Markers Characters Sally Wall - Project Manager William Stark - Business Manager John Stevens - Archaeologist Wendy Naz - Reporter Spirit of the Marker The Setting The action takes place in and about a construction site. The site itself is earthworks with the spikes coming through. The office sits in the middle of the earthworks, surrounded by the physical site. The Action The action should be such that the dance sections should seem to be a continuous and logical movement from the preceding action. That is to say, the non-dance sections should have some of the feel of dance and use stylized, non-realistic movement where possible. by Steven S. Taylor 87 Bristol St., 1B Cambridge, MA 02139 (c) 1995 ACT I (William sits at a desk in his office working on budget figures for the project. After a moment, Sally enters brandishing pamphlets.) SALLY What are these? WILLIAM What are what? SALLY These! These. These! WILLIAM This is not your responsibility. SALLY There is significant risk. WILLIAM I don't believe there is significant risk. SALLY What's that mean? WILLIAM With or without you. SALLY Try to get rid of me. WILLIAM I hope that won't be necessary. SALLY I don't like it. WILLIAM This is business. SALLY I'm afraid. WILLIAM You're doing excavations? SALLY Yeah. WILLIAM Has something happened up there that I should know about? Something unusual? SALLY Everything is unusual. WILLIAM You found something. SALLY We've found lots of things. WILLIAM What happened? SALLY What hasn't happened? WILLIAM It's ancient land. SALLY I read that. WILLIAM It spooks the workers. Maybe it's spooked you. SALLY You need me. (Pause.) WILLIAM We're good together. SALLY Don't even start. WILLIAM It would be different. SALLY You conceited old bastard. WILLIAM I'm not so old. SALLY But conceited? WILLIAM I can back it up. SALLY Forget it. WILLIAM You're not so young. SALLY Not young enough for your taste? WILLIAM Maybe. SALLY It's history. WILLIAM You always liked history. SALLY Ancient history. WILLIAM Was your specialty. SALLY My minor. (Pause.) WILLIAM What have you found? SALLY We've found something. WILLIAM It scares you? SALLY Yes it does. WILLIAM Why? (Pause.) Talk to me, Sally. SALLY We have found something. WILLIAM What? SALLY It is definitely weird. WILLIAM Weird? That's your whole description? Weird? (The lights come up on the rest of the stage which includes the spikes that have been exposed by the excavation. John enters and starts to examine the spikes. William sits at his desk and watches. Sally joins John at the spikes.) JOHN I've never seen anything like it. SALLY We started running into them when we got five feet below the surface. JOHN Just here? SALLY Everywhere. At least everywhere we've dug. JOHN What are they made of? SALLY Seems to be something like asphalt. A mixture of common substances found in the area. JOHN They're uh ... SALLY Ugly? JOHN Well, yeah. SALLY They're hard. It's like hitting bedrock. Worse than that. We've had to stop using the heavy equipment to dig. JOHN This has been dug by hand? SALLY We can't keep digging by hand. JOHN What's the other choice? SALLY We can use explosives. JOHN Do you know what kind of find this is? You can't blow them up. SALLY I know. JOHN We have to find out what these are. You can't blow them up. SALLY Give me another choice. JOHN Let me work. I'll bring in a team of archaeologists. SALLY How long will it take? JOHN It depends on what else we find. How big this is. You said it's everywhere you've dug? SALLY Everywhere. JOHN It could take years to fully explore. Maybe decades. SALLY I don't have years. JOHN This is much more important than any construction project could possibly be. SALLY I don't think our investors would agree. JOHN Look at these things. (The Spirit of the Marker enters and starts to slowly do the "warning dance" in an attempt to communicate with John and Sally. They do not see the Spirit.) SALLY What are they? JOHN I don't know. But just feel them. Touch them. There's something strangely weird and wonderful. Have you fully exposed any of them? SALLY A couple of the smaller ones. They seem to vary in size. In fact, no two of them are identical. At least as far as we can tell. JOHN You did record where the ones you unearthed were? It's possible the significance is in the pattern. We have to keep exact records of the position and size of every spike. SALLY That's your job. SPIRIT Go away. Go away. JOHN Do you feel something? It makes my skin crawl to touch it. It's like I have some strange phobia about asphalt. This is incredible. Absolutely incredible. I'm going to bring in a whole team of archaeologists. SALLY No you're not. JOHN You don't realize how big this is. People will beg to be part of this. Once the word gets out - SALLY The word is not going to get out. JOHN What do you mean? SALLY We aren't going to tell the world a thing until we know a whole hell of a lot more than we know now. JOHN You can't keep this secret. This is the most important find of the century. SALLY When we know what we're dealing with, we will tell the world. But in the meantime, it is secret. You don't tell anyone. Do what you need to do to get a handle on this. But no word of it to anyone. JOHN I may need to talk to some experts in the field about this. SALLY Talk in general terms. Be evasive. You're a clever man, you'll figure it out. JOHN Do you know what you're asking? SALLY I'm not asking. I'm just telling you the way it is. This has to be kept secret. I had to fight to bring you in at all. If I had any sense I'd just go ahead and blast. JOHN That would be criminal. SALLY Blasting's the other choice. JOHN How long do I have? SALLY A couple of weeks. JOHN A couple of weeks? SALLY Two weeks. JOHN Two weeks? SALLY It's the best I can do. Two weeks and then I need a complete assessment. JOHN Two weeks, working around the clock ... SPIRIT Go away. Go away. JOHN You say the workers really get freaked out? SALLY It gets to you after a while. JOHN It won't get to me. SALLY I hope not. (Sally joins William at the desk. John examines the spikes, the Spirit tries to warn him away, but John doesn't see the Spirit. He feels the presence of the Spirit, but shakes it off. The Spirit gives up and leaves. John joins Sally and William in the office.) SALLY This is John Stevens, our archaeologist. WILLIAM Hi. William Stark. JOHN Pleased to meet you. WILLIAM Tell me about these spikes. JOHN I've never seen anything like them. The world has never seen anything like them. WILLIAM What are they? JOHN I don't know. SALLY What's your guess? JOHN It would just be a guess. WILLIAM That's what I'm paying you for. JOHN There's nothing similar. WILLIAM What's your guess? SALLY What do you think? JOHN There's a couple of different things it could be. WILLIAM What? JOHN Could be waste. SALLY Waste? JOHN Trash. Garbage. Refuse. Some ancient civilization's dump. SALLY You think this is some ancient garbage dump? JOHN Could be. WILLIAM This was a garbage dump? JOHN I said could be. SALLY Go on. JOHN It fits with the stories, the legends. The legends say that this is forbidden ground. Most societies don't want people around their garbage dumps. WILLIAM A garbage dump. JOHN Maybe. It could be a dumping site for these spikes. For some reason they made these spikes and they needed to get rid of them. WILLIAM Who made these spikes? JOHN I don't know. Somebody did. They aren't natural. SALLY Ancient gods? JOHN Say, for some reason, someone made these spikes. They did something with them. Then they needed to get rid of them. They dumped them here. SALLY That's what you think? JOHN No. That's not what I think. WILLIAM Why are you telling us this story? JOHN Because it's possible. Lot's of things are possible. SALLY What do you think? JOHN What did they use them for? SALLY I don't know. JOHN What would you use great big spikes for? Great big uneven spikes of different sizes? WILLIAM Sacrificing virgins? SALLY Bush-pig. JOHN They are phallic. SALLY Sacrificing virgins? JOHN Why would they be different sizes? WILLIAM Different size virgins? JOHN If they were ritualistic they would probably be the same size or pretty close. Or a series of sizes. WILLIAM Maybe the guys making them weren't very good. Or didn't care about making them the same size. JOHN It couldn't have been very easy to make them. It required some fairly advanced technology. It would be harder to make them all different sizes. SALLY You think it's intentional? JOHN Yes. SALLY Why? JOHN Don't know. WILLIAM Guess. (Pause.) JOHN To make us think. WILLIAM Think? SALLY About what? JOHN Don't know. WILLIAM What do you know? JOHN It's working. WILLIAM What's working? JOHN It's making us think. SALLY It is. JOHN But what we're supposed to think about ... WILLIAM What else could it be? JOHN Could be a grave. SALLY And those are tombstones? JOHN Markers of some sort. WILLIAM You think that's what it is? JOHN Makes more sense to me than a dump. WILLIAM Why? JOHN If it were a dump, don't