- Marilyn Lee Cross may not survive after she stows away on board a spacecraft.
- Pilot Thomas Bartin, on a critical mission aboard an Emergency Dispatch Ship, discovers that he has a young stowaway and doesn't have enough mission to complete his medical delivery mission and save 35 lives as long as the stowaway is aboard.—Gislef
- Pilot Thomas Bartin is piloting an emergency dispatch craft to a colony on Woden, carrying medication for ten people on the colony. He discovers that the ship has an unauthorized payload, and the computer warns him that the fuel supply in insufficient for the extra mass. Bartin takes out his gun and goes to check the cargo bay, and finds stowaway Marilyn Lee Cross. Marilyn says that she stowed away to see her brother Gerry on Woden. She says that she's no freeloader and will work for her transit once they reach Woden.
Bartin explains that he shut down the engines to conserve fuel, and they're coasting on momentum. He calls his commander, Delhart, and explains that they have a stowaway aboard. He says the stowaway isn't a smuggler or criminal, and asks if there's another cruiser in the area. Delhart confirms that there isn't, and another EDS wouldn't reach Woden in time, and there's nobody out there to help. The commander wishes there was something to do, but there isn't.
Marilyn wonders what Delhart means, and Bartin tells Marilyn that the EDS is carrying serum for a fever that hit the colony. Thirty-five men are going to die unless the EDS reaches them. Ship's Records calls and asks for all the data on Marilyn's identification disk. They confirm Marilyn's ID and asks for Marilyn's time of execution. Marilyn demands to know what Records means, and Bartin says that he'll tell them later. He then tells Marilyn that he has to eject her. Bartin says that no one wants her to die, and the EDS are only given enough fuel to reach their destination. Marilyn's weight will cause the EDS to crash when it tries to land, killing the 35 colonists as well, and Bartin will have to live with Marilyn's death. The computer reports that they only have 85 minutes until landing.
Marilyn figures that it's all just numbers and ratios, and it's nothing personal. Bartin says that she's right, and they can't overcome mathematics. She can go alone, or take 35 others with her. He says that she can't pilot the ship by himself if he sacrifices himself, and the EDS aren't designed with extra weight. Despite that, Bartin tries to jettison what he can with doors, his gun, and any other extra weight. It isn't enough, not by half.
Bartin tells Marilyn that they have less than an hour before she has to leave. The pilot puts Marilyn in contact with her brother Gerry so she can her goodbyes. Gerry went out on a mission and won't be back, and Bartin tells them to notify Gerry that it's urgent. Marilyn wonders if she shouldn't weight, and it would be better for Gerry if she didn't talk to him. Bartin tells her that Gerry would want to talk to hurt, and Marilyn says that she's hurt everyone she's loved. The pilot tells her that it isn't her fault, and her family knows how much she loves them. Bartin tells her that he knows she's not to blame, and he's sorry for what she has to do.
Gerry calls them, and Marilyn tells her brother that she wanted to see him one last time. When she says that she hid on the ship, Gerry realizes the situation and Marilyn tells him not to blame himself and there's nothing Bartin can do. She just wanted to say goodbye.
The signal fades, and Marilyn enters the airlock and says that she's ready. Bartin works the controls and jettisons Marilyn out into space, breaks into tears, then starts the engines just in time to make a controlled landing.
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