Dimension X - Vital Factor - #44

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode: Dimension X - Vital Factor (#44)
Date: May 6, 2026
Podcast Host: Harold’s Old Time Radio
Original Air Date (of radio play): N/A (Golden Age of Radio)

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Overview

This episode features the classic science fiction radio drama “The Vital Factor” from the renowned series Dimension X. It centers on the powerful industrialist Wayne Crowder, whose ruthless drive and ambition to be the first to bring spaceflight to mankind sets off a whirlwind of invention, obsession, and ultimately, betrayal. The story explores the tension between brute ambition and the softer, “vital” qualities that drive innovation—ultimately answering whether power or sentiment is the true catalyst for progress.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Wayne Crowder’s Ruthless Ambition

• Introduction to Crowder:
  Wayne Crowder is introduced as the archetypal self-made tycoon—cold, calculating, unsentimental, and absolutely resolute.
  • [01:18] “A man of ice and stone and ink and steel. No warmth and a heart to pump blood…”
• Crowder leverages his immense fortune and power, assembling top engineers to construct a spaceship, dismissing concerns over cost or feasibility.
  • [03:14] “Any questions?”
  • [04:01] “What’s your name? Phillips, sir. You’re fired. Go down to the cashier and draw your pay and get out.”

2. Pursuit of the “Impossible” Engine

• Technological Hurdle:
  The engineers can build a spacecraft, but no engine exists with the power to achieve spaceflight. Crowder offers $100,000 to anyone who can deliver the necessary engine concept.
• Global Search:
  The bounty prompts inventors, crackpots, and visionaries from around the world to present their ideas, flooding Crowder's offices with blueprints and theories.
  • [10:06] “The word of what he wanted circulated to the far corners of the globe…”

3. Failures, Sacrifice, and Ruthlessness

• Failed Tests:
  Various engines are tested—at great cost and even loss of life—resulting only in explosions and disappointment.
  • [13:27] “If this needle goes around the part of the dial marked in red, there will be an explosion…”
  • [14:28] “[The] inventor… had to be with it, of course, during the tests. But he has… that is, he had a family.”
• Personal Sacrifices:
  Crowder’s indifference to human cost is highlighted in his treatment of both his employees and the global experts he lures away from important positions.

4. Wilkins' Arrival and the Game-Changer

• The Martian’s Offer:
  A humble, mysterious man named Wilkins visits Crowder, claiming to have solved the engine problem using a mysterious “counter-gravity” material.

  • [17:14] “If I let go, then in less than a second… it should fall to your desk.”
  • [17:33] "Many seconds ago, it should have crashed to the desk. Am I right?” — Mr. Wilkins
  • [17:38] "This is incredible." — Wayne Crowder

• Building a New Ship:
  Wilkins proposes building a small, efficient spaceship at a fraction of the current project's cost, but asks Crowder the true reason for his ambition.

  • [18:54] “Why do you want so much to build this ship?”
  • [18:58] "Frankly, because I love power. Because I'm ambitious. I want to be the master not only of one world, but of worlds." — Wayne Crowder

5. Dismissal and Dissonance

• Layoffs and Regret:
  Crowder immediately scraps his old project and dismisses thousands, focusing solely on Wilkins’ breakthrough.
  • [20:42] "Let it rot. Lay them off."
• Phillips’ Loyalty and Crowder’s Coldness:
  Phillips, the engineer, reflects on his own expendability—playing on the episode’s theme of cold rationality vs. humanity.
  • [21:39] "I was just thinking, Mr. Crowder, what would happen to me if my usefulness to you were over…”

6. The Martian Revealed and the Departure

• Jarvis’ Resignation & Moral Message:
  Jarvis, an Asian engineer, resigns in protest, confessing regret for leaving a crucial project in his homeland for Crowder’s money—suggesting Crowder’s influence is corruptive.

  • [23:35] “I have been corrupted by you at a whim. I think you have too much power, sir. I think you use your power for evil, selfish purposes.” — Jarvis

• Launch of the New Ship:
  Wilkins and Crowder enter the finished ship, prepared for the maiden voyage. Crowder is impatient, expectant of triumph.