you think they would have just dumped them all in a big old hole in the ground? No two of them are touching. I haven't found any pattern, but I don't believe it's random. SALLY So what is it? What are you saying? JOHN I think they were purposefully put the way we're finding them. I don't understand it, but I think it's intentional. WILLIAM What's the bottom line? JOHN I need more time. We have to do a full dig. WILLIAM Sally? SALLY I agree. We should take more time to investigate this. WILLIAM How much time? JOHN I don't know how long it would take for sure. SALLY How much time are you asking for? JOHN As much time as it takes. WILLIAM How much time? JOHN A year. WILLIAM A year? JOHN A year. WILLIAM You want to delay this project a year? JOHN It won't cost you anything. WILLIAM A year's delay won't cost me anything? SALLY A year's a long time. We'd have to shut down operations completely. Find other jobs. WILLIAM I don't have a year to give you, John. (Pause.) JOHN You have to. I'd give my whole life for this. WILLIAM That's nice. JOHN I told my fiancee about the find. SALLY You weren't supposed to tell anyone. JOHN I told her I'd be here for at least a year. I told her that we couldn't get married yet because I had to do this. WILLIAM So now you can get married. Anytime you want. JOHN You don't understand how important this is to me. WILLIAM I don't care how important it is to you. JOHN You can't do this. WILLIAM Did Sally tell you what kind of man I am? JOHN She said you were in charge. SALLY I didn't tell him that you were a dirty, rotten, cheating, bastard. JOHN No, she didn't. WILLIAM Look at it this way, John. You got a chance to dig here for two weeks. Write an article about it. You'll be famous. SALLY William. WILLIAM That's right. You can't do that. No publicity. It's in your contract. JOHN You're firing me, right? WILLIAM Your contract is over. I'm not exercising any options. JOHN You fire me, I do as I please. WILLIAM You talk to anybody and you'll be in jail so fast you'll won't know what hit you. JOHN I don't think you can stop me. SALLY Let's be reasonable about this. It's not going to do any of us any good to - WILLIAM I am being reasonable. You signed a contract. I'm saying that you will live up to the contract you signed. JOHN And if I don't? You have me arrested? Get a court order? SALLY The damage will be done. JOHN Once I talk, the wheels will be set in motion. You can do whatever you want to me then. But you can't stop the whole world. SALLY I'm sure that we can reach some sort of agreement. WILLIAM (Picking up the phone.) Get me Johnstone. SALLY What are you doing? WILLIAM This is Stark. I've got a small problem that I want you to take care of. The archaeologist, Stevens. I want him quarantined. No contact with anyone. No phone, nothing. Yeah. JOHN You can't do that. WILLIAM I just did. (John stares at William, reaches a decision, then runs out of the office.) WILLIAM He can't get far. SALLY Who do you think you are? WILLIAM We don't have to hold him long. SALLY It's against the law for you to "hold" him. You're not the government. You are a private citizen and it's kidnapping to hold him against his will. WILLIAM Don't be so idealistic. SALLY Idealistic? Let's be realistic. WILLIAM Realistic is what I'm being. If the national press gets a hold of this, we're done. We're both out of a job. The investors lose their money. Nobody's happy. SALLY What if this really is the discovery of a lifetime? Do you want to be known as the man who destroyed it? WILLIAM I won't be. You will. SALLY No. I won't. WILLIAM You know this is it for you. Your big chance. The project that puts you on the map. SALLY Don't. WILLIAM It'll give you what you always wanted. SALLY Those are the exact words you used when we first met. WILLIAM They were true then. They are true now. SALLY They worked then. They won't work now. WILLIAM You think you've changed? SALLY I'm not going to jump into your bed if that's what you mean. WILLIAM That was just a bonus. SALLY For you? WILLIAM For you. SALLY You conceited bastard. WILLIAM You can beg all you want, but I'm not going down that road again. SALLY Beg? You pig! WILLIAM Well, maybe if you grovel. I like it when you grovel. SALLY I can't believe you. Can we get back to business? WILLIAM This issue is settled then. We proceed with blasting. SALLY We'll investigate all of the possible ways to proceed, what the best way to handle the spikes is and then we'll proceed. (Sally exits. The Spirit enters and dances around William. He is bothered, but shakes it off and exits. The Spirit dances around the spikes. John and Wendy enter the construction site.) JOHN This is it. WENDY It's a hole in the ground. JOHN Look at these. WENDY Yeah? JOHN Do you know what these are? WENDY No. JOHN Neither does anybody else. WENDY That's the big story you dragged me here about? JOHN It's huge. This is the greatest archaeological find in modern history. WENDY These, uh, things? JOHN Yes, these spikes. WENDY You drag to me out here to this hole in the ground to see some creepy asphalt spikes. JOHN Touch them. (Wendy touches a spike. The Spirit grabs her from behind and Wendy screams.) WENDY That's the strangest thing I've ever felt. JOHN Yeah. WENDY Let's get out of here. JOHN Don't you want to cover this story? WENDY No. I don't. JOHN You have to. WENDY I cover town council meetings, local news, stuff like that. This isn't even in town. We're miles outside of town. I don't have to cover this. JOHN Someone has to and you're it. WENDY Find someone else. (Wendy starts to leave and John stops her.) JOHN Please. For me. WENDY I don't know you. I don't owe you. JOHN Aren't you curious? Don't you want to know what these things are? WENDY I'll be thrilled when I read some other reporter's story about it. SPIRIT Go away. Leave. JOHN I don't have time to find another reporter. WENDY How long have these things been here? Are they going anywhere? JOHN Stark wants to blast them. Get them out of the way so they keep digging. WENDY Maybe they should blast them. They give me the creeps. JOHN Do you know what this means? This is evidence of the past. This is the great mystery of our time and we're here, part of it. We're uncovering something ancient and wonderful. There's no way of knowing just what this might turn out to mean, what we can learn from this. Someone, long ago, did this. They buried these spikes. Why? What happened here? WENDY I give, what? JOHN This is my dream. This is more than my dream. This is more than my greatest dream could ever have been. Stark wants to destroy it. It's not about me, it's about what this means for all of mankind. WENDY You really think that it's that important? JOHN I think it is. SPIRIT Leave. WENDY This place disturbs me. I don't want to be here. JOHN Doesn't that make you think just a little bit? What is it about this place that makes you feel that way? I don't have any weird phobia about asphalt. There's no reason I should feel all weird here. But I do. And you do. And everybody who comes here does. Why? WENDY I don't know. JOHN Why did you become a reporter? WENDY What do you mean? JOHN Why did you become a reporter? What made you want to do it? What dream burned in you? WENDY It was a long time ago. JOHN But a dream did burn in you. WENDY Yeah, I guess so. JOHN You wanted to write? You wanted to tell people what was going on in the world? You wanted to uncover the truth that is out there and tell the world about it. That's it, isn't it? WENDY Once, a long time ago. JOHN What happened? WENDY What do you mean? JOHN What happened to your dream? WENDY Maybe I grew up and ... JOHN This is my dream. And I think it can be your dream, too. WENDY What are these things? JOHN You are curious. There is that spark of a dream. WENDY Let's get back to what we're here about. What do you really know about these things? JOHN Really know? Nothing. Not yet. It'll take years to figure out what the story is here. WENDY What's so important about this? SPIRIT Go away. WENDY Can we do this someplace else? JOHN I think we should stay here. The longer you stay here, the more you get the feel of the place. Deep in your bones and your bowels. These spikes are everywhere. For miles. They're clearly not natural formations. No two are exactly alike, at least as far as I've been able to find so far. (The Spirit exits. Wendy relaxes.) WENDY What are they? JOHN They're markers of some sort. They're here to tell us something. WENDY Tell us what? JOHN That's the mystery. WENDY What's your guess? JOHN I think this was some sort of sacred ground. Perhaps a tomb or monument to their greatest leaders. WENDY Aren't monuments supposed to be attractive? JOHN Usually. But maybe this was attractive to them. I think these spikes were exposed in a huge field. There's a difference in the earth when you get near the bottom of any of the spikes. I think it shows that they were originally displayed in a huge field with these spikes pointing upward