Emily!
Aah!
There is nothing wrong with your television set.
Do not attempt to adjust the picture.
We are controlling transmission.
We will control the horizontal.
We will control the vertical.
We can change the focus to a soft blur
or sharpen it to crystal clarity.
For the next hour, sit quietly,
and we will control all that you see and hear.
You are about to participate in a great adventure.
You are about to experience the awe and mystery
which reaches from the inner mind to...
In the course of centuries,
man has devoured the earth itself.
The machine age has dried up the seas of oil.
Industry has consumed the heartlands of coal.
The atomic age has plundered the rare elements...
Uranium, cobalt, plutonium...
Leaving behind worthless deposits of lead and ashes.
Starvation is at hand.
Only here, in the void of space,
is there a new source of atomic power.
Above us, in the debris of the solar system,
in the meteorites and asteroids,
are the materials needed to drive the reactors.
Yet, in their distant, silent orbits,
these chunks of matter are beyond the reach of man,
beyond the reach of human hands,
but not beyond the reach of the human mind.
Driving along a country road in an ordinary car
is a modest man:
Harold J. Finley,
quiet and profound.
Hey, move over a bit, can't you?
Why don't you turn around and go the other way?
Well, that takes me 12 miles out of my way!
Then just wait till we're finished!
Are you looking for trouble, Mack?
Harold!
It's 20 minutes past 8:00.
There are no classes for me this morning.
I've got somebody filling in for me.
I'm, uh, driving over to Reedsville.
Oh, now, don't tell me you're pestering
those space people again.
You tried to get a job with them last year.
They told you they need research scientists.
Good ones.
I have more to offer now.
Yes, you're a year older.
Sometimes a man tries
to climb out of the rut he's in.
I'm sick of teaching at a second-rate college.
Did you fix the faucet
in the upstairs bathroom?
Yes. Yesterday, when you asked me to.
Vera, I really mustn't stand here talking.
Harold...
Harold!
Stop at the supermarket
and return these bottles, will you?
They're waiting for me.
Oh, Harold.
What do they use you for, an astronaut?
I've already seen one of their most important men.
He's having me meet with his entire staff.
They think I may be able
to save one of their most important projects.
The asteroid belt is located between Jupiter and Mars.
All shapes and sizes, thousands of them.
Sometimes they collide, shatter, and rain down.
The particles weigh thousands of pounds.
Most of them are crude metal structure, like iron.
But the big ones contain rare earths.
Uranium and titanium,
in tremendous quantities.
That's no use if you can't get to it.
Space capsules can't crack an asteroid,
break off hunks of it.
Well, we're working on it.
We think we're making progress.
Gentlemen, I'm sorry.
I realize how hard you have worked,
but Washington has decided
to close you down.
You'll all be transferred
to more practical projects.
They can't close us down.
Why, this one project will pay for the entire country.
For defense costs, for schools, for highways,
for the whole federal budget.
Why, we could abolish taxes.
Your last report to us admits
you simply have not developed
any mining devices
light enough to orbit
and heavy enough to do the job.
No, we haven't.
And your space capsules
can't possibly generate enough power
to deflect an asteroid mass
out of trajectory
into the earth's pull,
much less control them on the way.
Gentlemen...
You've met Mr. Harold J. Finley.
Mr. Finley's a college professor.
He's been studying the electromagnetic
field phenomenon.
He and I have been working together
on a possible solution.
Now I want you to see this.
I think he's discovered a means of gravity control,
far beyond any power we know.
This fragment was found near Redlands, Texas.
The metallic structure has been fused and compressed
to a weight of over half a ton.
Mr. Finley...
Tell them how you do it, Finley.
I, uh...
I have developed a...
A link gate...
Complex enough to regulate the forces
of the field energy surrounding us.
These waves are... Are all around us now,
like, uh, radio waves, television channels...
X-rays, and so on.
The entire electromagnetic flux.
I have no actual power myself.
