On the frontier, any frontier, there can be little margin for error. Just as the first covered wagons making their way across the American desert had a finite supply of food and water, so too on this even vaster. now. Thomas Barton is about to discover firsthand that there are limits, even here, in the boundless reaches of the Twilight Zone.
Computational error. Unauthorized payload. Computational error. Unauthorized payload.
Fuel supply insufficient for mission completion at present mass. All right, come out of there. I said come out of there! Hold it right there. Right there.
All right, come out. Real slow. Come on. Come on. All right.
I give up. Look, I know I shouldn't have done this. Who are you? I was going to Mimir for the linguistics academy there.
And then I heard JDS was going to Woden, so I... You see, my brother, Jerry, he works on Woden, on the government survey team there. And it's been five years since I've seen him.
I haven't seen him since he left Earth. You see, it was just sort of the two of us growing up and... Well, I knew it would be like a year before I'd see him again. Five years is a long time, you know?
I've missed him. And I know I shouldn't have stowed away, but I just... I didn't want to wait another year. I knew I'd be breaking some sort of regulation in another... Look!
I'm not a freeloader. I can pay for my own key points when we get to work. And I've got a class B computer license, and my background is in linguistics, so that might be useful. This is nice.
What's your name? Marilyn. Marilyn Lee Cross.
My brother's Jerry Cross. Do you know? No, I don't. Are we going faster?
Yeah, I shut off the engines that were decelerating us as we moved into Woden's star system. I'm trying to save a little fuel for a little while. Why?
Stardust, this is EDS-34G-1-1. Barton speaking, Priority Blue. I need to speak with Commander Delhart immediately. Are you gonna... Priority Blue acknowledged, Barton.
Hatching you in. Are you gonna ask them to come back for me? Don't! Barton, what seems to be the problem? Commander Delhart, we have a stowaway on board.
I see. I assume you follow standard procedures. Negative, sir. I have not. Commander Delhart, the situation's a little unusual here.
The stowaway isn't a criminal or a smuggler. She's a girl. What? Yes, sir. A teenager.
She wants to see her brother in Woden. She didn't even know what she was doing. Oh.
Commander Delhart, is there another cruiser in the area? A freighter or another scout ship? No, you're too far on.
We're the only ship within 40 light years. What about sending out another EDS? It would never reach you on time.
What about a ground to space transport from Woden? Anything at all, sir? No, I'm sorry, there's absolutely no possibility of intercept.
There's just nobody out there to help. Martin, I'm sorry, I... I wish to God there was something I could do, but there isn't.
You do understand that, don't you? What does he mean? Sir, I understand.
I'll get ship's records to the colony so we can make the necessary notifications. They'll hard out. Are you going to tell me what he means? The ship is carrying serum for choler fever. Back to group one on Wodi.
Their base was hit by a meteor storm and their supply was wiped out. Do you know what choler fever is? No. It's like meningitis.
It's quicker and more painful. Group 2, where your brother is, is actually 8,000 miles away across the western sea from Group 1, so there's no way they can get back to Group 1 in time to help, which means 35 men are going to die unless the ship with the serum reaches them on schedule. I see, so I, uh, I'm throwing you off the schedule?
Yes, this is ship's records. EDS. This is EDS. I acknowledge. We'll need all the data on the subject's identification disk.
One moment, please. I see your identification disk. ID number T837-Y41, name Marilyn Lee Cross, date of birth July 7th, 2040, place of birth Grand Rapids, Michigan, American Commonwealth Earth. Original destination? Port City, Meemers.
Time of execution? What? What does she mean?
At what time was the stowaway ejected from the ship? I'll inform you later. Ejected? She can't be serious. Now listen to me.
It's my fault because I should have told you as soon as I found you. And I thought maybe, oh, maybe once I contacted Delhart, Delhart could do something about it. I don't know. If you eject me, I'll die. I realize that.
Warning. Fuel supply insufficient for mission completion. Moving to condition yellow.
I didn't hurt anybody. I just wanted to see my brother. Nobody wants you to die, and nobody would ever let it be this way if there was anything humanly possible they could do to change it, but there's not. I mean, these emergency dispatch ships are given just exactly enough fuel to get to their destination, maybe a little extra to allow...
for atmospheric turbulence. My added weight will cause it to lose its fuel before we reach the ground. Yeah, it'll crash and you and I will die in Seoul, 35 people waiting for the serum. What about the Stardust? Can it come to pick me up?
up no god it's carrying medical supplies and food to the outer colonies and hundreds of people will die if it doesn't reach its destination on schedule you talk like this happens every day you know just like you're throwing some excess baggage overboard you don't think i'm gonna have to live with this for the rest of my life i mean every night when you come to me in my dreams don't you think if there was something anything i could do to help you i would do it entering woden gravitational vector phase one engine ignition must occur at T minus 85 minutes. Mass must be reduced. It's all just numbers, isn't it? Ratios.