in all different directions and sizes. Imagine that. WENDY Pretty strange. JOHN Maybe strangely beautiful. A monument to ... to someone. WENDY Or something. We make monuments to events, to wars. JOHN Usually to those who died in the war. WENDY A spike for each person that died in some great war. Each spike is different because each person was different. JOHN Or people who died for some cause, maybe some plague or disease. WENDY How many are there? JOHN I don't know exactly how far this goes, but I'd say millions. WENDY That's a lot of dead people. JOHN Sure is. WENDY Maybe it was one big battle. Fought here. And they decided that such a battle should never be fought again so they put up these markers. JOHN Maybe. (Pause.) WENDY This might be it. JOHN It? WENDY The big story. JOHN Your dream? WENDY It's easier not to dream. You just do your job and live your life and take care of your family and you let everything move along the way it's going to move along. JOHN You're a dreamer. WENDY I'm a realist. I'm a working parent. JOHN It's okay to let yourself dream. WENDY I'll write this story. Someone else will decide if it runs and if there's any follow up. JOHN Stark wants to blast. Blow up the spikes. WENDY Stark? JOHN William Stark, the business manager . The project manager, Sally Wall, works for him. WENDY I'll have to talk to both of them JOHN You can't do that. WENDY I have to get the full story. Cover it from all sides. JOHN They're trying to keep me from telling anyone about the spikes. WENDY You're talking to me. JOHN They tried to lock me up, keep me "quarantined". But I got away. They're looking for me. If you talk to them, they'll stop you from writing this story. You don't know who you're dealing with here. Don't trust them. Don't meet with them. Don't believe them. You've seen the spikes with your own eyes. You've felt them, you've been here. WENDY I have to at least call them. JOHN William Stark will get to your editor. He'll influence him. He doesn't care about anything other than getting the project done. He doesn't care what this means to humanity. WENDY What are you going to do? Where are you staying? You said they're looking for you, they want to lock you up. JOHN I'll stay here. This place gives everyone the creeps, so they try to avoid it. And I can continue my work while I'm here. It's perfect. WENDY You're going to stay down here? JOHN Yes. WENDY Yuck. JOHN I have to. WENDY How do I get in touch with you? JOHN Come here. Leave a note for me. By this spike. When you want to meet. I'll check here twice a day. When I get your note, I'll leave a note telling you where to meet me. WENDY Isn't that a little overly complicated? This is not international espionage. JOHN Trust me. WENDY Why should I? JOHN Hasn't seeing this meant anything to you? WENDY I guess so. JOHN Write the story. Get it out into the paper, get it out on the wire services, get it out to the world. WENDY Maybe no one will pick up the story. JOHN If you write it they will. WENDY What do you know about my writing? JOHN I know that if you write with the passion that is in you about this story, the rest of the world will read it and listen to you. WENDY You have a lot of faith in me. JOHN Yes. I do. (The Spirit enters and dances towards them.) WENDY This place gives me the creeps. SPIRIT Leave. Go away. WENDY I've got to get out of here. JOHN Write the story. (Wendy exits. John looks at the spikes, the Spirit dances behind him. Together, they do the "infection dance" and John becomes infected, becoming more and more unbalanced. John weakens and the Spirit works it's magic on him. John falls to the ground, ill. The Spirit exits and after a brief pause Sally enters, looking for John. She searches and finds him.) SALLY John. My god, what has happened to you? JOHN No! Go away. SALLY How long have you been down here? You look like you haven't eaten in days. You certainly haven't bathed. JOHN It's too late. SALLY Are you okay? You're hot. You're burning with fever. JOHN Get back. Get away from me. SALLY You're sick, really sick. You need some help. Serious medical help. JOHN No. SALLY How long have you been down here? JOHN Long enough. SALLY You're going to come with me. JOHN I'm not leaving. SALLY John, You're sick. JOHN No. SALLY If this is about the quarantine thing that William said - JOHN Stark. SALLY He was just talking. The company can't hold you against your will. JOHN Too late. Doesn't matter. SALLY What doesn't matter? JOHN Lock me up. Do whatever. SALLY You're delirious. JOHN Yeah. Whatever. SALLY I'm going to say this to you as your friend. You need to see a doctor. You have a fever and you look horrible. I'll take you to the clinic. I won't tell William that I found you. We'll go get you some help. Nothing more. JOHN Spikes. SALLY So you'll come with me? (Sally tries to Lead John out. John resists and runs away from her.) SALLY I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to help you. (The Spirit enters and for the first time John sees it. He looks in horror as the Spirit dances towards him. Sally doesn't see the Spirit.) JOHN No! Go away! SPIRIT Go away. Leave here. JOHN No! SALLY John. SPIRIT Go away. JOHN No. Who are you? (John speaks with the Spirit. The Spirit responds in dance.) SALLY It's Sally Wall. JOHN I'm not leaving. This is too important to leave. SALLY You have to come with me. JOHN Tell me who you are? Why do you want me to leave? SALLY I'm over here, John. JOHN I feel you. I sense you. You've been here all along haven't you? Haven't you? SALLY You're delirious. JOHN Speak to me. I know you can hear me. SPIRIT Leave this place. JOHN No! I'm not leaving. I'm not afraid of you. That's what you want. You want me to be afraid and to leave, but I'm not afraid. SALLY I don't want you to be afraid. JOHN Talk to me. SALLY I'm trying. JOHN Or get the hell out of here! Who are you? What are you? SPIRIT Leave. JOHN No! I will not leave! SALLY You have to come with me. (Sally grabs John by the arm. John reacts violently and sends Sally flying. He realizes what he has done and goes to Sally.) JOHN I'm sorry. Are you okay? Oh shit. (John addresses the Spirit.) You did this. You're responsible for all of this aren't you? Don't you see that I can't leave until I understand what this is all about? You can talk, I hear you. Tell me what this is? Tell me what you are? SALLY John? JOHN Are you okay? SALLY I'll live. JOHN I'm sorry. I didn't mean ... SALLY Who are you talking to? JOHN You don't ...? Over there? SALLY We're alone, John. There's nobody else down here. JOHN I didn't see it at first, either. SALLY See what? JOHN It's ... I don't know what it is. But it wants us to leave. But we're not going to leave! (The Spirit leaves.) SALLY You need to see a doctor. JOHN We can't give this up. We can't leave here. SALLY We'll come back. We'll just leave for a little while. JOHN This isn't a trick? You and Stark worked this out to catch me? SALLY William doesn't know I'm here. JOHN I don't trust you. SALLY Then you leave. I'll stay here. JOHN Promise? SALLY If you promise to see a doctor. JOHN You and Stark. You ... SALLY We what? We work together? He's my boss. JOHN No, more than that ... SALLY Okay. Let me tell you how it is. William and I were lovers. Years ago ... I don't want anything to do with him that way. I don't trust William. I don't always agree with how he does things, and I'm not going to help him quarantine anybody. That's how it is. JOHN Okay. I believe you. SALLY Thank you. JOHN You stay here. I'll go ... SALLY Good. JOHN Okay. SALLY So go. Leave. Scoot. (John slowly exits. Sally stays. The Spirit enters and Sally feels the chill in her bones. The Spirit does the "warning dance" around Sally and Sally almost sees the Spirit. Wendy enters looking for John. The Spirit leaves.) SALLY Hi. WENDY Oh. Hello. SALLY Who are you? WENDY Excuse me? SALLY Who are you? WENDY Wendy. SALLY Why are you here? WENDY Who are you? SALLY Sally Wall. WENDY The project manager. I wanted to meet you. SALLY How do you know who I am? WENDY John told me about you. SALLY So you must be John's fiancee? WENDY Uh, yes. I am. SALLY It's a pleasure to meet you. John's a great guy. WENDY Yes he is. SALLY I hope he's going to be okay. WENDY Be okay? What do you mean? SALLY I'm sure it's just the flu or something from being down here for so long. He looked horrible. I think he had a fever. WENDY Where is he? SALLY He went to the clinic. I promised him I'd wait here for him. But, if he's really sick they might keep him at the clinic. Maybe you should go there. WENDY He said he would come back here. Johnny's a man of his word. SALLY Okay. WENDY He says that this is the most important find of the century. SALLY It's certainly interesting. WENDY Isn't this going to delay your project? SALLY It already has. But that's the way projects go. There's always surprises. You make the best plans you can and then something you never could have planned for happens and you have