But by using my brain patterns
as a sort of focusing device
I'm able to direct electromagnetic field energy
into a discrete beam.
It's rather as though my brain were a lens...
Focusing light waves into a sharp line.
I'd like to see the actual device.
Device?
The link gate, uh, amplifier,
whatever it is.
I'm afraid that's not possible.
You see, I had to have a special operation.
It's embedded here.
Directly in the frontal lobe.
Did you see it?
It's embedded in the frontal system,
below the fissure of Orlando.
6 months ago, Mr. Finley showed me the link
and persuaded me to authorize
an extraordinary operation.
You?
Yeah. We knew there'd be risks.
It was the toughest decision I ever had to make.
But I insisted that I really wanted it done.
And, frankly, we were on the spot here.
We needed a miracle to save us.
And no one was offering us any miracles but Finley.
I've been running some pattern tests.
If he can control the power,
we'll have one of the space crew
undergo a similar operation.
A massive power control
built right into one of our astronauts?
Perfect solution, wouldn't you say?
Asteroids and meteorites slowed down to boarding speed,
mineral fragments smashed off...
All by the concentration of force fields
directed by conscious thought.
Forget about that cancellation.
I have a report to make.
I'm Dr. Hindeman, project psychiatrist.
Yes, Dr. Hindeman.
Tell me, what made you take the chance?
I mean, why risk your life
in a major brain operation?
Well, it was because
I wanted to work with you people
here on the project.
You're aware, of course, that the human brain
contains more than just scanning waves...
Synapses?
Yes, sir, I am very well aware of that.
These mechanical aspects contain the human mind,
the emotions.
Our hates and fears.
It holds dark secrets
locked in the closets of our memory.
Strange urges, strange drives
that our conscious egos are not even aware of.
What will happen...
If they, too, begin to get control
over massive amounts
of electromagnetic power?
Are you telling me
they actually want to pay you?
Yes, twice the salary I'm getting at the college.
They want to make me an official member
of the research team.
Are they trying not to catch up
with the Russians?
Happily, not everybody
has your exalted opinion of me.
I don't get it.
I bet you're making it up.
You've been acting funny ever since
that brain operation last winter.
Vera, I never told you the truth
about the brain operation.
Oh? No, you, see I...
I've invented an energy link
sub-miniature, controlling at cosmic voltage...
You're not listening.
Oh, you know how technical talk bores me.
You were saying? Your operation...
Oh, it doesn't matter.
We'll have to sell this house.
What?
Yes, of course, if we're moving over to Reedsville.
I'm not moving over to Reedsville.
You want me to stay a worm, don't you?
An unimportant, unproductive,
classroom worm.
Some women take their husband's hands
and say, "together, we'll climb to the stars."
But not you.
Never you.
I-I'm going to see Dean Radcliffe,
to arrange about a teaching replacement.
Harold, I'd like to say yes,
but I'd be a poor administrator indeed
if I didn't give first consideration
to the welfare of the school.
You have a contract to teach
until the end of the semester.
You could get a replacement for me.
But I'm counting on you.
A new replacement would be without experience,
and time would be wasted in teaching him procedures,
familiarizing him with techniques...
And students.
But I'm needed on that project.
It's vital, important work.
Nothing is more vital
than teaching the young, Harold.
We have a responsibility to the future.
We can't simply turn our backs
on work half-done
and go off in search of adventure.
I suppose you won't object to my working
at the space center in my spare time?
Oh, I'm sorry, Harold.
You've given me your promise to serve on this faculty.
We ask full time. We need full time.
No other member splits his concentration
into other fields.
You have a commitment here, and I must hold you to it.
I don't want to replace you.
I can't replace you.
The answer is no.
I'll be at the faculty club for lunch...
Aah!
Ready?
All ready.
I won't register full force this first time.
I'll keep it down to half.
All right.
Now full concentration.
Just make sure you don't crystallize your thoughts
toward a specific task.
All right, you can relax now.
