM
Don't be a dwick. You thought of the costume, it makes a point,
and the papers--
DOUG
That's a problem, now. If I show up in the papers looking like
a freak in a silly outfit--
TERM
It's the only way to get coverage. Intellectual integrity doesn't
sell papers-
DOUG
I'll look fringe. Like a nut, not a champion.
TERM
Nobody cares how Doug Rauscher looks. Well, maybe your mother--
DOUG
Marcia cares. Oh, and can you arrange it so that Essie here is
out of sight but within the sound of my voice? Without people
noticing? Under the podium would be perfect. (leans to speak to
cat in carrier) Wouldn't it, little ladyfriend?
TERM
I guess I can manage that. But where do you want your mom?
DOUG
My mom's in Scarsdale.
TERM
No, she's here at the convention. Got here two hours ago, to listen
to your speech. I bought her some lunch and directed her to the
Space Colonies panel.
SCENE 3
(Two men listening to a tape.)
VOICE OF CONGDON
"- Like a mad Bolshevik, or some pervert. Oh, my God. On top of
all the rest?"
DOUG
"What?
MAR
"Are you gay?"
DOUG
"You mean happy? Or homosexual? I suppose it depends on the definition.
"
MAR
"Are you attracted to members of the opposite sex?"
DOUG
"Not particularly. But I did masturbate with this guy once, Jamie,
when we were both working round the clock on a project and he
was up on adrenalin and kind of insistent. I was pretty spaced
out at the time and past pills any more--."
CONGDON
"Merciful God. Drugs, too?"
MAN 1 (stops tape)
Bingo!
(runs tape back)
VOICE OF CONGDON
"--drugs, too?"
MAN 1
that's enough right there. Flag it and we can go home.
Some days you're just lucky.
MAN 2
Yeah.
MAN 1
Why don't we call your afternoon assignment a nap? You'll be up
with the birdies tomorrow.
SCENE 4
(DOUG at podium, in mid-speech)
DOUG
I'm on the offensive. Instead of punishing those bastards who
destroyed the old shareware community, I'm starting a new one.
That'll hit them where they live, in the pocketbook. Proprietors
beware! So if any of you hackers out there want a good job at
half what the market would pay you, pick up a copy of my flyer.
In exchange for slaving long hours, you'll have the satisfaction
of locking heads with a bunch of wild and crazy dweebs who want
to write the most elegant code ever, and pass it out to any meat
machine with the intelligence to use it. Those of you who can't
hack, you can pitch in too. Pitch some cash in this bucket, and
help bail us out. The masters of industry -- the finance suits
and the marketing suits, mundanes who can't think and won't work
-- they want to own the brains in this country. Chain us up and
lease us out. I say, to hell with them. Free speech! Free software!
Power to the good guys!
(applause. Doug starts to leave the podium,
then remembers HELEN and waves her to come up)
Oh, yeah. Good guys? Let me introduce my mom. Come on up here.
Helen Rauscher, I want you to meet the future. The mapmakers for
Utopia.
(DOUG applauds the audience)
SCENE 5
MAR is asleep in a hotel bedroom. Phone rings. MAR wakes, peers
groggily, then fumbles to answer the phone.
MAR
Hello?
VOICE (MAN 2)
Mar? Be careful.
MAR
Jerry? Is that you? (a click as the line goes dead.)
Jerry?
(MAR turns on the light, stares at the phone, hangs up, dials.
One ring, then-)
JERRY (answering)
Hello?
MAR
Darling? Did you just call?
JERRY
At 6:30 in the morning? Of course not. What kind of sadist do
you think I am.
MAR
Then who could it have been?
JERRY
Didn't they say?
MAR
He hung up.
JERRY
Well, if I'd dialed a wrong number at 6:30 am, I don't think I'd
introduce myself--
MAR
He knew my name.
JERRY
What?
MAR
He called me Mar. Who have you given this number to?
JERRY
Nobody.
MAR
Maybe I imagined it. I wasn't really awake.
JERRY
Who is?
