The Cold Equations

“The Cold Equations” is a science fiction short story by American author Tom Godwin, which originally appeared in a 1954 edition of Astounding magazine. The story stood out long after its publication and was considered one of the best science fiction short stories published before 1965. It was also reprinted in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929-1964.

The pilot of an Emergency Dispatch Ship (EDS) launched from a larger ship, the Stardust, is on his way to deliver a curative serum to six ailing men on the planet Woden, whose own supply of serum was destroyed by a tornado. When the pilot realizes that he has a stowaway, he judges that he will have to jettison the transgressor into space. If he doesn’t, their excess weight will cause the EDS to go into freefall, killing the pilot and ultimately the men on Woden, who need the serum to survive. According to the pilot, “the stowaway had signed his own death warrant when he concealed himself on the ship; he could not be permitted to take seven others with him” (Location 8487).

However, the pilot is shocked to discover that the stowaway is a girl named Marilyn Cross. Although Marilyn sees the warning sign prohibiting the entry of unauthorized personnel to the EDS, she is unaware of the deathly consequences of breaking the rules, thinking that she will only have to pay a fine if she is caught. She enters the EDS in order to have express access to her brother Gerry, who is on Woden. Otherwise, she would have to wait the year it would take him to arrive on Mimir, where she has a job waiting for her.

Unsure of what to do and fazed by the stowaway’s innocence, the pilot contacts Commander Delhart on the Stardust. The Commander tells him in no uncertain terms that the stowaway must be jettisoned according to regulations. Commander Delhart instructs the pilot to contact Ship’s Records so the stowaway’s family can be informed of her death. Although the Commander is surprised by the stowaway’s gender, in the end it makes no difference to his judgment.

Marilyn is horrified when she learns that she must be jettisoned. The pilot apologizes profusely, although nothing that she says or does will change his mind. When he takes her records, he finds that she is only 18 and weighs one hundred and ten pounds, a slight amount that will nevertheless cause the ship’s destruction.

Both the pilot and Marilyn wonder how long she can stay on the ship without her weight becoming a liability. The pilot uses a computer to calculate that she has about an hour to live. The remorseful pilot explains to Marilyn that life on the space frontier is subject to more exacting laws than those of Earth. He tells her that “it isn’t that no one cares; it’s that no one can do anything to help” (Location 8752). The wildness and unpredictability of space is also demonstrated by the tornado that appeared out of nowhere and struck the camp at Woden as “a blind and mindless force” (Location 8783).

Marilyn asks to write to her parents and to speak to Gerry via the communicator. The pilot agrees and offers her a pencil and paper. He imagines how her parents will hate and blame him. Moreover, he believes he will see her in his nightmares after her death.

Having accepted the inevitability of her imminent death, Marilyn regrets not telling her parents and Gerry how much she loved and appreciated them. She tells the pilot about an incident in which Gerry secretly replaced a kitten who got run over, allowing Marilyn to maintain the illusion that her pet still lived. She worries that Gerry will not answer her demand for a call in time.

However, a signal arrives through the communicator just in time for brother and sister to express their love and regret. Gerry is at first shocked, but knowing the ways of the space frontier, he soon accepts that the only thing he can do is comfort Marilyn.

Almost as soon as she hangs up, the pilot guides Marilyn to her departure cell. The pilot pulls a lever and jettisons her quickly. On his descent he sees “something shapeless and ugly hurrying ahead of him” and realizes that “the empty ship still lived for a little while with the presence of the girl who had not known about the forces that killed with neither hatred nor malice” (Location 9008). He remains haunted by her innocence.