According to these field equations,
you're controlling a directional force
equivalent to 1/2 million kilowatts.
It increases each time we do it.
I seemed to be able
to concentrate more deeply.
Yes, your control is becoming more effective every time.
Right now, you can channel a force
strong enough to, uh, power, uh...
A medium-sized aircraft carrier.
All right, gentlemen.
That'll be all for today.
Thank you.
We're asking an awful lot of you.
Putting you through these tests,
examining you.
I hope you're not trying to carry
your faculty work at the college.
Uh, no, sir. I've let that go.
This is all I want.
Just to be of some use
in something really important.
You won't regret it.
One day, one of those presidential citations
will probably read, "Harold J. Finley."
Mr. Finley, have you got a minute?
Yes.
My name is Steve Crandon.
I volunteered for the operation.
I don't know whether they'll pick me,
but whoever they select,
you're going to be right along
in that capsule with him.
All of them. In spirit, I mean.
That's very gratifying.
It's very gratifying, indeed.
I'm... I'm honored.
Oh, no, sir.
We're the ones that are honored.
You risked your life. You were first.
You know, you astronauts
have brought a whole new vitality to bear
on the business of living.
There's been nothing like you
since the old pioneering days.
Oh, thank you, sir, but...
You make up for all the miseries
and disappointments and... failures
and kicks in the teeth
that the rest of us have to bear.
Failure? You?
Just do me one favor.
Don't wait until you're my age
to make your Mark.
Do it while you're young and strong
and vigorous.
Do it right now.
I hope you don't mind this bit of fatherly advice.
I don't mind at all, sir.
Don't let them crush you.
Crush me?
Are you married?
No, sir. Not yet.
But I have the proverbial
girl back home.
What does she feel about your work here?
She thinks it's fine.
Good.
Mr. Finley...
Are there...
Any aftereffects?
What?
Oh, you mean the, uh, the operation.
Uh, there are a few headaches, naturally,
but they soon disappear.
It's a fascinating concept.
The human brain acting as a control center.
Having enough cosmic energy
to blow half the world off the map.
Pow!
It's a good thing we're both
peace-loving citizens.
Yes, sir.
Are you free for dinner?
Hello, Vera.
I brought somebody home with me.
Meet Steve Crandon.
Vera?
We're working together on the project.
How do you do, Mrs. Finley.
How do you do.
Steve is one of the astronauts, Vera.
Speaking of the space center, Harold,
Dean Radcliffe dropped in this afternoon.
Oh, yes?
He wanted to see you. He seemed angry.
Said you were neglecting your classes.
You can't say I didn't warn you, Harold.
Oh, well, there's...
There's no use letting a little bad news
spoil our dinner.
I've already eaten.
I left some things on the stove
for you to heat up.
You said you were going to come home early
and help wash windows.
You didn't, naturally, so I can't stop now.
I seem to have barged in
at a wrong time, Mr. Finley.
I'll catch a bus back.
No, uh, wait a minute.
No, wait a minute. Steve...
We'll have to make it another time,
if you don't mind.
That's all right, Mr. Finley. I understand.
You'll like Vera when you get to know her.
Aaaaah!
Aah!
Vera!
It touched me. Electricity.
Crawling all over my face.
It pushed me!
There isn't anything here!
Dangerous things, ladders.
I can't tell you the number of people
who fall off them every year.
I didn't fall.
I felt something ugly and crawling.
But you were alone... Up there on the ladder.
You lost your balance.
I told you something pulled at me.
It threw me down.
Vera, it must be your imagination.
You were alone! How could it have done...
How could anything have pulled at you?
I don't know!
I'll send over a practical nurse tomorrow morning.
Good night, Mrs. Finley, Mr. Finley.
Uh, send for me if you have any trouble.
Hello?
Is that you, Harold? Dean Radcliffe here.
Did Vera speak to you?
Yes, she told me you wanted to talk to me.
You've broken your word to me, Harold.
You promised you would devote yourself to teaching.