to make new plans. That's what we're doing now. Making new plans. WENDY What are you going to do? SALLY I'm not sure. John would like to delay the project for a year and have a huge archaeological dig. My business manager wants to blast these spikes and try and get back on schedule. WENDY What do you want to do? SALLY Blasting seems too risky. We don't know what's under here. If we delay a year, we might as well cancel the whole project. There has to be some middle ground. WENDY And what will that be? SALLY We're trying to find it. WENDY If you don't find it? SALLY You're awfully interested in this. WENDY John told me how important it is to him. SALLY You're a very understanding woman. He told me that you two couldn't get married for at least a year because he would be here working on this. WENDY That's why I came here. SALLY You must love him very much. WENDY If it comes down to cancelling the project or blasting which would you favor? SALLY What did you say you do for a living? WENDY I didn't say. If push comes to shove, which way will you go? SALLY If push comes to shove it won't be my decision. WENDY But you will have a say in that decision. What will you say? SALLY That time hasn't come. WENDY Yet. SALLY And as I said, we are looking for other solutions. (Pause.) WENDY Well, I hope you find one. SALLY Aren't you worried about John? WENDY He said he'd meet me here. SALLY How did you two meet? WENDY In college. SALLY You went to the same college? WENDY No. But not far away. He was on a road trip. You know college. If you'd like I'll wait for John here and you can get back to your work. SALLY It gets kind of spooky down here. WENDY I like the chance to see what John is working on. SALLY If you're sure you'll be okay. WENDY I'll be fine. SALLY I'll check the clinic. WENDY That would be great. (Sally exits. Wendy explores the area looking at the spikes. The Spirit enters and does the "warning dance" around Wendy. Wendy is disturbed, but doesn't see the Spirit. After a moment, John enters, his state visibly worse. He sees Wendy and the Spirit.) JOHN No! Get away from her! WENDY John! JOHN Leave her alone! She's not part of this! WENDY Are you okay? JOHN Get away from her! WENDY John? JOHN Don't worry, Wendy. I don't think it will hurt us. WENDY You don't think what will hurt us? JOHN That. WENDY What are you looking at? JOHN There. It's what you feel. And I can see it. WENDY Where is it? JOHN There. In front of you. WENDY What should I do? JOHN Nothing. WENDY Nothing? JOHN I'm tired of it. Won't talk to me. Just says, "go away." I say forget it. Ignore it. (The Spirit dances the "infection dance" with John.) WENDY John! John, what's happening to you? (The Spirit and John dance together and John collapses to the ground. The Spirit exits.) JOHN Mmmmmnnnnn. WENDY Are you okay? What's going on here? JOHN Oh boy. WENDY What just happened? JOHN I don't know. It ... it ... it did something. It wants me to leave. WENDY You look horrible. JOHN Thanks. WENDY Sally said you went to see the doctor. JOHN How do you ... WENDY I met Sally here. JOHN You talked to her? WENDY I told her I was your fiancee. JOHN Oh. WENDY I didn't know you had one. JOHN Used to. WENDY I'm sorry. What did the doctor say? JOHN I'm sick. Fever. Blood count, cells. Bad. WENDY What do you have? JOHN Don't know. They put me in a room. I left. WENDY You should be in a hospital. JOHN This is too important. WENDY I'm going to take you to the hospital. JOHN Nothing they can do. WENDY They can treat you. JOHN No. It's down here. It did this to me. WENDY The thing? JOHN Yes. WENDY The thing that I can't see? JOHN But you can feel it. WENDY I feel something. JOHN It's trying to kill me. WENDY What can you do down here? JOHN Investigate. Search. Study. WENDY Die? I can't let you stay here as sick as you are. JOHN Not leaving. (Pause.) WENDY Look, John. The fever is getting to you. You're not thinking straight. I talked to Sally about the project and she's looking for a way to avoid blasting the spikes. I wrote the story and it's going to be in the paper tomorrow. My editor put it out on the wire service. He thinks that some major papers will pick it up. You've won. You fought the good fight and you've won the battle here. It's time to go home and take care of the wounded. And that's you. JOHN It'll be in the papers? WENDY Tomorrow. JOHN Great. That's great. WENDY So we can leave? JOHN I guess so. (Wendy helps John up. Sally enters and sees them.) SALLY I thought I'd find you here. WENDY We were just going back to the clinic. SALLY Good. WENDY John's not feeling very well. SALLY The doctor told me it's amazing John is alive. WENDY Why? SALLY His body is being eaten up by something. Some disease they've never seen before. JOHN It gave it to me. SALLY It? WENDY The thing he sees down here. He says the rest of us feel it. It's what gives us the spooks about this place. JOHN Can't let it scare us away. SALLY The important thing is to get you back to the clinic. WENDY Yes. Let's go. SALLY And you better let them check you out as well. You've been in close contact with John. WENDY Okay. SALLY You know where the clinic is? WENDY Yeah. SALLY I'll catch up with you there. (Wendy and John exit. Sally looks around the site. The Spirit enters. The Spirit tries to dance the "infection dance" with Sally, but Sally resists. Sally exits. Wendy pushes in John in a wheelchair. The Spirit watches the two in the hospital room.) WENDY You're going to be okay now. JOHN Mmmmnnnnn. WENDY The story's going to run. You did it. Everything's going to be alright. JOHN Mmmmnnnnnnn. WENDY Bye. (Wendy exits. The Spirit dances the "infection dance" with John. He rises and dances with the Spirit. The dance ends and the two face each other.) JOHN You're killing me. You did this to me. SPIRIT Yes. JOHN I just want to understand. SPIRIT Leave. JOHN I've left. SPIRIT Too late. JOHN Maybe for me. But not for others. You've got to tell me. SPIRIT Come. (John follows the Spirit. The Spirit leads John in dancing "the story of the markers". (See text of story.) As the story is told, John understands. When the story is over, the Spirit exits and John returns to the bed, exhausted but content. Pause. Sally enters.) SALLY How are you? JOHN I'm dying. There's nothing they can do for me. The Spirit of the Markers explained it to me. SALLY Spirit of the Markers? JOHN The thing I saw. As you get sick, you can see it. SALLY And now it talks to you. Because you're dying. JOHN Because I'm so far gone. I'm half into the spirit world so it's easier for me. You think I'm still delirious. I'm not. This is the clearest I've been. The calm before the storm. You've got to pay attention to the markers. They're there to warn us. To tell us to stay away. A keep out sign for all times. SALLY The spikes? JOHN Yes. They're markers. You have to listen to them. SALLY Why are they there? What are we supposed to stay away from? JOHN Waste. Poison trash. It's buried there. Deep below the surface. The poison trash was buried thousands of years ago. SALLY And it's still poisonous? JOHN Look what it's doing to me. SALLY This poison trash causes the disease you have? JOHN They knew how deadly it was. That's why they put up the markers. SALLY Who's they? JOHN They lived here tens of thousands of years ago. SALLY This poison trash is thousands of years old? JOHN It was the by-product of some technology. SALLY What sort of technology? JOHN I don't know for sure. But it was important enough for them to keep doing it even though it produced this poison. So they put up the markers. For future generations. To warn us. Somehow tell us to stay away from the Heights. We've got to pay attention to that warning. SALLY Abandon the whole project? JOHN Yes. SALLY How do you know all this? JOHN The Spirit of the Marker told me. You've got to believe me. The Spirit is part of the markers. I don't know how they did it, but it's part of the warning system. I guess we're different enough from them that it doesn't work very well. But that's why you feel so spooked when you're down there. It's the Spirit. The important thing is, if you blast the markers you're going to send poison everywhere. It'll kill every living thing in the area. Below the markers is poison. Bad poison. Poison that does this. SALLY What does this poison look like? How do we tell if we run into it? JOHN You can't take that chance. Don't dig. Don't look for it. Just leave. Leave the Heights. SALLY Okay. JOHN Promise. SALLY You have my word. (The Spirit appears and administers a death ritual to John. Sally watches, not understanding. The Spirit leaves and John is dead. Sally goes to John and sees that he is dead. Pause. Wendy enters.) WENDY How is he? SALLY Dead. WENDY Dead? SALLY Yeah, dead. I'm sorry. WENDY My God. SALLY I'm so sorry. WENDY I can't believe this. SALLY We'll do whatever we can. WENDY He's dead. You killed him. SALLY We don't know what killed him for sure. WENDY Whatever is down there killed