  • [26:17] "Turn on your motor. I want to hear its roar… that might be a moment in which I'd share your sentimentality." — Wayne Crowder

7. Final Twist: The Vital Factor

• The Vital Factor is Revealed:
  Once in space, Crowder demands Wilkins turn back, but Wilkins refuses. He reveals his true (Martian) identity and his own motivation: a blend of scientific curiosity and sentiment, as opposed to Crowder’s raw ambition.
  • [29:05] “There is no need to be so terrified because you've had your first close look at a Martian going home.” — Mr. Wilkins
• Theme:
  The story closes with the revelation that sentiment, not ambition, was the “vital factor” for the leap to the stars.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Power and Ambition:
  [18:58] “Frankly, because I love power. Because I'm ambitious. I want to be the master not only of one world, but of worlds.” — Wayne Crowder

• On Sentiment:
  [19:10] “That’s as far as your thinking goes? … There will be scarlet sunsets… the star strew night, the thin cold air of a dying world stirring… You may laugh out loud if you wish, Mr. Crowder.” — Mr. Wilkins

• On Ruthlessness and Loyalty:
  [21:39] “What would happen to me if my usefulness… were over. I’ve worked for you for 30 years now.” — Engineer Phillips
  [21:48] “Just don’t give me any occasion to consider your usefulness terminated. That oughtn’t be too hard.” — Wayne Crowder

• On Corruption of Power:
  [23:35] "I have been corrupted by you at a whim. I think you have too much power, sir. I think you use your power for evil, selfish purposes.” — Jarvis

• The Reveal:
  [29:05] “There is no need to be so terrified because you’ve had your first close look at a Martian going home.” — Mr. Wilkins

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Crowder’s Ambitious Announcement: [01:18]–[08:00]
• Public Prize for Spaceship Motor: [08:00]–[10:00]
• Worldwide Frenzy and Failed Experiments: [10:06]–[14:28]
• Wilkins Demonstrates Anti-gravity: [16:10]–[17:57]
• Crowder and Wilkins Collaborate: [18:35]–[20:12]
• Mass Layoffs and Ethical Dissonance: [20:18]–[21:56]
• Jarvis' Moral Stand: [22:08]–[24:21]
• Launch and Final Moral Twist: [25:00]–[29:32]

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Tone and Original Language

• The drama blends businesslike, hard-boiled dialogue (from Crowder) with poetic, yearning sentiments (from Wilkins/the Martian).
• The episode carries a tone of ambition, cold logic, ethical questioning, and, finally, a somber twist about the true engine of progress.

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Summary

“The Vital Factor” explores not just the technological and financial hurdles of embarking on a galactic journey, but the very human (or Martian) motives that drive it. Wayne Crowder’s cold ambition is ultimately surpassed in importance by Wilkins’ sentimental wonder—marking the story as both a cautionary tale and a celebration of the less tangible, but vital, forces behind discovery.

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Transcript

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[Narrator]

Adventures in time and space told in

[Mr. Wilkins]

future tense

[Wayne Crowder]

the matter.

[Narrator]

The National Broadcasting Company, in cooperation with Strike, Crete and Smith publishers of Astounding Science Fiction, bring you Dimension X.

[Wayne Crowder]

I doubt that anywhere on Earth there's a

[Narrator]

man or a woman or a child who doesn't know the name Wayne Crowder. I doubt whether there's a human being who hasn't at one time or another used one of the Crowds products, the can opener or the razor blade or the patented toothpowder dispenser or the Crowder improved slideless fastener. There's a fortune in such products. And Wayne Crowder was the man to squeeze that fortune out penny by penny. And he did. And in the magazines which write about men of business, he was described as a man of ice and stone and ink and steel. No warmth and a heart to pump blood. Not he took some of his money and he built himself a towering skyscraper. And he placed his private office at the very peak. And he built a battery of buttons into his desk so that when he wanted something, all he ever had to do was press a button. And like genies springing out of the bottle, the proper personnel would come running.

