Review: The Cold Equations
One of the most important considerations in telling a story is to ensure that the flow of events makes sense, and that the path to the ending is neither contrived nor forced. "The Cold Equations," a 1954 science fiction novelette by Tom Godwin, is perhaps most notable as a shining example of how not to do it, since it sets out to defy genre conventions of the time at the expense of storytelling logic.
The Story
The novelette is about a space pilot named Barton, who is using an Emergency Dispatch Ship(EDS) from the starship Stardust, to deliver vaccines to the planet Woden, which are necessary to save the lives of six men on a survey team. Midway through the flight, Barton discovers a stowaway- a girl named Marilyn- and under regulations, must eject her out the airlock lest the additional weight cause the ship to crash, killing them both and dooming the six other men. With no other choice, Marilyn voluntarily steps out the airlock, sacrificing her life to allow Barton to continue his critical mission.
At its core, the story is simple- it's about a situation in which one life must be sacrificed to save many, and how in many cases, there is no ideal way to save anyone. The concept is easy enough to understand, but how well does it hold up in practice?
The Problems
The Cold Equations is only about 10,000 words long, but people have almost written entire books about the various logic problems in the plot.
For starters, let's consider the design of the EDS. The story states that any unnecessary weight would throw off the ship, as a 110-pound girl would be the equivalent of 550 pounds during deceleration(although the ship weighs, at minimum, several tons by my estimation), thus forcing the EDS to use too much fuel during deceleration and crash. However, the ship has an airlock, a closet large enough for Marilyn to hide in, and enough space to walk around in, when it would make more sense to be a small vehicle with a cockpit for the pilot and a storage compartment for the vaccines. It's rather hard to believe that if the EDS has no margin of error for how it operates, or that it would be designed in such an inefficient manner. While Godwin probably wouldn't have known this at the time, modern spacecraft have redundant systems that can serve as backups in case of mechanical failure, so it's hard to imagine a ship that can't possibly accommodate an extra passenger
Speaking of fuel, one has to wonder why they would only transport the vaccines(for a mere eight men) and no other cargo on the ship Consider how many billionaires have attracted criticism for using so much fuel to go into space, and you have to wonder if the Cold Equations universe has an energy and/or climate crisis.
But let's assume that it is necessary to do EDS flights with such a razor-thin margin of error. If so, wouldn't the people responsible do everything in their power to educate the public about the dangers involved and make sure that no unauthorized people get on board?
Unfortunately, no. While there's more room for hiding places on the ship than makes sense, Barton almost immediately tracks Marilyn down, and should have been able to find her if he'd done a pre-flight inspection. Locking the door or posting guards in the hangar would have similarly deterred Marilyn, but apparently, no one thought to take this precaution; Marilyn "just sort of walked in when no one was looking (her) way." Marilyn realizes what she's doing is illegal, but assumes she'll get off with a fine, instead of being jettisoned into space. Considering that she was already a passenger on the Stardust, she should have been informed about the EDS and why she can't simply stow away on one before she boarded, a bit like how airlines hand out safety instructions to each passenger. The only precaution is a sign that states that stowing away is forbidden but doesn't say why.
One last high-tech solution- the ability to use a drone ship to deliver the supplies- would have eliminated the need for humans altogether. Unfortunately, this is one of many possibilities that the story fails to consider.
The Rest of the Story
Now for the characters. We don't learn all that much about Barton's past except that he's reluctant to space Marilyn... if only because she's female. The story repeatedly brings up Marilyn's gender to emphasize her innocence and makes it clear that Barton wishes that she were a criminal so he'd feel better about shooting her off into space.
Marilyn herself seems to be designed to be as innocent and likable as possible, her only crime being a poorly-thought-out decision to stow away aboard the ship, not to mention being unwilling to wait a year to see her brother again on Mimir. She comes off as likable enough, but her characterization borders on emotional manipulation.
Gerry is decently written for a character that comes on near the end. He's understandably upset about the entire affair, and realizes that this happened because of Marilyn's harebrained idea to stow away aboard the EDS, but calms down when he realizes that getting angry won't change anything, and this is not how he should speak to his sister in their final conversation. He makes sure that Barton is right about the calculations, then grudgingly accepts the decision.
On the subject of emotions, the story frequently makes it clear that sentimentality has no place on the harsh frontier of space, and that as sympathetic as Marilyn is, she must be sacrificed lest eight people, her included, die. Considering that Marilyn, the sole female member of the cast, causes the problem by impulsively sneaking on board the EDS to see her brother, and the male members of the cast stoically come to the decision that she must be spaced more quickly than she does, I can't help but read some sexist undertones into the story, especially due to Barton's own double standards.
The Editor's Influence
I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the ending wasn't Godwin's original idea. John W. Campbell, the editor of Astounding Science Fiction, refused to publish the story unless Barton ultimately gave in and spaced Marilyn. Godwin came up with several possible endings to try to placate Campbell, but to no avail. Apparently, the story was meant to defy 1950s science fiction stories in which science somehow has an answer to problems like this, but since that trope has fallen out of favor, modern audiences are more critical about the story's logic holes, which don't take a scientific genius to spot.
In the end, this is ultimately beside the point. The fact that the ending was Campbell's idea and not Godwin's doesn't make the story any better- it means that Godwin simply did what was necessary to get the story published. The final story is what it is, regardless of whether it's due to the author's influence or the editor's and knowing who is responsible for certain missteps doesn't make the story any better- it only informs the readers who is to blame.
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