him. You killed him. SALLY I know you're upset. Your fiancee ... WENDY Dies? You killed him and you're not going to get away with this. SALLY I'm really sorry. WENDY Let me set you straight on a couple of things. I'm not John's fiancee. I'm a reporter and this story is going to be everywhere. A couple of minutes ago it was just a back-page piece about some weird, ancient spikes. Now, it's about people dying. SALLY A reporter. WENDY Yes, a reporter. And I've got a story to write. (Wendy exits. Sally watches her leave. Sally looks at John. Fade to black.) end of Act I ACT II (William sits at his desk. Sally enters.) WILLIAM Yes? SALLY You've been avoiding me. WILLIAM What are you talking about? SALLY You haven't done anything. WILLIAM I have done many things. SALLY Did you read it? WILLIAM All of it. SALLY Did any of it sink in? WILLIAM All of it. SALLY There's poison down there. Horrible, deadly poison. WILLIAM That's what your dead archaeologist said. SALLY I believe him. WILLIAM He was dying. Raving out of his head when he said it. SALLY I still believe him. WILLIAM Do you have any other evidence? SALLY I'm working on it. With all the precautions. WILLIAM What did you tell them the precautions were for? (The Spirit and John enter, dancing the "warning dance" together. They seem almost happy, but Sally is very disturbed by it, even though she doesn't see them.) SALLY You have to abandon the project. WILLIAM Have to? SALLY It's that simple. There's no choice. WILLIAM There's always choices. SALLY I watched him die. I believe that he understood what was happening to himself. Come walk around the site. Even you will be able to feel it. WILLIAM Feel what? (The Spirit and John exit.) SALLY I can't describe it. But that doesn't make it not real. There are things in this world that we don't understand. The fact that we don't understand them, doesn't make them any less real. For once in your life you have to get your nose out of the numbers and pay attention to what the rest of your body is telling you. Listen with your stomach, hear with your feet, feel with your whole self. Then make your decision - but for once take into account all of the information you have, not just the numbers that were spit out of your computer. WILLIAM Every bit of information we have goes into these numbers. SALLY Such as John's death? What number goes with that? What price do you put on his life? WILLIAM That's sunk cost. We can't recover it now, so it doesn't matter. SALLY John's death doesn't matter at all to you? Do you hear yourself? There was a time when I thought you were human, when I even liked you, respected you - WILLIAM Slept with me in the hopes that it would advance your career. SALLY Is that what you think that was about? WILLIAM What difference does it make? SALLY You're right. What matters is your numbers. WILLIAM That's right. SALLY What numbers did you include for all the people that will die if this project goes on? WILLIAM We've considered that. SALLY You have? WILLIAM The decision model allows for the possibility of some incidents of poisoning of the type that happened to your archaeologist. The study also considers the potential for incidents after the project is completed and open to the public. With some design changes, the probable number of incidents is low. Allowing for normal out of court settlements in the expected law suits, it still makes sense to go ahead. The cost of finding a new site at this point far exceeds the expected cost of potential poisoning incidents. SALLY What data did you base the study on? We don't know how deadly that stuff is, we don't know what that stuff is, we don't know what sort of exposure is sufficient, what the long term effects might be. We don't know enough to do any modeling. WILLIAM It's based on the amount of exposure John Stevens had and how quickly he died, what we learned from the autopsy - SALLY You did an autopsy? WILLIAM It's standard practice. SALLY And it would be standard practice to call in some national authorities? WILLIAM We can't do that. The last thing we need is a panic. People die all the time. One way or another, we all die. We don't know that anyone will die from this poison or whatever it was that killed Stevens. We will take every reasonable step to prevent people from dying. But I'm not going to cancel this project because of one accidental death. Or because you have a creepy feeling. Is that understood? SALLY I understand that human life is measured in dollars and cents to you. That you don't care how many people die as long as the cost doesn't exceed acceptable limits. WILLIAM This is business. SALLY Crap. This is crap. WILLIAM The decision is made. SALLY And it's made wrong. WILLIAM You're upset because one of your people died. And I can understand that. You feel responsible and you want to do something about it. But cancelling the project or trying to find a new site - which would effectively cancel the project - is not the answer. Cancelling the project would cost a lot of people their jobs, it would cost you your job. Worry about the living, let the dead be. SALLY I am worrying about the living. I'm worried about keeping them alive. I'd rather have someone lose their job than their life. WILLIAM Have you asked them that? SALLY Have you? WILLIAM I don't need to. SALLY And the public? WILLIAM We will make this is as safe as possible when we open to the public. Negative publicity is hard to overcome. You know that the public doesn't deal in facts, they deal in perception. The decision is made. I need to know from you whether or not I can count on you to be a part of the team. SALLY A part of the team? Have I done anything to make you believe that I can't be counted on? WILLIAM Your attitude concerns me. SALLY It's my job to ensure that the right decisions are made. WILLIAM And then follow those decisions when they are made, regardless of whether you agree with them or not. SALLY When that time comes. I don't think we're final on this one. WILLIAM We're final. SALLY William, we don't know enough to have made a final decision. WILLIAM You're the one who wants me to cancel the project. SALLY That's the right decision. WILLIAM You go out and get me some data. Some cold hard facts about what happened and we'll do the right thing. SALLY Even if that thing is cancelling the project? WILLIAM I don't think that will be the answer. But if it is, it is. In the meantime, we go ahead. The architect is working on changing the design. He's putting the whole thing on stilts or something. We'll stop excavating for a couple of weeks. You can use the time to investigate. But be careful. Take precautions. And no publicity. SALLY Publicity! WILLIAM What? SALLY The reporter. Did you see the article in the local paper? About the spikes? It's all about how we've discovered what could be the archaeological find of the century and we're hiding it. John found a reporter and told her his story. WILLIAM How long have you known about this? SALLY She told me she was a reporter after John died. WILLIAM And you didn't tell me? SALLY What would you have done? WILLIAM That story would never have been printed. SALLY I was a little more worried about John's death. WILLIAM Get me a copy of the article. And get me that reporter. I want to talk to her. And her editor. SALLY You going to threaten them with quarantine? WILLIAM I'm going to get them on our side. Basic damage control. SALLY Judging from the article, she doesn't like you very much. WILLIAM She's never met me. SALLY But John has and we know he didn't like you. WILLIAM You talk to her. Find her and get her on board. Sell her on the importance of the project to the region. Tell her we will investigate fully and do the right thing, but it's important not to go off half cocked and spread a lot of stories that we don't know to be true. SALLY Maybe I'll even convince myself in the process. WILLIAM My brother and I against my cousin. My cousin and I against the world. (Sally exits. William goes back to working quietly at his desk. The lights come up the site and fade on the office. Wendy enters and starts to explore the site. The Spirit and John enter and do the warning dance. Wendy becomes aware of their presence, but doesn't see them. She struggles to communicate with them, but eventually fails and they exit. Wendy is left exhausted. Sally enters.) WENDY Hi. SALLY How are you? WENDY Tired. SALLY How long have you been down here? WENDY I don't know. Off and on. SALLY You know that it might be dangerous. WENDY Might be? It killed John. SALLY Maybe. We don't know that for sure. WENDY He haunts this place. SALLY They don't really know what he died from. WENDY Can't you feel him? His spirit is here. He's with that, that other thing that haunts this place. SALLY No I can't. WENDY I don't believe you. SALLY I don't believe in ghosts. I don't think you believe in ghosts either. WENDY I don't. But I know that I can feel John. He's not here right now, but he was