MAR
And I've been having bad dreams. It's good to hear your voice.
JERRY
My voice is not as cheerful as it might be a few hours from now.
MAR
But you answered first ring.
JERRY
The baby's been up since 5:30. He decided that dawn's too long
to wait to start wrecking the place.
MAR
He wouldn't go back to sleep?
JERRY
I think he's experimenting, trying to discover if there's some
time if he's awake he'll find you home.
MAR
Soon. I'll be home soon. How are you bearing up?
JERRY
All right. Mark hasn't been eating much breakfast.
MAR
Don't worry. He never does, it's a family trait.
JERRY
Not on my side.
MAR
I know, dear. When we were first married I couldn't even bear
to watch you. Eggs, staring back at seven o'clock-- yuck
JERRY
Mark, no! Let go of that--
(Silence. MAR closes her eyes and shudders.)
JERRY
OK, I got him away from the butter dish, but I really can't talk.
I can't work or think either, Mar, so I'll be very glad to see
you come home.
MAR
Me too. Probably I can get away by Wednesday, if I'm willing to
come back and finish up after the hearings.
JERRY
Why don't you do that? A whole week of this, I'll be a basket
case. You know, you promised when you took this job that you wouldn't
let it take over. No crusades--
MAR
Don't worry, I've been inoculated. I'm immune to Washington fever.
You don't know how I long to be washing out diapers. Sure, when
I was a girl I used to fantasize about the Supreme Court, or being
the first woman president-- but it's awful. Nobody's real.
JERRY
Well, we're real here. Real enough that I can't afford to chat.
MAR
Jerry: I needed it. The chat's brought me back. I was so spooked.
JERRY
If you need to talk, I can call back when Mark's down for his
nap
MAR
No, it's ok now. I'll be all right. Just a few more days.
The thing is, this is the same hotel.
JERRY
The same hotel?
MAR
The one where I was staying when--
(Lights out. A dim figure in a dark raincoat grabs MAR, holds
a knife at her throat.)
JERRY
Mar? Mar, get out of there.
SCENE 6
(DOUG's hotel room. He is propped on the bed petting ESSIE, while
his mother, HELEN, sits nearby, talking to him)
HELEN
Douglas, are you listening to me?
DOUG
Yes, mother.
HELEN
It seems as if all your attention is on that cat.
DOUG
Essie's a little nervous. Strange place, strange people.
HELEN
If she's used to you she should be used to strange.
DOUG
Do you need anything from room service, or can you wait for lunch
at 2:00?
HELEN
I'm fine.
DOUG
Would you hand me that brown bag? (she does. He takes out a slice
of cold pizza)
HELEN
How old is that? When did you buy it?
DOUG
About three a.m. But I was still too hyper to eat. What a day.
HELEN
I'll say. I'd read about your speeches, but I guess I hadn't pictured
you as - what? Some kind of openness cult? Let it all hang out.
DOUG
Mother--
HELEN
I must say I'm surprised. You weren't a particularly truthful
child.
DOUG
Yeah. Well, I did the best I could. I was true to myself.
HELEN
Oh? To the point where I could never believe a thing you said.
DOUG
I had to say something. Something you'd accept and leave me alone.
Or I'd never've been left alone to accomplish.
HELEN
Like blowing out the circuits and defrosting the freezer, hundreds
of dollars worth--
DOUG
What do you want from me! (the cat stirs)
Sorry, Essie. Maybe you'd better go in your house, old girl.
She gets upset when I am.
HELEN
God forbid your mother should upset you. Our your precious cat.
I never should have come.
DOUG
Mother, I'm glad you came. Thank you. And if you're nervous about
that interview you gave the Post--
HELEN
That reporter distorted everything!
DOUG
Don't be, because it was fine. I've talked to the board of directors
and to Congressman Kelly's staff person, and nobody thinks it
will damage us.
HELEN
Us! Who is this Us? Does us include your mother and father? Your
father hadn't planned to retire until next year, but if he can't
hold up his head--!