[Engineer Phillips]

Yes, Mr. Crowder.

[Wayne Crowder]

Got me my engineers.

[Engineer Phillips]

Yes, sir.

[Mr. Wilkins]

Right away, Mr. Crowther.

[Engineer Phillips]

Mr. Crowder wants his engineers at once.

[Wayne Crowder]

Here are your engineers, sir. All right, close the door and get out. Now, gentlemen, sit down. Gentlemen, I hired you because you're the best engineers I was able to find. They tell me you can do anything. They tell me if there's a scientific fact known in the world, even if it was discovered six hours ago, you gentlemen are up on it. All right. I want to put that to work. Gentlemen. I want you to build me a spaceship.

[Mr. Wilkins]

What?

[Engineer Phillips]

A spaceship, sir.

[Wayne Crowder]

That's right. I've decided that I'm going to be the man who gives space flight to mankind. Any questions?

[Engineer Phillips]

Well, I don't know, sir. We can design such a ship. That part's not too hard. The basic blueprint has been in existence for many years. The submarine is the model for the shape and the form. But.

[Wayne Crowder]

Yeah.

[Engineer Phillips]

But we have no way of providing the motor to power such a ship.

[Wayne Crowder]

When the ship's ready to fly, there'll be a motor.

[Engineer Phillips]

Sir, I. I don't like to contradict you, but you see, scientists have been searching for a motor power for spaceships for decades now, without success. You'll have a ship. But we can't lift that ship from the Earth's surface. That is not to the point of free flight, at any rate, Mr. Crowdy,

[Wayne Crowder]

you see, you'll be spending millions of dollars, hundreds of millions, perhaps for nothing. What's your name? Phillips, sir. You're fired. Go down to the cashier and draw your pay and get out. But, Mr. Crowder. Get out. Nobody who works for me thinks of how much something costs. We use money. We don't let expense provide a rationalization for not beginning a project. Phillips, what are you waiting for? Get out. Gentlemen, any other comments?

[Engineer Phillips]

The ship will be built, of course, Mr. Crowder, but the fact still remains we can't power.

[Wayne Crowder]

You design the ship. I'll find the motor for you.

[Engineer Phillips]

Where, sir?

[Wayne Crowder]

That's a fair question. The answer is I don't know. But somewhere in the world, there's a man who does know the secret. Long before Henry Ford, there was Leonardo da Vinci. And long before him, there was Archimedes. And long before him, there was some stone age genius who invented the wheel, when the only thing the mob could conceive was dragging things around on their backs. I want that motor. And I'll root out the man who has the theory which will let us build it. I'll find him. Money will be available to him. An organization, my backing, and we'll get what we want.

[Engineer Phillips]

You're going to be plagued with a host of crackpots.

[Wayne Crowder]

And obviously, it was going to be your job to separate the wheat from the chaff. But anyone who shows up with a promising idea, no matter how fantastic it sounds, is going to have a chance to show what it can do.

[Engineer Phillips]

How quickly do you want this done? Sir?

[Wayne Crowder]

Yesterday.

[Engineer Phillips]

Yes, sir.

[Wayne Crowder]

Anything you need.

[Engineer Phillips]

Well, Mr. Crowder, we'll need construction yards, sir, and certain machinery. And a great many materials, of course.

[Wayne Crowder]

Labor force. Get them. Send me the bills. I don't want to be bothered with minor details.

[Engineer Phillips]

Yes? One more thing, sir. Phillips. Yes, we need him, sir. He's a top man on electronics. He's a vital cog in our town.

[Wayne Crowder]

I don't want Phillips working for me. That's clear. I hope. Who else in the country knows what

[Engineer Phillips]

he does not one in this country, sir. There's a man in Asia, though.

[Wayne Crowder]

Get him.

[Engineer Phillips]

We've tried before, Mr. Crowder. He's working on an important project for his country.

[Wayne Crowder]

I'm not concerned with details. Now get that man. Pay him what he wants, but get him.

[Engineer Phillips]

Sir, you. You don't understand.