here. SALLY How do you feel? WENDY It's not going to work. SALLY You don't look good. WENDY You're not going to scare me away. SALLY I don't want to scare you away. I'm just worried about you. There's a chance you might be catching whatever killed John. If that's happening then it's stupid for you to come down here. It's stupid for you to do anything other than be in a hospital. WENDY I'm a reporter. I have a story to tell. SALLY Then tell it. I read your story. It was one-sided and full of errors. What sort of reporter doesn't try to get the facts? You never talked to us. You told John's story. You told the story of a man who was sick out of his mind. WENDY It was a good story. SALLY It was a story. Fiction. It wasn't journalism. It wasn't reporting. WENDY You would have talked to me? Honestly? SALLY I would have. I still will. Talk to me. Come talk to William Stark. Then write a real article. WENDY John was very afraid of you. SALLY The disease was eating at his brain. WENDY I think he saw the truth. SALLY Divine delirium? WENDY He was on to something. He knew what this was about. SALLY And what was that? WENDY These are markers. SALLY For some ancient dump of deadly poison? That we can't detect? Some poison that we don't know about. WENDY You think you know all about every poison, every toxic waste that exists or did exist in the world? SALLY We know enough to know when we find something that we don't know what it is. WENDY Like these markers? SALLY Yes, like these markers. WENDY And what are you doing about it? You going to blow them up to get on with the excavations? SALLY No. We're investigating - some drilling, core samples. We're also re- designing the project to avoid excavating. And you would have known that if you'd have talked to us. Instead you wrote a story that was based on half-truths and the delirious ramblings of a half-crazed man. WENDY There was a lot of truth in it. SALLY Enough to really mislead the public. Enough to make for a sensational story. WENDY You think I really blew it? SALLY Yes. WENDY I'm sorry. SALLY But you can make up for it. Write another article. Interview me. Interview William. Tell the whole story. WENDY Tell your side of the story? SALLY Tell the whole story. Set the story straight. You're a journalist. It's your duty to tell the straight objective truth. To tell the story from all sides. If you don't someone else will. WENDY You'll let me talk to anyone I want to? Interview workers, look at your test data, whatever? SALLY Sure. (The Spirit and John enter. Wendy reacts. Sally assumes that Wendy is getting sick and tries to help her. Wendy fights off Sally and blindly tries to join The Spirit and John in the "warning dance", even though she can't see them. She fails and collapses. The Spirit and John leave and Sally goes to help Wendy.) SALLY We better get you some help. WENDY No. SALLY We'll go see a doctor and then you can talk to whoever you want. WENDY No! SALLY You're sick. You're hot, you have a fever. You need medical attention. WENDY Not from you. SALLY You don't know what you're saying. WENDY Get away from me. (Wendy breaks away from Sally.) SALLY Wendy, please. WENDY No. Leave me alone. Go away. SALLY I can't do that. (Wendy suddenly rushes out. Sally is left alone. Sally goes to the office where she is joined by William.) SALLY Didn't work. WILLIAM She's a loose cannon. SALLY She's sick. WILLIAM Where do we go from here? SALLY We have to find her. WILLIAM She's not going to write our story? SALLY She's going to die. WILLIAM That could be bad. SALLY That would be very bad. WILLIAM There would be a follow up story. One death could look like an accident. Two deaths and people will believe there's something out there. SALLY She's going to die. A person is going to die if we don't find her and help her. I want a full scale search. Call the local authorities. (Wendy enters the site and tries to find the Spirit and John. She searches for them in vain.) WILLIAM No. Too much publicity would be bad. SALLY We're talking about her life. WILLIAM And if we find her. What can we do for her? What did we manage to do for Stevens when we finally got him to the hospital? SALLY They learned from that. WILLIAM They don't know what the cause is or what the cure is. SALLY She's not as far gone. (The Spirit and John enter and Wendy becomes aware of them. They do the "warning dance" and she tries to dance with them, failing because she does not see them.) WILLIAM I have to deal with the publicity one way or the other. SALLY The best thing would be to have her write another article. WILLIAM You said you didn't convince her. SALLY I'll try again. WILLIAM We don't have time for that. I have to respond to that damn article she wrote. We've been getting calls from other reporters. National reporters. We don't have much time before this whole thing blows up. SALLY What are you going to do? WILLIAM I've been giving them the company line. We've found something, we don't know what it is. We're investigating, we have no plans, nor have we ever had any plans to destroy anything. Yes, John Stevens is dead from some mysterious illness, but we don't believe it is in any way connected with his work here. SALLY I can't say that. WILLIAM You can and you will. Because it's the truth. We don't know what killed Stevens. You've been down there and you're not dead. SALLY Yet. WILLIAM Is that it? Do you feel sick? Have you seen a doctor? SALLY After I brought John in. They didn't find anything. WILLIAM See him again. SALLY Like you said. They don't know what killed John. They don't know what they're looking for. (Wendy finally sees the Spirit and John. They dance together.) WILLIAM We have to go forward with a plan that will handle this issue. We don't have this reporter on board so it can't depend on her writing another article. We bring in some top flight reporters. We discredit her story. We show them what we're doing, talk about the responsibility of the press and how we've been victimized. SALLY Maybe they'll have some integrity and refuse to be bullied. WILLIAM Then I'll find some more sympathetic members of the press. We will get our story told and it will be a good one. SALLY It will be a lie. WILLIAM It will tell the world that we're here trying to do the right thing and that certain members of the press are only interested in making sensational headlines, regardless of the cost to the innocent. SALLY And are we going to do the right thing? Are we going to fully explore the site? Figure out what happened and leave open the option of cancelling the project if we find something bad? Regardless of the cost? (Wendy gets past the thrill of actually seeing the Spirit and stops dancing with them.) WENDY Who are you? SPIRIT Go away. JOHN Leave here, Wendy. Leave this place. WENDY I don't want to leave. I want to understand what this place is. I want to know who you are. SPIRIT Leave. WENDY I won't. JOHN You have to leave. Please, Wendy. Please leave. WENDY No. JOHN Please. WENDY Tell me who you are. JOHN It's me. John. WENDY Who or what is this? SPIRIT Go away. JOHN Listen to the spirit. WENDY I can't. (The Spirit and John dance away from Wendy. Wendy follows and tries to dance with them.) WILLIAM This is still a business and we have to do what is right for the business. SALLY What about what's right for the customer? WILLIAM That's part of the equation. SALLY People dying is part of the equation? WILLIAM People die all the time. SALLY So what are you going to do? WILLIAM Go forward. Get the right press. SALLY Discredit Wendy Naz? WILLIAM Show the world that she wasn't playing straight with them. SALLY Attack her personally? WILLIAM She might perceive it that way. But it's not personal. SALLY It's business. WILLIAM And you're a part of that business. So you will continue to be a part of the team. You will give interviews and you will tell our story. (The Spirit and John stop dancing.) JOHN The story. (Wendy dances with the Spirit and John as they dance "the story of the markers". Wendy collapses, exhausted and ill at the end.) JOHN I'm sorry. WENDY Why? JOHN It killed me. It's killing you. WENDY I have to tell the world about the markers. JOHN You're going to die. WENDY Why did they do it? JOHN They wanted to warn us. WENDY Why did they make this poison? JOHN I don't know. WENDY Why are you, uh, why are you, haunting this place? JOHN I don't know. WENDY Will I? JOHN I have to warn people. The Spirit won't let me go. Why didn't you listen? WENDY Why didn't you? JOHN Leave now. Maybe the doctors can help you. WENDY They couldn't help you. JOHN Go. SPIRIT Leave this place. (Wendy exits. The Spirit and John, now clearly in tow against his will, exit.) WILLIAM I'll deal with the press. SALLY And I'll manage the project. WILLIAM And find that reporter. SALLY Why? WILLIAM If she writes another article, that tells the whole story - so much the better. SALLY I don't think she's going to want to do that. WILLIAM Just make sure she doesn't