(This is the full story of what was first hinted at in communication
with Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney’s office, Boston, which led to
the downing of Flight 800. More was given to General Krulac. I started
to put the material into the first part of a book to introduce the
story around the ‘surprise Soviet naval maneuvers’ of 84. Too many
would be hurt. A friend said the early parts almost read as a play. There
are alterations to make it work as a play. However, this is essentially
the truth.)
“And if I gave you two atomic bombs for
Dien Bien Phu?”
John Foster Dulles to Georges Bidault
A Spy In Time
A history in two acts by
M I C H A E L D O N O V A N
CAST
Michael Donovan,
a boy of 10 in 1954.
Played 12-14, pre pubescent
Mary Rita Donovan, 35ish, the boy’s mother.
Jeremiah Donovan, 40ish, boy’s father.
Synopsis: It
is 1954 in the family’s home in Pound Ridge, a very rural setting
but still in commuting distance from Manhattan. The French are
unexpectedly beginning to lose their war in Indochina. The wife
of Time Magazine’s map maker pressures him to gather more information
at Time and help her alert the Soviet Union of American plans to
help the French with ‘two last atomic bombs’. Viewed through the
eyes of their ten-year-old son, this espionage in the middle of the
McCarthy era strains the marriage.
Copyright 2005, Michael Donovan
39 Megunticook Street, Camden ME 04843
Phone (207) 236 6508
Act I
My First Atomic War
Stage right. A 1950s modern living room light turns on to show Jeremiah
and Mary Rita reading newspapers. There is a fireplace with raised hearth
to the right. He points out an interior headline to her. She just nods
and continues her reading. They are sipping cocktails. Stage left, in
the dark, is a kitchen table. Living room light dims down. There is
an unlit kitchen stage left. A stove separates the kitchen and living
room. One side of the stove, toward the back of the stage, is a raised
oven, toward the audience are the burners. It is all encased in shining
plywood with plywood back to the burner area to more separate the rooms.
A dim spotlight shines stage left where Michael walks toward the audience
and with hands shielding his eyes tries to see through the light. Michael
walks back and forth squinting and tries to shield his eyes to see the
audience. The spot on Michael snaps to a very strong, almost ‘too strong’ blue
spot. The blue spot is simultaneously timed with a deep mechanical droning
sound. The droning sound lasts a full 3 seconds. With the blue spot
Michael can suddenly see the audience. The blue spot slowly fades to
a more normal spot after Michael is well into his dialogue.
Michael Oh! Now
I see you. My name is Michael. I am almost eleven. Those are my
parents, Mary Rita and Jeremiah. Don’t worry, they can’t see you. They
are completely inside the news. (Pause while squinting to see the
audience) I know why you are looking at me. It is not
1954 where you are, is it? It is 1954 here. (Walks over in front
of Mary Rita and Jeremiah turns to them and then turns back to the
audience) You need to be told. I was. (Walks closer to audience) Yes. I
mean from time to time you must be confused. Why would anyone ever…,
under any circumstances…, put a nuclear reactor in a warship? Wouldn’t
that be the stupidest dumbest place ever? Back here in 1954 it is
closer to decisions, secret decisions, that were made about the atomic
bomb. That’s why you are here. There are two ghosts here too. I
mean they are so present I often wondered why they don’t have a place
set at the table. They are two shadows here that Mom and Dad get caught
between. (Michael looks from side to side, then stage left.) One
is my dad’s boss, who built Time Magazine, Henry Luce. It has been
ten years since the atomic bomb was last used. Now if or not we use another atomic
bomb –again- to help the French in Indochina seems to be almost cooking
in the oven. (Arms crossed and head up acting ‘smart’) I know
what the bomb can do. I’ve read Hersey’s Hiroshima pieces Mom
saved from the New Yorker. And the other shadow over there…, (Looks
stage right) that’s Uncle Joe. We call him Uncle Joe. Yep,
(nods to stage right and does a mock pretend ‘shiver afraid’),
there is Uncle Joe. But this isn’t Russia. This is upper Westchester
County, Pound Ridge, in a modern house for the fifties, way in the
woods up on a hill overlooking the Pound Ridge Reservation. Yep, (nods
back to parents), they call it ‘rusticity in the smooth’, just
forty miles from Rockefeller Center in Manhattan where Dad commutes
to Time. (With a shrug) It’s the fifties.
(Light fades on Michael. Lamp lights
living room showing Jeremiah and Mary Rita.. The recorded singing
voices of Jeremiah and Mary Rita are heard singing just parts of
a 50’s beer commercial. Jeremiah voice sings, “It’s
not bitter… not sweet. It’s an extra dry treat… Think of Rheingold…” Long
pause then Mary Rita’s recorded voice, “Think of Rheingold whenever…” Then
very long pause as they continue reading the newspapers..}
Mary Rita: (reading paper.) Stupid time to die.
Jeremiah: (After a pause and still also reading paper.) Stupid time to die.
Mary Rita: (glancing up and to stage right and right back to
the paper. A pause before she speaks.) It’s snowing.
Jeremiah: (glancing up and to stage right and right back
to the paper. Pause, turns page, pause) It’s snowing.
(Living room lights
fade and blue spotlight returns to Michael still facing the audience. This
time the blue quickly fades to a regular spot.)
Michael: (Looks in
mock horror stage right. Then shrugs.) Uncle Joe is still there. Even though Uncle Joe is dead. He
has been dead now forever and ever. This is basketball. Joseph Stalin
died way back when…? Jeeeeesh…, that was way back at the end of last
years basketball. Months and months ago. Oh…, Joseph Stalin is
not my real uncle, (Looks again stage right), we just call him Uncle Joe. I don’t
know why. But I don’t know how we lost China either. I mean I don’t
know how you could lose China like you could lose car keys or something. But
I just know we did. (Shrug) Like the starting lineup of the Brooklyn
Dodgers it is just part and parcel of the way things are here in 1954. I
mean I don’t know everything, I mean I’m still just a kid. But…, you
know? (Trying to look closer
at the audience through the light) Where are you? (Here the light
turns strongly blue again with just a hint of the drowning sound, all
real quick) Gee,
you are way far. You are past 1984. Way past. Wow,
I see you in the fire. (Pause) You are really in the fire. (Pause) In the fire. (Pause) Is 1984 way in the past to
you? That’s weird. Did you know you came close to atomic war in 1984? I
bet you don’t even know. Wow. You won’t even call it atomic
war then. What do you know then? If you are old enough where you
are then you probably know 1984 was called , big quote (Michael
uses his fingers for quote marks) …, the “Year Of The Spy”. Yes, The Yeeeeear Of the Spyyyyyyyyyyy. Suddenly
there are all these spies getting caught. Pollard who spied for Israel. ‘I
Pledge Allegiance’ Johnny Walker and his son Michael taking code cards
off of carriers in Norfolk, Virginia. And Felix Block. Why they even
put on trial the grandson of America’s great naval historian, Samuel
Eliot Morrison. Did you ever ask why all these spies at once? Well,
did you ever know why they call a group of spies a ‘ring’? Do
you know why talk can’t just go back and forth then, that it MUST go
around in a ring. (Makes a big circle with his finger) ? Tonight you will learn why. And
why that ring lights up like a golden donut in real world danger. . So
with all that light more than a few got caught. Atomic
war is dangerous. 1984 was… well. The great spy ring lit with energy real bright
then. And that gold spy ring will soon light real bright now here,
way back thirty years before that in 19fifty4, so you can watch (Michael is moving off stage left and the spot snaps
to regular light and slowly fades as he finishes.) This is my first one. This is
my first atomic war.