DOUG
Because of the stench? Look. I'm sorry I rotted the family meat,
back in 1968. I could afford to pay for it now, you know. With
interest, so we could both feel better--
HELEN
It wasn't the accident. You shouldn't have been experimenting,
but anyone can make a mistake. But to keep it a secret, for five
days! Not to tell anyone in time to save all that food, when there
are children starving--
DOUG
Not in Scarsdale! What do want from me? What can I do, to bury
this, finally? I'm sorry I was a trial to you. But I'm not sorry
I was the kind of nerdy kid who'd grow up to be me. I had projects.
Even if they seemed a waste of time to you and Dad-
HELEN
Always something! Yes, that part I recognized. What the government
or some big corporation wants is immaterial, you must push on
with your project. Everybody else should just stop what they're
doing and give you whatever you want--
DOUG
Mom.
HELEN
I'm sorry. I intended to come and be supportive, but--
DOUG
You came. If I'd known you were coming, I'd have had someone meet
you at the airport, take you to lunch.
HELEN
Yes, well, you looked so thin on the television. You're still
living on pizza and cheetos, I suppose?
DOUG
Pretty much.
HELEN
You and your father. I cook everything the way the doctor wants
him to have it, but I know in restaurants it's steak, steak, steak.
What do you feed your cat?
DOUG
Science diet and cheetos.
SCENE 7
(Surveillance team)
MAN 2
The cat came in when I was hooking it up. Gave me a hell of a
scare
MAN 1
I thought Rauscher carried it around with him.
MAN 2
Not all the time.
MAN 1
Good thing it's not a dog. Make it a little difficult to do the
job, huh?
MAN 2
The difficult we do right away. The impossible takes longer.
MAN 1
Nice picture.
MAN 2
Nice sound, too. If I turn it up you can hear the fucking cat
fart.
SCENE 8
(MAR, HELEN, and TERM are sitting at a table in the hotel restaurant,
waiting for DOUG. CHRISTINE approaches hesitantly)
CHRISTINE (to TERM)
Are you Douglas Rauscher?
TERM
Sorry, lady.
CHRISTINE
But aren't you Marcia Bergman?
MAR
I beg your pardon?
CHRISTINE
Philip Congdon, in congressman Kelly's office? He said I would
find Douglas Rauscher and Ms. Bergman having lunch here at two
o'clock. He described you, but I thought I recognized Doug Rauscher
from his pictures- TERM (shakes hands)
I was the guy next to him. Thomas Minnow, but call me Term. I'm
Doug's Henchman. It's the hair that's confused you.
MAR
Doug's late.
TERM and HELEN
He usually is.
MAR
This is Doug's Mother. Helen Rauscher.
CHRISTINE
Christine Andrawski. Do you mind if I join you and wait for him?
MAR
Let me understand this. Pete Kelly sent you?
CHRISTINE
He didn't, exactly.
MAR
Philip Congdon?
CHRISTINE
Well, obviously, Mr. Congdon knows I'm here.
TERM
Are you a reporter?
CHRISTINE
Is that Rauscher? He's coming this way-
MAR
Yes, that's him. But this is in the way of a private lunch. A
working lunch. We have a limited amount of time before the hearings-
CHRISTINE
I understand, and I won't take but a minute. A simple yes or no-
(DOUG enters with ESSIE's carrier, which he stows part way under
the table.)
DOUG (to ESSIE)
Chow time, old girl. (to MAR) Have you ordered?
MAR
Were we supposed to?
DOUG
It saves time.
MAR
I guess it would, if I knew what you like.
DOUG
I don't care. I eat anything.
MAR
Your mother and I were planning to have the salmon.
DOUG
A little of that'll be great for Essie. Not me, though. I'm allergic.
(to CHRISTINE) Who're you? Am I supposed to know you?
CHRISTINE
We haven't met. I'm Christine Andrawski, and I'm with the Institute
for Ethical Compacts.
DOUG
What is that, animal-free cosmetics? I approve of that, animals
are meat machines like we are. But I haven't the time or money--
CHRISTINE
Nothing like that. My organization is trying to track the connections
between clandestine government operations and international crime.