write another article like the last one. SALLY She's out there somewhere, dying. WILLIAM Then make sure that she isn't found dead in the wrong place. SALLY And what would be the right place? (William exits. Sally goes to the site and looks for Wendy. She finds Wendy, who is huddled behind one of the spikes.) SALLY Wendy? Are you okay? You shouldn't be down here. WENDY Leave me alone. SALLY You need to see a doctor. WENDY I saw one. SALLY What did he say. WENDY She said I'm sick. Real sick. She didn't know what it was. I told her about John. Asked her what she knew about that. Funny thing. She hadn't even heard that he had died. She told me that if there had been some unusual cause of death, she would have been alerted since she's one of a very small number of doctors in the area. She wasn't. SALLY Well, I'm sure that the clinic - WENDY The company clinic. SALLY I'm sure they did all the proper things. WENDY Yeah. SALLY What else did she say? WENDY She wanted me to go into the hospital. SALLY So why are you here? WENDY It's a good day to die. My husband used to say that. I never understood what he meant. He's a cop. SALLY Let me take you to hospital. Wherever you want. WENDY So I can die like John? While they look on trying to figure out what is killing me? SALLY Maybe they can help you. If there's even a chance, don't you think you should take it? WENDY I know what's killing me. John told me. SALLY He's dead. WENDY I know. He mentioned that when he told me. SALLY You're delirious. WENDY Do you think I want to die? I have a son. I want to watch him grow up. I don't care about the big story anymore. I like my life. I didn't ask to be part of this. SALLY Now you're dying from it. WENDY Yeah. It's a good day to die. SALLY Let's go to the hospital. WENDY If there's an answer, it's down here. SALLY You think you can find it? WENDY No. SALLY You didn't talk to John. He's dead. WENDY I talked to John. He's with that other thing that haunts this place, that spirit, guardian thing. It won't let him go. Don't you see? The spirit is not in tune with us. But John is. John can warn people because he was a person - is a person. Whatever. SALLY A ghost? WENDY Whatever he is he can talk with us. I talked to him. He, maybe they, told me about the markers. They told me that there is poison, toxic waste buried here. It's been poison for thousands of years and will be poison for thousands of years. SALLY Why did they bury it here? WENDY They had to get rid of it. This was out of the way and burying it seemed like a good choice. SALLY Out of sight, out of mind. WENDY But it's still here. The spikes are here to warn us. SALLY How are we supposed to know that? WENDY It's as obvious as they could be. They knew that their language would be forgotten someday. They made these spikes for anyone who would listen, anyone who could listen. You can feel it, you can feel that it's telling us to stay away. We have to listen. SALLY You're not doing a very good job of staying away. WENDY I have to learn why they did this. SALLY You just said ... WENDY Why they made this poison. Why did they do this. What was so valuable that they would make this horrible poison that would kill people for thousands of years? SALLY Only if we ignore the markers. We're re-designing the whole project to avoid the spikes. We're not going to excavate anymore than a minimal amount to establish a foundation. People are not going to be exposed to whatever is down here. WENDY Don't give me that. You're telling the world that John died from some mysterious illness that wasn't connected with this place. You're telling people that there is no evidence of danger and that you're re- designing the project to preserve the archaeological wonder of the spikes so that it can be studied over the years. You're telling the world that I reported the ravings of a lunatic as fact and that maybe I'm nuts myself. SALLY You do talk to dead men. WENDY One. One dead man. SALLY That is a little unusual. WENDY Should we both stay down here until he shows up and you can talk to him? SALLY I think that would be a bad idea. WENDY Are you afraid? Are you afraid that I'm right? That I'm right and you've been down here enough so that you're probably dying just like I am. Maybe not as fast, but just as surely. And deep in your heart, you know that putting the whole thing up on stilts means that the people who live there will just die slower. But they'll die the same. The same as me, the same as you. SALLY We don't know that. WENDY Listen to what you feel. Pay attention to your whole self. I'm telling the truth. SALLY You're sick. WENDY Divine delirium. SALLY Don't say that. WENDY It's a good day to die. SALLY Don't say that either. WENDY Listen. Just listen with your whole self. Listen with your toes, hear with your stomach. SALLY The disease is eating at you. WENDY It's eating at you, too. The poison is going to eat at anyone who spends anytime anywhere around here. And there's no way around that. SALLY You're ill. WENDY Maybe I can find an answer in that illness. A truth in that fever. A truth where the fever burns hottest. And the one thing we need is some truth here. We have to understand what happened here. It's not enough to know that there's poison. We have to know why they did it. We have to understand what we can learn from them. This is what they have left us. Our distant ancestors have left us this place, with these markers and this deadly poison and all you care about is making the project profitable? What's wrong with this picture? (Pause.) SALLY Maybe you're right. WENDY Of course, I'm right. But I'm dying, too. I don't have much time. And if William Stark has his way I don't have any time. SALLY But don't you want to try and have more time? Go to the hospital, see what they can do for you. Write another article, tell more of your story. If you die here, everything you have learned dies with you. WENDY If I die here, it's another death from the same thing that killed John. One death, who knows. Two, maybe someone will pay attention. SALLY You want to martyr yourself. Who will tell your story? Me? WENDY I guess no one. SALLY Unless you tell it. (The Spirit and John enter. Wendy sees them and freezes, Sally senses them and reacts to Wendy.) SPIRIT Go away. JOHN Please leave, Wendy. Please. WENDY Tell me why. Tell me why they did it. JOHN Just leave. Make people stay away from here. WENDY I'm dying, John. SALLY Who are you talking to? WENDY Don't you see them? The Spirit and John? SALLY We're the only ones here. We're alone. Just the two of us. WENDY No. They're here. JOHN She can't see us. Yet. Make her leave. It's not too late for her. WENDY You have to leave. SALLY Not without you. SPIRIT Go away. JOHN While there's still time. WENDY Can't you hear them? You have to leave. SALLY No. Not without you. (Wendy looks at the Spirit and then at Sally. Suddenly she decides and rushes at the Spirit. The Spirit avoids her and the movement evolves into the "infection dance" with the Spirit and Wendy. John looks on in horror. He is unable to do anything and he turns to Sally. He tries to get her to do something, but Sally is transfixed watching Wendy dance. Finally, Wendy collapses and the Spirit exits. John rushes to her side, as does Sally.) SALLY Are you okay? What happened? Why did you do that? JOHN No. No, don't give in. WENDY Mmmmmnnnnn. SALLY This is bad. (Sally pulls Wendy to her feet and helps her out. John is helpless, left to watch as the two exit. He sits crying amongst the spikes. William enters his office and reviews paperwork at his desk. Sally enters his office.) SALLY It's too much. WILLIAM What is? SALLY We have to cancel the project. WILLIAM What do you have? SALLY That stuff down there is poison and it will kill people. Raising the whole thing won't do any good at all. It'll just make them die slower. WILLIAM Is there some new analysis? Some new evidence? Some reason that you know that? SALLY I've been down to the site again. I saw Wendy Naz. She talked to John. WILLIAM John ... ? SALLY John Stevens. The archaeologist. WILLIAM The dead archaeologist. SALLY Yes, the dead archaeologist. WILLIAM You talked to a dead man. SALLY I didn't. Wendy did. But I was there. WILLIAM Why didn't you talk to him? SALLY I couldn't. WILLIAM I don't like talking to ghosts, myself. SALLY I couldn't see or hear him. WILLIAM But the reporter could. You believe that a ghost which you couldn't see or hear was there. SALLY Yes. I could feel him. I could feel his presence. I know this sounds nuts to you, but there's things going on that we don't understand and we have to listen to all of our senses. Hear with our stomachs. WILLIAM Yes, of course we should. That's why we have stomachs. So we can hear with them. (Pause.) SALLY You don't feel anything when you go down to the excavation site? WILLIAM I need hard data. Information that I can take a stand on. SALLY And then you'll take a stand? WILLIAM I'll make the appropriate