(Lights are back on
parents and off of Michael)
Jeremiah: (Still
studying paper. Loud) Michael !
Mary
Rita: (Soft) What do you have?
Jeremiah: (Soft) Possible billboard. (Loud) Michael! (Soft) Where is he?
Mary
Rita: Watching
My Little Margie. I don’t know if we should continue this, Jere
(Pronounced Jerry)? I understand training him. I don’t want him stupid. But
with this now, he is just knowing too much.
(Lights dim on Jeremiah and Mary Rita, spot comes back
on Michael stage left now holding a large atlas.)
Michael: (to
audience) I already know. If I’m quick I can
do it in the commercial. You can’t read a newspaper without an atlas. But they usually
don’t. They just make me. (Holds
up Atlas. Walks into living room)
Jeremiah: (Noticing
atlas) Good. (He carefully folds paper and hands it to Michael) What is this?
Michael: (Places
paper on coffee table and stands back a bit looking at it.) The picture? I don’t get it.
Jeremiah: Michael,
I don’t get it either. Perhaps it is a billboard, perhaps not. I
don’t always know. But I try to get into the editor’s heads. Yes,
this picture could be a message. But what is the ‘big picture’? (He
motions wide with his arms) What would it fit into?
Michael: Agaaaaain ?
Jeremiah: Again.
Michael: The
bomb.
Jeremiah: Okay. Why?
Michael: (Eyes
up as if bored, nodding head in monotone) Because
logically one country who has the bomb can’t stop another country from
using the bomb, surpriiiiiiise or otherwiiiiiiiise. You don’t even
need a bomber. You can just drive it into a city on a yacht, set a
timer and get on a train. So we make secret agreeeeeeeeements. Made
the deal in Tehran, its part of the plaaaaan.
Jeremiah: And…?
Michael: Aaaaaaand. And…,
so we make a secret deal with all countries who have or will soon have
the bomb. We made this first with Uncle Joe. (Glances
stage right, then stage left) It is Luce’s deal. He made it. Then he brought the Chinese into the
deal in Tehran. Just after that, about one day later, China crosses
the Yalu river and enters the Korean Conflict…and….
Jeremiah: …And why then?
Michael: Because
now they know they won’t be A-bombed. That is why we were careful
to call it a ‘Conflict’. My Little Margie. Gotta go. (Michael
moves to stage left)
Mary
Rita: Jere,
we are moving too fast.
Jeremiah: We
are all moving too fast. (Lights
dim on parents, spot shines again on Michael stage left.)
Michael: (to
audience) I begin to understand. I think. Dad is being taught
to read secret messages in the news. Sometimes these messages are
hidden right in full page ads. I know. Hard to believe. He makes
the maps for Time magazine and does history maps freelance on the side. Somehow,
I’m not sure how, Hedley Donovan, who works right under Henry Luce,
Time’s founder, took an interest in my Dad. Hedley was the best in
naval intelligence in WW II and instead of making him the head of the
new CIA Luce makes him president of Time. Years later Hedley will
become the model for Doonesbury’s Hedley Roland, the CIA type posing
as a newsman.
(Light comes off Michael
and back on Mary Rita and Jeremiah.)
Mary
Rita: Did
you see Hedley today?
Jeremiah: (annoyed) You know I would have said something. No
he did not come down to the maproom. And if he did come down to the
maproom, yes, I would have been veeeeery direct. I would have asked,
in an ooooooff hand way, are we going to help the French with the bomb. And,
yes, I would be looking closely for his reaction.
Mary
Rita: Sorry,
dear.
(Light is off Mary
Rita and Jeremiah and back on Michael)
Michael: See? They
are worried. We start to live the bomb. It is always in the oven. It
is at every meal. They like Hedley. But they are afraid he will do
something dumb. They even think a song, ‘Happy Talk’, was put into
South Pacific as tribute to Hedley who was naval intelligence in Hawaii
when we needed to quickly know where the Japs were. Hedley had a brainstorm
and said to just do oooone thing. Have all the spies at every
island go down to the local bar and report back only oooone thing,
if the talk was serious or happy that is all. With just that,
just serious talk or happy talk, he plotted them at Leyte Gulf. He
is master of the ‘biiiiig picture’ (makes big with arms and hands) and trains my Father. (Michael
starts to turn, the light dims, but comes back on and Michael turns
back to the audience) Maybe
you don’t think a maproom important. Earlier in the Pacific John
Hersey was a Time reporter in Hawaii and wanted to get a message to
Time past the censors. He simply cabled to Time (Michael
makes quotes with fingers) “…The
maproom will know.” The maproom immediately drew up the Solomans and
sure enough we hit Guadalcanal. Geography doesn’t change. “First
determinate of history,” my Father says….
(Spot fades on Michael
who moves all the way off stage and moves back to Mary Rita and Jeremiah)
Mary
Rita: (Glances to where Michael exited) He’s gone. Jere, I am sorry. I
know you understand, but at times wonder if you fully understand.
(Michael walks in,
in the dark, and listens)
Jeremiah: (Incredulously) Understand….?
Mary
Rita: It
is like you see every factor but the people. You see maps not people. You
never get it. It is the power, Jere. Do you know what kind of energy
they are trying to handle? Can you see what it is doing to them,
particularly Luce. (Standing with her gin and tonic tapping the atlas left
on the table with her New York Times.) God, you just see the maps. See the people….
Jeremiah: Where?
Mary
Rita: Jere? Where? Picture
it. I don’t know.
Jeremiah: Rita….
Mary
Rita: Anywhere. The
people. Go back three years to the deal. Be with a guy like Henry – Haaaaaaank – Luce
just after he makes the biggest deal ever on this planet with the
Chinese, secret deals not to use this bomb. {Playfully dramatic) Be on the closely monitored flight back from Iran. Last
leg. Here is the DC-3 closely monitored. I see it. (She starts to dance) Here comes Sergeant Major flight attendant in civvies. La – di – da. He
trots down the isle from the cockpit with a scrawled news item from
the pilot, ‘China has entered the war’. What happens? (Now
more softly she continues the….) La-di-da…,
la-di-da…, la-di-da.
Jeremiah: (Over Mary Rita’s la-di-da’s) Well, he has to think….
Mary
Rita: Oh,
think – schmink, Jere. How does he feeeeeel ?
Jeremiah: Well, he would know….
Mary
Rita: Jere,
I almost give up. We know what he knows. How does he…. Nevermind. I
will tell you. Fine. Luce glances at the news item, crinkles it
up, and tosses it in the isle….
Jeremiah: Rita, we don’t know that. What are….
Mary
Rita: Damn
it, Jere. Does it make any difference? Feel. Feel. In his
mind he sees the strange, quilted Chinese uniforms crossing the
Yalu River. Those little men. Those disproportionately long rifles. In
his mind he sees them ‘fording’ or whatever the river. But see him. See
Luce. See him go ‘ugh – ugh – ugh’. His cackling little sneer. See
that. “Hu – hu – hu, of course the Chinese must now enter ‘our’ ‘Conflict’. I let
them. Hu –hu. Now they don’t fear the bomb. That’s the deal, hu
hu.” (Pause) And Luce knows he is earth king. But what he feels is
the garbage of the earth. (Slightly
feigned exasperation) My
point. The…, bomb…, has…, changed…, him.
