The Cold Equations

"The Cold Equations" is a science fiction short story by American writer Tom Godwin (1915–1980), first published in Astounding Magazine in August 1954. In 1970, the Science Fiction Writers of America selected it as one of the best science-fiction short stories published before 1965, and it was therefore included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929–1964. It has been widely anthologized and dramatized. In the year 2178, a small Emergency Dispatch Ship (EDS) is launched from the interstellar cruiser Stardust to deliver desperately needed medicine to the frontier planet Woden. The EDS pilot, Barton, soon discovers a stowaway: 18-year-old Marilyn Lee Cross. By law, all EDS stowaways are to be jettisoned because an EDS carries only enough fuel to complete its mission with the pilot as sole occupant; any excess mass jeopardizes the mission and pilot. Marilyn wanted merely to visit her brother Gerry on the remote planet and was unaware of the law. When she saw the "UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL KEEP OUT!" sign while she was sneaking onboard, she thought that at most she would have to pay a fine if caught. Barton sadly explains to her that her additional weight would make it impossible to land safely; they would crash on the planet, killing both them and the colonists needing the medicine. After recovering from her shock and horror, and contacting Gerry, Marilyn willingly climbs into the airlock and is ejected into space.