[Wayne Crowder]

I understand, man.

[Engineer Phillips]

If this man quits his job, that whole project will collapse. It means the welfare of many people, millions of people in his country. And he has a high sense of patriotism.

[Wayne Crowder]

Why that sense of patriotism? Now, that's all. I don't want to see you again until you have a report of work in progress.

[Engineer Phillips]

Yes, sir.

[Mr. Wilkins]

Yes, Mr. Crowder?

[Wayne Crowder]

As a man named Phillips going to draw his pay, I want two company policemen to meet him at the cashier's office and escort him from there directly off the premises. And I want them to be emphatic about it.

[Mr. Wilkins]

Yes, Mr. Crowder.

[Wayne Crowder]

And notify the newspapers, the television and the radio networks, periodicals and the scientific journals that I'll receive the press in my office afternoon at 3:30. I have an important announcement to make. Gentlemen. Gentlemen, you can finish your drinks later. Gentlemen of the press and ladies, it's my pleasure to be able to tell you that I'm in the process of construction. Constructing a spaceship. Any questions? Did you say a spaceship? That's right. That's what I thought you said.

[Narrator]

I knew the drinks weren't that strong.

[Wayne Crowder]

I expected it might be something of a shock to you all.

[Engineer Phillips]

Mr. Crowder, is this spaceship under construction now?

[Wayne Crowder]

It is.

[Engineer Phillips]

Well, according to your plans. Is it intended for interstellar flight or

[Wayne Crowder]

merely for flight between planets? This is a beginning only in my intention. Intentions are quite modest. I expect a ship to be able to pursue a course between Earth and Mars or between Earth and Venus for the present any longer. Trips are not gotten places. You've solved the problem of motor force, then? No, I haven't.

[Narrator]

But what sort of.

[Wayne Crowder]

You mean you don't have any means of propulsion for the spaceship? That problem is not solved as yet. It will be. That's why I called you in this afternoon. I want you to announce that I have $100,000 in cash waiting for the man or woman who first brings me the basic idea for such a motor. That's all I have to say for now. Finish your refreshments, ladies and gentlemen. I'll let you know from time to time how things go. Mr. Crowder, one more question, please.

[Jarvis]

Yeah.

[Wayne Crowder]

Do you have a name for this spaceship yet? No, not yet. Then let me suggest one.

[Mr. Wilkins]

Yeah.

[Wayne Crowder]

Crowder's Folly. Quiet. All of you, quiet. What is your paper?

[Mr. Wilkins]

The Daily Times, sir.

[Wayne Crowder]

Inform the company police that under no circumstances is any representative of the Daily Times ever to be allowed on company property again. Wayne Crowder is offering 100,000 doll to any inventor who can produce an engine capable of driving a spaceship.

[Engineer Phillips]

Wayne's Crowder is offering $100,000 to any inventor who can produce an engine capable

[Wayne Crowder]

of driving a spaceship.

[Narrator]

It was Crowder's Folly, but the word of what he wanted circulated to the far corners of the globe. And it was known in the white ice block huts of the Eskimos, the grass thatched villages of Central Africa, as well as places less remote. And the Crowder office became the Mecca and the heaven for the lunatic fringe of humanity. Their blueprints and scale models clogged its corridors. And more applicants came to the great skyscraper.

[Wayne Crowder]

I told you don't want these people in my office. On the screen. Now get out. Get out. Every time I open that door, they surge in like a tidal wave.

[Engineer Phillips]

I have a progress report for you, sir, on the construction of the ship.

[Wayne Crowder]

Go ahead.

[Engineer Phillips]

I've spent $13 million for the yards, the equipment, including three gantry cranes, several dozen presses, thousands of guys and so forth.

[Wayne Crowder]

Go on. Go on.

[Engineer Phillips]

We have 12,000 people working for us directly, not including subcontractors and their labor force. What about the ship, Mr. Crowder? The ship is finished as far as we can go. Certain additional construction cannot be done now because it depends on the shape and the mass of the engine, on the type of fuel and the weight of that fuel.