Jeremiah: (Annoyed) Yes,
yes, yes. He has old contacts from the Chinese Han family from ‘yooouur’ island. Old
old old money as you have condescendingly explained. Luce grew up
in central China, missionary ‘spy’ family. Full knowledge of the tea
and opium connections, the inner connections from that secret Age of
Sail post office on ‘yooouur’ Martha’s Vineyard. See, Rita,
such the insider yourself, right? I’m such a damned child.
Mary
Rita: Your
childish sarcasm. Jere. Jere, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. (Softer) I’m trying… (Very soft) Because
I can feel him. (Now louder
as she stands. Playfully dramatic.) Here
is Luce with his cadre of … What? ‘Unofficial’ naval intelligence? Remember he is
dealing with the likes of Joseph Stalin and the Han Clan. Whom he puts
in their place. He should waste a whiff of cordiality on the like
of theeeeeese…, these what? Oh, but the king wants a little
entertainment. He curls his little finger at the flight attendant. “Gaaaame
of acey ducey…?” It is not a question. It is an order. Little
sergeant major sits dutifully and catches cards on his tray. And,
of course, he smiles when his is spoken to. And of course Miiiiiister Luce just
insists that he call him ‘Hank’. A little show of disdain for his ‘cadre’. Who
wouldn’t dare. It’s Mr. Luce for them. “Yeah, call me Haaaaaank. Think
this acey deucy game needs a little gin, Sarge…?” Actually I do. (Mary Rita stands and motions toward the kitchen) Jere…?
Jeremiah: (Looks
at his scotch and water) I’m fine.
Mary
Rita: (Moves off to the kitchen where there is clinking of
ice.) Oh.
Sometime sometime sometime, Jere, you will. (Softly) Damn it, Jere, its like what…? Shades
of color in your art. All that stuff…, that…, what? Range between
at least some honor and pure dangerous crap. (Mary
Rita enters living room, stops for a moment looking off into space,
totters a bit, first signs of being a tad sloshed.) Who else would be on that plane? (She smiles and then giggles.) A Von Weed. One of the Von Weeds? (She
laughs) God, yes…! (She laughs louder.) Yes…!
Jeremiah: Sorry I can’t follow your aristocratic….
Mary
Rita: Stop
it, Jere. I love you, dear. Please know that. (She
laughs again.) But,
really… yes… this is it. A Von Weed. (Now feigning drama) Let me tell you, dear. Yes, a Von Weed is in the
plane too. Can’t you see it? See Henry looking at him. He might
have some respect, but respect only. Don’t you see it, Jere? Possibly… only
a little respect… only… yes. (She
laughs) But only…. (Now she is serious) See it. Come on, Jere. See some slimy Von
Weed. Dress him like some, I don’t know, some unkempt slob. Because
he is. See him clutching that horrid little briefcase. It’s grotesque. That’s grotesque! And
if that is, what’s worse? Henry Luce! See that twerp, Von Weed. Good
God. A Babylon family. Well, well, well. He may have his
slimy little book and records…. But Henry…? Henry has the booooooooomb
! Crap! Not just crap. Dangerous crap. Not just dangerous…, ultimately. Ultimately. My point. See these people, what it does. The people. How
do I…
Jeremiah: (Hand
to head, serious) Oh. (Then
laughs) Here we go.
Mary
Rita: (Paces and swings with her drink) How would this Von Weed be listed? Errrrr…,
as a ‘Dutch Banker’. (quick
quotes with her fingers.) How would Luce…? Okay, okay. Here…. Remember Provencetown? Remember
the Pilgrim Monument, Jere? Okay. Let me tell you about that. Von
Weeds again. They were there…, Jere. 1907. Cape Cod. They were
all there. Crap schemes. The world’s dark elite. Jere, when they
put up that monument, laid the cornerstones. Big ceremony. What
in the course of only a few years had just happened? Just three
years before…, 1904, Admiral Togo, right? Togo sinks the Russian
Navy. But who really? You know there were ‘room 40’ (Mary
Rita uses her fingers to make quotes) naval
officers aboard with Togo. But also new optical equipment from where? Harvard,
Cambridge, wherever. But from here. ‘Us’, Jere, ‘us.’ (Mary Rita again with the quote signs but only on the
second ‘us’.) And
what just before that, just some years? Yes, we demolish the Spaniards. Manila
Bay, Havana harbor. Same. Same. Who is (finger
quotes) ‘naval
person’ then? Teddy Roosevelt. 1907 saaaaaaame people. The Greeeeeeeeat
Whiiiiiiiiiiite Fleeeeeeet is in the Provencetown harbor. Same people. Laying
the cornerstone for the, Christ, Jesus Christ… Pilgrim Monument. Pilgrim
?! Damn them ! (Pause,
then softer) How? With
high Masonic bell book and candle. Jere, that’s right. Not only
that… they were first even going to use the robes in public before
they thought better about the press.
Jeremiah: (crosses his arms and looks away) Well I won’t….’
Mary
Rita: I
know, dear, I know. I agree. (Pause,
she sits) It
was planned from Provincetown, Jere. All of it. (Gives
him a glance) World
mapmaker. Jesus, Jere. Remember the statue of that World War One,
what, I guess Doughboy? In Provincetown. It’s there.
Jeremiah: Up by…?
Mary
Rita: No,
on the main street. It’s there. Standing with his gun. A ‘Dutch
Banker’ ? (Quotes here, just a slight movement of fingers) Really?! So they start it, as usual,
in the Balkans. Jere, Jere, Jere, the game is so old. People, Jere. People. They
are people. And they become something else. As…, is…, Luce. Errrrr. Who
starts it always there? In the Balkans? The Hapsburgs ? The Romanofs
? The Osmanlis? Or their legatees. What? Slaughter. That statue
of the Doughboy isn’t irony. It’s sick. It would be a better statue
with the Doughboy hanging. How many wars started there? Four, five
between the Crimean and that one? Crimean! That’s when
the press stepped into it.
Jeremiah: Rita….
Mary
Rita: I
know, but listen….Tennyson is published in the Looondoooon Times. You
won’t charge our brigades back at us! That will never happen again. ‘They’ (slight pinky quotes) buy up all the presses.
Jeremiah: Oh, Rita….
Mary
Rita: But
this ‘they’ (Much larger
hand quotes) have no honor. (Jeremiah looks and points to his empty scotch glass.
He gets up but Mary Rita now blocks his way.) The presses now must feign being anti war. They
must.… (Now louder) Jere, Jere, don’t you see? How
can you be sure what’s in Luce’s head?
Jeremiah: Now….
Mary
Rita: God,
God. (Mary Rita starts a swaying
dance) Oh so what is Henry thinking? Oh. Let’s
see…. La-di-da. Henry Luce is thinking of Henry Luce, of course. Jere,
Luce is a God damned Teddy Roosevelt with an atomic bomb! (Mary Rita looks at Jeremiah in a very slight pause) Here he is, here he is. La-di-da. How
he is teaing with the opium Delano family in Fairhaven. Yes, yes. And
he picks Hedley Donovan, beeeeeest in naval intelligence. He now
makes Heeeeeeeeedley the new editor-and-chief, whatever. If that’s
the case why isn’t Hedley Donovan the head of the CIA? Why? You
know why. Instead it’s Wiiiiiiiiiiiild Bill Donovan. Hell, all
he knows how to do is slit throats.