For years, we've been documenting how the agencies use the secret
networks of the drug traffickers to gather information and to
move money and arms. In return, the agencies have turned the third
world and our urban underclass over to the mob.
DOUG
Interesting theory.
CHRISTINE
We have proof! Thousands of pages, available to the media-- or
we did, until a worm got in and wiped it all out. All the files.
Years of investigation. I can't tell you what it represents, how
much work and sacrifice. Lawsuits, burglaries, threats, and now
this.
DOUG
I don't think I could help you.
CHRISTINE
You're the world's greatest hacker!
DOUG
Security's not my field.
CHRISTINE
If you understood the importance--
DOUG
If it meant the Second Coming, I still wouldn't have time. And
I don't see how I can even give you the name of somebody who would:
because I'd be stripping my own project. There's only so much
energy out there. People have to make a living--,
CHRISTINE
I know! Most of us have day jobs, and pour every hour and dollar
we can spare into the cause--
DOUG
Hackers, too. But we still have to flush our toilets and feed
our cats and pay our taxes.
TERM
Even guys like me and Doug, who essentially have no other life.
CHRISTINE (appeals to Helen)
He's my last hope, Mrs. Rauscher.
HELEN
You'll think of something.
TERM
How long have you been at this?
CHRISTINE
Seven or eight years. It's not just the one office. We have grass
roots. Church people who organize study groups. We distribute
tapes, send out lecturers. If we can't follow up--
TERM
You must have hard copy.
CHRISTINE
Remember the burglaries. Where would we keep it? Where would it
be safe?
MAR
In an old cistern in the back yard of a junior typist.
CHRISTINE
What?
MAR
Nothing. A stupid joke.
DOUG
Is this woman a friend of yours?
MAR
We've never met.
CHRISTINE
Yes, we have. I remember you, now. You're Margo Davison.
DOUG
Didn't you say Marcia?
HELEN
Marcia Bergman.
CHRISTINE
You changed it.
DOUG
Which should I remember? I'm not good with names.
MAR
She's mistaken.
CHRISTINE
Sure. I talked to you once, in Taylor's office. Six or seven years
ago. You were on the investigation, you blew the whistle-
MAR
You've confused me with somebody else. I work for congressman
Kelly, in Massachusetts.
SCENE 9
(CONGDON's office, on phone)
CONGDON
I understand your concern, Mr. Bergman. If you think that somebody's
got her number out of this office, there's precautions we can
take. For starters, she can change hotels--
JERRY
Won't they track her the same way?
CONGDON
We can give her a fake identity. It's routine with sensitive witnesses,
no reason we can't use it for Marcia. When she comes back next
week, only Trudy and I need know where she's staying.
JERRY
If anything happens at home--
CONGDON
We'll keep in touch. (calls) Trudy!
JERRY
I'd rather you didn't tell Mar I called. When she comes home and
I can talk to her face to face, I'll fill her in. But I don't
want her more worried than she has to be.
CONGDON
I can appreciate that. Trudy, we want to set up a safe warning
path for Mr. Bergman. Explain it.
TRUDY
We'll get your wife's numbers to you indirectly. The call should
be to someone you can absolutely trust, like your mother, who'd
be willing to drive to your work to pass it, in case, as we must
assume, the tap's also on your home phone.
JERRY
Wonderful. My mother.
TRUDY
Perhaps you'd rather a brother or sister?
JERRY
My brother's a raving lunatic. No, Mom's the one.
TRUDY
Fine. Call this office from a pay phone at 4:30. (hangs up)
CONGDON
Trudy, what was it that Andrawski woman was yammering on about?
INSLAW, wasn't it? She said a whole delegation was involved-.
TRUDY
I wasn't really paying attention. The woman's a nut. Isn't that
what we decided?
CONGDON
That doesn't necessarily mean she can't occasionally know something.
TRUDY
Something? Everything! And it all adds up. You follow what looks
like logic along that paper trail Andrawski's put together and
then suddenly you're face to face with the Antichrist. Armageddon.