You signed a contract.
But, look... please.
Hello? Hello?
I'm here, Harold.
I want to give you a chance to live up to your word.
If you realized the importance
of what I'm doing...
Harold, I'm aware of the importance
of space research and atomic research
and the diplomatic corps,
but those are fields for specialists!
You belong in the field of education.
It's your lifework, and I won't let you throw it away.
Listen. C-can I come over and talk to you right now?
I'm in bed, Harold. It's 11:30.
Well, first thing in the morning, then?
If you want to, but I don't see what I can do about it.
I don't see at all.
The man's a nobody... A no-talent, ineffectual nobody.
Precisely the kind who gets all the undeserved breaks.
Good night, Emily.
Good night, dear.
Sometimes I wish...
Find an extra pillow and put it behind my back, Harold.
Yes.
Here.
I almost wish...
Emily!
Aah!
It was like a force...
A weird shape, as though it had life.
It, uh, pulled me out of the bed.
It was like a...
Thousand crawling sparks all over me,
and it, uh, threw me against that door.
No noise? No explosion?
No. Nothing like that.
I'm not even sure I was awake.
Anyhow, I, um, I came to out in the hall,
and I looked in here, and I saw a thing...
Hard to describe.
It, uh, was like a piece of a storm...
Snakes of lightning
striking in all directions...
Stabbing and burning.
It, uh, it gave off a sound like a ripping cloth.
Electricity snapping and tearing.
No sign of your husband?
No, he's, uh, gone.
He said, "good night, Emily,"
and I put out the light, and that's the last I...
He's just gone.
It doesn't make sense.
Everything else is wiped out except where you...
Yes, sir?
What are you doing here?
I...
Had an appointment with the Dean...
This morning.
You keep tapping in on more and more power.
It's like a cosmic reservoir.
There's no limit to the amount
that could be fed into the link gate.
It won't be long before we can direct it
into the city systems.
Won't need power plants, not even atomic reactors.
Pure power... Pure and perfect...
Controlled by the mind of man.
That'll be enough.
You can relax now, Harold.
You know, I don't want to sound prophetic,
but, uh, we're close to becoming gods.
What about Steve?
Did they select him?
Yes.
He'll be operated on in the morning.
Mr. Finley, come in.
Dr. Hindeman.
Do you mind if I ask you
an entirely theoretical question?
Not at all.
This, uh, cosmic energy that I control...
We've... we measured it.
We've been testing it, and, uh, it seems to be...
Sit down, please.
Thank you.
It seems to be related to the substructure of space.
It has, uh, certain electromagnetic properties,
but it's related to the inertia field.
It's as if it were the universal radiant
of all the stars in all the galaxies.
Now you, as a psychiatrist...
Would you say that it's possible that my emotions
could change the character of these waves?
Well, that's the point I made
the first day you were here.
The force is constant,
but it can be misguided.
Since the beginning of time,
men have believed in the possibility
of projecting evil thoughts.
Well, now we know that the thought process can really
exercise control over an electromagnetic force.
And this control can use these powers to evil ends.
Then we can project destruction?
Very possibly.
But not if I didn't want to... Not subconsciously.
Have you ever been under analysis, Mr. Finley?
No. I never thought it would help me.
Hmm.
For all you know
there may be a hidden side to your nature.
Could be a mass of hostile urges,
bitterness, resentment against this person or that.
You mean, I might want to hurt somebody?
I... I might even want to kill him?
Or her.
Without my even realizing it?
We all suffer the slings and arrows
of an outraged subconscious.
Vera.
The Dean's secretary telephoned.
Dean Radcliffe's funeral is on Tuesday.
Vera...
I killed him.
You what?
And you were right about the ladder.
You were pulled off it and thrown down.
I did it.
Have you gone out of your mind?!
Well, you were home when the Dean...
You weren't near the ladder when I...
I can be a hundred miles away...
And still control matter.
Vera, I never told you the truth about my operation...
About this brain operation.