Jeremiah: (Rolls eyes) Not true….
Mary
Rita: (Turns in her
little dance. Arms out to sides, palms out as if weighing one then
the other) God, Jere. It is a com – par –i –son. You
know what I mean. (Now there
is a rhythmic stomping of feet with the dance.) Jere, look at Luce. Look at Von Weed on the plane. Look. He
cuts his hand on a gin bottle playing aceeeeeeeeeeeey deuuuuuuuuuuucy. (Serious) He did do that, right? (Back to dramatic) So now, ooooooooo, oooooooo, see him. Seeeeee him! Luce
is looking back over his bloody hand, looking at (finger quotes) ‘Duuuuuuutch
Banker’, Von Weed. Jere, Jere, Jere, Luce is now looking back over
his bloody hand to Babylon! (Pause. They
exchange glances. Now softer into dance) Oooooooo. Ooooooo. La-di-da. La-di-da.
Jeremiah: Rita….
Mary
Rita: Jere. Oh,
Jere. Don’t you see? Of course Henry will use the damned bomb. Henry
Luce is now the bomb itself! He must. Now use your reason. It
has been used. Fact. Hiroshima AND Nagasaki to show it was
easy, not some fluke. Luce says to Seeeeeeeeecretary Stimson, Henry
to Henry to Henry to Henry to Bolingbrook Henry the Fourth! You
were the bad boy, Henry the Stimson. You used it. Naughty, naughty. You
can’t be trusted. I didn’t. I’ll make the deals. Give it to me. Ha,
ha. Jere, Jere. Soooooo, why did Stimson use it? We absolutely
know it wasn’t Japan. That’s sophomoric. To pop a papa, pop a papa…,
papa ‘Uncle Joe’. Right? Okay. Listen. What is a big stick unless
you can prove it is a big stick. It is not a big stick if
is just academic or even a Nevada test. They needed fried,
massive, melting victims. He will, Henry will, we will. Jere, don’t
you see we must? Good God, Jere. We’re not A-bombing Moscow. We
are ooooonly going to drop one itsy atomic bomb on Dien Bien Phu. And
face it. Who cares? Russia won’t after the fact. It is you, mapnmaker,
mapmaker of Time, you Jere, you know full well China might scream
to high heaven in public but won’t really give a crap. It is because
he can get away with it. Dulles doesn’t need to scream ‘window of
opportunity’ to Luce. He just has to, as he does, again and again,
repeat that Uncle Joe is dead. Like the deal was with Joe, not Russia. Henry
will do it. Henry will do it. Henry will do it because it will
be his one more ‘last time’ where he can get away with it. (Sings) Strike while the u-ranium is still glow-ing. (Back serious) The short of it is this, he only gets to keep the bomb if
he uses it ‘one more time’. (She
make quotes again.) He
can get away with it, AND he can keep it too. (Now
Mary Rita is softer. Almost a far away look and more to herself.) This sick little ring gets smaller
and smaller. Who knows what is the real navy and what is not. I
don’t. You don’t. It could probably be done without one shoulder
braid loosing rank. (Focusing back on Jeremiah) Don’t you see? We don’t know, Jere. He
will use it for the same reasons that Stimson did. But the ring
smaller. In the same way. But the ring smaller. And again it will
be ‘just one more time’. As a fixer.
Jeremiah: Rita….
Mary
Rita: Jere. Jere. Jere,
listen. In or out of uniform, you don’t know what is the real navy
and what is not. That can be covered. Henry would test first. We’ve
got to do this, Jere. It is the only way. Only way. Only way. Soon. Now.
Jeremiah: (Turns abruptly away) Only way.
Mary
Rita: (Bangs her head
in shock) Oh,
God. I love you. You are my husband. I swear that’s over. It
is over. Jesus, Jere, it is over. I’ve got to see him….. You
must see him too. It must come from you. Not a ‘crazy’ person. Jesus…,
Christ.., it…, is….over. Jere. Jere….
(Mary Rita and Jeremiah
turn from each other, both in ‘thinking poses’ as the lights fade on
them)
Michael: (Michael quickly mimics both Jeremiah’s and Mary Rita’s
poses) Confused? It
is now Ike, but if giant secret deals were made about the bomb when
they said…, wouldn’t they be between Stalin and Truman not Stalin and
Luce? Committees don’t run the world. There are leaders. Sometimes
the real leader is the official leader as well. Sometimes not. When
Churchill stopped calling himself (Michael
uses quote signs) ‘naval
person’ then Bill Stevenson, the Man Called Intrepid who worked for
Wild Bill Donovan, started to call himself ‘naval person’. It
was whoever was assuming leadership. (With
a little laugh) Mostly
the best route to the presidency is to signal clearly that you won’t interfere
with the real leadership. I mean who would Joe Kennedy go to five years
from now and beg his son be allowed the presidency? Luce. Here. (Michael runs to stage right, crosses his arms and stands
up tall and serious) I’m big bad Uncle Joe. I know that the Hiroshima-Nagasaki message
is aimed right at me. I know John Foster Dulles is feeling me about
and taking his very sweet time. Will the world gather to condemn America
or is something else afoot? (Michael
runs across to stage left. He prances back and forth, head high, holding
his hands behind his back.) I’m
Henry Luce. I have the most incredible private intelligence network. I
make my move for (Michael’s
hands flash to the front for quick quotes) ‘naval
person’. How? The Dulles brothers now have former War Secretary Stimson’s
radioactive big stick. (Michael
stops the Luce act and moves center stage toward the audience with
his arms like a shrug.) Even
a kid like me can reason that nothing can stop the bomb, drive it in
on a yacht. Why didn’t you reason that? Just the thought of missile
shields would make me laugh. You take it serious enough to pay for
them.
(Light grows brighter
in the kitchen where Mary Rita is working at the counter. The spot
goes off of Michael and he enters the kitchen lights.)
Mary
Rita: Hungry? You missed dinner again,
Michael. Don’t stay so long down at the Starke’s. Okay? Look what
I got?
Michael: Noooooooooo. No ! Chief-Boy-R-D.
Mary
Rita: You
can’t live on ravioli…
Michael: Moooooom! (Softer) Mom…, why don’t they just make it illegal?
Mary
Rita: They
should. It’s junk.
Michael: Not that. The bomb?
Mary
Rita: (Gives Michael
a long look then smiles) Of
course. Sit down. (She ruffles
his hair and they both sit) It
seems so simple right? Just make the atomic bomb against the law. Why
not? There are illegal weapons. Do you know what mustard gas is?
Michael: Poison gas.
Mary
Rita: Yes,
and it was really awful. It was used in WW I. And so awful that
they outlawed it. And it worked. We went through an entire Second
World War without using it. We didn’t. The Germans and the Japanese
didn’t. The law worked. So why don’t we just outlaw the atomic
bomb? Seems simple, right?
Michael: Why not?