The Four Horseman ride into town with the Republican Re-election
committee.
CONGDON
Still, this computer scam sounds familiar. There may be something
to it, at least worth checking out.
TRUDY
Fine. I'll check it out.
SCENE 10
(a coffee shop)
CHRISTINE
I want to apologize if I gave you away.
MAR
I've told you, you're mistaken.
CHRISTINE
No, I'm not. I have a phenomenal memory. That's what makes me
valuable when it comes to conspiracies. I can connect seemingly
random incidents over a wide time span.
MAR
You can't connect me.
CHRISTINE
If you were scared off, I don't blame you. Or did they get to
you? Sooner or later they pick off everybody, one way or another.
Not surprising, considering the size of rewards and punishments.
Unless, like me, you believe in a literal heaven-
MAR
I don't! But I do have a conscience.
CHRISTINE
Listen, I am sorry. Maybe I can make up for it by giving you a
warning. That Thomas Minnow: he is not straight.
MAR
I am not concerned with my associates sexual preferences-
CHRISTINE
Not straightforward. Not what he seems.
MAR
Doug trusts him.
CHRISTINE
I happen to know he worked out a program so that the South African
security force could track down dissidents abroad. You ask Rauscher
about the OUTERCEPT modification, what it has to do with Minnow.
See what he says.
SCENE 11
(OCTO RATCHETT's apartment. Complicated security devices are in
evidence. DOUG rings from downstairs)
OCTO
Yeah?
DOUG
Doug here.
OCTO (buzzing door open)
Come on up. (returns to computer, works until door knock)
DOUG (coming in with MAR)
I'm really grateful that you'd do this for me.
OCTO
No problem, man. I'm a fan of yours since way back. Any time I
can be of help. Listen, in future, if you want to get hold of
me? Call here, let it ring 3 times, hang up and call and let it
ring twice again. Then wait five minutes and call this number.
DOUG
What is it?
OCTO
Pay phone on the corner. You've been on the news a lot, and I
don't want to take a chance and get my phone tapped. This here's
my lifeline.
MAR
You think someone's tracing us?
OCTO
Hey, why not? Not unheard of for curious cats like us to use up
all nine lives. Car crashes, plane crashes, O.D'd. Lots of accidents,
once you attract attention.
This woman you want to know about: is she spelled right?
DOUG
Andrawski. Right. I don't expect we'll find much.
MAR
Maybe nothing. She may be a simple crank.
OCTO
Oh, even a crank'll have a file. Maybe dozens, each agency.
MAR
You can access any of them?
(OCTO is typing, hacking his way into the protected files to search)
OCTO
What can I say? I'm a genius. Not on Doug's scale, but in my modest
specialty. I know the secret history of everybody since the Bay
of Pigs. (responding to computer) Oops, wrong password!
MAR
Why the Bay of Pigs?
OCTO
It was Kennedy set it all up, you know? This whole shadow warrior
thing, the permanent unelected disaffected answerable-to-nobody
government-by-spook. James Bond went to his head.
MAR
Intelligence.
OCTO
Intelligence! Shit, there's no intelligence involved. Secrets,
that's what. Confidential records. The guys who turn in this stuff
don't know shit about intelligence. They've got all these employees,
all this money, so they fill up files. I got a file, you got a
file, all God's chillen got files.
MAR
You've seen yours?
OCTO (still working)
Sure.
MAR
Both of you?
DOUG
Maybe a year ago. It's probably grown by now.
MAR
Why don't you erase them?
OCTO
And arouse suspicion? Hey, they may be after me cause I'm paranoid,
but I'm not crazy. Somebody goes looking for mine and it's gone,
I'd be up to my ass in agents. My hacking days'ld be over. The
trick is to see what it is that draws their attention, organizations,
publications, and not be seen doing it. As long as hackers protect
hackers--
DOUG
Occasionally delete a line or two.
OCTO
Or three! So we stay free. Free to roam through the hidden corridors
of Big Brother's lair. To thrill to the diabolically clever cover
ups, the vast sums, the Swiss Bank accounts.