It's... it's given me a terrible power.
I could move mountains.
I could destroy the world.
Harold?
I'm a decent person, aren't I, dear?
Anything but a violent man.
You've never known me to hate... anybody.
The terrible thing is there's a part of me...
There... there's a piece of my brain...
Which... hates.
It's like a dark cloud in my subconscious.
It did that to you,
and it blasted Dean Radcliffe to his death...
Without my even knowing about it.
Operator, give me the county hospital.
Vera.
I'm going to get an ambulance, Harold.
You're not in any condition to drive.
You don't believe me.
You don't believe a word of it.
You wouldn't hurt anyone even if you could.
You're not a violent man.
You've never hated anyone... never.
Not to hurt them, no, Vera,
but I have this power,
and it acts whether I want it to or not.
No, Harold, you don't have any power.
You've always been quiet.
You've told me yourself you're too mild.
You're too meek.
No more, Vera!
I could split this ceiling open if I wanted to!
I could crash down these walls!
I could splinter this whole block into bricks and rubble.
Harold, you're a little man...
A nobody. You don't have any power.
You've been under a strain.
You've been working too hard without sleep.
You're letting your imagination run away.
Believe me, please! I beg you to believe me!
What is it?
What... what's happened to you?!
I... can't...
Stop it.
Can't... stop it.
Vera!
Don't hate me. Please don't hate me!
I don't hate you.
Don't kill me, Harold. Don't kill me.
Please... don't say that.
You're going to. I know it!
Don't touch me!
What do you want me to say?
I believe you? Yes, I believe you.
I've been wrong. You have power.
I've been a bad wife.
I've hurt you. I've hated you.
I admit it. I've hated you!
Vera.
You wanted a child.
I didn't want to give you a child.
I didn't want to have you as the father of my child.
Stop. Vera...
I'll do anything you want. Anything!
I want you to ask people to the house.
From now on it'll all be different, Harold.
Anything to make you stop hating me.
You've got to give me another chance.
Don't kill me, Harold. Don't!
I don't seem to be able to help myself.
Please, I must talk to him alone. Please.
Steve, I want you to tell them you want to back out.
Back out?
You don't want to be a murderer, do you, Steve?
A murderer.
Well, that's exactly what I am.
Believe me, Steve!
We weren't meant to control a force of this magnitude.
Not until the human mind is a whole lot healthier.
Finley, I don't wanna back out.
I'm not afraid of... power.
This outer ring contains octohedrite meteors
with carbite structures
containing troilite and sulfites.
Here in this orbit the asteroids are more likely
to carry strontium, uranium, and the radiant elements.
Keenan!
Mr. Keenan, I want you to call off Steve Crandon's operation.
Don't put him through what I'm going through.
One human being trapped by this thing is enough.
Calling off this operation
means canceling the whole project.
On what grounds?!
We're all partly mad!
Power like this makes it total.
Nuclear fission was also power,
so was the automobile, the airplane,
wonder drugs with their side effects.
Should the potential risk ever impede human progress?
You realize, of course, if he wants to,
he can stop the experiment on Crandon.
Just by concentration.
We regret this, Mr. Finley,
but we must proceed with the operation.
You may stop it today, but we will proceed tomorrow.
Nothing will be allowed to stop it.
Not even you.
Doctor...
Here's the link inside this container.
You're aware, of course, that the shot I gave Finley
will take care of his conscious opposition only.
As I told you, doctor, what I'm counting on
is that subconsciously
Finley wants this project to be a success.
N-no. No.
Nooo!
Noo!
Heaven, help me.
If I have such power...
Then I don't want to live.
Deep behind the kindest, gentlest soul.
May lurk violent thoughts...
Deadly wishes.
Someday men may learn how to cope
with the monsters of the mind.
Then, and only then,
when the human mind is truly in control of itself,
can we begin to utilize the great and hidden powers
of the universe.
We now return control of your television set to you.
Until next week at this same time
when the control voice will take you to...