Mary
Rita: Why
not? In a word…power. It is not so simple. Perhaps one day atomic
bombs will be outlawed. But not until a lot, an awful lot more people
understand. And that would be hard to bring about. Back to mustard
gas. Did you know that there was an entire theater of war in WW
I where mustard gas was never used?
Michael: Nope.
Mary
Rita: Yes,
there was. Galipoli. Turkey. You know where the Dardenells are?
Michael: Of course. To the Black
Sea.
Mary
Rita: While
England and France were fighting Germany they were also fighting
Mustafa Kamel in Turkey. It was horrible fighting from trenches. (She
gets down behind the table as if holding a gun.)
Michael: (Michael laughs) Great, Mom.
Mary
Rita: (Mary Rita is
now laughing too, but stays down behind the table as if shooting
a gun.) Yes, yes. (Then more serious.) But it was awful. The trenches were close
to each other and the opposite sides even got to know each other. It
was a theater - an area of war is called a theater - where no gas
was used. Think of that! No gas. But gas was used in the
other awful theaters, the Western Front and the Eastern Front with
the Russians. Why was no gas used at Galipoli, Pudding?
Michael: (Annoyed) Don’t call me Pudding. Why?
Mary
Rita: Sorry,
little man. Because they were afraid to. Because it got around,
in no uncertain terms, that if mustard gas was used the men, on both
sides now, would start killing officers.
Michael: Oh. But still, they made
it illegal after. Why not the bomb?
Mary
Rita: Because
part of the reason they made it illegal is that it would stop war
itself. And war empowers those at the top. This is one of the things
that worried them when they thought of the bomb.
(Mary Rita glances stage left) You
know we use a quote to show how even our friends don’t understand
something even when it is in their face. We use that quote from
Henry Luce. Do you remember that quote?
Michael: (Glances quickly stage left too and back to Mary Rita.) He
said, “War for unconditional surrender can no longer be waged.”
Mary
Rita: (Smiles and ruffles Michael’s hair.) Right, little man. Making the bomb
illegal like gas would start to undo war itself. They changed it
so that the bomb would even help controlled war. Now they can have
the people even more afraid and more willing to let the government
take control of this horrible weapon. They can keep everything about
the bomb secret and all other kinds of things without the people
seeing.
Michael: I see.
Mary
Rita: (Pops down as with a gun again) I see you see. (Laughs, but sits and turns serious, almost afraid.) I was not yet born in 1915. There
was a double-cross. Kamel, Turkey, sends ten divisions, with ammunition
he didn’t have just days before, into the underbelly of Russia. Something
else. A Galipoli marker. Hill 60, Silva Bay. (Her
hands are now over her mouth.)
Michael: What, Mom…?
Mary
Rita: (Regains composure and smiles.) No Boyardee, your plate is in the
oven.
(Lights fade stage
left as they increase stage right with Jeremiah pacing with a newspaper
behind his back.)
Jeremiah: So that’s what Haggarty meant. (Shouts) Michael !
Michael: Okay. Okaaaaaaaaaaaay. (Walks
into living room.)
Jeremiah: (Still pacing, not even looking at Michael) Michael, what is the prime tool to
control what they think? (Jeremiah
goes back reading paper.)
Michael: Exposure. Exposure. The
formula is product / image / exposure. The worst product can have
the worst image and it will still fly if it has enough exposure. Just
repeat, repeat.
Jeremiah: How when you have to
say something? (Louder to Mary
Rita in the kitchen, she is back to the papers.) Last week Reston says action under study. Today Times has, “action
at places and by means of free world choosing.” Nothing from the Brits. (To
Michael) Go ahead.
Michael: Put it at the end of the article. Most
everyone just reads the headlines. That is what you use to sell. The
point you want exposed you put in the first paragraphs. Most will
just read just the headline. A few the first paragraphs, very very
few the whole piece. So at the very end, that is where you put the
opinion that you don’t want exposed. Because what is last read is
most remembered, those who most disagree will read the whole thing
and will think you are being balanced. But you fooled them.
Jeremiah: (Finger to chin thinking and looking at audience) And what if something like this
is suddenly reversed?
Michael: I don’t know.
Jeremiah: (Looks at Michael) I don’t either. And I heard you with your mother. Do you
understand what was really meant when Luce said “War for unconditional
surrender can no longer be waged?”
Michael: That anybody can just threaten
anybody?
Jeremiah: Good, you surprise me. It
is the implications of the statement. What do I mean by that?
Michael: I guess…. When you think
it out….
Mary
Rita: (Reading paper, voice from the kitchen.) They’ve got Ike surrounded. Best he can do is set
conditions.
Jeremiah: I think you’re right. (To Michael) Think it out in your own words. And, as you do this, tell
me why that if this is so that the people of this world would simply
demand all governments stop making the atom bomb. Take your time….
Michael: Well…, I can see you can’t
stop the bomb. That any country can threaten any country if they have
the bomb. So the Dew Line is theater, Okay…. Well, no, I don’t understand. It
is stupid. I mean if we are going to build this ‘Dew Line’, radars
to see Russian bombers, can’t people reason that it couldn’t stop an
A-bomb. That it makes no sense? In ‘duck and cover’, at school…,
we get down in the hall. You know, they tell us about the air raid
siren. We go out in the hallway and crouch down and cover our heads. We
close our eyes because of the flash that will come. So you say there
is a deal. I was next to Kathleen Lillis while we did ‘duck and cover’ We
were covering our heads and supposed to have our eyes closed. So I
told her…. She didn’t say anything.
Jeremiah: Told her? (Amused) told her what?
Michael: I said that it wasn’t real. That
we have deals. (Jeremiah laughs) That the bomb is too dangerous. That
this is all phony.
Jeremiah: Ummmmm, did she believe you?
Michael: I don’t think so. She was
sitting with Jackie Follis pointing at me and laughing.
Jeremiah: I see. This is good. (He laughs) Rita! Rita, come help me with this one. Michael, think
it through. Why didn’t she believe you? Your teachers believe we
might be atomic bombed any day, right? (Mary
Rita enters from the kitchen stage left. She has two potholders.) How can she believe you when her parents
and teachers believe otherwise?
Michael: Yeah. I don’t get it.
Mary
Rita: Good
honest answer. We don’t see it either. Or we do, just amazed at
what happens. If you can get most of the people to think one thing
those who don’t agree look nuts. The entire civil defense and air
raids are to make people believe. They think, well this all can’t
be going on unless there is a real threat. When you get a large
group to believe something, well…, it is almost magnetic. We know
some things at work that Time doesn’t want talked about. But the
overall picture, the things we tell you, without some specifics…,
we talk about this with some of our friends. A few of them reasonably
believe that we must have secret deals with Uncle Joe, though some
specifics your Dad can’t talk about. Take the Starkes right down
the road. We’ve talked enough about this that they can reason that
there must be, almost have to be, secret deals against using the
bomb. But what are they doing?
Michael: Yeah. They are building a fallout
shelter. I know. You are going to say, exposure, exposure, exposure,
exposure again. But can’t the Starkes see?
Mary
Rita: Yes
and no. They can reason as we do about this. We’ve talked. So
they become of two minds. But slowly, the exposure, the papers and
the civil defense drills, that side wins out. What is amazing is
that the Starkes are very politically sophisticated. The exposure
power that we are talking about continues to amaze your Dad. Me
too. Michael, what do I mean by ‘sophisticated’?
Michael: That they know a lot?