Someday maybe I'll give in to temptation and open a Swiss account
of my own, transfer a few billion in CIA funds---- Bingo!
DOUG
Here it comes!
OCTO
And comes and comes. Oh, she's their darling, Christine is. What
in all this are we looking for?
DOUG
Is she legitimate, is she serious?
MAR
Can you tell if she's really one of theirs?
OCTO
I'd say she's likely clean. Look at the size of this! A goddam
epic, taps, tapes, tails: Every time she's brushed her teeth.
I bet your lunch'll be in here by the end of the week.
MAR
Oh, God.
OCTO
You going to want the whole print-out?
DOUG
I don't know. Do we?
MAR
It terrifies me. Thousands of hours of spying, tens of thousands
of dollars of taxes, to watch one citizen-watchdog.
OCTO
Keeps em out of mischief.
DOUG
I guess I'd better keep my distance from her.
OCTO
If there's a chance of getting the government on your side.
DOUG
It's a shame, really. Anybody with enemies like this is a kind
of heroine.
OCTO
Yeah, there's an African-American scholar writing a book about
that. Did you know? Beulah Brown. She says that the only record
we have of the real American heroes is FBI files. The people's
champions were so silenced by spooks and harassed by double agents
they were never able to publish or organize. But all their ideas
and plans are stored away. All she has to do is separate the content
from the hostile point of view of the creeps who recorded it,
and we'll have a blueprint for a democratic Eden.
MAR
What makes her think she'll be able to publish it?
OCTO
Come on. A P.C. female academic? At a University press? Sure.
Nobody worries about books. Nobody reads. Why waste effort on
eggheads? Not since the Radical Feminist scare.
DOUG
It's like nobody worries about nerds. I can say we need a revolution--
OCTO
But everybody knows guys like us only get paid if we work on government
grants or for the military-industrial complex.
Do you realize that if it'd been possible to elect Adlai Stevenson,
Vietnam would never have happened? If Abe Fortas had stayed on
the Supreme Court--
MAR
You want to rehabilitate the reputations of all the losers who
were taken out by spooks.
OCTO
Not me. Dr. Beulah Brown. My personal slant is kind of the opposite.
Feet of clay. I make it a hobby to collect copies of all the dirt
the spooks have got on the great and glorious. Whenever I begin
to feel that mine is an anti-social existence, man, I pull out
some of the classics. I got filthy tapes on FDR, JFK, RFK, MLK.
Inspirational? Makes you pray for the day AI replaces the meat
machine. It's the only way to be clean, man. The human race is
a hierarchy of hypocrites. The worst shoot up to the top on a
geyser of lies.
SCENE 12
(DOUG's hotel room. Sally, a call girl, is waiting. She is lounging
on his bed, with Essie in her lap, stroking her.
DOUG
What the hell! Isn't this my room?
SALLY
Uh huh. And this is your pussy.
DOUG
Essie's only supposed to do that with me. How did you get her
to? What are you doing here, anyway? Do I know you?
SALLY
Not yet, but I'm hoping that before long we'll know each other
very well.
DOUG
Wait a minute. I've heard of this. Are you a -- professional?
(she smiles acknowledgement)
But doesn't a person have to indicate that he's --receptive? I
mean, it's nice that somebody wants me to feel welcome--
SALLY
Better than that. Warm and relaxed and--
DOUG
Not my style.
SALLY
Well, pardon me! This is the first time I've had that complaint,
but if you'd prefer a brunette--.
DOUG
Don't take it personally. That's not what I meant.
SALLY
Wrong sex?
DOUG
How should I know?
SALLY
You must be- what? Thirty-five? By your age most men have some
idea.
DOUG
Yeah. But how many others?
SALLY
Other what?
DOUG
Other ideas. I live mostly in my mind. I like it that way. It's
efficient. The downside is, I'm not in touch with my lower order
functions.
SALLY
Poor baby.
DOUG
Newton, Gauss -- productive minds are often that way.