decision. SALLY My opinion isn't worth anything to you. WILLIAM To propose aborting this project I need a hell of a lot more than that. SALLY How much do you need? How many dead bodies? One wasn't enough. Would two be enough? Three? Six? How many? John's dead. Wendy will probably be dead soon. I could send a crew down there and see how many of them died. I just need to know how many have to die, so I can plan accordingly. WILLIAM Find out what killed Stevens. Tell me that something down there killed him and you know what it is. SALLY Something down there killed him and I know what it is. I know there's a spirit of the markers that infects you and eventually kills you. It wants you to leave. That's what those spikes are there for - to warn us. WILLIAM There's no spirit. (The Spirit, John, and Wendy enter. Sally sees the three of them.) SALLY That's it. It's here. They're here. WILLIAM What are you talking about? SALLY The Spirit is here. And John. And Wendy. You're dead aren't you, Wendy? WILLIAM You've lost it. SALLY Don't you see, them? Of course, you don't see them. I couldn't see them until . .. WILLIAM I'm really worried about you, Sally. SALLY You should be. I can see them. I can see you. All three of you. I can see them. (The Spirit, John, and Wendy exit. Sally sits, exhausted.) WILLIAM You should see the doctor. SALLY Wendy Naz is dead. That's two. Is that enough for you? WILLIAM Did someone find her body? SALLY I just saw her ghost. She was here. She was here and she was dead. She is dead. She was killed by the same thing that killed John Stevens. She was killed by whatever it is that's down in that excavation site. WILLIAM We don't know that for sure. SALLY I know it because I saw them. I saw them because I've been down there in that hole with those spikes. I've been down there a lot and I've got it, too. I'm infected with the same thing. The more it eats at me the closer I get to them and now I can see them. Soon, I'll be able to hear them and then I'll be one of them. I'll be dead. WILLIAM We have to get you help before it's too late. SALLY Too late? What about all the people who will die if we go ahead with this project? When will it be too late for them? Don't you see what you have to do? John's dead. Wendy's dead. And I'm dying. How many does it take? What does the body count have to be for you to get it? WILLIAM What's important here is that we take care of you. Listen to me as your friend. We go back a long way. I don't want you to die. I'm serious about this. You have to do everything you can to fight this. SALLY That's what I'm doing. Everything I can to fight this project. Everything I can to keep more people from dying. (Sally exits.) WILLIAM Sally! (William goes to his desk is unable to concentrate on paperwork. He considers calling someone, thinks better of it and exits. Sally enters the site and seeks the Spirit.) SALLY John? Wendy? Spirit? Where are you? (The Spirit, John, and Wendy enter.) SPIRIT Go away. Leave here. SALLY It's too late for me. JOHN You're still alive. It's not too late. SALLY I can see you. I can hear you. I'm almost one of you. WENDY While there's still time. You have to warn people. SALLY I can't convince William to stop the project. WENDY Tell the world. JOHN Warn the world. SALLY How can I do that? WENDY Tell the press. SALLY So they can come here and die? You tried to tell the story and no one listened. The major papers didn't pick up your story. No one's listening. WENDY Tell the story. JOHN Tell it to everyone. SALLY I'm not a reporter. JOHN Preach. Tell the masses. Make them stay away. WENDY Tell them about the markers. Tell them about the poison. Tell them that the Heights are forbidden because of the poison. SALLY No one will listen to me. JOHN Tell the story. (The Spirit, John and Wendy dance "the story of the markers". Sally watches, but doesn't participate.) SALLY I don't know. JOHN You have to tell the world. SALLY No one will listen to me. WENDY They will listen to the story. Tell it. JOHN It's your story, too. You have to tell it. SALLY I can tell your stories. How you two died. JOHN Good. Tell the world that. Tell them how the poison killed us. SALLY They might listen. If the body count is high enough. And then when I die, they'll have to listen. SPIRIT Go away. Leave. JOHN Yes, leave. Go out and warn the world while there is still time. WENDY Tell the story. JOHN Tell the story. SPIRIT The story. (Sally joins The Spirit, John, and Wendy in dancing "the story of the markers". During the dance William enters and watches. When the dance is over, Sally collapses exhausted to the ground. William goes to her.) WILLIAM You're very, very ill. Let me help you. SALLY Mmmmmnnnn. WENDY No! JOHN No! SALLY No. WILLIAM You and I are getting out of here. SALLY No. JOHN No! WENDY No! WILLIAM We are going, now. (William picks Sally up. Wendy and John block his way, then give their strength to Sally.) WILLIAM You're right about one thing, Sally. There's something weird about this place. I don't know what it is, and I don't care. But whatever is going on down here, I'm not going to let it get in the way of this project. Superstition and legend and fear of what we don't understand has been standing in the way of progress for as long as there has been progress. If it weren't for men like me, humanity would never get anywhere. SPIRIT Leave. Go away. Leave. Go away. (John and Wendy collapse defeated. Sally comes to, seeming to have gained strength from John and Wendy.) SPIRIT Leave. Go away. Leave. Go away. SALLY Stop. Put me down. WILLIAM I'm taking you to the hospital. SALLY No! (William puts Sally down.) WILLIAM You need to see a doctor. SALLY I'm dying. There's nothing they can do for me. But there is something I can do for you. Come over here. Take hold of this spike. Go ahead. Grab it. (William touches the spike and lets go of it.) Hold on to it. WILLIAM It feels, uh ... SALLY Grab hold of it. Hold on to it. (Sally holds on to the spike, William does as well. While he holds the spike, The Spirit caresses his body.) WILLIAM This is stupid. SALLY These spikes are markers. They mark poison. Poison that is killing me. Poison that killed John and killed Wendy. They are markers of the legacy of a technology. They are markers of the debt that our ancestors owe to us for leaving this poison in our world. A debt that we have to pay. We cannot ignore these markers. Feel what they are saying to you. I know you can feel it. Even you can feel it. You can hear with your stomach, listen with your knees. (Pause.) SALLY I'm going to die here. WILLIAM No. SALLY Yes. I'm going to die here and you are going to watch. You are going to stay here until you listen to what you're hearing. (Sally slowly sinks to the floor exhausted as William becomes more obsessed with the Spirit that is caressing him. Finally, Sally collapses completely and William turns and embraces the Spirit. He breaks from the embrace and sees the Spirit.) WILLIAM Oh god, no. (William tries to leave the site. He is stopped by the spirits of John and Wendy. He turns back to the site and sees the collapsed Sally.) WILLIAM No. (Pause.) No! end of play The Story of the Markers (as told by the Spirit of the Markers through dance) My people did many great things. Our artists created visions of beauty and told wonderful stories of the heroes of the past. Our architects built great buildings, our leaders built great communities, and our engineers built great cities. Our farmers produced more food than we needed, and our chefs created feasts beyond our wildest dreams. Our scientists learned the deep secrets of the world, how things worked and how to shape the world to our wants. It was a golden age. But it was not enough. Always we wanted more. I was a poet and it was my place in the world to write a poem about our greatest scientist. She took us farther than anyone had ever gone before. She learned the secrets of the elements and she learned how to make new elements that had never existed before. Elements that were more valuable than silver or gold. Elements that gave us great power, power to run our machines, to make new machines. She gave us unlimited power. I, and everyone who lived worshipped her. But their was a price for the power. The new elements were poisonous. And once they were made, they could not be unmade. The scientist tried to stop us from making more. She saw the danger, but it was too late. We lusted after the power and we would not give up the new elements. The elements were everywhere and our people started to die. It was as the scientist had said, the elements were killing us. After many died, our leaders took action. All of the new elements were brought here. But it was too late for us. The sickness continued and without power we could do nothing. Our addiction to power, was too much for us. The spikes were set in place to warn those who would come after us. I am here, I am my epic poem, to warn those who will not listen to the spikes.