Mary
Rita: Not
just that they know a lot, but that they also know how to reason
well and test what they know. They are the last sort of people to
believe something just because they read it in the papers. Oooops,
better turn off oven and I’ll get back to the papers. (She
smiles and shrugs at Jeremiah) Your
Dad, who knows that it is all in geography, will explain the
rest. (She exits into kitchen stage left.)
Jeremiah: Your mother, who knows it is all in
people, does have a big point. The newspapers and radio and now TV,
they all work together. And, like your Mother, I am always flabbergasted
at the power the news has to determine what is real.
Michael: Then doesn’t Alan Jackson know? He
has the biggest radio news program, right?
Mary
Rita: (From the kitchen,
one hand on the oven, the other hand holding the newspaper that she
is reading.) This your Father will explain. (Laughs) And I can’t wait to hear.
Jeremiah: (Quick smile toward the kitchen) That’s a real easy answer. I’m
just not sure.
Mary
Rita: (Glancing up
from the paper) Good answer. I’m not sure, either. (Laughs) But tell me what you think, Jere. Does he know. I mean,
Michael can reason that he would have to. Biggest radio news show,
every evening six o’clock, coast to coast…, (mimicking
newscaster with deep voice)…, “This is A-lan Jack-son…, and…the news….” (Back to her voice) Well…?
Jeremiah: He certainly seems to have a lot of
freedom in how he presents the news. But it is the party
line.
Michael: Republican? (Mary Rita and Jeremiah both laugh) David took me to see his dad broadcast
when we went to the city. David says he writes from those ticker machines
almost from the last minute before he broadcasts.
Jeremiah: No, not Republican. I meant
that he broadcasts the way that the network and government wish. Most
times I think he is a true believer, he simply holds those views himself
and the network very satisfied with this. And at times I think, by
God, he must know more.
Mary
Rita: Usually
you can find out from the wife. But Alta has no interest in politics,
its just Boy Scouts and the Garden Club. You remember our record
club party here? (Mary Rita is entering the living room) Before we sent you to bed Alan Jackson
was using you, Michael, right there on the hearth. Come here, Michael. (She
motions Michael to the raised hearth)
Michael: (Somewhat whiny) Mom!
Mary
Rita: Yes.
Come on. Help me make the point. (Mary
Rita pulls Michael down beside her on the raised hearth.) Alan Jackson, Mr. Newscaster himself,
pulls down Michael. To make his point. (She imitates a deep voice) “Even a young boy like Michael here
can see that it is ridiculous for anyone to call the Pres-I-dent
of the United States a commie. Isn’t (she
is still talking in a deep newscaster voice) that right, Michael?” (Back to
her voice) And
what did you say, Michael?”
Michael: (Shrugs) I said I guess so. I mean it does sound silly. So, this
deal, the Luce deal, does Ike know?
(Mary Rita and Jeremiah
look at each other for a long moment.)
Mary
Rita: Yes.
Jeremiah: Yes, he’s not some complete
figurehead.
Mary
Rita: And
Truman knew. And knew also Forrestal would be strongly objecting. There
was a falling out. (She giggles
and Michael is looking at her.).
Jeremiah: (Puts silence finger to lips toward Mary Rita.) Yes,
Michael, Ike knows that there is this agreement. But knows what consensus
would be needed to use the bomb. That he could not make the decision
by himself. That others, Luce and others, hold the real keys. Michael,
what does it mean to say that the president is also commander and chief
of the armed forces?
Michael: He heads the army and navy
and air force?
Jeremiah: Good. They made that a law
because they were afraid that the president could become just a figurehead,
they wanted to make sure that the president was really in charge. And
that is good. But back when Luce first proposed that we have a secret
deal with Uncle…, Joe Stalin, Stalin had an objection.
Michael: I know. I know. Uncle
Joe said that you can trust me with the deal, a secret deal
about not using atomic bombs, you know I’m in charge here. But how
can I trust you if you keep changing presidents on me? So Luce had
a censorship flap in Fortune Magazine. But I don’t understand that. What
could that do?
Mary
Rita: What
is a ‘flap’, Michael?
Michael: A big deal?
Mary
Rita: Sort
of. A fuss. A big fuss. And in this case the fuss was made very
public and almost about nothing. The fuss was concocted, made up. Done
as a message. The president is commander and chief and in charge
right? They made up a fuss in public. And they chose an upscale
public, the readers of Fortune. They made a very big deal over nothing,
a big fuss over some wording. They changed a phrase, part of a sentence,
from, (Mary Rita uses finger
quotes), “The
president decided,” to “It was decided.” The readers were told that
there was a fuss about this, but never as to what the real fuss was
about. That showed Uncle Joe that you could say right in
public that there were certain issues where the president was not
the real commander and chief. Very few people understood what the
real issue was. The point was that they could show Uncle Joe that
they could do that, and do it right in public, and there would be
no screaming from the White House and no big fuss from the public.
Michael: And that was Hedley’s idea?
Jeremiah: We think so. Okay, explain
it to us so we know you know.
Michael: Okay. Uncle Joe says how can you
make this secret deal about the bomb. You have to show that you are
in charge, not some president that might get elected and change everything. So
Luce says, “Look, I’ll put it right in Fortune Magazine. Make a big
fuss about changing the wording from ‘the president decided’ to ‘it
was decided.’ There will not be a giant objection from the public
or the White House. I get the White House, but not the public. I
mean how could there be a fuss from the public if the readers were
not told what the fuss was about?
Jeremiah: Good. You are thinking. Well,
two things. It shows that you can put this in front of the public,
no explanation, and there will be minimal or no outcry, ‘what’s this
about’. But there is another very small, very small (Jeremiah
uses his fingers for small) sliver of the population worldwide who do know the real issues. What
will they say? Freedom of speech is nothing unless you know the issues. And
so few do. But that small sliver is the necessary check.
Mary
Rita: You
are learning the real ‘Pass & Stow’, Michael. You are the seaman,
Jere, you tell him.
Jeremiah: (Laughs) Okay. When this country was first formed there were seamen
here from all over the world, every nation. And they would sign on
ships of various flags. Truly international. Sometimes they were
even pressed into service by navies and forced into the position of
firing on their own countrymen. The sea was dangerous enough. They
saw that their best and only real defense was information, talk, critical
talk. Talk of things like war, who was going to war on who. So just
the simple seaman began to share information, talk. Critical talk. They
called it ‘Pass & Stow’. And it meant, ‘pass this on’ it is important,
and ‘stow it’, remember it. It is the cornerstone of freedom of speech.
Mary
Rita: That
is why the corporation that takes care of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia
is called, Pass & Stow.
Michael: So the made-up fuss was
really a billboard, just meant for a few. But you say these billboards,
messages hidden in the papers, are secret. Doesn’t make sense. Isn’t
there other ways to send secret messages between countries?
Mary
Rita: They
can’t bee too secret. That would be dangerous. Much too
dangerous. It is when they want to make a statement, but only to
a very aware group of people the world over. They need to distinguish
policy from whim. What do I mean? Let us say we are telling another
country not to let their army go further north. That is published
in the paper but disguised. Big headline in an ad, ‘You May Go No
Further North’. Real small, underneath, it might read, ‘visit Lapland’. Sometimes
they read very easily two ways. Sometimes it makes an ad any junior
copywriter would be fired for. And the public, even the very astute
sections of the public, never notice this. But some very aware,
worldwide do. And can speak up if they wish. Or write a letter. So
being published on that level it means that most are behind this
as policy, not just something that many would not go along with. Or
they would be hearing objections.