Equations. It's nothing personal. It's just, uh, it's just mathematics. Yeah, you're right.
You're absolutely right. It is just mathematics. I mean, H amount of fuel won't power this ship safely to its destination with M plus X amount of mass. It's as simple as that.
X. That's me, isn't it? The unwanted factor in a mathematical equation. I can go alone, or I can take 35 others with me.
In case you're wondering, the EDS doesn't have any sophisticated landing computers. I mean, you can't pilot the ship by yourself. I know.
Thanks for the thought, though. Isn't there anything else? You want jettison? These things are designed pretty lean. I mean, there's hardly an extra kilogram.
Wait a second. Just wait a second. Warning. Fuel supply insufficient for ignition completion. You think it's enough?
We'll soon find out. Damn it, that's not even half what we need. How long do I have before I have to leave? I have to reactivate the engines and start deceleration by 1900 hours.
That's less than an hour. Oh God, how did... This happens so fast. It's different out here. I mean, it's not like Earth.
The frontier's so vast that there's no margin for error out here. I mean, you make a mistake, there's nobody can help you. Entering Woden gravitational vector. Phase two engine ignition must occur at T minus 75 minutes.
Do you want to talk to him? Your brother, do you want to talk to your brother? I think we're within range now.
Yes. EDS 3 4 G 1 1 to group 2 on Woden please copy Jerry Cross please it's urgent please notify him as soon as possible then signal us it's urgent EDS out It seems to go faster all the time, doesn't it? I just want to hear his voice. I think when I hear his voice, I...
I won't be so scared. It's cold in here. Is it cold? No, it's...
Yeah, it's colder than it should be, yeah. Maybe, uh... Maybe I shouldn't...
wait, you know? Maybe... Maybe I'm just being selfish.
Maybe it would be better for Jerry if, if, uh... you told him afterward. No. No, that's not what he'd want. He'd want you to wait.
Is it getting dark where he is? I've hurt everyone I love. I've been so stupid.
So selfish. It wasn't your fault. It really wasn't your fault at all, and they'll understand that. I'll never be able to tell them. I never took them for granted.
That I knew about all those little sacrifices they made. Also, I wouldn't have to do it without God. Never being able to tell them how much I love them. They know.
I've read about how people look when they die in space. But I... I didn't do anything. I didn't do anything to die for.
Please, I know you didn't. I know you didn't and I know you're not to blame and I'm sorry. Do you understand me?
I am so sorry. Signal transmission from G2. Jerry? It's Jerry.
Cross here, what is it? EDS come in. Gerald Cross here. Jerry? I wanted to see you.
Marilyn? Is that you? What are you doing on EDS?
I wanted to see you Jerry so I hid on the ship. You hid? The stowaway.
I didn't know what it would mean. Marilyn, what have you done? I didn't mean to hurt you, Jerry. I just wanted to sound... I'm sorry.
Don't cry, sis. I didn't mean to sound that way. It's just that it's unfair.
It's because of me. Don't feel like that, Jerry. Don't let me go knowing you feel like that.
EDS, have you called Stardust? Is there anything? There's nothing he can do, Jerry. He tried everything. No one can help me now, I know that.
I just wanted to say goodbye, Jerry. The planet's starting to swing. We're losing contact with the base now. Jerry, you're fading away, so... I have to say goodbye now.
But maybe we'll see each other again. I'll be nothing you can see, but I'll be there. Always think of me like that.
Always. Always like that. Never any other way. Goodbye, Jerry.
I love you. Marilyn, I love you. Fuel supply insufficient for mission completion at present mass. Condition read.
Mission status in jeopardy. Condition read. I'm ready.
Phase 3 engine ignition must occur at T-3 minutes. All systems functioning normally. In the darkness, Thomas Barton hurtles towards his destination with the realization that there is room for emotion on the wilder frontiers of the universe.
Emotion and the memory of a girl who had not known that sometimes it takes a human life to balance a cold equation in the black geometry of the Twilight Zone.