SALLY
I thought you said you aren't sure what you are. Don't you think
the subject's worth some research? Especially when it comes funded.
You don't ignore your body completely. You eat.
DOUG
Anything that's quick and easy. That comes delivered.
SALLY
I'm delivered. What's your inclination?
DOUG
To masturbate.
SALLY
Don't breasts interest you, at all?
DOUG
Yours are really -- ample.
SALLY
An ample sample. An ample handful.
DOUG
They seem a little -- uh--lumpy.
SALLY
Silicone.
DOUG
That's gross.
SALLY
Not gross, big. Silly, maybe. Silly Cone. I'm Sally. Silly Sally
Silicone. Come on, loosen up, Doug. If somebody could implant
you with a brain booster, would you turn it down? To each his
own.
SCENE 13
(MAR and JERRY at home)
MAR
I want to wake him up. Can't I?
JERRY
If he's asleep it's because he needs sleep.
MAR
But I've hardly seen him. Tomorrow I'll be hurrying to catch the
shuttle.
JERRY
You've hardly seen me, either.
MAR
But he's growing by the day. He might forget me.
JERRY
You know, you never really told me what happened in Washington.
MAR
You mean before? I thought you didn't want to know.
JERRY
That's the impression I gave?
MAR (nods)
When I said I'd had a breakdown. You never asked what kind, or
for how long.
JERRY
I'm not comfortable talking about-- mental illness. Because of
my brother. My family acted as if it were a deep indelible shame
to have one of us put away in a hospital. We were all sort of
sworn never to mention it.
MAR
I didn't fall ill: I was pushed. From my work on the books, I
knew somebody was altering files, covering up payments, making
contributions under phony names. But every discovery just led
to another tangle; to this day, none of it makes sense.
JERRY
You were going to be subpoenaed to testify--
MAR
Towards the end I had the feeling that the clues I was uncovering
had to have been planted. That what seemed to be a vast conspiracy
reaching into every corner of the elite, connecting them with
thugs of the lowest order --, that all this was a cover-up, an
invented conspiracy laid over a deeper real one. A trial would
have sent to jail only little guys. The ones who took money to
do errands they didn't understand. Anyway, I was worried sick,
that was true enough. I couldn't eat or sleep. Then one night
I was mugged, with a knife. Except the mugger didn't take anything
but some files I was carrying, and he whispered I was a target,
that I couldn't even imagine the force I was up against--.
JERRY
I don't understand how that -- I mean, I'm sure it was a shock,
but you've always struck me a unusually brave--
MAR
Nobody believed me! When I got hysterical they sedated me. They
wrote me up for a fitness-for-duty- exam with their kept shrink,
and from there I was railroaded into the hospital. So after a
while I agreed that I'd made it all up. I resigned. I went home.
I moved to Cambridge, took a cooking course, and met you.
JERRY
To live happily ever after.
MAR
I hope so. Tell me it's possible.
JERRY
It's possible. It just isn't easy.
SCENE 14
(surveillance team viewing tape)
MAN 2
Sometimes I think this is too easy.
MAN 1
The trick is, hire an expert. I make it look easy.
MAN 2
You got a use for this?
MAN 1
Oh, yes. Nothing wasted.
SCENE 15
(DOUG's room. He's on bed, stroking cat)
HELEN (at door)
Doug?
DOUG
Who is it? Sally?
HELEN
It's your mother.
DOUG
Come on in, it's not locked.
HELEN
Who's Sally?
DOUG
A business associate.
HELEN
I was hoping maybe you'd found a nice girl.
DOUG
Sorry, no.
HELEN
If you could bring yourself.
DOUG
Shh, please, Just be quiet for a minute. And hold Essie.
(goes to the keyboard, types, stops)
Ok, now you can talk.
HELEN
Of all the rudeness.
DOUG
Mother, I was working. If I don't get it down, I lose it.
HELEN
Is that what you call it! Laying on the bed napping,--
DOUG
It's lying. Lay is transitive, and implies actors: Source of a
thousand ancient dirty jokes.