Michael: I see. Kind of….
Mary
Rita: The
power is in the news. Only the top know.
Jeremiah: There is a name for this, steganography. Another
name for billboards. Not stenography, steg-an-ography. S – t – e – g
-a –n –ography. A message hidden in the open by it being read more
than one way.
Mary
Rita: In
a bright golden ring….
Jeremiah: That’s childish….
Mary
Rita: Childish? The
things I taught you about this, things I was taught as a child. They
are childish, Jere. Ooooo.
(She playfully shakes her finger at Jeremiah).
Jeremiah: (Shakes his head smiling) Be my guest…
Mary
Rita: In
this world there is a bright golden ring. It is the most important
ring. And it is made of the real gold. Even realer than this. (She points to her wedding band.) And very pure, the purest gold because it is always being
tested. It is a ring of shared information by informed people all
over the world that do the real Pass & Stow. It forms a ring
around the power-that-corrupts and keeps it in check. You can’t
see the gold ring as much as much as feel it.
Jeremiah: (More to Mary Rita) Good an explanation as any.
Mary
Rita: (To Jeremiah – Michael
is just watching them talk now more to each other.) It is as I was taught as a child. And I know to pass
it on to Michael. Think how much my childish traditions have taught
you. Some special night soon I will pass it on and you can watch. Childish
indeed.
Michael: Can I go? (Michael sees that Mary Rita and Jeremiah are more talking
to themselves now and moves away stage left exit, but right back to
listen.)
Jeremiah: Some is okay. You know what I mean. (Noticing
Michael has left and checking to see that he has gone) We need be careful.
Mary
Rita: We
are. But I will pass it on to Michael. For us it is the real gold
now. So… of course it is scary, dear.
(Lights fade in the
living room and the spot comes on Michael who has been listening.)
Michael: Pass and Stow. Pass and Stow. Pass
and Stow. Later, years later, I would see how silly freedom of speech
is when the public is kept out of the important things. That modern
media can make people less, not more, informed. That phony censorship
flap? Where (uses quotes with fingers), “…the president decided…” was changed
to “…it was decided…”? That is recorded in Elsner’s History of Time
Inc., written years later. But even there, it does not explain what
the flap was about. And they would continue to teach me. So much
about simply reading a paper.
Mary
Rita: (From living
room.) Michael!
Michael: (Goes back to exit to make a seeming entrance. Arcing
around in front of stove, but stops center stage. Looks at audience) Oh, (laughing) And
it is real easy to get confused about (uses
quotes with fingers) ‘them’ and ‘they’, or which is what here. I sure would…still
do. I mean sometimes the (quotes
again) ‘they’ is
guys like (points to Uncle Joe
and Luce concepts stage right and left) them. Yeah, and those times you are trying to figure out what (quotes and points both ways) ‘they’ are doing. But sometimes
the (quotes) ‘they’ are the people who you are
trying to make think what you want them to. Like selling them so much
soap. So sometimes the ‘they’ (points
to audience) was
you. (laughs again). So the (looking both
ways to Joe and Luce and hands both open sort of snap to one and then
the other) ‘us’,
this us?, which us? Well I’d have to grow up before I get it that the ‘us’ was
never really ‘us’ at all.
Mary
Rita: (From kitchen
where she has just moved.) Miiiiiii-chaaaaaaael!
Michael: Coooom-iiiiiiiiing !
Mary
Rita: (Grabs paper
from kitchen table that she had been reading. Just notices Michael. She
jumps up and down with glee.) I
got it. I got it. I got it. I got it.
Michael: (Walking to table.) Got what?
Mary
Rita: Michael,
in the Washington Briefs section of the Times, like in the good political
columnists, like the new Tribune columnist - Buchwald, they are almost
always writing on two levels. So if ever you are reading them…,
and you are only reading on one level…, well…, remember…,
you didn’t really get it.
Michael: Can I have it?
Mary
Rita: (Starts to hand him newspapers. Then she remembers…,) Oh. (…and smiles and hands him a plate of ravioli.) Your plate.
(Lights fade off of
Mary Rita and Michael in the kitchen and on to Jeremiah in the living
room. He picks up a daisy bee bee gun that was hidden beside the couch
and holds it by the barrel so it hangs down beside him like a club.
He makes a large shiver, a someone-stepped-on-my-grave shiver. There
is a short burst of the blue spot and drone. He looks around and starts
to sit. A louder burst of the drone and blue spot. He gets up. Looks
around. Looks toward but over audience. Longer spot and drone burst
and the blue spot stays on.)
Jeremiah: Where am I? I’m in Pound Ridge. {Looks
quizzically at audience) But
I’m not. (Long pause, looks up
at blue spot.) I’m to explain myself? To you? Well, …, what was I doing? (Looks back at living room, then back to audience) Teaching him grown-up things too young? Is
that what you think? Really? (Seems
to just notice that he has a bee bee gun in his hand, is amused.) Ha! Michael’s bee bee gun. I was
angry at him once because he let it get rusty. I am thinking this
now here in 54. (Waves gun.) My mind overlays now in time. One
minute I am a kid in Brooklyn. Another minute I am on Martha’s Vineyard,
I thought I was dozing on the Islander. This was Pound Ridge a second
ago. I guess I am comparing. Wondering what others would think of
how I teach my son. That was on my mind. You must be the others. Oh…, (Smiles) now it is fitting. I see. I was told to expect this. Well, (Smiling
and looking at the gun) Well, what I teach, or taught, my
son is very on my minds, for I have a number of minds about this. I
chose to be a non-combatant in the war. Joined the Merchant Marine,
but did so when the Liberty Ships were going down right off the Jersey
coast. I am still just a kid from Brooklyn who excelled in art. To
be working for Time Inc., to have a house in Pound Ridge…, these are
dreams fulfilled and a boat I don’t want to rock. Rita came from a
mansion in Carmel and multi-floored apartments on Sutton Place. Now
you, (Pause, then he points at
audience)…,
one of Michael’s (Makes quote
mark with hand not holding gun) ‘theys’…,
not ‘them’, (Hand quickly points
to Luce and Uncle Joe ghosts), Judge
me as you will. For where I sleep now I know that whatever you have
done, if you have taught your boys the proper use of guns or kept guns
entirely away from them, I tell him as much as I know of why. For
the seriousness is hitting me. It is hitting all of me, that seriousness. All
the mess I am feeling now. I guess I’m dead aren’t I. Then? Feels
like now. I am even reasoning that if Rita and I are caught there
would be no trial. It would be too embarrassing. We would need to
be eliminated…, and they, (Points to both ghosts and makes quote with non-gun
hand), would
do just that. (Looks very directly
at audience.) Now
I say I was reasoning this. I was. I did. But almost didn’t believe
it. It was almost like a dream. And all happened so quick. I was
even more afraid later. Much more! When it all sunk in.
(There is a loud burst of drone, and intense blue spot. Jeremiah looks
up.) Back? Where? (He examines the gun quizzically.) Well, I’ll be. (Blue spot snaps off to regular. Then looks at gun
as if he is just seeing it.) His gun. Michael ! Michael !