[Wayne Crowder]

I see. All right. Lay off, everybody. We don't need.

[Engineer Phillips]

I've ordered that, sir. Ms. Crowder, is it possible that no one will turn up with a motor?

[Wayne Crowder]

That's the one thing that's not possible. He will come. Money and determination will buy anything. Close the door on your way out.

[Engineer Phillips]

Yes.

[Wayne Crowder]

Order the proper department to put a name on the forward end of the ship. I want letters in pure gold, one foot high. The name of the ship is Crowder's Folly. Get it done. Today.

[Narrator]

The sun rose in the morning and glinted rose on the silver sheen of the hollow ship's skin. The sun set at night and glinted rose on the silver sheen of the hollow ship skin. The golden letters on the prow held out the fury of Crowder for the world to see. A staff of 50 was employed as time went on in taking rust preventive measures to ensure ship's well being. In a year, the first experiment seemed ready to Bear fruit. And a test was held. The atomic fission motor

[Engineer Phillips]

in exactly 45 seconds. Now we hold the test, Mr. Crowder. The actual trial of the motor is taking place three miles from here. Now, this dial here registers the nucleonic activity. And this dial right here is thrust. Over here. This dial is a measure of the effectiveness of the shielding in terms of outside radioactivity. That sound you hear is our generators right here building up power to supply the motor by remote control. Now, if this needle goes around the part of the dial marked in red, there will be an explosion. Are there any questions?

[Wayne Crowder]

Sir? Proceed with the tests.

[Engineer Phillips]

Watch the needle, sir. 8,000. 8,500. 9,000.

[Wayne Crowder]

10, 11, 12, 15.

[Engineer Phillips]

That's an overload now, sir. 18, 20. I don't know how much roar can stand.

[Wayne Crowder]

Sir. Sir, what happened? Your generator blew out. What kind of.

[Engineer Phillips]

I beg your pardon, sir. The motor blew up.

[Wayne Crowder]

What are you talking about? I'd hear something.

[Engineer Phillips]

You see, sir, it takes a while for the vibrations of an explosion to travel three miles and then reach through 15ft of concrete.

[Wayne Crowder]

I see. Well, there are other experiments in progress. Let me know and they're ready for testing.

[Engineer Phillips]

Yes, sir. Mr. Crowder, the inventor of that motor had to be with it, of course, during the tests. But he has. That is, he had a family.

[Wayne Crowder]

The fool knew what he was doing. He understood the danger. Now, line up those experiments and don't turn anyone away if he seems to have the remotest possibility of success. Now, I'm telling you, my man will come. Money and determination will buy anything.

[Narrator]

And strangely enough, Crowder was right. Because one day, there came to his office a stranger, a small man. He looked even smaller in that tremendous room. He was an unusual visitor in that he carried no briefcase fat with blueprints, schematics, or formulae. He was unusual in that he neither blustered, cowered, nor deferred to his host. He was a pleasant little stranger bird, life of eye and movement, bright and smiling.

[Mr. Wilkins]

Mr. Crowder, my name is Wilkinson.

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[Mr. Wilkins]

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[Wayne Crowder]

Hey, everyone. Check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date?

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson]

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[Wayne Crowder]

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson]

Anyways, get a'@libertymutual.com or with your local agent.

[Wayne Crowder]

Liberty. Liberty.

[Mr. Wilkins]

Liberty.

[Wayne Crowder]

Liberty.

[Mr. Wilkins]

I can power that ship you want. So, of course, what I have in mind won't be anything like that. Meaningless. Anything like that meaninglessly for you.

[Wayne Crowder]

Why?

[Mr. Wilkins]

Well, Rocket, my motor requires a difference here in my head.

[Wayne Crowder]

It so happens that I'm presently suppo. Happens that I'm presently supporting half a dozen people who make the. None of them been successful. What makes you think your idea will work?

[Mr. Wilkins]

Simple enough. The common magnet.

[Wayne Crowder]

What?

[Mr. Wilkins]

Electromagnetism. Utilization of the force of gravity. Or its opposite. In this case, counter gravity.