HELEN
-- in the middle of the afternoon. And what you were doing with
that cat?
DOUG
Essie helps me think. When I'm stuck, I close my eyes and pet
her till the answer shows up on my inner screen.
HELEN
I had intended to take the one o'clock shuttle back, but when
I went to pack up and check out I found that this had been delivered
to my room.
DOUG
What is it?
HELEN
I thought you'd know. The note says, "Ask your son about this."
DOUG
I haven't any idea. It seems to be a videotape. Maybe of my speech?
HELEN
You have a player?
DOUG
Sure. (puts in the tape)
HELEN
What a big screen.
DOUG (runs tape)
Good for graphics. Oh, my God. Talk about graphic!
HELEN
Who is that, is that you? And who is that woman? Tell me you're
engaged to her.
DOUG (turning it off)
That's Sally.
HELEN
What is the meaning of this?
DOUG
I don't know, but I think I'd better find out. Just hold on a
minute. (dials OCTO's signal on the phone.)
HELEN
Who are you calling?
DOUG
Octo- a friend who knows about this stuff. Then I'm taking this
tape down to Philip Congdon's office.
HELEN
Are you insane?! You've got to burn it. (they struggle)
SCENE 16
(MAR enters her new, secret, hotel room.
The phone rings immediately. She answers.)
VOICE (MAN 2)
So you're back. Don't you miss your husband? Your little boy?
MAR
Who is this?
VOICE (MAN 2)
Isn't it time for you to stay home in Needham and take care them?
A big city like D.C. is dangerous. Accidents happen.
MAR
Who are you? How dare you --?
VOICE (MAN 2)
Just friendly advice, lady. Tell the congressman you need quality
time. Ask to be reassigned. (clicks off)
(MAR hangs up, shaking, then dials)
JERRY
Hello?
MAR
Jerry, it's me.
JERRY
Yeah. Who else? You just get there?
MAR
They know where I am. I used the fake name, and they know anyway.
They threatened-- you and Mark, you're all right?
JERRY
We're fine. Or we were until you called.
MAR
On the phone just now. The voice said, go home to Needham.
JERRY
Oh, shit.
MAR
Probably just to scare me.
JERRY
It's worked. If you're not scared, I am. I want you home, right
now. Tomorrow morning. I didn't make a connection, but guys with
briefcases have been talking to our neighbors, and yesterday I
got a notice from the IRS: they're going to audit.
MAR
For what? We don't even go long form!
JERRY
Whatever it is you're doing.
MAR
I'm not doing anything! I'm part of the government, a very small
part, doing a routine job. Babysitting a computer jock!
JERRY
Well, somebody is under the impression that what you're doing
is a threat to him. Or them. Threatened people play rough, remember?
Come home.
MAR
As soon as I can. But I've got to try one more time, just for
my peace of mind. Before I run away and change my name and move
to North Dakota or something, I've got to try to find out what
it is that's after me. And why.
JERRY
Mar-
MAR
I'll be careful. Jerry? I love you. (leaves, not hanging up)
JERRY
I love you, too. And Mark loves you, and we both need you. Don't
do anything foolish. Listen, I've been thinking about this a lot,
and I'm beginning to believe that even if you could do something,
if there were no risk personally, you shouldn't. A country can
be dysfunctional in the same way as a family, but there's no outside
to go to for help, no bigger community. If what we have is a KGB,
or a Mafia, except they're wearing a constitutional cover, a fig
leaf, don't strip that away. Leave us hypocrisy. You see what
I'm getting at Mar? At least we'll have lip service, and in time
-- Mar? Mar, are you there?
SCENE 17
(OCTO's apartment, at computer.)
MAR
I really appreciate this. Can we just print it all out so I can
study it?
OCT
Hey, no problem. You deserve to know what you're up against.
If somebody's got close enough to be threatening you-
(phone rings, stops)
OK, hold on. -- (rings again)
I got to go out to the booth. Here. It'll print out now. Don't
let anybody in but me, AND don't answer the phone.
END OF ACT I
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