Michael: (Comes from stage left and reaches for the bee bee gun.) I
know, I know.
Jeremiah: (Jeremiah jumps with a start at Michael’s voice..) You startled me.
Michael: Well, you just yelled. I know, (Takes gun and speaking as if by rote) the real triggers are lies. I‘ll
put it back.
Jeremiah: (Jeremiah looks toward the audience a bit confused
and.continues to look over, not at, the audience,) Do. But take a glance at the editorials
there also. Tell me what you see?
Michael: (Michael opens the editorial page, spreads it out and
stands back from it then glances back to see if Jeremiah is watching
him. Jeremiah is still looking over the audience. Michael turns again
to the paper, but closer.) Okay,
the first one is…
Jeremiah: (Still looking at the audience.) I know what it is. What is the first thing….
Michael: I did. I stood back and
looked. I looked.
Jeremiah: And…? (Turns his attention to Michael)
Michael: And…, and I always read
the headline of the editorial as separate from the editorial, they
sometimes are…, (Long pause) separate messages.
Jeremiah: Not always, but at times….
Mary
Rita: (From the kitchen) Michael!
Michael: Okay, okay. I’m coming. (Runs into kitchen pointing gun)
Mary
Rita: (Startled) Oh! (Laughs) Oh, you.
(The lights flicker
and they all stop)
Michael: (Still
stage right.) Okaaaaaaaaaay. (Now
moving stage right to Jeremiah.) What…?
Jeremiah: Get some wood. Power might go.
Michael: Okay, I will. (Grabs coat as he exits past the fireplace stage
right)
(Mary Rita enters the
living room from the kitchen)
Mary
Rita: Sometimes
Michael scares me more than you do.
Jeremiah: (With a quizzical look) Now just what do you mean by that….
Mary
Rita: We
must admit that we are scared of this…
Jeremiah: Scared?….. (All lights go out except the light from the fireplace.) Whooops…,
Power went. Spoke too soon. Where are the flashlights?
Mary Rita: (Moving in the
dark off to the kitchen.) I’ll
get a flashlight. Sleeping bags are right there in the closet, dear. We’ll
set up to camp out by the fire, go to our beds if the lights come
back on.
Jeremiah: (Speaks alone and with a sigh, very deadpan, staccato
and un-dramatic. Ends up behind stove in kitchen.) Yes, I drew the maps of ages. And I focused
on the bad. Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Dien Bien Phu…., Stalingrad. I
see now - the great game - as in patterns - in art. What bold…, what
detailed…. In time I see the large frame, more than details, is the
heart. Who calls it the geopolitical stratosphere? Did someone say
that? I forgot. (Looks toward kitchen) If I envy her it is more the ease with which she flips from
the dead serious to the silly. The job. A mortgage. You walk up
steps in life and suddenly a fog. What is between us? (He turns towards kitchen tossing atlas on the couch
then loud and louder) Michael Mi-chael!
(Jeremiah moves off stage left. Michael enters stage right with
wood.)
Michael: It’s dark. Ice storm ! Ice storm ! No school
tomorrow ! (Looks around) Where is everyone. (Puts down wood. Arcs around center stage toward
kitchen. Blue spot, with drone sound flashes on him. He looks at
audience.) Oh. All of you are still here. Okay. If
there was a secret deal, wouldn’t putting nuclear reactors in warships
make sense on that level? It becomes a shield. Don’t you dare ! We
have a deal ! Gand-da-da. That’s Mom’s dad, well he’s a psychiatrist,
Dr. Jewett. He says that Hymen Rickover is a genius. It would be
years before I understood what he meant. Admiral Rickover’s first
assignment was to help the United States catch up on radar. The
British were ahead on that. Rickover was a real smart electrical
engineer from Poland. Then he headed the navy’s nuclear program
and just stayed there and stayed there and stayed there and stayed
there. And stayed there. (Pause) And stayed there. And then…. (Pause) Stayed there. The talk was that he had some sort of in
with congress and that he was untouchable. But guess what? No one
ever explained exactly what this special ‘in’ was? It was just what
you are learning tonight. He knew those members of congress who
also knew there was this deal. Part of them who knew were afraid
of the deal. He went along but behind the scenes would speak against
it. He was thought of as kind of and insurance policy. But now
we must go back to 1954. And my special night in the fire.
Mary Rita: (Comes in from
stage left, with kerosene lamp and flashlight. wearing pajamas and
a bathrobe. Lights lamp with a match, sets on coffee table.) I would guess tonight is the night for the mapmaker’s secret. Great
night for the mystery of Babylon. (Pretends to be scared) Ooooooooooo. (Laughs) Tonight, my Pudding. (She reaches over and
ruffles Michael’s hair.)
Michael: Stop it.
Mary Rita: Again, I’m sorry, Michael. (Serious) Tonight
you do become a little man. (She lights a kerosene storm
lantern and places it on the coffee table.) This has been passed
from generation to generation. And it was I who taught smartie pants
mapmaker here…. Ummmmmm? So from now on you are ‘Pudding’ no more. Get
your pajamas.
Michael: No.
Mary Rita: (Sighs) Okay, just for tonight.
Jeremiah: (Enters stage left with sleeping bags and flashlight. He
is wearing pajamas and overcoat. Does a giant shiver) Oh! Someone has stepped on my grave! Yes, this your
Mother taught me. This is the deeper meaning of Pass & Stow. Let’s
see…? To start…? Okay, Michael, how long have we, us humans, been
a deep-sea animal. In other words, how long have we been able to
sail most of the globe on the sea? Not just an exploratory excursion
or two, but world wide with trade…?
Michael: Not hard. Columbus 1492. Let’s see. Trade? Sixteen
hundreds. Yeah, sixteen hundreds….
Jeremiah: Fine. Say a mere three hundred and fifty years
or so. Think how small a time in history. Just a few hundred years. A
small fraction. Now…, back, back, back, back most of our history,
going back when we did not navigate at all, not even around the shores,
what would the center of communications be? Reason it out.
Michael: (Starts to get up) Okaaaaaaay. Do
I get atlas or globe?
Jeremiah: You don’t need either. You know more than enough
geography for this. Big picture again. Just think of the larger outlines,
the continents…. Turn the globe around in your head.
Michael: (Laughs) Mystery
of Babylon. It must be Babylon.
Jeremiah: (Laughs too) Well…,
you know it is not the mystery of Pound Ridge! Yes, it is Babylon. But
the real question is why?
Michael: (Shrugs) Why?
Jeremiah: What transportation was used…?
Michael: Wagons. Horses…. Camels. Camel caravans. Okay. Right. Center. Center. Babylon
was the center.
Jeremiah: Good. Explain it fully. Put it in your own
words.
Michael: Babylon was the center because…, because it
is where big continents connected. But it leaves out some, the Americas,
Australia.
Jeremiah Yes, right. Those were not developed yet. But
it was the center of a land bridge between Africa and Europe and Asia. Go
on….
Michael Became the center of trade…?
Jeremiah: Yes, but I want you to break that down. The
center of traveling becomes the center of information. Then center
of information becomes the banking center. Babylon became a banking
center. First world banking center. For all practical purposes Babylon
becomes the center, the start, for history. Again, determined by geography. Now
there is a hard and fast rule.., banking follows information. Wherever
the center for information goes on the planet b