[Wayne Crowder]

Thank you very much. If you'll forgive me.

[Mr. Wilkins]

Now just a moment, Mr. Crowder. There's one thing more. This.

[Wayne Crowder]

I've seen pieces of metal before. Thank you.

[Mr. Wilkins]

How high from your desk would you say I'm holding it?

[Wayne Crowder]

I'm very sorry, Mr. Wilkins. Do you want to leave, or do you want to be escorted out?

[Mr. Wilkins]

This will only take a second, sir. How high from your desk would you say I'm holding this piece of metal?

[Wayne Crowder]

A foot and a half.

[Mr. Wilkins]

And if I let go, then in less than a second, a fraction of a second, it should fall to your desk.

[Wayne Crowder]

Now, look. I don't want the surface of that desk marred.

[Mr. Wilkins]

But will it be. You see, I have let go of the metal. Is that right?

[Wayne Crowder]

What? Good Lord.

[Mr. Wilkins]

Many seconds ago, it should have crashed to the desk. Am I right?

[Wayne Crowder]

This is incredible.

[Mr. Wilkins]

Well, if you want to speak to me anymore, I'll be right outside.

[Wayne Crowder]

But it hasn't fallen.

[Mr. Wilkins]

That's right, sir. It hasn't fallen.

[Wayne Crowder]

It floats in the air.

[Mr. Wilkins]

That's right, sir. It floats in the air.

[Wayne Crowder]

How do you do it?

[Mr. Wilkins]

Why don't you call your engineers and ask them? I'll wait outside.

[Wayne Crowder]

Get me my engineers, Amelia. All right, Mr. Wilkins. You're quite right. This piece of metal is apparently counter gravity. My engineers can give me no explanation. Thank you, sir. What do you want?

[Mr. Wilkins]

I want to build a spaceship using this material. No great expenditure, a hundredth of the cost. Your behemoth sitting out there in your building yard. And three other things. A workshop expert, mechanical assistance, and an answer to one question.

[Wayne Crowder]

What is the question?

[Mr. Wilkins]

Why do you want so much to build this ship?

[Wayne Crowder]

Frankly, because I love power. Because I'm ambitious. I want to be the master not only of one world, but of worlds.

[Mr. Wilkins]

That's an honest answer. And that's as far as your thinking goes? What else is there but there's my answer. I want to leave this planet and go to. To Mars. Because there are strange wonders there. Because there will be scarlet sunsets over barren wastes and in the star strewn night, the thin cold air of a dying world stirring in restless sighs across the valleys of the dry canals. You may laugh out loud if you wish, Mr. Crowder. I prefer that to the peculiar, repressed smile you're exhibiting now.

[Wayne Crowder]

You're a very lucky man, Mr. Wilkins, to have scientific talent. Because your talents as a poet are inferior. And very sentimental. Well, all right. You're a sentimentalist and I'm mantologic. No matter. We can work together, you and I. Your workshop will be ready by morning. If you need money or materials or personnel, just tell my engineers and you'll get it. Or I'll know the reason why. And that's all.

[Mr. Wilkins]

Thank you, sir.

[Wayne Crowder]

Get me my engineers.

[Mr. Wilkins]

Yes, Mr. Crow.

[Wayne Crowder]

Now we have 50 men working on preserving that useless hulk out there in the construction yard. Lay them off.

[Mr. Wilkins]

Now.

[Wayne Crowder]

How many others but the ship will

[Engineer Phillips]

deteriorate if we do that, sir?

[Wayne Crowder]

Let it rot. Lay them off.

[Engineer Phillips]

Yes.

[Wayne Crowder]

How many other employees are still working for us on the project?

[Engineer Phillips]

About 3,000, sir. Including the people working on experimental motors.

[Wayne Crowder]

Get rid of them.

[Engineer Phillips]

But, sir.

[Wayne Crowder]

Get rid of them.

[Engineer Phillips]

Mr. Crowder. I never thought you'd drop this project. You were so adamant on it.

[Wayne Crowder]

I'm not dropping anything but dead wood. You saw what Wilkins had to offer. He's my man, and the rest is junk.

[Engineer Phillips]

Mr. Crowder, he might fail. We ought to have a minimum of protection again.

[Wayne Crowder]

I say he won't fail. You just lay everybody off that isn't needed. Give him two weeks pay and my thanks for a thankless job well done. That's all.

[Engineer Phillips]

Yes, sir. I'll get it done, sir.

[Wayne Crowder]

But a year's worth? Yes. And 10 years or 20 years. Now do the same thing. That's why you're an engineer and I'm an executive. That's why you work for me. Because when I have to, I can be ruthless with my own mistakes. What are you waiting for?

[Engineer Phillips]

I was just thinking, Mr. Crowder, what would happen to me if my usefulness to you were over. I've worked for you for 30 years now.

[Wayne Crowder]

Just don't give me any occasion to consider your useful terminated. That oughtn't be too hard.

[Jarvis]

What?

[Engineer Phillips]

Nothing, sir. I'll make the arrangements at once.

[Wayne Crowder]

Who are you? What do you want?

[Engineer Phillips]

I tried to stop him, sir?

[Wayne Crowder]

Well, speak up, man.

[Jarvis]

My name is Jarvis. I am an electronics expert.

[Wayne Crowder]

Oh, yes, I remember. You're the Asian. Well, come in.

[Mr. Wilkins]

Come in.

[Engineer Phillips]

Do you want me, sir?

[Wayne Crowder]

Never mind. Never mind. Just stay outside. Close the door behind you.

[Mr. Wilkins]

Yes, sir.

[Wayne Crowder]

Sit down.

[Jarvis]

Thank you, no. I want to give you a gift before I leave.

[Wayne Crowder]

Oh, you leaving? I thought we still needed you.

[Jarvis]

I resigned.

[Wayne Crowder]

Well, I'm sorry to hear that. I'm told you're a good man.

[Jarvis]

I want you to understand what's behind this gift. I was working on a power project in my country, which would have meant a tremendous rise in the standard of living for millions of my people. I was unable to resist the money you offered.

[Wayne Crowder]

Had you resisted, even more money would have been forthcoming. I placed no limit on your worth. To me.

[Jarvis]

I understand. But you see, I did not come without a sense of guilt. Because there was no one in my country who could take my place.

[Wayne Crowder]

I would assume that.

[Jarvis]

And now I discovered that what I did was for nothing. The spaceship on which I worked is being dismantled.

[Wayne Crowder]

That's right.

[Jarvis]

So I have been corrupted by you at a whim. I think you have too much power, sir. I think you use your power for evil, selfish purposes.

[Wayne Crowder]

Selfish? Yes. Only sentimentality is evil.

[Jarvis]

I think otherwise. And so, in order that you shall not corrupt anyone else, I have this gift for you. Here you are, sir. And just one more shot for good measure. To make sure you are really dead. Good.

[Wayne Crowder]

There's a man on his way out by the name of jarvisushtoli. An engineer. He's not to be molested. He probably won't stop the cashier, so I want a check for six months salary in advance, mailed to his home address. The man showed a certain quality of ruthlessness which is deserving of recognition. And have the chief of the company police bring me a new bulletproof vest. This one seems to have been dented in two places. A new spaceship.

[Narrator]

According to Wilkins, plans, as executed by Crowder's engineers, years, was finished within four months. It was small. It was shaped like a disc. It gleamed brightly even in the smoky haze of an October sunset. Inside, Crowder and Mr. Wilkins, in a small cubicle at the heart of the machine, were surrounded by many instruments of a complicated nature. Outside, huge crowds gathered to witness the test. They stirred and murmured, waiting restlessly, as inside the control room of the craft, Wilkins installed the first final secret part he had not revealed to those who built his driving apparatus.

[Wayne Crowder]

Well, Wilkins, what's holding us up?

[Mr. Wilkins]

Nothing now. Or sentiment, perhaps.

[Wayne Crowder]

What?

[Mr. Wilkins]

A wish to look Once more on Earth's familiar scenes here. Now the screening is removed.

[Wayne Crowder]

Look. Look at the people out there. Never mind looking out there. Let's leave that thing closed. You're a sentimental fool. Or are you afraid? Or did you decide at that last minute that your invention won't work?

[Mr. Wilkins]

It will work. Sit down. Mr. Crowder, do me a favor. When I press this button, will you please press the button on the arm of the chair you're seated on? I'll tell you when.

[Wayne Crowder]

Turn on your motor. I want to hear its roar and feel its tug as we cut loose from Earth's gravity and fly outward into space. That might be a moment in which I'd share your sentimentality.

[Mr. Wilkins]

Press your button now, sir. Thank you.

[Wayne Crowder]

This is our hoax. I'm beginning to distrust you, Wilkins. When are we gonna take off? You said at 5 sharp, and it's two minutes after 5. Now. Well, do we move or don't we?

[Mr. Wilkins]

Mr. Crowder, we're already moving. The button you pushed was to nullify the effects of acceleration. If you don't mind, I'd like to open the screen again now. If you care to look for yourself.

[Wayne Crowder]

Wilkins. We're in space. Look down at Earth. How far we've come. Why, it's. It's no bigger than toy balloon. A dime, a Firefly. Man. Man. Wilkins. You done it.

[Mr. Wilkins]

Yes.

[Wayne Crowder]

I swore to be the first man to conquer space. And I've done it. It's a triumph of power and ambition and sentiment.

[Narrator]

No.

[Wayne Crowder]

Blast. Santa meant your model and dreaming would have died unborn except for me. I made this possible, Wilkins. Don't ever forget that. My capital, my forcefulness. My will. Look out there. Space. Stars that never were seen from Earth. But this is only the beginning. We'll build a large amount of one great enough to hold a hundred men, a thousand in cargo. Besides, I'm the master of the planets.

[Narrator]

Wilkins.

[Wayne Crowder]

Turn back now.

[Mr. Wilkins]

No.

[Wayne Crowder]

What? I said turn back.

[Mr. Wilkins]

No.

[Wayne Crowder]

We've proved the ship can fly. Now turn back. I want to start work at once in preparation for the long flights to come.

[Mr. Wilkins]

Not so. We will go on.

[Wayne Crowder]

What are you doing? Defying me? Are you crazy? I'll break your puny little body into pieces.

[Mr. Wilkins]

Mr. Crowder, can you control this ship? Would you like to be stranded out here in the space, Just adrift in space without control? Would you like that?

[Wayne Crowder]

Turn back.

[Mr. Wilkins]

No.

[Narrator]

You're crazy. You're crazy.

[Mr. Wilkins]

Crazy, no. Sentimental, yes. Your money and ambition paved the way.

[Engineer Phillips]

That's true.

[Mr. Wilkins]

But sentiment was the vital factor that sent me to you. You'll forgive me if I remove these primitive clothes.

[Wayne Crowder]

Who are you?

[Mr. Wilkins]

It's all right, Mr. Crowder. There is no need to be so terrified because you've had your first close look at a Martian going home.

[Narrator]

You've just heard another adventure into the unknown world of the future.

[Wayne Crowder]

The world of the mantra.

[Narrator]

A private detective receives many strange assignments, but none has ever received one quite like that given to the investigator. We're going to tell you about next week as we bring you from the pages of the September issue of Astounding Science Fiction. Untitled Story.

[Wayne Crowder]

Dimension X is presented each week by the National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with street and Smith, publishers of the magazine Astounding Science Fiction. Today, Dimension X has presented the Vital Factor, written for radio by Howard Rodman from the story by Nelson Bond. Featured in the cast were Raymond Edward Johnson as Crowder, John McGovern as the engineer, and Louis Van Ruten as the Martian. Your host was Norman Rose. Music by Albert Berman. Dimension X is produced by William Welch and directed by Fred Way. Dragnet. The story of your police force is next on NBC.

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[Wayne Crowder]

If you're into tech, you'll love this. TikTok is a live lab, right? Where users post instant reviews of the latest trends. Download TikTok and check it out.